16 Mar 26 - Taste of Time

Taste of Time

Dried bamboo shoots. A traditional Hokkien dish I grew up with, only available during CNY. We'd eat it together as family, bonding over the table. I took it for granted then.

Time flies. Things change. Some relationships went awry. Others grew tighter, more enduring. You know what I mean.

After about 8 years, someone mentioned this dish. It sounded familiar - a memory stirring. So I cooked it for the first time myself. The taste? Almost there, but not quite the same as I remembered.

But what is the same? The joy of eating it. Now not just with family, but with good friends - old and new, too.

Here's what cooking this dish taught me: When things change, when moments aren't so great, when times feel hard - let it be. Or let it go. Have patience. Better moments will arrive. You just need to be present and ready for them.

Like these dried bamboo shoots. They look rough, hard, almost lifeless in the package. You soak them. You wait. You cook them slowly. And they transform - soft, flavorful, nourishing. But you can't rush it. You have to trust the process.

Some things from our past can't be recreated exactly. But that doesn't mean they can't bring joy again, in new forms, with new people, creating new memories worth cherishing.