Hakka Soul: Memories, Migrations, and Meals

Lui goong bing bahng
Ten moon hoi
Yit tiow wong loong
Jon chut loi

Which translates roughly as:

Thunder goes bing bang
Heaven's gates open
Out squirms
A yellow dragon

(pg. 62)

So what exactly does this Hakka poem means? I will give you the answer* at the end of this post. :)


Written by a Malaysian-born Hakka, Chin Woon Ping, the Hakka Soul: Memories, Migrations, and Meals / Chin Woon Ping (ISBN: 978-9971-69-400-5) provides an interesting account of stories and also memories of a Hakka family.


Several Hakka cruisines, such as keo nyuk (braised pork), jiu gai (chicken in wine) and nyong teo fu (stuffed tofu) are also introduced to the readers but that could be made more appealing if she had included pictures of the dishes.

nyong teo fu

Besides the Hakka recipes, Woon Ping also mentioned about a wild plant called ma see han (which literally translated to "horse shit" spinach!) or callaloo. According to my chef, not many people know that such plant can be served as greens. However, this can't be blamed since most vegetable stalls in Singapore don't sell ma see han.

ma see han

My chef usually cook soups with ma see han and other ingredients - chopped garlic, sliced shallots, ikan bilis and sliced fish cake.

ma see han soup

* The Hakka poem is a metaphor for passing stool. ;p

Soya & Spice: Food And Memories Of A Straits Teochew Family

Have you heard of chuh huair hnng (literally translated as "going out to the garden") or rather have you gone through before? If yes, what food was offered during the ceremony?

Do you know what the early generations of Teochew families had for birthday celebrations? No, they did not have birthday cakes then. Instead, they had sweet birthday noodles with hard-boiled eggs. What do they (the noodles and eggs) symbolise?

What is chinchalok and how is it made? Do you know that it is also an ingredient for preparing some dishes?

Using butter to relieve sore throats? Jo Marion Seow's paternal grandparents used to believe that butter could lubricate their throats and relieve sore throats and coughs! *lol*

...


In her book Soya & Spice: Food And Memories Of A Straits Teochew Family / Jo Marion Seow (ISBN: 978-981-4189-21-7), Jo Marion Seow has shared with us the recipes of many traditional Teochew specialty dishes [such as koo chye kueh, steamed white pomfret, braised meat (loh bak), yam dessert (oh nee) and porridges] passed down by her grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts.

koo chye kueh

Fish Porridge

Apart from writing about the how-tos of cooking, she also paints a vivid picture of the lifestyle led by her grandparents and their children during the olden days of Singapore; emphasizing the strong correlation between food and history.

From the reader's point of view, this is not just simply one of the many cookbooks which only whet your appetite with their mouthwatering recipes. The inclusion of both food and family photos gives a good illustration of the lifestyle led by a typical Singapore Teochew family in the early days. I would strongly recommend this book to all Teochew people as well as the non-Teochews who might be curious and interested to know more about Teochew food history.

It Meows #70

My friend, Tigerfish (Hui Leng Tay) recently completed a recipe book - The Everything Rice Cooker Cookbook, which will be published ~ August 2010.


Do check out more details at her blog. :D

Vegetarian Prawn Tempuras

I believe most of you have tried prawn tempuras? But what about vegetarian ones? My chef has prepared these vegetarian prawn tempuras which taste as good as those using real prawns!
Wanna have some? Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
1. Vegetarian Prawns*
2. Fry Powder*
3. Water
4. Cooking Oil

* Bought these from Friendly Vegetarian.

You can try using other vegetarian tempura batter mix.



Directions:
1. Rinse the vegetarian prawns.
2. Mix the fry powder and water according to the intructions available at the back of the package.
3. Dip the vegetarian prawns into the mix and coat them thoroughly.
4. Heat the oil in a wok and then deep fry the coated prawns in batches until golden and crispy.
5. Drain and then place them onto a plate containing some kitchen paper. Serve.

Braised Sweet Preserved Vegetables with Roasted Pork

Braised Sweet Preserved Vegetables with Roasted Pork

This is my favourite one-dish meal prepared by my chef. It goes well with both porridge and steamed rice.

Ingredients:
1. Sweet Preserved Mustard
2. Roasted Pork
3. Garlic (chopped)
4. Dark Soya Sauce (~ 2 tbsp)
5. Cooking Oil
6. Water (~ 150 ml)

Sweet Preserved Mustard

Main Ingredients

Directions:
1. Soak the mustard in water for ~ 30 min. Wash the mustard and then drain off the water.

Sweet Preserved Mustard (Soaked)

2. Place the mustard in boiling water and then cook for ~ 2 min to remove dirt thoroughly and also the excess saltiness/sweetness in the mustard. Drain off the water. Cut the mustard.

Sweet Preserved Mustard (Boiled)

3. Heat the oil in wok and then put in the chopped garlic. Stir fry until fragrance.

4. Add in the roasted pork and then stir fry for ~ 1 min.

5. Put in the cut mustard and stir fry for ~ 2 min. Add the dark soya sauce and then stir fry for another ~ 1 min.

6. Add the water and cover the wok with a lid.

7. Simmer for around ~ 45 min and then serve with steamed rice or porridge.

Fish Porridge

The weather in Singapore is really very hot these days... In order to beat the heat and whet our appetite, my chef cooked fish porridge for our lunch.

Fish Porridge

Main Ingredients:
1. (uncooked) Rice (washed and drained)
2. Batang Fish & Red Snapper
3. Preserved Chinese Cabbage (Dong Cai; 冬菜)
4. Light Soya Sauce
5. Water

Ingredients M:
1. Corn Flour
2. Hua Diao Wine (花雕酒)
3. Light Soya Sauce
4. Pepper
5. Salt
6. Sesame Oil

Ingredients G:
1. Chinese Parsley (chopped)
2. Spring Onions (chopped)
3. Fried Shallot
4. Fried Ginger Strips


Directions:
1. Clean the Batang Fish & Red Snapper and cut them into slices. Marinate the fish slices with Ingredients M and set aside.
2. Place the washed uncooked rice grains and water into a pot and bring to boil before lowering the heat.
3. When the rice grains start to soften, add the Dong Cai and Light Soya Sauce.
4. Put in the marinated fish slices and then bring the porridge to a boil.
5. Garnish the porridge with Ingredients G and serve.

Stir Fried Vegetarian Meat & Kidney

I believe some of you have tried stir fried pig's kidney and/or liver with ginger and dark soy sauce? This is a common blood-nourishing dish among Chinese females and can also be found on a confinement menu.

My chef have prepared this vegetarian version of the dish using vegetarian meat and kidney. For vegetarians and those who avoid pig's kidney/liver (contains high concentration of purine) due to diseases such as gout, you may like to whip up this vegetarian dish using the following recipe. I'm not a vegetarian but i prefer this dish to the one using pig kidney/liver since the latter has too much of "porky" taste which i dislike. ;p

Ingredients:

1. Vegetarian Meat [Jin Si Pian (金丝片) from Friendly Vegetarian Food Supplier]
2. Vegetarian Kidney (from Friendly Vegetarian Food Supplier)
3. Ginger Strips
4. Small Chili Strips
5. Sesame Oil
6. Vegetarian Oyster Sauce*
7. Black Soy Sauce*
8. Light Soy Sauce*
9. Cornflour, mixed with Water (~100ml)

*Add the amount of sauces according to your taste and colour preference.


Directions:

1. Rinse the vegetarian meat and kidney.
2. Heat the sesame oil in a wok and then add in the ginger and chili strips.
3. Add the vegetarian meat and kidney and stir fry them for ~ 2 min.
4. Pre-mix the sauces and the cornflour solution and then add the resulting solution.
5. Stir fry the dish for ~ 1 min and cover the wok with a lid.
6. Simmer for around ~ 1-2 min and then serve with steamed rice or porridge.


Other Vegetarian Dishes:
1. Braised Vegetarian Meat
2. Stir Fried Vegetables with "Prawns"

Stir Fried Vegetables with "Prawns"

This is my chef's version* of stir fried vegetables with vegetarian prawns. It's another vegetarian dish which you maybe interested to try also.

Ingredients:
1. Broccoli
2. Cauliflower
3. Carrots
4. Yellow Capsicum
5. Vegetarian Prawns (from Friendly Vegetarian)
6. Cooking Oil
7. Salt
8. Vegetarian Oyster Sauce
9. Cornflour, mixed with Water


Directions:

1. Wash and cut the vegetables (1-4). Rinse the vegetarian prawns.
2. Heat the cooking oil in a wok.
3. Add in a pinch of salt and then the vegetables (1-4). Stir fry the vegetables for ~2 minutes.
4. Add in the cornflour solution and then cover the wok with a lid. Cook over medium flame for ~2 minutes.
5. Add in the vegetarian oyster sauce and the vegetarian prawns.
6. Cook for another ~1-2 minutes and then serve.


*My "rainbow" version of stir fried vegetables uses these ingredients which give the dish a more colourful look:
(1) Broccoli [green]
(2) Cauliflower [white]
(3) Carrots [orange]
(4) Red capsicum [red]
(5) Yellow Capsicum [yellow]
(6) Snow Peas &/or Sugar Peas [green]
(7) Crab Stick &/or Prawns [red]
(8) Shiitake Mushrooms [brown/black]
(9) Egg Toufu [yellow]

If your kids don't like or are picky about eating vegetables, maybe you can try cooking this dish with these colourful ingredients. Hope it helps to appetize them and gives them a more wholesome meal. :)

Refer to here for Stir Frying tips.

Laksa Lemak Tuna Noodles

Inspired by the creativity in Tigerfish's Tom Yam, Tom Yum Noodles, i decided to explore using canned tuna to cook noodles. I picked up Ayam Brand's Laksa Lemak Tuna and also bought some other ingredients like instant noodles, prawns, fish cake and broccoli from the supermarket.




Directions:
1. Boil ~ 300ml of water and then put in the instant noodles and cook for ~ 2 min.

2. Add in the fish cake slices and then slowly add in the Laksa Lemak Tuna and cook for ~ 2 min.

3. Add in the prawns and broccoli which were cooked separately and then serve.

Dried Fig Drink

According to some websites, figs (无花果) are a good source of fibre and potassium which helps to regulate blood pressure. Here's a simple recipe for preparing dried fig drink.


Ingredients:
(1) Dried Figs (~100g)
(2) Water (~1500ml)

Directions:
(1) Rinse the dried figs.
(2) Place the dried figs in a pot containing 1500ml of water and bring them to boil.
(3) Simmer for 10 minutes and then serve.

Hope you like this drink! ;)

Braised Vegetarian Meat

I'm not a vegetarian...but there are several vegetarian dishes which please my taste buds. One of them is my chef's homemade specialty - braised vegetarian meat. This is a rather simple recipe which i am going to share it with you today. Hope you like it. Cheers!

Ingredients:
1. Vegetarian Meats* ("Pork", "Roasted Pork" & "Mutton")
2. Dried Mushrooms
3. Ginger (a few slices)
4. Vegetarian Oyster Sauce (~ 2 tbsp)
5. Light Soya Sauce (~ 2 tbsp)
6. Dark Soya Sauce (~ 2 tbsp)
7. Cooking Oil (~ 1 tbsp)
8. Water (~ 500ml)

* We bought the vegetarian meats from Friendly Vegetarian Food Supplier.

Note:
1. Can also add bean curd (cubes), bean curd sticks and black fungus.
2. Add the amount of sauces according to your taste and colour preference.




Directions:
1. Rinse the vegetarian meats and soak the dried mushrooms in water.
2. Heat the cooking oil in a wok and then add in the ginger slices.
3. Add the dried mushrooms, then the vegetarian meat and stir fry them for ~ 5 min.
4. Add the sauces and then stir fry them for another ~ 5 min.
5. Add the water and cover the wok with a lid.
6. Simmer for around ~ 45 min and then serve with steamed rice or porridge.

Red Dates & Longans Drink

If you are looking for a delicious and nourishing drink, you may like to try out this simple recipe for Red Dates and Longans Drink. This nutritious drink helps to improve blood circulation and relieves fatigue.

Longing for a Date?

You should have these:

1. Dried Red Dates (1 bowl)
2. Dried Longans (0.5 bowl)
3. Water (4 bowls)



and then Do these:

1. Rinse the red dates and longans.
2. Crush the red dates and put them into a pot together with the longans.
3. Boil the water in a separate pot.
4. Pour the boiling water into the pot containing the red dates and longans. Cover the pot with a lid and leave it for at least an hour before consuming the drink*.

* It is advised to pour the drink into a vacuum flask to keep it warm for consumption later.



Hope U enjoy ur Date!

Braised Sweet & Spicy Pork Ribs

Pork ribs are common but yet popular cuisine available in many local eateries.
Here is a simple recipe for braised sweet & spicy pork ribs with garlic.

Ingredients:
1. Pork Ribs
2. Haruma Kentucky Seasoning Flour
3. Egg
4. Garlic (minced)
5. Maggi Chilli Sauce
6. Maggi Ketchup
7. Sugar
8. Warm Water (~200ml)

Directions:
1. Marinate the pork ribs with egg (s) and the Haruma Kentucky Seasoning Flour according to the cooking instructions available on the packet.
2. Deep fry the marinated pork ribs and then leave them to cool.
3. Put the pork ribs into an electronic slow cooker.
4. Add the minced garlic, chilli sauce, ketchup, sugar and warm water into the slow cooker.
5. Cook the pork ribs for ~ 2hrs.