I have fond memories of sitting on the cement path outside the backdoor with my eyes watering as I watched my dad pound the soaked dried shrimp with freshly chopped onions in a mortar and pestle. It meant there'd be some delicious food to pinch from the kitchen, if I could avoid being shooed out of the way, and the heady anticipation of a fun night for someone's birthday or special event. It meant satay for dinner.
It's funny, I still feel that sense of anticipation now when I make satay for dinner. It's quite a timeconsuming dish to prepare, which to me adds to the sense of occasion. Although I confess I don't use the mortar and pestle, let alone the dodgy bit of guttering to cook the meat: the efficient and fast food processor does the job that used to take forever in just a minute or two, and happily the gas bbq won't set the deck on fire. And yes, there were a lot of fires when I was growing up.
So, the menu plan for Friday night is chicken, beef and prawn satay with kapupat (rice cakes) and gado gado (salad). I'm not sure what I'll make for dessert yet but I'm thinking profiteroles. Hold tight dear reader, I'll put the menus up tomorrow as I'm preparing them.
