What's for dinner?

Knowing how my kids like the sweet & sour pork sold at the 'chye png' (rice/vegetables) stall, I tried to surprise them with my own creation last night. Alas, it was a flop!

The dish was a soggy mess, it didn't taste anything like the crispy and tasty ones sold outside. Well, I'll just have to blame it on the cooking oil I have at home. When it comes to deep frying, palm oil does the best job.

Palm oil, as we know, is high in saturated fats. For the sake of our health, I use only olive or sunflower oil at home. These are great for stir-fries, not for deep-frying battered pork. As if one mistake wasn't enough, I used the same oil to cook fried chicken which wasn't crispy as well.

The boys boycotted the meat dishes and ate cabbage, tomatoes and baked beans for dinner. CH, being the supportive one, ate the limpy meat and all without complaining. Rusty had the good fortune of eating most of the fried chicken.

YK tried to be nice when he found me looking so forlorn at the kitchen sink. "The food was ok lah. Next time you can cook the other dishes that we like."

I wasn't sad of course! But I tell myself I had better stick to simple fare at home and leave the deep-frying to the experts because we are simply not equipped like the commercial kitchens.

This will join the list of dishes that I won't attempt at home because it is not worth the trouble. I like cakes but don't like baking them because I lose my appetite when I see the big block of butter going in.

So I would rather pay for a good slice of cake that has been baked to perfection than to end up overeating a disfigured home-made one. It's simply not worth the effort or the calories.