Sembawang nature - Fiddlehead fern salad

A walk in an early morning hour around the greeneries of sembawang, about 5 mins walk from my place, with my 6 yrs old daughter is one of my bonding moment with her. The good thing about it is that it doesn't cost me anything except for a breakfast at a nearby coffee shop after our walk. At 7:00 am the morning mist is fairly visible and the smell of it is really refreshing probably better than the oxygen bar shot that travellers at changi airport pay for. Plus it gives you a sense of calmness and I'm sure it is healthy too !!!!

Another good thing about walking in the nature is that there is always something to discover everytime you take a closer look into it. On normal days I will just simply ignore all the ferns growing at the roadside treating it like an over grown grass but somehow the image of it always linger into my memory knowing there is something special about this plant.

Fiddlehead Fern which is known in Malay as Paku and Pako in the Philippines has always fascinate me. Without it the grass and other plants and trees will not look the same.

This time round I gave the ferns a closer look since it rains in the early morning hour and these is probably the best time to try that fiddlehead fern salad. I realize there are new shoots coming out then told myself, "Yeah why not try this for breakfast". Immediately I got into harvesting the fiddlehead ferns and only chose the leaves with nice curls.

In just a couple of minutes I gathered about 200gm of beautiful fiddlehead ferns in my hand that still has morning dew on it. Upon reaching home I immediately google it to make sure it is the edible type of fiddlehead fern. I wash it thoroughly then boil it for about 5 mins then quickly drop it on an ice water to stop the cooking and maintain the crispiness. Chopped 2 tomatoes toss it with olive oil and sea salt then mixed it with the fiddlehead fern.

I also prepared a garlic fried rice and pair it with a bottle of dried herring and a cup of oldtown white coffee. The fiddlehead fern taste better than asparagus.....Hmmm what a nice breakfast to start a day!!!!