Sinfully Singaporean

This blog has seen just about everything: the blues, attempts at literary and cultural criticism, frustrated rants, ecstatic verbal experiments, nasty comments, and even ruder rebuttals, flurries of readership, no readership, strange ideas, funky pictures, and even songs about dogs. But nothing will prepare you for what is about to be unveiled.

Since John is visiting from Chapel Hill, where he hasn't had much of an opportunity to eat Singaporean food (and faces half a year more of meal-plan fare when he goes back), I became obsessed with the idea that we should make something sinfully Singaporean. While he's been here, we've done Hainanese Chicken Rice, regular Chinese stir fry stuff, Assam fish curry, herbal chicken soup, and a range of different noodles .... So it only seemed natural that we cook the ultimate male-Singaporean fantasy: Kong Bak Pau.

The run up to the Kong Bak Pau. Under Edna's directions (and a phone call home to her mom), I decided to stew the thing overnight. So the Kong Bak project became strangely tied into the Bak Kut Teh he had the night before. I cooked both simultaneously, but the photos really concentrate on the Kong Bak.

The Bak Kut Teh:
Easy and yumy. Just tossed in lots of garlic with the packaged mixes and spare ribs. We tossed in chicken (for Edna, who was thoroughly disgusted with all the pork being processed for consumption ...)and some taupok squares. We managed to find Yu Teow (which were packaged as "chinese doughnuts") at the Oriental Mart and though they were a little dense, they worked nicely with the Bak Kut Teh.









The Kong Bak.
So, the pictures pretty much speak for themselves. I had a great time cooking it, especially grossing everyone out with how much fat there is on belly pork. I managed to hew away quite chunk, and also scooped away lots of fat that coagulated on the stew. The seasoning was easy -- some dark soy sauce, cloves of garlic, two cinnamon sticks, and a splash of five-space powder. And the thing just stewed ...



















Preparing the sum jium bak. And soaking the dried mushrooms.
Sourdough swooning over the possibilities ...










The Kong Bak after several hours of stewing and refrigeration. The white stuff is all coagulated lard that needed scooping up. I think it looks like Chai Dao Kway.













Scraping away yet more fat. John getting ready to dig in -- or is it really a look of apprehension and fear of clogged arteries? Kong Bak Pau!

Songs from the Sourdough

Here's another installment of "Songs from the Sourdough". Listen to it and you'll get a pretty good idea of the kinds of mischief Sourdough gets up to daily.

Rusty Tongue

My dog's got a rusty tongue
My dog's got a rusty tongue
My dog's got a rusty tongue
She's gone and licked up all
The strings of my guitar
My dog's got a rusty tongue

My dog's got a salty mouth
My dog's got a salty mouth
My dog's got a salty mouth
She's gone and eaten all
The cheese from the store
My dog's got a salty mouth

My dog's got crunchy teeth
My dog's got crunchy teeth
My dog's got crunchy teeth
She's gone and chewed up all
The dried and frozen leaves
My dog's got crunchy teeth

My dog's got a cold wet snout
My dog's got a cold wet snout
My dog's got a cold wet snout
Into snow she's burrowed deep
With her hands and feet
My dog's got a cold wet snout

My dog's got a stinky nose
My dog's got a stinky nose
My dog's got a stinky nose
She's gone and sniffed up all
The socks left in their shoes
My dog's got a stinky nose

My dog's got furry paws
My dog's got furry paws
My dog's got furry paws
She's gone and hoovered all
The dirt from the carpet floor
My dog's got furry paws

My dog's got a wriggly butt
My dog's got a wriggly butt
My dog's got a wriggly butt
When she tries to dance
She bounces on her bum
My dog's got a wriggly butt

My dog's got tired eyes
My dog's got tired eyes
My dog's got tired eyes
She's gone and read up all
The books of medieval lore
My dog's got tired eyes

My dog's got real bored ears
My dog's got real bored ears
My dog's got real bored ears
All she ever hears
Are tunes from this guitar
My dog's got real bored ears

My dog's got a rusty tongue
My dog's got a rusty tongue
My dog's got a rusty tongue
She's gone and licked up all
The strings of my guitar
My dog's got a rusty tongue

The Sidney Awards

Links to some great reading ... here and here

[sic]

Okay, this is a little strange but here goes. Anyone reading academic articles inevitably comes across that little notation "sic", inserted to indicate an error in whatever one is quoting. "Sic", which translates from the Latin as "Thus,so", is meant to indicate that the error is present in the original and not through the fault or oversight of the present writer.

I've always wondered why people bother – might as well just correct the 'error', especially if it's a grammatical or spelling mistake. But "sic" is often used as a dig at whomever one quotes as well. First, it demonstrates fallibility in one's sources, especially useful if you're arguing against them. Second, "sic" can be put to ideological uses as well. If one reads feminist journals, one comes across examples such as

"Speech is no mere verbalization of conflicts and systems of domination. . . it is the very object of man's [sic] conflicts" (Foucault 1972b, 216)

I'm assuming that "sic" was used because the authors of the essay objected to Foucault's (or the translator of Foucault's) universalizing use of "man" to refer to "humankind".

And what really prompted this entry. Check out the multiple "sic"s on the tracklisting of this CD of Rev. Gary Davis, one of the greatest blues/ragtime/gospel fingerstyle guitarists that ever recorded material! I can't for the life of me figure out why "sic" is used here. Ok ... maybe "Baby, What You Going To Do" (track 3) is ungrammatical (but come on, it's a title and these are the blues... ) and perhaps these were titles the Rev. gave to his performances aren't the proper ones.

Anyway – it's just really strange.

Nothing but the Radio on ...

It must be the terrible weather that makes you turn on the radio a lot (internet radio in this case) and hang out with voices coming across the void on waves of sound. A few weeks ago, we attended a "Sweet Honey in the Rock" concert. It was superb acapella singing for over two hours and extremely inspiring as well. I'd learnt about the group when I was in JC (and getting into the whole protest music phase) and it was a real treat to watch them in concert. Anyway, here's a link to the NPR page where they perform and talk about their music. At least listen to the track "I Remember, I Believe", which was written by the founder of the group Bernice Johnson Reagon. It's a tremendously good song and it's sung fantastically by the group.

Another thing I've been listening to is the "Prairie Home Companion". It sounds silly, but there's some great humor and bluegrass, folk, jazz, and gospel on the program. The host, Garrison Keller, is really funny and sings wonderfully too and they've got great special effects guys doing all sorts to sound effects acrobatics. A recent program featured Billy Collins, a former poet laureate whose office was right opposite mine at Lehman College (Never caught a glimpse of him though -- must have had different teaching days). Anyway, his poems are really great -- funny, smart and poignant. Here's a link to the program, and play the clip from about 10.35 to hear Collins read. The third poem, "Schoolsville", came on while I was picking up some groceries. He started reading it just about when I pulled into the carpark so I stayed in the car, because the moment was just perfect. The show also features the wonderful Madeleine Peyroux!

Iron and Wine

By divine providence and sheer good luck (actually I was searching for something for a section title for my chapter), I visited the "Morning Becomes Eclectic" and Lo and Behold, Iron and Wine was slated to play live at the station!
It's worth a listen if you like Iron and Wine. If you aren't already a fan, I sure this set will convert you. He mainly sings material from his new album : The Shepherd's Dog. He does an acoustic version of "Boy with a Coin" which is really great, even though the rich textures of the album version is also mind-blowing. He also sings the extremely moving "Ressurection Fern" and does a very tender version of the epic song "The Trapeze Swinger" (where there's a point when he has to censor himself for radio), and the hauntingly beautiful (if grammatical strange) "He Lays in the Reins".

Listen to it here! (I'm glad I listened to it 'live' cause the link doesn't seem to work properly -- then again, it might just be my connection and you might have better luck)

Other Iron and Wine performances:
NPR World Cafe. (Interview and Studio performance)
In Concert

Sourdough's Song

Sourdough shows why every dog should have her own theme song. For those of you who want to hear it (and those of you who want to turn it off just in time), it comes on in the second half of the video. In the meantime, one could do worse than Gerry Mulligan playing at the Village Vanguard ...

Sourdough in the Snow

Meme (with thanks to and text from AnonymousNoises)

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, iPaq etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool…

01 - OPENING CREDITS: Penance (OST The Mission) - Ennio Morricone
02 - WAKING UP: Vertigo -Chris Potter
03 - FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL: Easter - Patti Smith Group
04 - FALLING IN LOVE: Free - Ornette Coleman
05 - FIGHT SONG: Old Friends - Simon and Garfunkel
06 - BREAKING UP: Bad Whiskey - Skip James
07 - PROM: My Old Flame - Charlie Parker
08 - LIFE: African Mailman - Nina Simone
09 - MENTAL BREAKDOWN: Love Comes to Me - Bonnie "Prince" Billy
10 - DRIVING: Freedom Time - Lauryn Hill
11 - FLASHBACK: Equinox - John Coltrane
12 - WEDDING: Breathless - The Corrs
13 - BIRTH OF CHILD: Lazy Bones - Skip James
14 - FINAL BATTLE: Blue in Green - Bill Evans Trio
15 - DEATH SCENE: Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues - Bob Dylan
16 - FUNERAL SONG: All or Nothing At All - Diana Krall
17 - END CREDITS: You Got the Pocket Book, I Got the Key - Stefan Grossman

Sourdough plays fetch!