Confessions of a City Slicker

It’s Eleen’s b’day celebration and I decided to surprise her with homemade Hock Jew chicken. I remember her disappointment at not getting to eat the famous one at Kedah Road and since this is a traditional b’day dish as well, I thought it’s just perfect.

I’ve never cooked this dish before but after watching my Mom doing it, I was confident that I can pull it off with her supervision.

So here are the main ingredients:

Clockwise from L-R:

1 big piece of ginger
1 whole chicken
Fermented red rice
Chinese red wine (tastes like sparkling grape juice)

I got my chicken from Tesco, which is the only place I know where to get chicken from. Sorry, Sei Lou doesn’t know how to go jalan pasar :p

I’m not sure where to get the wine. The ones I used were given to us by relatives in Taiping. They are homemade, by the way, so the people who got to eat them that night really yau hau fook The bottle of wine Mom got earlier had the wine and paste already mixed in the bottle.

I was supposed to do the cooking, but because Mom had an appointment in the afternoon and I can only get home from choir practice late morning, she decided to prepare everything and do the cooking while I watch. Guess it’s a good thing because it will probably take me a few hours to cut up all those ginger :p

So first, we must fry the ginger. Heat enough sesame oil to fry the ginger until golden brown. Once done, remove and drain.

Leave the oil in the wok and saute some garlic. It’s not necessary to wait until they are fragrant or browned. You can throw in your chicken straight after that.

Let the chicken cook in the wok for a while then add in the fermented red rice paste. How much depends on the amount of chicken. Just go with your instincts. Stir in until all the chicken is coated with the paste then add water.

Again, this depends on how much soup you want to end up with. If you want more soup then add more water.

Give it a good stir then cover to simmer for about 10 minutes or until chicken is almost cooked then add the red wine. For the extra kick you can also stir in some Hsiao Hsing wine.

Add salt and sugar to taste.

Ta-dah…the finished product:

Garnish with the fried ginger before serving.

Mee is in heat.

We suspected this when we see a tom cat hanging around her. He’d stand at the glass door of our front porch and yowl at us every time we take Mee upstairs with us.

Being first time cat owners, we didn’t know what was in store for us with a female cat in heat.

After Googling it up did I realize that Mee had been displaying all the classic symptoms for weeks. They include:

• A tendency to rub herself against anything, be it the walls, cupboards, furniture or my legs so she can leave her scent for the tom cats to follow.
• Frequent meowing. We thought she was just trying to get our attention to play with her. It was really frustrating when she continued to meow even we were showering her with attention. Turns out this is her natural instinct to announce her availability to potential mates.
• Mood swings. Yeah, I have the scratch marks to show for it. It’s amazing how she can turn from this affectionate, docile kitty into a total shrew the minute we took her out of our front door. Guess she didn’t want anyone around to stop her suitors from approaching.
• Lifting up her butt whenever we stroke her.
• Keeping her visits to our apartment short. These days, she will follow us upstairs, have some food and walk around for a bit. After that, she will ask to be let out again so that she can go out and attract potential suitors.
• Spraying.  Female cats spray their pee on surfaces for tom cats to follow.  Thank God this has not happened.  Mom will throw a fit.

My research also tells me that the only solution is if she gets pregnant or we spay her. If she doesn’t get pregnant at the end of this season, she will start to be in heat again within 3 weeks. Yikes!

And get this - a famale cat can start to be in heat again within 7 days after delivery of her kittens. That’s quick!

I took her to the vet today. He was recommended by my cousin. Upon first meeting him, I thought he’s a little young, therefore a little inexperienced. But my uncle’s 2 precious dogs are his patients. He seems to be able to connect with animals better compared to the other vets I took my pets to in the past, so that’s a plus point.

Because Mee lives in the streets and we are all working, there won’t be anyone to take care of her until she recovers.

Therefore, she will be staying at the vet’s for about 10 days to recuperate.

I reckon these 10 days will pass by real slowly. It’s for her own good, but I’m gonna miss her so much. I’m gonna miss that sweet little face peeking at me on top of the flowerbeds or seeing her there waiting for me when I come home.

Gee, I didn’t realize how attached I’ve gotten to Mee until I broke down at the vet’s office.

I don’t think I will visit her because I don’t want to have to see her face as she sees me leaving without her, thinking that I had abandoned her there. The next time I see her, it will be to take her home with me.

But I promise you, Mee, I will come back for you. Then we can go on with this adventure of ours.

I’m very sure you will open up my eyes to so many more things that I have to learn to be worthy of you. I promise you, I will work very hard to learn as much as I can.

Promise!