Chives Omelette

Chives can be grown very easily in a pot or just a small plot of soil. Some housewives even grow one whole plot of them.

My mother loved growing gourds, kang kong and cangkok manis and when we had a big harvest, she would bring some to the neighbours and even the market to exchange /barter with the vegetable sellers.

In return, she would get some chives, cabbage, and the like.

We children loved chives and we particularly like them with our omelette. For seven children, my mother just needed three eggs and a bit of chives to make a good dinner.

My mother cooked food using the huge Cantonese kuali for a long time. We did not get a non stick saucepan until much later. She did not want to spend money unnecessarily but we all ate very well made omelette any way. The traditioal kuali was great in her hands and with her skill she could make a round omelette any time. Turning over the omelette was never a problem. And naturally her omelette was never broken or burnt.

My grandmother liked to talk in riddles or metaphors.

She would say that a person who was not careful would mistake chives for onions. A cook must be sure of what he or she is using. It makes a lot of difference what you use. It took us a long time to understand her metaphors.