Butane Bungles

There is a push to integrate so-called 'citizen journalism' in to the local Singaporean media. This means in practice that daily rags such as My Paper have a section called Ground Zero where miscreants are exposed.

Today's riveting entry was the discovery of a broken cigarette lighter in a bowl of fish head curry. No doubt a different interpretation of the culinary flambé process.

When the patrons said something like "waiter there's a lighter in my soup" the response they received from the proprietor was terse. He is reported as saying that he would cover any medical bills should his patrons require treatment after consuming his curry.

Very generous I must say. Given the cost of medical treatment here it could turn out to be the most expensive dish of fish head curry ever.

Continuing on the subject of seafood, Ground Zero's next story covers some enteprising Singaporean merchant who is apparently using his local car park to sun dry ikan bilis.

Ikan bilis for those of you who are not familiar with the name are the small anchovies that are much beloved in Malaysian cuisine. They have a pungent odour when drying but not as pervasive as the small dried shrimps that are used for Malaysian sambal.

According to the experts when buying a catty of ikan bilas one should look them in the eye. The best quality ikan bilis will have bright blue colored eyes according to the pundits. Given their size when processed I don't think I will bother. They all taste good to me and are the perfect condiment to a good nasi lemak.