Tong lo Fan (rice in soup)

When I was younger (yes, that means the "good ol'days", one of the ways my Mom would try to encourage my brother (Wai Sik Jai) and me to eat all of our rice is to let us mix in our soup (tong lo fan - literally soup mix rice).

Although simple, we were not always allowed to do so. It was considered bad for the digestion since the tendency is to slurp and not chew the rice properly.


For some reason, soup in rice is having a come-back in restaurants (or maybe it was never gone but I never ordered it in a restaurant as a child). I had one for lunch today. Dong gwa yok lup (winter melon and meat nibs) soup with rice.


Lots of melon bits, green-y veg, carrots, with bits of ham (?), tender pork, faux crab sticks and rice, adornished by coriander, it was comforting and soupy. It seemed to me a nice light tasting meal and I ate it quickly while chatting on the phone.

However, what can I say? Mom was right, I ate too fast and now digesting it is painful. *sigh* I hate it when she's right!