Rice left in the bowl and you get a pocky-face spouse

My mother passed away when I was five and my grandmother moved in with us to look after me as my father had to work shifts. Whilst my sister and my brother were very good to me, no one could expect two teenages attending high school to act as part time parents for their youngest sibling.

I spent lots of time with my grandmother, a lovely and smart house maker, during the day. My grandma always had my lunch ready when I returned home from school. It was the best time of the day because I knew I could monopolise my grandma and her delicious food.

One thing that my grandma kept telling me was if I didn't finish all the rice in my bowl, I would marry someone with a pocky face. Marriage and a five year old don't naturally link up but my grandma's threat really got me going. I would shuffle every single grain of rice into my mouth and to make sure I didn't miss anything, I would ran my fingers around the bowl after my meal. I did so well that I could almost see the reflection of my face in the bowl!

I suppose the lesson that my grandma wanted to give me was not to waste any food. When she was a young mother during the Japanese war, she had to find wild vegetables and at times came up with creative way to prepare some edible dishes using bark of trees. Protein was difficult to come by.

And the person I eventually married? Not Mr Pocky but not Mr Perfect Skin either. I wonder if I can ever use the same line on Changunnie to make her finish all her food.

==Food==

The tricks that I learned from my grandma to make the perfect steamed egg custard... the one that doesn't have a pocky face -

(1) the water/stock that we use should be boiled and when added to the egg, at room temperature. The boiling drives the oxygen out and the room temperature prevents cooking the egg before steaming
(2) could not lift the lid of the wok up till the steamed egg was done.