Au Revoir, Singapour - Recipe: Steak Au Poivre

Against Singapore's striking skyline, a group of students cheer each other on at the Marina Barrage

When I look back at the year that has been "Sinning in Singapore", I am filled with a deep sense of gratitude. The circumstances that brought me across the causeway to make this country my new home were difficult, the reasons for staying rooted even more so, but I now know that I would not have had it any other way. Over the last twelve months, I've had to take a long, hard look at myself and what I want out of life.  By forcing me to acknowledge the mistakes of my past, I gained the invaluable experience of knowing myself better (the good, the bad and the ugly) and hopefully, with this knowledge, I can learn to be a better daughter, sister, friend, "mother" to Cooper, student. The last year gave me the opportunity to grow intellectually, emotionally and socially (too bad not economically) and to reevaluate my values and the principles that guide me.

Some of the oldest and most beautiful trees in Singapore can be found in Bukit Timah

Before I came here I was told that Singapore was not a nice place to live in - people told me that it would be too materialistic, too scripted, too sterile. I have to acknowledge that there are certainly some elements of truth there, but then again, all societies it would seem suffer from those traits, just in varying degrees. I have come to find Singapore quite charming (if only for the fact that it is refreshing to be in a country where things operate smoothly!). As I move my boxes and bags by the door and the clock ticks closer to this evening that will see me hop onto the plane to Paris, I am thinking about my most memorable moments of the year, inter alia:

• My brother and I struggling with my grocery cart full of wine and cartons of coke and 100 plus at Shop & Save at Westmall, and grunting as we carried our groceries to our shared apartment in the early days.
• My "secret" walks with S at the Botanic Gardens after economics and behind the library during night classes, when we just couldn't concentrate anymore.
• Saturday mornings at the Bukit Timah market, stopping to talk to the mutton, vegetable, and noodle sellers who often wondered whether I was feeding a family of ten.
• Running all around Singapore taking photos and having dim sum with KT and PC in Chinatown.
• Early morning breakfasts and walks with Cooper at the Botanic Gardens.
• The chaos, crowds...oh and hmmm, the food at Little India
• Watching the cars zip by along Dunearn Road with B on Sunday mornings
• Gal time with G - meeting at Robinsons, catching a rom-com at Plaza Sing and lounging by the pool during the weekends
• Having a quiet chat with TM and Z about relationships in a corner of the tree-lined, quaint BTC campus
• Getting my hands utterly smothered with chilly crab at East Coast Parkway
• Enjoying great conversations, facilitated by soggy fries and sauvignon blanc, at the Wine Company
• Driving through Singapore, just like the old days, with dad and mum to look for items for the house, stopping for chicken rice for lunch.
• Looking for the "elephant" of Linden Drive and talking late into the night with S, with Amby and Rover by our side
• Hyperventilating while driving through the narrow streets of Serangoon Gardens
• Watching the ships, tankers and the blinking lights of Sentosa while enjoying a glass (or two) at the Promenade
• Nighttime walks, especially after the rain, at Hillview
• Dancing at a concert at the Esplanade, even though I probably looked like a fool

Nothing says Gong Xi Fa Cai like a steaming hotpot

At the end of the day, life, I suppose,  is not one big thing, one big goal, one big moment, but a million different things all jumbled together. So much of what I associate Singapore with has revolved around the kitchen - having friends over for a dinner party, cooking half a cow for the brother, reuniting with my loved ones for Chinese New Year and Christmas. So, Au Revoir, Singapour - I will miss you.

To symbolize the move, I am presenting below, a recipe for Steak Au Poivre, a classic French sauce that is absolutely exquisite. I am also sharing some tips on cooking steak, a meal that I've always been a little afraid to serve because of how badly it can go. The recipe is per portion, but you can easily double or triple up if you're feeding a crowd.

Ingredients
1 rib eye steak, about 1-1 1/2 inches thick, weighing about 200g each
1 clove garlic, smashed lightly
1 stick of rosemary
Olive oil to drizzle
Fleur de sel and freshly cracked pepper to taste

For the sauce:
2 shallots, minced finely
2 tbsp Cognac
1/4 cup reduced brown stock
2-3 tbsp whipping or thickened cream
Freshly chopped parsley to garnish
Fleur de sel and coarsely cracked pepper to taste

First, prepare your steak. Place your steak in a bowl large enough to accommodate the whole piece. Pat dry with paper towels. Rub salt and some pepper onto the meat. Drizzle olive oil, about 1-2 tbsp over the steak on both sides. Rub the clove of garlic over the meat and give it a light whack or two with your stick of rosemary for extra flavour. Leave aside for about 1 hour - this helps to bring the meat to room temperature.

Heat a non-stick pan over high heat until it begins to smoke slightly. Take it off the heat and add steak to the pan. Sear for 3-4 minutes on one side. Reduce heat to medium-low, turn steak over and cook for another minute or so for rare, or 3-4 minutes for medium. At this stage you can test for doneness by pressing the steak with your thumb. It should feel rubbery and make a slight dent (like putty) if its medium and rather firm (like a just ripe mango) if its well done. When steak is cooked to your liking, remove to a serving plate and tent with aluminum foil.

In the same pan, brown your shallots, scraping the bottom of the pan. When shallots are wilted, add Cognac and let most of it boil away. Add reduced brown stock to the pan, crank up the heat a little and simmer for another 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add cream and a generous handful of coarsely cracked black pepper. Add salt to taste and garnish with parsley. Pour sauce over the steak and serve immediately.

Recipe: Peppery Pork Tenderloin Stir-fry with Mushrooms

Pepper has been cultivated by native farmers in Sarawak for many generations, and constitutes an important cash crop for the local economy

Pepper is probably the most widely used spice throughout the world, and no wonder. Just a dash of freshly cracked pepper over the top can liven up pasta, add balance to a sweet or salty dish, and bring assertiveness to an otherwise plain sauce. Whether its white, black or pink, most of the dishes I make  at home come with a hefty dose of pepper. Having recently traveled to Sarawak, I managed to see the pepper plants (yes, they come from plants, not mines, B), cultivated by Iban farmers, along the Kuching-Serian stretch.

Pork and pepper are a match made in heaven. Growing up, my mother often made Teochew porridge for lunch. As those of you know, paring dishes with the plain porridge is absolutely key. My mother always served the right mix of savoury dishes that made for a great Sunday meal (followed by a short nap in the afternoon). One of them was a simple stir-fry of pork slices or liver with slivers of ginger and pepper. This is an adaptation of this dish with a slight Thai touch.

Ingredients:
1 pork tenderloin (about 350-500g), sliced into wafer thin pieces
1 small carrot, sliced thinly diagonally
125 g button mushrooms, sliced thinly
2 slices young ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 spring onion stalks, sliced thinly diagonally into 2 inch pieces
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp Shao xing wine
Salt, pepper and sugar to taste
1/4 cup water
Drizzle of sesame oil

For the sauce:
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp freshly cracked white pepper

Marinate pork tenderloin with Shao xing wine, a dash of salt, pepper and sugar. Add cornstarch to the bowl and mix well. Set aside for half an hour.

Heat non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and add oil. Swirl to coat. Add ginger and garlic and fry gently until fragrant. Add pork tenderloin and stir-fry until it changes colour, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and carrots and fry for another 3-4 minutes or until mushrooms release their liquid. Sprinkle in water, add in sauce ingredients, lower heat and simmer, covered for another few minutes or until pork is fully cooked. Add spring onions and a drizzle of sesame oil, if using, and mix well. Serve hot.

Malaysia is among the top 5 pepper producers in the world. Sarawak black pepper in particular is famous for its distinctive flavour.

Recipe: Summer Minestrone with Pesto

The Cameron Highlands, home to some of the most beautiful highlands forests in the world

Whew - it's been a busy summer, and I've spent most of it outside of Singapore. Of the many beautiful places there are in Malaysia, I have a soft spot for the Cameron Highlands. With its rolling hills of tea plantations, waterfalls and highland forests, my family and I have often sought refuge at one of the colonial bungalows owned by a friend of the family. Cameron Highlands is also a green bowl, supplying vegetables, flowers and fruit to the Malaysian and Singaporean markets. I recently volunteered with one of the NGOs that has been fighting overdevelopment and pollution in the area for many years. It was a programme to teach school teachers how to monitor the quality of the water from streams and rivers in the area. I was horrified to discover that the farms, no longer small-scale, family sized operations, but mega commercial enterprises, are still leaching poisonous chemicals such as DDT as well as human and animal excrement directly into the water sources. It saddened me to see how much the Cameron Highlands has been destroyed over the years as a result of unsustainable development and badly planned tourism. To find out how you can help preserve the Camerons, visit the website of R.E.A.C.H.

With the summer almost over, I decided to make a delightfully light and refreshing minestrone using the best seasonal vegetables I could find. It comes together fairly easily and is a lovely alternative to the heavier, tomato-based minestrone soups you get at most restaurants. You want to make sure that the vegetables are crisp tender, so be sure to add the ingredients in the order given. I made a batch of pesto which you can stir into the soup or add a dollop over the top. Fresh basil is the main herb used.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium leek, chopped and washed in several changes of water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium brown onion, cubed
1 medium carrot, cubed
1 stalk celery, sliced thinly
2 slender and vine-ripened plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and cubed
1 medium Russet potato, cubed
1/2 head small cabbage, cut into small pieces
1 small zucchini, cubed
50g small pasta shapes (such as shells or elbow macaroni)
100 g snow peas, trimmed and stringed
1/4 cup canned kidney or cannellini  beans, rinsed
1 1/2 litres clear vegetable stock
1 stalk basil, leaves removed and shredded
1 bay leaf
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Maintain a gentle simmer to ensure even cooking

In a large stock pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add olive oil. Sweat the leak, onion and garlic gently for about 2 minutes. Add carrot, celery and tomatoes and fry for 2 minutes. Pour in the stock, add the basil and the bay leaf and season to taste. When the soup comes to a boil, add potatoes and cabbage and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Add pasta and simmer for another 8 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Finally stir in zucchini, snow peas and beans. Serve hot with pesto and crusty bread on the side. Garnish with chopped parsley if desired.

Basil Pesto:

4 handfuls of fresh basil leaves (from about 3 large bunches)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
4 garlic cloves
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
1/4 cup freshly grated pecorino cheese (optional)
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
Freshly chopped parsley leaves (optional)

Toast pine nuts in a dry skillet until lightly brown. Remove to a plate to cool. In a blender, combine the basil, olive oil, pine nuts and garlic cloves and blend until you get a smooth paste. Add the cheese if using, salt and pepper and blitz everything together in the blender for another 3 seconds. Transfer to a small bowl