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Culinary ASEAN

Utensils clattered and pots and pans clanged as the Asean family prepared for a feast. Tradional meals were on the menu and guests were on the way. Canada,Ukraine,Japan,SK and NK had all agreed to come that day. Carrots were sliced and cabbages were diced as the Asean family tried to cook something nice.(Or at least something edible) Laos, Indo and Myammar were in charge of the appetiser and they decided that it was best to try their hand at Mushroom Soup. Singa, Cam and Phil were in charge of dessert which was going to be 'Ice Kacang' or dried ice with flavouring. That left Thai, Brunei,Vietnam and Malaysia in charge of the entree. Shall we take a peek before the feast?

" ALAMAK! DAH MAMPUS DAH!!" Indo blurted as his knife tore into his skin. Laos dropped her ladle in surprise and it landed in the soup with a 'plop'. Myammar came to Indo's aid while Laos was left cussing at her clumsiness. "Keep it halal guys!" Malaysia joked as he passed by with an armful of potatoes. Indo glared at him as he sucked his finger,painfully aware of the blood gushing out of the wound. "Shuddap..." he muttered ,annoyed even as his finger bled. As he and Myammar placed the mushrooms inside the soup Laos had prepared, he heard Laos utter a small prayer before stirring the mixture dutifully. After 5 minutes, their concoction started to bubble and boil which led to questioning glances form Thai. "Is it supposed to do that?" Laos murmmured slightly panicked as the soup began to turn a menacing shade of black. As if on cue, the soup they were supposed to have for dinner burst into flames and Myammar slammed the lid on it immediately. Panting with one hand still on the pot,she held up a can of mushroom soup in her free hand. Nodding silently, Indo got out another pot and they went back to work.

While they did that, Singa,Phil and Cam were googling ways to make 'Ice Kacang'. Once they found the recipe, Cam began calling out the instructions while Singa and Phil carried out her orders. Dried ice was procured, food colouring obtained and it was ready to be consumed. "Wanna try~?" Cambodia offered spoons to Phil and Singa. Without hesitation the three of them sampled their creation. "Uh-oh. I think we were suppsed to shave the ice first..." Singa commented when she found a large chunck of ice in her bowl. "And maybe we were supposed to add the food colouring later..?" Phil mumbled uncertainly. Cam looked to her friends and they all made a silent agreement.

"We're heading to the store!" Cambodia yelled over her shoulder as she,Singa and Phil shrugged on their coats and raced to the front door. Thai glanced away briefly from the steak and turned back for fear of it burning. Mal and Viet were in charge of making the mashed potatoes that were to complement the steak and Brunei was in charge of the asparagus that was to finish it off. The 4 of them were probably the only ones who didn't have a problem with their dish and it was going swimmingly. Under Thai's leadership, the entree was coming together nicely and steadily. The asparagus was ready and the mashed potatoes were on the plates. He just had 3 more steaks to go and they were done for the day. Glancing at the clock on the kitchen wall, Thai noted that they were making good timing and that they should probably start setting out the table. Nodding at Brunei and Viet,Thai sent the two of them to the dining room to set out the plates and utensils. All was ready for the feast later on.

Remember when we thought all was ready? Yeah....that was a lie. For as the countries surveyed their dishes, critism was found in nearly everything except the entree. The mushroom soup was too lumpy and there were bits of aluminium foil in it. The mashed potatoes were undercooked and the asparagus was slightly charred. The dessert was still nowhere to be seen and Singa,Phil and Cam were nowhere in the house. As the 7 countries looked out at their piss poor attempts at cooking, Indo held up his phone and opened 'Food Panda'. All gathered gave tight nods as they realised that the only edible food was probably the steak and the store bought Ice Kacang.

That evening, the feast was indeed a success if only for the pre-ordered appetiser,the medium rare steak and the store bought Ice Kacang. When the guests retired to the living room later on, Thai and Asean were left looking at a pile of ruined pots and pans and maybe a few broken knives. Rubbing his eyes in mock despair, Asean patted Thai who looked ready to faint at the sight of all the ruined cockery. 😭😭😭