Hmm, nice work done. But of course, when we eat, we ain't gonna eat Canadian. We gonna go Malaysian. Petai, kangkung, papaya, pisang emas, mangosteen, durian, rambutan, langsat, dukong, duku, ciku, binjai, pineapple...WOW!!! The list can go on and on...
Malaysians who haven't stayed in foreign lands for long term, may not notice how lucky and blessed we Malaysians are for having the natural resources and wonderful harvest that we may have been showered with. But trust me, it is marvelous to have all different types of fruits, varieties of vegetables, choices of cuisine and dishes that we can choose ENDLESSLY...
Be in my shoes in a foreign land, looking at the Rambutan that was occassionally and accidently saw for the first time after 4 years...dark brown, shrunken and was sold at RM5 ONE rambutan. And I mean those type where if you were in Malaysia, you would just throw it away thinking that they can't be consumed anymore. Watermelon during winter can go up to RM50 for a 5kg piece. Chili 1kg RM100-120. OMG!!! And how much we get in Malaysia? 1kg rambutan RM5 or maybe RM10. Watermelon 100g RM1.60? Chili buy 1kg for RM5??? Or RM10? Who cares to buy? Just plant them!
We see varieties of vegetables, Siew Bak Choy, Choi Sam, Lady's fingers, long beans...... Here? In winter, Cabbage, Chinese Cabbage, carrot, cucumber (expensively), tomato (expensively), pumpkin, Cabbage, Chinese Cabbage, Cabbage, Chinese Cabbage, is potato a vegetable???...and again Cabbage, Chinese Cabbage, unless you are willing to pay an enormously higher price for the variety. Well, not much of a variety anyway, perhaps some brinjals, cauliflower, occasionally broccoli...
And there was once when we saw broccoli in the market and we Malaysians bought them happily as the price at that time was good. And a local Ukrainian came by asking us what was that. Obviously, we told her was Broccoli. And she further asked the seller how to "use" it. The seller said, "Salad". And trust me, when you come across any vegetables or fruits that we / they are or aren't familiar with, whenever you ask how to cook it, you will get a simple answer, do salad!
Summer comes in, well, a good sign, vegetable and fruits getting cheaper. Prices (per kg) red in winter, green is summer price
Brinjals uah30-50 uah10
Cucumber uah25 uah3
Tomato uah30 uah7
Chilli uah199-299 uah25
Watermelon and honeydew can get as low as uah0.50 per kg during summer!
Well, yes, sometimes they do get cheaper, even cheaper than in Malaysia. But they are so much lesser in choices and varieties. For so many years here, I haven't even come across Siew Bak Coi, Choy Sum, Kai Lan, kangkung etc. Not even once.
Oh, how I miss Malaysia's abundance!!!
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