braised.duck

you've been on the foodie mood. somehow the festive and the food has led you down the memory lane of no return. you are not deprive but reminisce. you try to create the atmosphere and the food that you once forgotten but they come back to you slowly and surely.

one of the must have dish for chinese new year back home and back then was braised duck (打卤鸭), in your dialect it's called "pa lo ark", you remember your mum will always ask you to pound the galangal ginger and somehow you developed certain allergy and your hands usually numb and red for a period of time after touching the galangal yet you love to eat the braised duck that full of the scents of five spice in combination of the galangal ginger.

this is probably the darkest duck dish and you love the egg that braised along side the duck. it's all great and gets even better the next day and it's best to eat the gravy with rice porridge.
those were the day, it has long gone and you have totally forgotten the taste of reunion dinner at home. not that you don't observe the occasion anymore just that the dishes served in lowland are never the same.

you couldn't wait for dinner, so while he's busy, you had a taste of the braised egg and the sauce with the leftover noodles from a day before.

braised duck teochew style, not too photogenic but taste almost similar to the one you last had at home and the only difference is the quality of the galangal ginger and the duck. you didn't get any allergy reaction while and after handling the ginger. good in a way, bad may be the ginger didn't give enough gingery taste and fragrance in the duck. and the dark.

today had a long day at the church, the sermon (matthew 19:21) talked about going through the needle's head an illustration of the fact that if you want to enter through the needle's head, you have to priority what is important and matters to you, be willing to let go as the door is already small, your burdens and baggage will not get through with you via that small entrance. God wants you to release your earthly ties easily so that He can bring you through the gate of His plan and Glory and the moment you let go of those bond, God Himself will pull you into His glorious kingdom and plan.  simple truth, profound and it requires a lot of courage to put into practice.

good night, tomorrow is another early day for you and a long week too!