Thursday brunch at home — phase 2 reopening was rolling through and we still mostly cooked weekday brunches at home. The work-from-home schedule meant we had time to actually cook a proper brunch rather than the pre-pandemic grab-and-go.

Today’s plate:

Hot rice base
Fried egg (sunny-side)
Stir-fried vegetables
Pan-seared protein
Chilli sauce on the side

The format is the comfortable weekday template. Rice cooker timer pre-set the night before, vegetables and protein from the fridge, eggs cracked into the pan. About 15 minutes of active cooking, with the rice already done and waiting.

Hot rice base was the standard fluffy jasmine. The bedrock of any home brunch plate.

Fried egg was the M-style sunny-side standard. Crispy white edges, runny golden yolk. The yolk-break-over-rice ritual is the small daily upgrade.

Stir-fried vegetables today were cabbage shreds with carrot strips, smashed garlic and a splash of soy. Tender-crisp, lightly salted, the colour break against the beige rice.

Protein was a small portion of pan-seared chicken thigh — skin-on, salt-and-pepper seasoning, skin-side first for the crispy render. Sliced into strips before plating.

Chilli sauce on the side as always.

The lockdown weekday brunch became one of the small unexpected wins of working-from-home. Pre-pandemic, weekday breakfast was a sad coffee-on-the-MRT affair. During lockdown, weekday brunch became a proper sit-down meal at the kitchen table with hot food and time.

Some habits worth keeping after restrictions lifted.

Overall: 4.2 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Reliable Thursday brunch — keeping the routine.

Original IG post