Back from KL with Sop Ayam (Chicken Soup with Pasta)

Is it just me, or do we all hate the phrase "Have you gained weight?"
That was ALL I could heard throughout my KL work trip! Heard it from my boss, my co-workers, my co-workers from other countries, our company's VIP customers, regular customers, non regular customers, nobodies, everybody! E-V-E-R-Y-B-O-D-Y!

Well, there were some variations to the general phrase...
- Sometimes it's the supposedly "caring" "You need to be on diet" version
- Sometimes it's the plain mean "You are so FAT" version
- Sometimes it's the concealed "You must have been so happy" gentle version
- and sometimes it's just the silent once over

Whichever version it was, none sounded good to my ears. I am expecting the kind "Don't you care about what people think, as long as you are happy" advice, but let's face it. Hearing the phrase all the time, isn't my idea of fun :p

Apart from SC's influence and the surgery (I doubt that I could blame it on those two any longer), I need to take responsibility for my actions (midnight bingeing, lack of self control, my suffering from lazybum-minosis and couchpotato-coxis ^_^)

Will the phrase stop me from indulging? cooking? food blogging? I don't think so. I've had my share of super strict dieting (JUST 3 pieces of wontons for dinner, and I removed most of the wonton skin!!!) and crazy exercising (a minimum of 3 hours of cardio classes per day). One doesn't work without the other for me. If I really wanted to lose some, I can't just exercise and keep eating, or dieting without exercising. It has to be a combination of both, and it has to be strict and hard. Sure, the hard combo worked for me. I lost pounds after pounds quickly. But that wasn't my idea of fun too. What a freaking dilemma, eh?

So, here's my current action plan:
- To eat more mooncakes. It's mid autumn festival and you just gotta have them!
- To cook more, eat more and catch up with food blogging
- Buy new clothes that fit
- Finish all the yummy goodies I've bought from KL before they expire
.....Wait a minute! That's surely a wrong plan to achieve the objective of not hearing the phrase again??!! LOL! Freak the phrase! I'll start worrying when another business trip is scheduled ^_*

Let me share some weight gain inducing sodas I found in KL:

Why would anyone name a drink "Anything?". I simply bought this out of curiosity. It tasted like a mild version of Sprite or 7-Up. Not bad, but I wouldn't have called it "Anything?"...hmmm...maybe "Whatever!"

I bet these are nothing special in some parts of the world, but I haven't seen these in most supermarkets in Hong Kong. So, I bought them. Gosh, my love for sodas....sigh...

...to top it off, the guy seated beside me on my flight back to Hong Kong sneezed and coughed all the way through the flight. Naturally, without covering his mouth. Now, it is my turn to sneeze and cough my way through meetings and conference calls. To my coworkers, boss and customers (were you the ones who called me fat?), good luck, y'all! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA! (Evil! Pure evil!)

Here's a comforting recipes from my childhood in Indonesia...
Sop Ayam - Chicken Soup with Pasta

The Indonesian version is normally thin and clear, but I love it thick and rich (What else is new? Typical Rita) ^_^
Recipe
(serves 4)
- 4 chicken drumsticks
- 1/2 lb lean pork (can be replaced by beef or chicken breast), cut into chunky pieces
- 1 carrot, cut into small pieces
- 1 small potato, cut into small pieces
- 1 sprig of chinese celery, cut into small pieces
- 4 cloves of shallot, thinly sliced
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- a couple of chicken franks, cut into 3 mm thick pieces (optional, and you can also add spam cubes, just the way we love it in Indonesia)
- 2 handfuls of pasta (it's normally macaroni, but I only have fusili ^_*)
- olive oil, salt, pepper, corn starch

Marinate chicken and pork in salt, pepper and a bit of corn starch while preparing other ingredients. Saute shallot in hot olive oil until a bit browned, add chicken and pork until a bit browned, add a bit of water. Add vegetables, add water just enough to cover all ingredients. Cook for about 1 hr, add ground nutmeg, add pasta, cook until everything's soft and the soup is thickened. Season with salt and pepper.

In Indonesia, we (of course!) eat the soup with rice, with some crackers, sweet soy sauce and chilli sauce. But it is chunky enough to be a meal of comfort by itself.

Sharing this with Presto Pasta Night's Gang, hosted this week by its fabulous creator, Ruth of Once Upon a Feast.

By the time I finished this soup, I was like..."The phrase? What phrase?!" ^_^