According to Dictionary.com a "foodie" is defined as "a person keenly interested in food, especially in eating and cooking." That being said I am a FOODIE!

My wish as I write each article is to bring you on a foodie adventure, providing you with ideas, recipes and the desire to try new foods.

So let us venture to Singapore.

In March, I was given the opportunity to be Denise Vivaldo?s assistant at a Master Food Styling Workshop she was conducting Singapore. Denise is the owner of Food Fanatics, the most requested food stylist on the West Coast. She was also Soroptimists' Celebrity Chef in Yuma, as she has cheffed for many stars during her career in Los Angeles. When attendees/chefs from her previous class heard she was to be in Singapore again, e-mails with dinner invites started coming in and before we left L.A., our meals were pretty much planned out for us.

Now which meal to feature?

Breakfast each morning at the Mandarin Oriental was a culinary delight, with foods from around the world to enjoy. The seven-course dinner at the Ulu Ulu Safari Restaurant, where my skill with chopsticks were questioned, also comes to mind, as does the dinner at SuLyn?s home with the melt-in-your-mouth coconut rice and curry chicken. Then there was the lunch on top of Singapore in the China Club with Jaquie Quoi, where I had my first Singapore Sling and true Peking duck.  

Each dining experience was a foodie?s dream, but one dish was so fantastic that I can still feel it melt in my mouth. The dish was babi asam, cooked and served by Annette Tan in her home. We met Annette in the workshop and jumped at the chance to fill our only unbooked night when she asked us to dinner in her home. Annette is of the Peranakan culture, and after visiting the Peranakan museum, we were excited to try the fare.

Peranakans are descendants of the early Chinese men who came to Singapore and married the island women known as Malays. Peranakans were an elite group, English educated and known for their wealth. Daughters were not educated in schools for it was felt that it would make them independent and difficult to control. The young girls were educated at home and much of the education was cooking to please their mother-in-laws. Recipes were not written down, but passed from mother to daughter and measurements were done by agak (estimation).   

In Singapore, many homes have outdoor kitchens to defray the heat, as the average year-round temperature is 88 degrees and very humid. Very few homes we visited had air conditioning, so cooking outside made a whole lot of sense. Arriving to Annette?s, we were invited to the outdoor kitchen while she finished up the meal. Hers was a very modern version of the one we had seen at the museum.

The meal at Annette?s was outstanding. We had opor ayam (chicken stewed in fragrant coconut-based gravy), gulai udang (prawns in a curry gravy), rawan (beef and buah keluak nuts) and my favorite babi asam.

Annette sent me her ingredient list as her recipes were by agak. I have experimented and have come up with this recipe that I hope you all enjoy as much as I do.  

---

BABI ASAM OR TAMARIND PORK
4-6 servings

3 pounds of pork belly, cut into large cubes (pork belly is what bacon is made from); for a healthier version, a lean cut of pork can be used.
4 ounces tamarind seeds/paste
5 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp dark soy sauce

Soak tamarind seeds/paste in the water 20 minutes. Drain the water through a sieve into a pot. Discard seeds.

Place the rest of the ingredients into the pot and bring to a boil.