They say that a story has a
beginning, a middle and an end. I have struggled with how to put my
month in Malaysia into that format. Short and sweet. Beginning,
middle, end. But the month is not one story. It is woven of stories.
Story #1
Fish BALLS
Our first encounter with fish
balls came in a bowl of curry mee. Tentacles tangled with noodles,
shrimp stared at us with the wide eyed terror of their last moments,
and nestled among the noodles, gleaming like small ping pong balls,
lay two unidentifiable white spheres. Upon asking my table-mates what
they were I received the answer from several points at once. fish
balls
what are they made of? According to
Kat, they are made of fish, and Asian magic
It was later that I learned how fish
balls were made, in the most expected of places.
The three times a week during our
time in Malaysia my team helped out at a daytime homeless
shelter. I
really enjoyed this experience, I loved seeing people come in for
breakfast, pouring them coffee or Milo, and handing them roti (any
kind of bread).
Something I enjoyed even more than
breakfast, was working in the kitchen to make lunch. All of the
aunties and uncles (anyone older than you) teaching me how to chop
vegetables and which spices are used in which dishes. It turns out
that cinnamon and cardamon are not just for Christmas!
There was one Chinese auntie in
particular who was my favorite. She is one of those small fierce,
sweet
launched into a detailed explanation of the process of fish ball
making.
There was just one little hurdle in my
lesson.
……………………………………………………..
Although auntie spoke at least three
languages, English was not one of them. Thus ensued a lesson
that incorporated a lot of acting and third party translating.
Because of this the learning process was even more fun and involved.
In the end I think everyone in the kitchen pitched in to teach me the
finer points of fish ball making! Because of auntie, now I know
(more or less) how to make fish balls,
even without Asian magic!
