Steamed comfort: Pork and eggs

How would you define comfort food? To me, comfort food brings a sense of nostalgia, of familiarity. Every mouthful leads to a deep sense of satisfaction, accompanied with sighs of ‘oohs and aahs’. No, I’m not homesick, really. I just seem to crave local (namely Singapore) homestyle or hawker food ALOT. It doesn’t help that I have a number of foodie Singapore friends who enjoy posting drool-worthy evidence of their meals on facebook. The occasional visits to Singapore/Malaysian restaurants in London help to ease my insatiable appetite for a bit…and when I’m desperate enough, I give it a go in my own kitchen – creating comfort food like soon kueh, pineapple tarts, chye tow kuay etc.

There is however one comfort dish that I make often, just because it is easy to prepare and it reminds me of many good meals at my parent’s house many moons ago.

Steamed pork with egg. Lightly seasoned mince pork, mixed with beaten eggs and water (or stock for a denser flavour), steamed and served with rice. It’s such a simple dish. I love digging into the cake of pork and eggs, mushing them and mixing them with my rice. The juices from the pork, the light chiffon texture of the eggs makes a great combination. Some people like it slightly spongier (by adding more water to the eggs) and some prefer it a little more dense (more pork vs egg ratio). I like them both. This here is the dense version – full of porkilicious flavours.

Topped with crispy shallots and coriander

Getting ready to mush them all up

Like what Ina Garten says in her ‘Barefoot Contessa’ cookbook – “Food is not about impressing people, it’s about making them comfortable”.  In this case, I agree. Bring on my jammies, I’m having dinner!

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