Ramblings About My Life..

"Bak Kut Teh" In Sheffield!

Believe it or not, something truly out-of-this-world happened tonight. I actually ate "bak kut teh" for my supper just 15 minutes ago! It wasn't from a Chinese takeaway nor the Hall's cafeteria - some of my friends actually cooked it from scratch! Amazing! This "bak kut teh" supper was the brainchild of Mark, who desperately wanted to eat some before the week was over - he was was hankering after it so much that we decided to just go ahead with his idea in order to get some peace! Hahaha... Well, actually, I think most of us were sick with eating the typical British fare they serve at every meal, so we were actually quite eager to get some good-old Chinese fare for a change. We sourced some of the ingredients needed from a Chinese supermarket in the city centre, whereas the rest was provided by Wong KK, a.k.a "Ah Wong". He and Mark did the bulk of the cooking, whereas Sue-Ann and myself were in charge of inviting people to our impromptu cook-in in Jonas Court's common pantry. I think we did quite a good job in getting people to come - there were 14 people crammed into Jonas Court's common pantry tonight!

The "bak kut teh" was cooked in 3 rice-cookers since we couldn't get hold of a pot large enough to hold enough of the soup for everybody. A suggestion to use the bathtub as a pot was forwarded by me, and although it generated plenty of laughter, the suggestion was finally rejected on the grounds that we wouldn't be able to find enough dry wood to start a bonfire underneath the bathtub. Rice and dessert ("tong sui", a sweet soup with longans and red beans and whatnot) were cooked in separate rice-cookers. We even had starters - microwaved chicken drumsticks! I really salute Ah Wong. He thought of everything and did everything. Instead of being just another supper, it became a full-course meal, complete with starters, a main course, dessert, fruit (strawberries) and finally drinks. The meal itself was super-fun - everyone stood around the miniscule dining table talking and eating. Personally, I prefer socialising this way - rather than standing in a bar/club with music blaring so loud you can't hear yourself think, in surroundings shrouded by cigarette smoke and under the influence of alcohol.

Except for the girls, everybody else had multiple helpings, and by the time we finally stopped eating, everyone was basically stuffed to the max. We then talked for nearly two hours non-stop in the kitchen, and I think this is the first time that all the Malaysians in Halifax Hall actually gathered together to socialise. We're usually split into two groups, and I find myself with one group one moment and with another the next since I have friends in both. Hahaha... We even had two HK students, a Chinese and a Taiwanese joining us! We had to stop our little supper by 11pm, or else we'd be transgressing the Hall's "no-noise after 11pm" policy, so everyone left after washing up (to an extent anyway). It was extremely fun - hopefully we'll do it again! Haha!

posted by yong chen @ 12:16 AM