mee goreng

a group of us RI friends have the idea that as we all have a good time coming together enjoying the food & company, making new memories together, many may also be ready to share with others and spread the cheer.

two ideas were discussed-

1. when we get together again in the new year 2016, maybe many will be in the mood to make some small donations to a beneficiary charity (we are thinking we can do this twice in 2016 at one of the friend’s place & maybe we can collect say between S$1000 and S$2000 each time).
2. some of us who loves cooking (& there are many among us) may offer to cook community meals for some needy folks….currently many friends are already managing events (some weekly) at some premises where various groups (senior folks or needy families in the community) come by to share some food.

those were ideas to be discussed further for the time being.

meanwhile 2 friends helped to organise this dinner at a friend’s house on 3.12.2015. we had 28pax this evening including the host couple. ^^

tandoori chicken

3 of us offered to make some dishes for all our good RI friends to share some food & fun time together.

this eat-together actually also serve a specific purpose to work out the food logisitcs of planning & co-ordinating the type of dishes to make (by 3 parties) that are suitable for transporting to the host location for sharing among a sizable group, and also the arrangements for transportation. ^^

drinks

a friend who made some dishes also contributed 3 bottles of wine. another friend brought 2 sparklies & the host arranged the ice box & other drinks. 🙂

curry chicken

one friend made a nice curry chicken. love the colour. i took couple pieces & the curry. was nursing a throat infection. could not take more also.

nasi biryani

& the biryani rice was very good too! very fluffy & light, good herb aroma. 🙂

this friend messaged me that he had to re-steam the rice. i replied that that is always a bit of touch up & make-overs only those who cook know…which our kaypoh friend proceeded to promptly broadcast to the rest as his pet trivials….haha! 🙂

one of my favourite for the evening (seems like everyone also) was the mee goreng (top photo).

cannot really compare apple to apple with fried hokkien prawn mee, the other delicious dish we had at another friend’s house recently. & i have not decided if i want to try cooking, but probably i will start with the hokkien mee if i do.

the other dish this friend cooked was the tandoori chicken (above photo further up), very nice colour w/o using any colouring.

babi pongteh

all 3 of us used the same aluminium trays to transport the food w/o consulting each other. haha! ^

i made a babi pongteh. the tau jeon (& bit of gula melaka) flavours were good. i added mushrooms & taupok which were well-infused with the taste. the pork texture were just slightly hard c/w my usual very tender belly pork.

sambal seabass

the sambal seabass prepared by my helper is a perennial favourite among my friends & also this evening.

thai red curry sotong

i did a thai red curry sotong also. this was done with a ready made “dancing chef” curry mix.

dry wok prawns

& the usual dry wok prawns.

broccoli with cauliflower

i also made a broccoli & cauliflower, just pan-fry with garlic & added oyster sauce, fish sauce, cornflour mix.

chilli long beans with fried bean curd

& i got my helper to make the chilli long beans with fried beancurd. this quite an appetizing dish.

one of our friend is vegetarian & coming late at 8.30pm. so we arranged for him to have some vegetarian mee goreng, a vegetarian wrap & kept some of the 2 veg dishes for him. i think he had a good time too. usually he doesn’t eat much when he comes.

tiramisu

i made 2 tubs of tiramisu.

all the friends loved this. it was light, very moist with lots of strong coffee (200ml) & brandy (50ml).

a friend brought his usual sweet watermelon. he must be good friends with the vendor by now. 🙂

another friend brought lots of ice cream bars & eclairs. i usually don’t take these but i enjoyed an ice cream bar this evening. 🙂

we had a very fun time together. there were 27 of us old RI friends from our cohort + the host’s wife, total 28pax.

we emptied out all the food. this was part of the food planning. one friend was asking whether it was ok with addition of few other attendees.

just for myself, we are at the age where we don’t need to consume too much carbs & also can manage with a bit more or less food, so my overall view is if a few more people, we just eat a little less lor….of course we don’t want the guests to go hungry. haha! 🙂

in the end it seems the first eat-togehter that involves 3 separate persons cooking & transporting the food to the host’s place came out pretty well, thanks to good co-ordination & everyone helping out.

everyone had a really fun evening. good food & old & new memories help to bring & keep people together.

we also stayed back to “unmess” the place against the direct strict instructions of the host & hostess to leave.

c.h.e.f andy