#whoa oh there it goes cook them up with salt and cloves

[ghostjellydraws]

whoa oh there it goes

feeling very normal about today's @re-dracula episode

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So I needed to use up an open carton of chicken broth and I also had some tofu I’d been planning to make crispy tofu with, so the obvious answer was ramen. But I don’t really like brothy soups and I generally try to eat buckwheat soba or very small amounts of western noodles in noodle dishes due to the diabetes. I also tend to like Vietnamese food so I was like fuck it let’s make a pale imitation of pho with soba noodles.

I need to go shopping so I have like nothing in the house, but I mix up the tofu and put it in the oven and then I put the stock on the stove to boil with some water (because I only had 2 cups stock). I try to remember what goes in pho or in ramen for that matter, and I’m very sad that I have no bean sprouts or cilantro in the house but I do have some very elderly carrots and some reasonably fresh garlic, so I matchstick the least pathetic carrots and thinly slice an enormous clove of garlic and add those to the simmering broth.

Then I sit down for a bit because I exploded my spine a few months ago and sometimes that means you sit down a lot.

When the tofu was ready to come out of the oven I set it out to cool and then added two bundles of soba to the broth because I didn’t want a ton of broth and I did want leftovers. (Mistake; should’ve just done one bundle. Oh well.) My green onions are even more pathetic than my carrots but I slice up the best bits and roughly chop a small handful of salted roasted peanuts.

When the soba’s cooked I take the broth off the heat, lift out as many noodles as I want, and ladle some broth over them. I add the scallions, the peanuts, a few dashes of fish sauce, a few dashes of soy sauce, and the juice of half a lime. I stir in a fistful or so of arugula until it’s partly wilted. (Because I think bitter greens go better with Asian food and that’s the one I have on hand.) I add a handful or so of roasted tofu. I realize a ramen egg would be killer with this but oh well too late to make one now. I dig a lemon ginger kombucha out of the fridge.

It is… almost unfairly good? I genuinely don’t understand how I made something this good out of the pathetic scrapings of my fridge. Aren’t you supposed to suffer for good food? (Whoa where did I learn to think like that?)

I am incapable of eating noodles like a sane adult, which is another reason why I don’t eat much ramen. I slurp them and I bite them and they make a mess and I generally look like a weird little noodle gremlin. But I don’t care. I MADE these and they’re GOOD. How did I do it? I don’t know. It has something to do with my girlfriend though. She can’t cook for me right now, but she cooks for me like she loves me, and it makes me want to cook like I love myself. I took a picture for her, see?

This recipe won’t win any awards. It’s not authentic. It would be better with sprouts, and cilantro, and a ramen egg. But it was good, and I made it myself, and I made it for myself, and I ate it. I’m proud of this recipe.

[almondbiscotti]

WFH Day 7: 15 April 2020

7.01am – Woke up randomly. Not sure if it was my alarm but I don’t remember turning it off. Realise the Housemate is still home. That’s odd, doesn’t his shift start at 7am!?

7.08am – Clearly Housemate is late hurhur. BYE HOUSEMATE I LOVE YOU

8.00am – Google alarm wakes me. Whoa, one hour felt like one second.

8.31am – AH FUCK IT’S 830!? I check in on dept group chat. 1 minute late but it’s fine. I guess ☹

8.32am – Why am I so tired?! I didn’t sleep very late yesterday! Must have been the damn work out yesterday. Gosh.

8.35am – Scroll scroll social media. Watch American YouTuber. Briefly consider doing my own vlogs. Argh but editing must be a bitch. And don’t think anyone really wants to watch my hobo self be marginally productive at home.

9.02am – Okay, time to get up proper. Standard morning routine. It’s not half as exciting as these YouTubers. Bowel movement (is it just me or do Housemate and I go through toilet paper like a bullet train?!?!?), wash face, brush teeth, smack some skin care product on my face. I’m not very conscientious with morning skin care. I supposed WFH should encourage me to be so but…. The hobo look is my jam.

9.23am – Fuss over my plant babies. I sowed some goji berry seeds some days ago. I hope all my positive thoughts and prayers help it grow!

9.36am – COFFEE! And water! I’ve really been drinking a lot of water recently. Is good. 😊 No dalgona coffee today because Housemate isn’t around to drink it with me. Also, a bit lazy. 3 in 1 is good enough for my peasant ass.

9.45am – Think about lunch. Should I defrost some meat? OH LET’S MAKE PRAWN AGLIO OGLIO!

9.46am – Take prawns out to defrost. The trick to excellent prawn pasta is frying prawn heads and shells in plenty of oil to make a crazy good prawn oil base. And a shit tonne of garlic. I LOVE GARLIC.

9.50am – OKAY WORK WORK WORK. CLEAR EMAILS!

10.14am – I think I shall make kimbap for dinner. Make NTUC shopping list for kimbap later. 😊 YAY

11.13am – Boss text to say need to delay our VC that was supposed to start at 11.30, to start at 11.45am. Hmmm I put on a nice shirt too early.

11.38 – VC gets cancelled cos boss’ previous meeting has majorly overran. I PUT ON A NICE SHIRT FOR NOTHING.

12.01pm – LUNCH TIME!!!

12.02pm – CHOP CHOP CHOP FRY FRY FRY. I use like 8 cloves of garlic for one serving of pasta. LOVE LOVE LOVE garlic.

12.28pm – Lunch is ready. Oily prawny carby goodness. I love. 😊 Prawn aglio oglio is great! I really enjoy making my own lunch now that I can at home. It’s a great destresser. Just don’t like washing up so much. 

12.40pm – I watch Yeolo as I eat. Seriously his face, I cannot.

1.02pm – Okay shower and prep my face for interviews later!

1.32pm – I look so put together when I put in some effort.

1.50pm – I chat with a director who is an interviewer with me while waiting for the other interviewers. I always like conversations with him. He’s funny. 😊

2.06pm – All my interviewers are here!

2.18pm – First interview starts!

2.32pm – Gosh, one of the interviewers is really intense! Brings back memories of my own interview many years ago.

3.24pm – Break time! Everyone goes to the toilet. Housemate is home! And he bought prata back for me! YAY!

3.30pm – Next candidate!

5.32pm – ALL DONE WITH INTERVIEWS!

5.34pm – MY TAOBAO PACKAGE IS HERE!

5.40pm – Jesus the amount of packaging. Also, package from China, I wipe the heck out of it with alcohol wipes. 

5.45pm – WHY ARE THERE SO MANY THINGS IN MY PACKAGE? I DON’T REMEMBER BUYING SO MANY THINGS?!?!?!?

5.57pm – Seriously, there are more free gifts than actual things I ordered what the flying fuck?

5.58pm – I mean, I’m not complaining but I bought just 3 skincare items and I got a humidifier, 2 travel packs, 5 face masks, a frickin PILLOW and a pouch in addition to the stuff I actually bought. WHAT. THE. WHAT. The auntie in me is incredibly happy, the Singaporean in me is bewildered and a little paranoid.

6.10pm – KIMBAP!!!! I ignore texts by colleagues. I’ll deal with them later after I get my KIM BAP!

6.11pm – Trip to NTUC to buy the ingredients I need.

7.02pm – Back home! KIM BAP KIM BAP KIM BAP

7.32pm – I have no idea how much rice to cook so I completely wing it. 1.5 cups seem about right. 

7.40pm – Spam, imitation crab, cucumber, carrot, egg, bucket loads of sesame oil, pinch of salt. LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE

7.50pm – I have way more ingredients than rice. I hope this works. 

8.02pm – HEYYYYY IT TASTES PRETTY GOOD! Even though I’m not using the right type of rice. And I have no bamboo mat to roll my rolls so my rolls are quite loose.

8.26pm – Housemate says nice! YAY!

9.20pm – I should probably email my colleague what she wanted. Meh.

9.52pm - I should approve all the leave and work related claims of my staff. Hopefully the work VPN doesn’t fail me. PLEASE DON’T FAIL ME. Patience is not a virtue I possess.

10.20pm - JESUS THIS VPN IS SLOW. At least it’s still spluttering along. Don’t die on me please. 

10.26pm – Phew finished all that I needed to finish! 😊

And there ends WFH day 7!