I am Fusion Queen

I’ve had a lot of people ask me what type of cuisine I like. Only a couple of days ago Wengang and Liwen asked me if I preferred Asian or western food. I always get stumped there, because being raised in different areas with all sorts of cultures and cuisines, I had no definite cuisine I particularly preferred the most, just like there is no particular language I can call my mother tongue (I can speak, write, and read Korean, English, Chinese, and some Spanish, but have accents in all of them!)

I am Korean and raised in an Asian community, but my taste preferences are different from that of most other Asians. Unlike my parents, who will probably die if they didn’t at least have their mandatory bowl of rice and kimchi at least for one meal a day, I’ll be content to live off bread and cheese and omelets for the rest of my life.

I love western food: potatoes, breakfasty items with eggs, bread, steak, etc. But like most Asians, I sometimes find western cuisine quite tiring and bland, their list of ingredients limited, their sauces too rich and creamy, and their desserts way too cloyingly sweet for my Asian taste.

Now I love many Asian ingredients, such as ginger, soy sauce, bean sprouts, curry, taro, adzuki beans, green tea, and I adore spicy food – tabasco ain’t got nothing on good ol’ Singapore chili! I also love the abundance and variety of the produce and ingredients and spices in Asian cuisine. But I hate most Korean and Chinese food, I loathe anything with rice, and I never really enjoyed tofu.

So my favorite cuisine? I think it’s becoming clear, considering what I tend to eat, is that my type of cuisine is western-style Asian food. What’s the point of this self-absorbed babble, you ask? Well, I just thought it would be nice to do a brief explanation as to why the dishes I create are usually some sort of fusion. Plus, I like to talk about myself. Oh, and because today’s theme is fusion food.

Lunch yesterday was one such example of my Asian-western fusion preference. I actually did not plan this dish out in advance; I just threw together what I had to create a fast and simple dish to satisfy all areas of my cravings. I was craving both sweet and spicy, so those were the two flavors I incorporated into my Sweet and Spicy Omelet:

This was just a basic two whole egg + two egg white omelet made creamier with a splash of milk. It was the filling that kicked it up a notch. The sweet: Chopped apples and red onions.

The spicy: Two whole pieces of otah. And some cheddar cheese to bind it altogether with its gooey cheesiness.

Despite the rather weird combination of ingredients, I was pleasantly surprised with how tasty this dish was! It hit all my cravings, and I loved how the apples provided a slight crunch. They weren’t overly sweet, in fact they actually just really perfumed the omelet with a nice, fruity fragrance and flavor. The occasional bite of egg with the otah provided a nice spicy kick, toned down perfectly by the sweetness of the apples and onions.

And the cheese! I just love how it just oozes out between the fluffy egg pillow…What is an omelet without cheese?

I chowed down this lovely fusion omelet with some roasted pumpkin as well:

I had discipleship training last night, so dinner was packed: yogurt with mangosteen and pineapples, 10 mini chicken hotdogs, and four medium roasted sweet potatoes.

Onto today's eats! I realized I haven't shared my breakfast for quite some time, so took the pain to take a couple of quick pictures:

Plain yogurt with a few drops of pandan extract, and tons of fruits: Pineapple, apples, pear, mangosteen, grapefruit, dragonfruit. And a handful of Fiber One cereal on top with liberal sprinkles of ground cinnamon. Perfect for a hot and humid day in Singapore.

And then lunch! Lunch was another fusion creation. I felt like making a burger, but didn't have any beef at hand. So I just did a combo of ground pork and tofu, with lots of ginger and garlic and s&p to taste.

I "grilled" that up on top of a skillet, then put the burger into a bowl. Meanwhile, I whipped together an egg and some water with s&p, poured the mixture over the burger, chopped up some cilantro over it, then steamed the bowl until the egg was set. The result:

I'm calling it Grilled Pork/tofu Hamburg in Steamed Egg.

This was really very good. It was so moist and juicy because of the tofu, and because of its minimal ingredients, the flavors were fresh and simple. The egg was especially flavorful due to the juices from the burger.

I also baked a potato, but this time in a new creative spin: I made purple potato fans! Basically, just thinly slice the potato, just not all the way true, then sprinkle it with some olive oil, salt and pepper, and bake it in the oven until done.

I also spread some cucumber-chive cheese spread all over.

I absolutely loved how this turned out! It's so simple and easy! But the best part about it is that it gave me the best of both worlds: crispy chips and tender creamy potato both in one single potato.

The outside was really crispy and crunchy like potato chips, but the inside stayed tender and creamy like a regular baked potato. I was like a little kid, peeling off each slice, nibbling off the crunchy exterior before finally popping the soft interior into my mouth.

Altogether: Grilled pork/tofu hamburg in steamed egg, purple potato fans, cooked cabbage, and iced mango-green tea. And a very happy tummy.

For afternoon snack, I had two huge Jollibean peanut pancakes again. Yes, this time, both of them were BIG. I'm liking the Jollibean lady now. On the negative side, I totally ruined my appetite for dinner.

Well, as you know I always sign off with a question, and I present to you today's question with the fusion theme in mind: Do you prefer Asian or western cuisine? Do you like fusion cuisines? If so, what combination of which cuisines?

Just a few more days left till the weekend...Hang on there, dear fellow bloggers!