A New Chapter Begins in Beijing

The phone finally rang at approximately 9pm.

“Hello. I am your pet relocation agent. Your Zoewe has arrived. We are now downstairs at your service apartment.” the voice on the other side of the line said.

“OK OK.” We jumped to change and put on some thick clothing and rushed down to the lobby.

After all, we have been worried sick since she was taken from us 2 days ago by the agent in Malaysia to prepare her for her flight to Hong Kong, then to Shenzhen and from there, ultimately to Beijing, her new home for the next two years.

After all the formalities, there she was, finally with us in the living room, clinging on to us. I guessed she was fearful that she could be taken away again.

With her joining us, our family is now complete in Beijing, our new home for the next two years. The thought is only slowly sinking in that we have left Malaysia for our two years adventure in this land of the Dragon.

Events leading up to this week has been rather dramatic and stressful to say the least. With so much to pack  and not knowing what to pack, the discovery of our maid stealing from us and her sacking at the last hour, just before we proceed to process her visa to China, and arranging for my mother in law to step in for the next three months at least to help out in our new home, have certainly been a contributing factor to the additional few strands of white hair.

 

We thought that we would have little to pack. After all, we are only shifting our master bedroom king size mattress, a sofa bed and a single bed over. How much could that be? Right? WRONG!

Wrong for the two reasons. Firstly, we are shifting with two toddlers. Their clothes, winter clothing, toys, milk powder and diapers have already taken up several boxes.

Secondly, we might be shifting for good. Although we are expected to be here for the next two years, there is every possibility that we might either stay longer or move on to our next destination. Hence, if we do not pack those stuff now, what if we do not come back after two years. And we still have to pack the pots, pans, cutlery, pillows etc over, right? I am not going to spent money buying all these and leave them behind when we leave Beijing.

In the end, the final count was a STAGGERING 113 BOXES! But, we were glad that we got that done. The professional movers were a great motivating factor. They were literally behind our back, pushing us almost every minute to decide what to take and what to leave behind.

We were still packing our luggage just 3 hours before we left for the airport and my wife was so stressed out! Being a meticulous lady and a self claimed perfectionist, this move was ANYTHING but perfect and meticulous so to speak. I thought that at one point in time, she almost burst out in tears and that was when a totally random, careless and last minute guy, yours truly, stood in and took charge. I just told her to pack what she can remember, take it as a adventure, part and parcel of an experience and anything that we have forgotten to pack, we would just either have to make do in Beijing or buy them. After all, we are not moving to the Sahara desert or the interior jungles of the Amazon. We did just that!

We were glad that our flight into Beijing was only half full, and hence, we could have the entire row of seats to ourselves. Ryan was his usual irritating self, switching from games to movies to TV shows on board and wanting attention. Chenya, being her first flight was just as curious and refused to sit still for a good 2 hours!

They finally settled in half way through the flight and slept which gave us all, a time to rest and me, to enjoy my beers and wine.

We are fortunate that we still have the service apartment provided by the company till the 24^th Nov and hence, we do not have to worry about going straight into our rented apartment (although fully furnished) with no pillows and no cutlery. We still have the next 2 weeks to wait for our air shipment to arrive and prepare ourselves to shift into our new apartment.

Ryan will be going to his new school on the 12^th Nov which is next week and I will have to work out my new daily routine, but I am excited of the new uncharted path ahead. It’s not going to be rather that easy for a 50 years old man like me, but nothing is impossible and insurmountable. I am not a perfectionist and neither am I meticulous but I guess that those traits are playing to my advantage now.

To get myself right at home and to help everyone settling in into this new chapter of our lives, I do what I do best….I cooked our very first home cooked meal for dinner. A simple meal of Chicken Drumstick marinated with soy sauce and black pepper, fried with shallots, garlic, ginger slices and broccoli....that is the least I could do at this moment in time....

Temptations @ Ara Cooked her last meal

It all started with just this two books .....

I bought these two confinement recipe books way back in 2008 after my wife gave birth to Ryan. The original idea was to get the confinement lady to cook some of the dishes listed in these cook books instead of the one or two standard dishes that she would cook everyday. She was accommodating enough to try some of the dishes we asked her.

After the month was over, I took over the cooking, trying out some of the recipes listed in these two cook books. Now, I have never really cook before and the best I could do before this were probably frying eggs and rice. So, it was quite a challenge to me then but I was determined to try and learn. I would faithfully follow the book to the letter and whipped out dishes after dishes, and my wife was gracious enough to be my guinea pig to try them out. (Anyway, she does not have much of choice does she). I remembered one of our good friend (Winnie) commented that I looked funny running in and out of the kitchen with the recipe book in hand while cooking.

Over time, I began to get comfortable cooking and does not find the task daunting. In fact, I find it rather interesting and began to experiment with different ingredients. My passion for photography fueled my interest in cooking further because I delight to making sure that my dishes are `visually delicious and inviting'. Hence, my cooking adventure takes shape .....

In the last four years, some of our close friends and my sister have been kind enough to partake in most of my `food experiment' and Temptations @ Ara takes form, only opened to serve my lovely wife, my sister, family members and friends, sharing food, wine, beer, laughter and a good time.

Well, Temptations @ Ara served her last meal on 30th and 31st October 2012 with our shifting to Beijing in next several days. And who better should her last guest be if not, the very same person that prompted her very existence....my wife....

With the ingredients left in our fridge, Temptations @ Ara served the following:-

I missed my kitchen here but our life and adventure beckons us else where.

With these four dishes, all the pots and pans have been packed to be shipped to Beijing, and hopefully Temptations @ Beijing will open soon to cook for her number one fan....my wife....and whoever, who happen to drop by for a visit in the future and daring enough to try ....Till then, Tempations @ Ara signing off.....:)

A Sunday Japanese Theme Dinner at home

I still have a slap of tuna and a couple of scallops left over in the fridge that I must cooked soon. Since we were a little lazy to eat out again after eating out rather often recently, we have decided to have another home cooked meal tonight.

I went out and got myself some additional ingredients for tonight's dinner. I was thinking of a Japanese seafood dinner. Hence, I got myself a whole mackerel, 4 large prawns, some mangoes, red capsicum, mint leaves, lemon and some Japanese cucumber.

First dish would be Pan fried buttered prawn served with Japanese Mayo and Mango salsa.

To prepare the mango salsa, simply diced a ripe mango and red capsicum. Add some finely chopped mint leaves, lemon zest and half a lemon juice. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Mix well and leave in the fridge to be served later.

Add some butter to the pan and put in the prawns when it is hot. Do not overcooked.

Next dish is the Pan seared scallops served with Japanese Mayo.

Again, another rather simple dish to prepare. Simply season scallops with salt and black pepper and pan seared lightly in high heat. Do not overcooked as scallops will shrink and the meat will dry. 

For the main dish, I have the Oven Grilled Whole Mackerel.

Seasoned mackerel with salt, lemon juice and black pepper. Pre-heat oven at 250 degrees. Place mackerel into aluminium wrapped tray. Add olive oil and grill for 5 to 10 minutes depending on size of the fish.

And finally, the last dish for the night is Pan seared Tuna steak ...

This is another all time favorite at home. Simply season the tuna steak with black pepper on the for sides. Heat up the pan with olive oil. 

Using a tong, place the tuna steak first on one side onto the pan and seared till brown. Seared the side next to it and continue on all four sides. It is important to just seared lightly to ensure that the center of the tuna is still red and juicy. Using a sharp (and I mean really sharp knife), slice the tuna steak into thin slices and served with wasabi and japanese soy sauce.

And that is our dinner for our Sunday night at home .....

Moshi Moshi ....ohayo (gozaimasu)

Nope...I am not in Japan right now (though I would definitely wish that I am and I am pretty sure that I will make my way there soon, especially during the sakura season).

My house turned Japanese last night when I decided to cook something Japanese for my wifey.

I was having a drink with my buddy and on the way back, I saw this beautiful whole salmon head at the fish section. Curious, I asked them to weigh it and I was pleasantly surprised that it was only RM14.95....I thought to myself...I could do something with this....

So, without hesitation, I told them to wrap it up and I headed home for my food adventure. I remembered that I still have a piece of salmon in my fridge that I bought the other day. I was inspired from a dish I saw on the menu recently while having a japanese lunch with my colleagues the other day. So, I bought a mango as well .....

And, this is what I served last night for dinner .....

Starter : Mango wrapped in Salmon sashimi, topped with Japanese mayo ..

(I saw a specialty sushi from a Japanese restaurant where they served salmon with mango and I thought I could do the same but with a twist. I would say that the texture of the salmon and the mango blended well, not to mention the taste of all three major ingredients which is the freshness of the salmon, the sweetness of the mango and the Japanese mayo)

Oven Grill Salmon Head with salt

(This dish is our all time favorite at home. It is actually extremely easy to prepare. Simply marinate the salmon head with salt and black pepper and place in the oven to grill at 250 degrees for about 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size and thickness of the head. Served with lemon and wasabi and Japanese soya sauce)

Last night was meant to be a fast and simple meal as wifey said that she was on the way back and was extremely hungry.

The following are some other Japanese dishes that we cooked some time back. I love doing Japanese because they are much simpler to manage as far as I am concerned.

Pan seared Salmon steak served with wasabi. 

(Another fast dish to prepare and serve. Sprinkle some salt and pepper onto the salmon steak. Heat up your pan to high heat and place the salmon with the skin side down on the pan. Depending on the thickness and the heat of the pan, seared for anything between 2 to 3 minutes. You might to sear it longer if you prefer your salmon more cooked. We love them lightly cooked.)

Oven baked scallops with Japanese Mayo

(Another all time favorite at home. Simply place scallop on scallop shell, if you have one. If not place on small dish which can be placed in the oven. Add finely cut Japanese mushrooms and topped with generous helping of Japanese Mayo. Placed the scallop in the oven and baked. Once the mayo brown, remove from oven, sprinkle with finely cut chilly and chives and served hot)

Prawns with Teriyaki sauce

(Simply marinate prawns with Teriyaki sauce. Served with Japanese mushrooms cooked with teriyaki sauce as well)

Now....where did I put my bottle of sake ......hehehehe 

Oven Baked Honey Lemon Chicken with Honey Lemon White Wine Sauce

We have been eating out for quite a number of weeks now and wifey was sought of hinting for some home cooked food. Honestly, I am also tired of eating outside as we have grown tired of the choices that we have around our place.

With the new maid around to help to clean up my cooking mess, I have decided to whip out something for tonight's dinner. Since my mother in law is around to help look after Chenya and watch over the new maid, I have decided to cook her favourite 'Creamy Broccoli Soup'.

For our main course, I have decided to cook an Oven baked Honey Lemon Chicken Drumstick served with Honey Lemon White Wine Sauce." My biggest weakness has always been making the sauce for the dishes. I was game to give it another try this round and hopefully to get it right this time ...

The final outcome .....

I am an adventurer when it comes to cooking. I don't have any particular technique and neither am I professionally trained. I goes with my feel of how I think the meal will look and taste like ...

This is not exactly a recipe that you could probably reproduce the above (God, I can't even guarantee I could reproduce that the next time I try ...hahahahaha)

• Marinate the chicken drumstick with black pepper, thyme, rosemary, honey, lemon juice, brown sugar, lemon zest and salt. I left the chicken drumstick marinated for more than 2 hours today.
• Preheat your oven at 250 degrees for 10 minutes.
• Lay marinated chicken drumstick in a baking tray with the skin facing up. Melt some butter and pour the melted butter over the chicken drumstick.
• Cover the chicken drumstick with an sheet of aluminium foil and backed for 15 minutes. (I have learnt the hard way that if I don't cover the chicken drumstick with the foil and baked, I  will without fail overcook my chicken leaving them burnt and dry when I managed to brown the chicken skin) By covering them with the aluminium foil, I will be able to cook the chicken well and yet retain all the juices and moisture.
• Once 15 minutes is up, remove the covering foil and baked the chicken drumstick for another 5 minutes. (This will help to brown the chicken skin for that brown juicy look)
• For the sauce, melt a fair amount of butter on a sauce pan.
• Pour the remaining juice used to marinate the chicken into the sauce pan and shimmer over low heat.
• Add more pepper, salt and rosemary to taste.
• Add whip cream for the added creamy taste.
• Add white wine to taste.
• Reduce over low heat. Add a touch of corn starch to thicken the sauce.
• For the side dishes, I have used white button mushrooms, baby carrots, corn and asparagus. Heat up the pan with some olive oil. 
• Add the mushrooms, baby carrots and corn and sauteed with some oyster sauce till cooked.
• Remove the above and then add in asparagus and lighted tossed with some olive oil. Take heed not to overcook the asparagus.
• Serve hot.

There you have it, my home cooked version of Oven Baked Honey Lemon Chicken Drumstick served with Honey Lemon White Wine Sauce. Please don't ask me why it might not turn out nice because I probably won't be able to help you....Hahahaha...And bear in mind that I am a pretty good photographer too...so what you see might not be what you get on your plate .....;)

Till the next dish, here is Chef Rod signing off from Temptations @ Ara ....:)