GRANDMA’S TEOCHEW

GRANDMA’S FAVOURITE HOME-COOKED FARE Jotted down by Sim Ai Ling Recipes recounted by Grandma Tan Sai Lang

grandma’s teochew food

Grandma Tan Sai Lang

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MANY THANKS

In compiling this book, I will like to thank my grandmother (ma ma) for her enthusiasm and patience in happily sharing with me all she knows about Teochew . Not suspecting that all she said will be written down, she was most generous with tips and recipes. Also my grandaunt (yee ma), Uncle Peter and my mum, for helping to explain and distil the recipes when I got into a bind with details and translations as Grandma recounts her recipes. I will also like to thank my mum for her many suggestions, and helping to vet through the recipes that are recorded.

The recipes in this book except for a few which are noted are grandma’s. The comments, notes and whatever shortfalls it might contain are mine.

Finally, to my dearest husband Devan who set me on this journey of wonderful discovery, and without whose encouragement and support, this little book will never have taken off .

Sim Ai Ling June, 2003

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Oh nee -

Produced in 2003. All rights reserved. No part of this booklet may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the author.

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INTRODUCTION

I enjoy eating. Like most people, I just enjoy savouring delicious food which appeals to my basic senses and fills my hungry stomach.

But eating does not inspire me further than that momentary bliss of savouring delicious . Cooking however is different. Some may view it as a chore, and I do agree when cooking becomes robotic and a burden. But it can be stimulating. To me cooking absorbs my faculties and emotions towards creating a delicious dish or meal. Your brain engages with ideas of how a produce should be used, sussing out its flavours, intertwining it with other flavoursome ingredients, or spices, and choosing myriad ways of cooking it. Isn’t that more exciting than just being served with a plate of noodles or chicken that just engages your stomach?

Having had lots of fun cooking my way through a wide variety of recipes and experimenting with different styles of cooking and their ingredients, I reached a point which left me curious about the foods that I grew up with. If you were to ask me, or rather my mum what was the first solid food that was placed in my mouth, I would hazard a guess that it is Teochew home-cooked food.

Coming from a Teochew family, my virgin tastebuds were shaped at a young age in my parent’s and grandparents’ kitchen. When I hanker for , it would be simple Teochew dishes such as stewed salted with (coo kiam chye), (pau hir muay), braised pork in black soya (lor bak), braised duck (loh ar) and teochew yam (oh nee). Foods of our childhood are not merely reminders of the first morsel of gastronomic delight that we encounter but it revives of innocent happy moments which is to be savoured when one is older. And these are warm memories - of feasting with loved one, pinching morsels of food that were just hot off the wok, and just eating food that one knows is made of love.

Here lies the reason of this book. It is a compilation of grandma’s Teochew recipes. Food that I grew up with and which had invariably bound my brother, mother, cousins and uncles together in our memory of being a family.

This is not a treatise on Teochew food and neither does it represents the best and finest of Teochew . It is just home cook food which is simple and delicious.

Mum (standing), grandaunt, yee ma (left) and grandma, enjoying the nak yee kia

My maternal grandma, Mdm Tan Sai Lang, is a wonderful sweet-tempered lady. She was born in Selangor, Malaya in the 1920s to immigrant parents from Chaoyang district (or Teo-Yioh) in province of . The family, like many immigrants, were common folks, who had migrated to Malaya and then to seeking a better life. Like many girls of that era, grandma never went to school and stayed home helping with household chores. The Japanese Occupation soon came in 1941, and fearing the worst that could befall on young unmarried women in the hands of Japanese soldiers, her parents quickly married her off at the tender age of 13 to 4 grandma’s teochew food

Grandpa Yeo, another fellow immigrant from Chaoyang. Together, they raised a family of four boys and one girl, of which mum was the girl born right in the middle.

Grandma’s cooking is simple and homespun, largely self-taught or learnt from her mother, relatives, neighbours and even Grandpa Yeo. Undeniably, it bears the hallmarks of Teochew cooking style, with its clear uncomplicated taste, use of fresh produce, and its penchant for strong and salty flavours of preserves, like salted , salted and sour plums.

The Teochew kitchen calls for simple condiments, of (hir loh), light soya sauce (chiao cheng), black soya sauce (see yiu), , with a preference in many of its dishes to be steamed, braised and stewed. Although Teochews originate from Guangdong Province which boasts of the popular cuisine, its food is less similar to Cantonese cooking, than to cooking of the neighbouring province, for which it also shares similarities in its dialect.

Teochews hail from the Huilai, Puning, Chaoyang, , Chenghai Raoping, Chaoan and Dapu districts of Guangdong Province. Being in the southern coastal areas, they enjoy for generations a bountiful of fresh and natural produce, such as rice, sweet potatoes, yam, maize, wheat, oranges, lychess, bananas, and many more. Naturally its cuisine leans on the availability of these fresh foods to create dishes which accentuates on freshness and its light clean flavours.

Many Teochew immigrants such as my great grandparents and grandpa Yeo who migrated from the Teochew districts brought with them the skills and knowledge of this cooking style which continues to thrive in many homes today.

Over the years, in Singapore has evolved, like other immigrant . Living in multi-ethnic Singapore, with a plethora of ingredients and cuisines, it is natural for certain dishes to adopt a different sheen from what it was in its native land, and creation of new dishes which combines the flavours and tastes of the different worlds. Such “fusion” food has emerged in Teochew cooking. An example being the use of chilli and that is traditionally Malay, in some Teochew dishes today. To name a few are the sambal dried shrimp (or hair bee hiam, see pg 7), sambal crayfish, the dried Teochew fishball noodles with chilli, or the Teochew yam pudding (oh nee) with .

Yet despite this merry marrying of produce, Teochew home and professional cooks continue to maintain familiar taste with strong resonance of flavours that emanates from their forebears in the Teochew districts of China. Grandma’s food is such – Teochew Home Cooking.

All the recipes here can be whipped up in your home kitchens for a delicious meal for family and friends.

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A Map of the Teochew Districts in Guangdong Province, China

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WHAT’S IN HERE?

page

Nak Yee Kia – Little Balls 9

Hair Cho – Prawn Balls 13

Toh Bak Char Hair Bee Hiam – Sambal Dried 15 Shrimp with Pork

Teochew 17

Fish in Chinese Sauce 18

Teochew Steamed Fish 19

Hir Tow Oh – Stewed with Yam 21

Stewed Tua Chye with Meat, Mushroom and Chilli 23

Chap Huay Tng 25

Kiam Chye Ar – Duck with Salted Vegetable Soup 27

Kow Lak Ar – Braised Duck with Chestnut 29

Loh Ar – Teochew Braised Duck 31

Ngoh Hiang – Fried Pork Rolls 33

Oh Nee – Teochew Yam Pudding 35

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8 grandma’s teochew food

Steamed Nak Yee Kia

“We will make tins of nak yee kia, have it sliced and fried up in batches for relatives and friends during new year and other festive days…”

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Nak Yee Kia– Little Meat Balls

The nak yee kia, or rou yuan zai (Mandarin), is a Teo-Yeo (Chaoyang) speciality, which grandma and grandaunt remembered as a that was often served during and festive days in the old Potong Pasir home. Trays of nak yee kia would be made, and sliced in wedges to be fried crisp as for family and friends. A wonderful treat for all who came bearing good wishes for the new year and for nibbling on while enjoying the melodious drama of Teochew opera which were often commissioned for festive days. Fond memories indeed, and might be why this was the first dish suggested by my mum when she heard of my intention to learn Teochew cooking from Grandma.

Sadly this is a dish which is unknown in Singapore even among Teochews. The hawker whom I bought the 9 of tofu to make 2 trays of nak yee kia was smiling broadly at his windfall (for it seems that few customers ever purchase more than 2 -3 cakes of tofu at each time) but was equally blank when told what it was for.

Teo-Yeo or Chaoyang is the district in China where Grandpa was born. The Teo-Yeo strand of Teochew is slightly different from mainstream spoken Teochew. According to Uncle Peter, “Nak Yee”, is the equivalent of “Bak Yee” in mainstream Teochew which is meat ball. Despite its name, it is like the popular (chye tow kway) than a meat ball. You find this a steamed savoury confectionary which can be fried or eaten on its own with a sweet black sauce and chilli sauce.

What you need :

5 pieces of soft tofu from the market, (not the silky smooth tofu from the supermarket, as it will be too wet) 500g sweet flour (hwang zi hun) 800g small prawns, cubed 4 tbsp of chopped fatty pork 8 stalks of chinese leek, sliced 2 tbsp dang chye, chopped Pepper Salt MSG (optional) 12 inches round steaming tin

Drain the tofu, and with your hands smash it finely in a big bowl. Here’s a fantastic chance to squash the fine white slab of tofu into a mashy mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix the prawns, fatty meat, chinese leek and dang chye into the tofu mixture, followed by the flour. Don’t add water as the tofu has a high water content, and you do not want a watery mixture. If it is too watery, add more flour.

Oil the steaming tin well. When all the ingredients are well mixed, pour the mixture into the steaming tin. Wet your palms to smoothen the surface of this confection, for unlike cakes it will not settle into a nice surface of its own. Steam for 1 – 1 ½ hours on medium heat. A tin of this size usually takes about 1½ hours.

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Deep fried Nak Yee Kia

Slices of Steamed Nak Yee Kia

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As the mixture will rise when steaming, don’t fill the tin to its brim, for it will overflow. When it is cooked, poke a like you will do with a cake. It may be slightly sticky but the skewer should not come out of the nak yee kia wet. Leave it to cool in the tin for an hour then turn it out in a serving plate and have it sliced. Inside there will be a mosaic of white flecked with the light of prawns and the of green from the leek. It tastes beautiful with sweet black sauce and chilli sauce.

Variation Instead of steaming nak yee kia, mould them into balls and deep fry. A crunchy chewy snack for the afternoon.

Tofu

Tofu, which is known to originate in China is a wonderfully soft and tender food that is popular for its silky texture, nutritional quality and its versatile use in a myriad of dishes. Well-suited to a multitude of cuisines and palates it is used popularly in many Asian countries including , and . In Singapore, it is well- loved by all its people, be it Chinese, Malay, Indian or Eurasian, with Tofu having its pride of place in each of these cuisines. You will be greeted by a multitude of Tofu products if you visit a tofu stall in the market. There’s the soft tofu, the taukwa (hard tofu), taupok, water tofu, etc. The variety is astounding and frankly, the tofu from the market is much fresher and tastier that those bought in supermarkets.

So what is tofu? It is simply a white made of soya . Its production is strikingly similar to -making and so is often compared to dairy products in other parts of the world. The soya beans are first washed and soaked before grinding them into a pulp in a stone mill. Through cooking on a high temperature, the milk is separated from the solids. The skin which forms on the hot milk is then removed, dried and eventually sold as dried beancurd sticks (fu chok). The milk is futher processed and coagulated using calcium chloride or calcium sulphate. These curds are broken up, poured into molds and pressed to remove moisture, after which it is made.

There are stories on how tofu was first invented with one of the most popular being a story that dates back to the Western Han Dynasty in 2nd century BC. Tofu was said to be invented by Lord Liu An of Hainan during his experiments to create an elixir for immortality. This may be more a myth than a fact for historians did not find any references to Tofu in Chinese history or literature until the 10th century AD. What is also certain is that Tofu was a food meant for monks and Taoists priests, before it became popular among the masses

Like everywhere else in China, Tofu is popular among the Teochews, and here we have an inventive way of using Tofu to make a nutritious savoury cake-like snack

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Prawn Ball

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Hair Cho –

Grandma’s hair cho is famous throughout the family circuit. This bite-sized crunchy prawn balls is dished up at every family dinner and festival, to the delight of all young and old.

It is amazingly simple to make, and the secret is in the prawns and the water chestnut. I have tried making other versions of prawn balls, including one by celebrity food writer, , and decided that grandma’s hair cho beats them all.

What you need :

1 kg of small prawns (Swa Prawns), chopped 2 tbsp of small piece of fatty pork, chopped 4 Water chestnuts, chopped 4 sprigs of spring , chopped 1 2 tbsp plain flour Salt to taste

Aptyly named prawn ball, the prawn takes pride of place in this dish. The fatty pork, water chestnut and spring onion is added to enhance its flavour, but the ball is really 98% prawns. So for best results, buy the freshest and sweetest small prawns from the market. Grandma recommends the small swa prawns for its sweetness and crunchiness.

When you have your prawns, fatty pork, water chestnut and spring onion chopped, mix it all together with the egg and plain flour. Add salt to taste. If the mixture seems too watery, do add a bit more flour.

When the mixture is ready, heat up your oil in the wok or the frying pan. As the oil heats up, start making bite-sized balls from the mixture. Place them into the hot oil and deep-fry in medium – small fire, to ensure that the prawn-ball is cooked all round. Remove when it turns golden brown.

Serve it on its own or with a sweet black sauce.

Variation You may want to try adding the prawn ball to your soup instead of deep-frying which was what my late maternal grandpa used to do. However for prawn balls die-hards like my brother, the fried version is best.

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Toh bak char hair bee hiam – Sambal Dried Shrimp with Pork

Most of us are familiar with sambal dried shrimp or “hair bee hiam” which can be found in some hawker stalls and many households, especially Teochew ones. Its crunchy spiciness with strong overtones of dried seafood, which is greatly favoured by the peoples of , is a delicious dish with rice or porridge, or called for in recipes, to flavour a snack or a . Watching television, and crunching small mouthfuls of hair bee hiam, that is fried crisp in its own oil in the microwave oven for a minute, is definitely an indulgence for me.

Sambal Dried Shrimp with Pork

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Whether it is a Teochew dish remains uncertain, for its use of sambal suggests Malay or Nyonya influence. Indeed there are variations of this dish which is well-known in Burma, Thailand and , suggesting of its strong links to cuisines of tropical coastal areas. But it is certain that the Teochews in Singapore are known for their predilection for dried shrimp, for it can be found in many of its savoury kway.

But beyond this debate, what about sambal dried shrimp with pork? This is a variation quite unknown. Though it sounds odd, it does work beautifully, and my mum and uncles who grew up on it, swears by this dish.

What you need :

200 g 100 g chilli Belacan, roasted on a hot pan, then pounded into bits 200 g dried shrimp, soak to soften 1 strip of pork belly – (ngo huay bak or san chan bak), chopped Salt to taste

Grind the shallot, chilli and dried shrimp separately in the food processor. The dried shrimp however should only be grinded coarsely while the shallot and chilli can be grinded to a . However if you have strong muscles and time to spare, have it pounded instead in a mortar and pestle. The taste is much superior.

As for the pork, boil or steam the meat till done. Then slice it thinly and keep aside

Heat up your wok with oil. Do not scrimp on the oil, as the hot oil is essential in bringing out the flavours of the sambal. Keep your wok on a slow fire. When the oil is heated, pour in the shallot mixture. Fry till fragrant. Then add in the chilli paste, belacan, salt and sugar. Fry till the sambal turns reddish brown and fragrant. Keep aside

In a separate pan, heat up the oil. Again be generous with the oil, as its helps to fry the pork and the dried shrimp to a crisp. When the oil is heated up, add in the pork and fry till fragrant , then add in the dried shrimp. When it is aromatic and crispy, add in the sambal with more sugar and fry for a further 5 minutes on low fire, for all the flavours to combine into a heavenly mix.

Serve with rice or porridge. This can keep for weeks in the fridge.

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Teochew Char Kway Teow

I only learnt of this dish when Grandma and Uncle Peter mentioned it one day. Curious, I asked how it is made only to find it exceedingly simple.

Having tried it, it is a more primitive version of the popular hawker char kway teow, and it is likely that it may be its antecedent. I have since found this dish served at some Teochew restaurants.

What you need :

2 servings of Kway Teow 1 cup of beansprout 4 bunches of Chye Sim 7 of , chopped 4 tbsp of preserved salted radish Chye Poh Fish Sauce to taste

While you need all these items for this dish, what is most essential for extremely tasty char kway teow is a wok and high heat. Frying pans and medium fire will not impart that “smoked and charred” flavour which makes it delicious.

In a very hot wok, add in the oil. When the wok and oil is smoking, add in the garlic. Give it a few stirs, and allows the mouth watering smell of fried chopped garlic to pervade the kitchen, then add in the chye poh to fry till fragrant. This is followed by the chye sim, which you need to give it a minute or two in the wok, before adding the kway teow and the fish sauce. Maintain the high heat, fry till all are fragrant, then add in the beansprout. Give it a quick stir, then switch off the fire. It’s ready to be served.

Teochew Char Kway Teow

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Fish in Chinese Leek Sauce

This is a fish dish that makes it appearance without fail every year in my mother’s and grandmother’s dinner table during Chinese New Year. With it, my mum will exhort us to pick up a morsel of the fish and Chinese leek, and will laughingly say, “jia sng, jia liao jiu woo jyi kng” (Teochew). Punning on “sng” which is Chinese leek, and “kng” which means keep, this saying means if you eat leek, you will have plenty of money to keep. Which is really good luck for all of us, and even my brother who does not like leek will have a bite.

Food plays an important role in , not lest for its symbolism. Special foods are eaten on special occasions and festivals for what it symbolises. Therefore it is natural to find on Chinese New Year, an inexhaustive array of delicious food bearing good wishes for the new year. Kitchens are filled with an overflow of Chinese goodies, such as the sticky rice cakes ( gao), sea moss (fa cai) and raw fish (yu sheng), which are eaten with not only for its delicious taste but also for the good luck that the dish embodies.

Fish in Chinese Leek Sauce is one of those popular New Year dishes, especially among the Teochews, because it suggests abundance and prosperity. The fish to use here is the rabbit fish (bai du yu), which coincidentally is the most tasty during the lunar new year, and is the season when it can be found with lots of fish that is favoured by connoisseurs of the rabbit fish. In turn, it is auspiciously named by the Teochews, “bai jia hir”, or the new year fish.

For all the good tidings that it symbolises, this is a simple dish that is really tasty as the leek shares with the sauce and the fish a sweet onion flavour which really do not require anything more except some salt, and for those who love a tinge of chilli, the Teochew chilli dipping of sng nee chou (see page 22 ).

What you need :

4 rabbit fishes, cleaned 2 stalks of chinese , sliced Oil for deep-frying ½ cup of water

It is essential to deep-fry the fish first till lightly golden. Take care not to cook it for too long as you will be stewing with the sauce later. Then drain and put aside.

In a separate pan, add some oil, and stir-fry the sliced chinese leeks till fragrant and slightly caramelised. Add in ½ cup of water and allow the leeks to in the sauce on a low fire for 10 minutes or till soft. Add in more water if required. When the sauce is done, add in the and stew for a further 3 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Really good eaten with sng nee chou.

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Steamed Fish

Fish in Chinese Leek Sauce

19 grandma’s teochew food

Teochew Steamed Fish

The Teochew Steamed Fish is a perennial favourite, and can be found in many Chinese Restaurants and zi char stalls. Its popularity is really its simplicity for honouring the fresh flavours of good fish by cooking it simply with a few good ingredients that complements. Its clean taste makes this style of steamed fish a favourite among all fish lovers.

Grandma’s steamed fish is quite similar to what you get in the restaurants and is simple enough for you to whip up at home!

What you need :

1 pomfret 8 slices of belly pork 1 dried mushroom, soaked and sliced thinly 2 sour plum 1 salted vegetable, thinly sliced 1 sprig of spring onion, cut 1 sprig of leaves 1 chilli, sliced (optional) 1 tbsp cooking oil or

Clean the fish and pat dry. Place it on your steaming plate, and add the pork, mushroom, sour plum and salted vegetable toppings. Then drizzle the cooking oil or lard over the fish. The subtle mix of the savoury and the sour goes wonderfully with the fresh sweet taste of delicious pomfret.

When your steamer is ready, put in the plate of fish and steam for 7 minutes for a small fish or 10 minutes for a medium sized fish.

Remove from the steamer once cooked, and top it with the spring onion and coriander leaves before serving.

NB : Grandma also recommends the tow-chio (greyish pomfret) for steaming.

The Pomfret______

The white pomfret , pampus argenteus which is often found in Asian coastal waters is widely appreciated by Teochews, for its silky delicious white flesh. Often eaten freshly steamed, it is complimented subtly by the mushroom, sour plums, slices of pork and fragrant coriander leaves. Its importance in the Teochew culinary tradition is indeed encapsulated in this verse found in a popular Teochew opera

“For good fish, eat white pomfret, for a pretty wife marry Su Liu Niang.”

Verse from Su Liu Niang opera. Adapted from a Teochew oral tradition that originated during the Ming period (1368 – 1644)

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Fish Head with Yam

21 grandma’s teochew food

Hir Tau Oh –Fish Head with Yam Soup

When looking for simple comfort food, this clear tasty soup speaks to me in volumes. Fish, yam and white cabbage simply makes delicious soup that can be enjoyed at home or can be found in hawker stalls as the popular “fish head steamboat” or hir tau loh.

Having yam in the soup makes this different from most that we are familiar with, and perhaps it’s the slightly sweet taste of this crunchy tuber, which is often found in Teochew cooking, that tugs at my heartstrings. Again, this dish bears the hallmark of Teochew cuisine – with its use and emphasis of fresh ingredients and clear taste.

What you need :

1 fish head (ang kor li – white snapper is recommended) 1 yam, cubed 8 slices of ½ of the white cabbage, teared into pieces 300 g of chinese roast pork, cut into pieces 1 litres (4 cups) of chicken stock or water Salt to taste

Freshness of ingredients is essential, for this soup celebrates the sweet flavoursome taste of the fish, yam and white cabbage. Buy the fish head from your fishmonger and have him clean and cut the fish head for you into two.

When you are ready to cook, heat up a pot of oil on medium heat to deep fry the yam pieces till lightly brown. Using the same oil, deep fry the fish head for 1 minute. Do not overcook the fish at this stage as it will be cooking with the soup further.

Put your pot of chicken stock or water to boil, and add in a tablespoon of the oil that was used to fry the yam and fish. When the stock is boiling, add in the ginger, yam and white cabbage. Let it simmer till cooked, which may take about 15 minutes. When it is ready, add in the roast pork to simmer for 5 minutes, followed by the fish head and salt to taste. Simmer for another 3 minutes, and it is ready to serve.

Yam

Among the tubers eaten by Chinese, yam is indigenous to China and is known to be part of the Chinese diet since 529 BC in the Spring- Autumn period, when it was found to be a popular agricultural crop. Sima Qian, the great Chinese historian of the Han dynasty made this reference in the Historical Records (Shi Ji). Today, yam is found in many Chinese dishes, including many Teochew ones, such as yam cakes, yam rice and oh nee. The other popular tubers, potato and only entered China in the middle of the . The former through the West, and the latter through .

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“Stewed vegetable with pork is exhilarating. Goes wonderfully with porridge and rice.”

23 grandma’s teochew food

Stewed with Meat, Mushroom and Chilli

Teochew cuisine is often known for its simple uncomplicated using just a few simple ingredients, with none or little of those condiments often found in . In many of these stews, pork is essential for imparting its savoury sweetness to the dish.

The mustard (tua chye) is a vegetable seldom used perhaps because of its bitter taste. Stewing it however makes it rather delicious, as it loses its bitterness and absorbs the lovely flavours of the meat and mushroom.

What you need :

1 mustard (tua chye), cut into pieces 200 g belly pork or toh bak, cut in chunks 6 dried mushroom, soaked 2 chilli, cut in big pieces 1 cup of water / stock Salt to taste

If you are worried about the bitterness of the tua chye, boil it for a few minutes in water, and drain.

Then heat up the wok with oil. Add the mushroom and fry till fragrant then add in the tua chye and belly pork. Fry it for several minutes on high heat till fragrant, and add in the salt.

When it is all nicely flavoured, add in the water or stock, reduce the heat to a medium – small fire and allow to simmer for 15 minutes. Then add in the chilli, and simmer for another 15 minutes. Ensure there is enough liquid in the wok, as you will like some of this lovely sauce to go with your rice or porridge.

It should be ready after 30 minutes of cooking, or when the tua chye and pork is soft.

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Chap Huay Tng

25 grandma’s teochew food

Chap Huay Tng

Mixed soup – that’s what chap huay tng is. Grandma and mum often make this on festive days as much of the ingredients are Chinese , such as sea cucumber, fish maw and fried pork skin which are only used on those days. The availability of a huge pot of chicken stock from making the boiled chicken, to be used as an offering for prayers, makes this soup a natural choice at these dinners.

What you need :

Chicken stock or Pork rib stock White cabbage Sea cucumber Fried Pork Skin Fish Maw Salt to taste

How do you prepare Chinese delicacies such as sea cucumber, fried pork skin and fish maw?

Here’s grandma’s golden tips :

Sea Cucumber – Wash the sea cucumber, scrap the centre and cut. To enhance its flavour fry it quickly with garlic, then wash, drain and you can keep it for a few days in the fridge.

Fish Maw – If you buy those which have been fried and dried, have it soaked for awhile, then cut it to bite pieces.

Fried Pork Skin – Like the fish maw, have it soaked for awhile, then cut it into bite pieces.

Now that all your delicacies are ready, heat up your pot of stock, and add in the pork skin, fish maw and white cabbage. Allow it to simmer for 20 minutes before you add in the fish ball and sea cucumber. Cook for a further 5 minutes, add salt to taste and it is ready to serve.

“Grandma and mum often make this on festive days as much of the ingredients are Chinese delicacies, such as sea cucumber, fish maw and fried pork skin which are only used on those days.”

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Kiam Chye Ar

27 grandma’s teochew food

Kiam Chye Ar – Duck with Salted Vegetable Soup

Kiam Chye Ark is a popular local soup, not only among the Teochews but particularly among the nyonyas who have their own rendition, popularly known as Itek Tim.

What you need :

1 duck 400g kiam chye (salted vegetable) 10 slices of ginger 4 sour plums 1 tomato, cut into wedges 7 cups of water Salt to taste

To prepare the duck, cut off the bishop’s nose (the rear area), and blanch it in hot water to rid it of its strong smell. Ducks are rather fatty birds, and if you wish to reduce the oil in your soup, remove the skin. To cook the duck in a more manageable way, cut it into eight parts for the soup. Otherwise it is fine to cook the whole duck in the pot, if you have a very large pot.

When the 7 cups of water in the pot is boiling, add the ginger, duck, kiam chye and sour plum. Allow the soup to boil for 1 – 1 ½ hour. Then add in the tomatoes, boil for another 10 minutes and serve. As the kiam chye and sour plums contributes its own salt to the soup, do taste before adding any extra salt.

Basics on preparing duck______

Cooking a duck seems somewhat a more daunting prospect than cooking a chicken perhaps for the mere fact that it is less commonly done. Yet according to grandma, the task is now simpler as the poultry seller would have removed all the feathers and the , which would not be the case in the past.

Having cooked many beautifully braised ducks, she recommends that I rinse the whole duck, remove the remaining innards and clots and cut off the fats at the rear end of the duck. She would have cooked the duck with its long neck and beak, but if you are a bit squeamish like me at its sight, do cut off the neck. Ducks are known for its strong smell, and to rid it of this pungence, pour boiling water over the duck. Then pat dry throughout including the inside.

It is ready to be used!

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Kow Lak Ar - Braised Duck with Chestnut

A very tasty duck dish. Unfortunately it is widely unknown, except among the older folks. I learnt from grandma that this was once a popular Teochew restaurant dish in the 1940s and 1950s. She learnt the dish from grandpa who had picked up the recipe from friends working in Teochew restaurants.

This is a dish of my childhood as it is often served on festive days. I recall tearing slices of meat from the duck and eating with the soft mushy chestnut in its lovely braised sauce.

What you need :

1 duck 1 cup of chestnut with skin removed 1 carrot, diced 6 dried shitake mushroom, soaked 5 , sliced 5-spiced powder Black Soya Sauce Sugar Water

After you have prepared your duck (see page 20), sprinkle some salt and ½ tsp of 5-spice powder on the skin and its cavity. Have the duck drip dry if you can for about ½ hour. If you are not worried about deep-frying and the mess that comes with it, try immersing the duck for a minute in hot oil to lightly brown its skin before . This will impart a lovely flavour on the duck. However it is quite alright to skip the deep –frying if you are not quite comfortable.

While the duck is drying, work on the stuffing. Heat the oil in high heat over a wok. Fry the shallots in hot oil till fragrant then add in the whole mushroom, carrot and chestnut. Add a sprinkle of soya sauce to taste and ¼ tsp of the 5-spice powder. You should fry this only for a few quick minutes on high heat, enough to flavour your stuffing with the smoky taste of the hot wok and the aromas of the condiments. Do not overcook as the stuffing will be cooking further in the duck.

When the duck is sufficiently dried and marinated, use a toothpick to seal up the hole where the neck had been cut. That’s important to seal the stuffing. Stuff your chestnut mixture into the duck through the rear cavity and seal with more toothpicks.

Having prepared that, we proceed to “pah loh”, or “beat the braised sauce”, which is a technique commonly used in Teochew households to prepare beautiful braised meat. Use a wok big enough to contain your duck. Heat up the wok, then add in 2tbsp of black soya sauce, 1 tbsp of sugar and 4 cups of water. Allow it to boil. When the mixture is boiling, place the duck gently into the wok. 29 grandma’s teochew food

The sauce may only reach half the duck. Do ladle some sauce and pour it over the duck. Then allow the duck to braise in medium - low heat, turning the duck every half hour. Check the sauce constantly to ensure that it does not dry up. Add more water if necessary. Ensure there is some lovely braised sauce left in the wok as that goes beautifully with rice or porridge and is a favourite Teochew sauce for many meals. Cover the wok with its cover as you braise. Cook it for 1 ½ - 2 hours till the meat is soft as the perfect braised duck with chestnut has a luscious quality that melts in your mouth.

When you are ready to serve, cut the duck open and the meat will just fall off. You will be greeted by the hearty aromas of the chestnut stuffings. Scoop it out and place it on the side of the plate with the duck.

Enjoy the duck with rice and a chilli garlic-lime dipping or the Teochew chilli-garlic dipping, “sng nee chou”.

Chilli-garlic vinegar dipping - sng nee chou

1 red chilli 1 garlic 2 tbsp vinegar ½ tsp sugar ½ tsp salt

Here’s a classic Teochew dipping often used with steamed and braised Teochew-style and seafood. Cut the chilli and garlic into tiny bits but do not pound. Stir in the vinegar, sugar and salt and serve in a small saucer. (mum’s recipe)

Chilli-garlic lime dipping

3 red chilli padi 1 garlic 1 tbsp sugar 1 tbsp fresh lime juice 2 tbsp fish sauce 2 tbsp warm water

This is inspired from a Vietnamese recipe but I find that it tastes lovely with Teochew dishes. Pound the chilli, garlic and sugar till it becomes a paste, then add lime juice, fish sauce and warm water. Serve in a small saucer. (from my collection)

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Loh Ar

“A delicious dish of duck with rice, porridge or noodle!”

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Loh Ar - Teochew Braised Duck

Here is a Teochew favourite that can be found in many restaurants as well as hawker stalls. It differs slightly from the braised duck with chestnut as the meat is to be cooked till its tender and still springy. Eaten with its lovely braised sauce, or “loh” and a chilli ginger-lime dipping, its robust flavour goes well with rice, porridge or noodles.

This is my grandmother’s version.

What you need :

1 duck 5-spiced powder 2 tbsp of sugar 4 tbsp of black soya sauce salt 8 slices of 5 cloves of garlic

Once you have cleaned the duck (see pg 20), rub ½ tsp of 5-spiced powder and salt all over the duck and leave it to drip dry for ½ hour. When the duck is ready, stuff the slices of galangal into its cavity and seal with toothpicks.

Then on a wok with a low heat, caramelise the sugar with water, making sure that it doesn’t burn. Once it has turned a lovely brown, coat the duck in the wok with the caramel. Then add 6 cups of water into the wok, with the garlic, black soya sauce and another ½ tsp of 5-spiced powder. Allow the sauce to boil. The sauce may only reach half the duck. Do ladle some sauce and pour it over the duck. Then allow the duck to braise in medium - low heat, turning the duck every half hour. Check the sauce constantly to ensure that it does not dry up. Add more water if necessary. Ensure that is some lovely braised sauce left in the wok as that goes beautifully with rice or porridge and is a favourite Teochew sauce for many meals. Cover the wok with its cover as you braise. Cook for 1 hour – 1 ½ hour.

Duck Posessing a strong flavour, the duck quite unfortunately is often forgotten next to its popular cousin, the chicken in both the Western and Asian culinary tradition. Yet it is a lovely red meat that cooks well and retains its flavour and texture either roasted or stewed.

The earliest record of duck eating in China dates back to the middle of the Spring-Autumn period. Duck rearing was written about in the Book of Poetry (Shi Jin). The Chinese has since created many delicious duck dishes, including the Peking duck, which dates back to the Ming Dynasty, the Sichuan smoked duck and Teochew braised duck.

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Ngoh Hiang - Fried Pork Rolls

“Ngoh Hiang” which means five fragrance is used to describe the Chinese Five Spice Powder, which provides the characteristic lightly spiced taste of the fried pork rolls.

Ngoh Hiang

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Favoured by both the Teochews and Hokkiens, it can be found in many hawker ngoh hiang stalls that sell a variety of savouries such as fish balls, tau-kwa, prawn fitters, pork sausage, deep fried and served with a sweet sauce or a sweet chilli sauce. These fried pork rolls naturally form a part of this delicious repertoire, but pales in comparison to the homemade version, as the hawkers tend to cut down on the fresh pork, water chestnut and spring onion, that gives it that spritely crunch. The following recipe from Grandma is very tasty and is a wonderful choice for parties.

What you need :

500g of minced pork 8 stalks of spring onion, chopped 5 water chestnut, chopped 1 tsp 5-spice powder 1 beancurd skin Salt or light soya sauce

Wipe the beancurd skin with a dry cloth or a kitchen serviette. It is usually sold in a large piece of about 60cm by 40cm. Depending on your needs, you can make very long ngoh hiang, and have then cut up when done, or small ones like a size. I won’t recommend making very long ngoh hiang, as it may break while frying. For an average size, cut the beancurd skin into rectangular pieces of about 20 cm by 12cm, and leave aside.

Mix the minced pork with the spring onion, water chestnut, 5-spice powder and salt or light soya sauce. Scoop up spoonfuls of the minced filling onto the beancurd skin, moulding it into a roll like a sausage, at about 2 cm from the lower and side borders. As you will roll a , fold the side borders in and flip the lower border of the beancurd skin over the minced filling, and slowly roll over into a sausage. Repeat with remaining ingredients. This can make about 6 rolls.

Prepare your steamer, oil the plate or container and steam the ngoh hiang for about 5 minutes, and not longer. Then prepare a separate pan and deep fry in hot oil till golden brown. When that’s done, slice into bite-sized pieces to find moist mosaic of meat and spring onion, wrapped around with a crispy beancurd skin. Enjoy with sweet black sauce or chilli sauce. Five-spiced powder

This ubiquitous is often used in southern style Chinese cooking and is about the only blend of spices used. India may be its neighbour, but spicy cooking of the Indian genre never took off in China.

Instead the five-spiced powder is used sparingly in most dishes, usually meat, as a condiment to heighten its flavour and introduces hints of a sweet and musky aroma. It is a blend of five aromatic spices, which includes the Chinese brown peppercorns, or cassia, clove, and star . The cassia, star anise and Chinese brown peppercorns are indigenous to China, while fennel is used throughout Europe and Asia and cloves is an ancient spice that originates from the spice islands of the Moluccas.

It is not certain when five-spiced powder originated but spices such as , pepper and cinnamon were used in Chinese cooking and Chinese herbal pharmacopeias during the Tang Dynasty.

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Oh Nee – Teochew Yam Pudding

Oh Nee, or Teochew Yam Pudding is the most famous of all Teochew , particularly in Singapore. It can often be found in many Teochew restaurants. Deliciously sweet and satisfying, it is also a popular in many Chinese banquets.

Oh Nee

“The secret of good oh nee is

really good yam, lots of shallots,

oil and sugar…”

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What do you need :

1 Yam, 2/3 cup of oil 15 shallots, chopped 1 cup of water (250 ml) 7 tbsp sugar cooked gingko nuts (optional – see following gingko 10 pandan leaves )

Like other dishes, there are several ways to make oh nee. Some call for deep frying the cubed yam pieces, while others like grandma prefers steaming. You may try either way of treating the yam, for it tastes equally good. What you really need which is the secret of good oh nee is good yam, lots of shallots, oil and sugar which makes it a fantastic “sinful” dessert.

Remove the skin of the yam, and cut into chunks of 1cm thickness. Steam the yam till well-cooked. It should be soft when poked with a fork. That will take approximately 15 minutes. Then mash the yam as you will with a fork. Heat your pan with 2/3 cup of oil. Lots of oil is essential to fry the yam. Add in the chopped shallots and fry till fragrant and lightly brown. On a low-medium heat, add the yam, pandan leaves and sugar. Fry till fragrant for about 5 minutes, then add in a cup of water. Stir and let it cook for about 10 - 15 minutes. Switch off the fire and remove all pandan leaves

It is quite lovely now eaten with the cooked gingko nuts, and the crunchy shallots. But if you desire the paste-like quality that you get in restaurants, use a blender to blend the yam mixture into a paste before you add in the gingko nuts. Either ways, it is an enjoyable treat. If you are not worried about fats and calories, do try frying the shallot and yam in lard, which is grandma’s original recipe. As the secret of good oh nee is in the oil, a lard-laden oh nee will be heavenly.

Gingko Nut Syrup

You may buy vacuum-packed cooked gingko nuts from the market. But I highly recommend the fresh nuts that are sold with their shells, as they are much superior in taste. Shelling the nuts and preparing them is undoubtedly time-consuming, but you and your guests will be much rewarded with a fragrant nutty syrup.

Mum shared with me this gingko nut syrup recipe which can be prepared in advance and scooped on to the oh nee when ready to serve.

Shell a handful of gingko nuts, then boil it for 10 minutes in hot water. Remove the flimsy coating of brown skin, halve it, and remove the bitter stem. Then in a pan of boiling water (about 1 cup), add in the sugar, pandan leaves and gingko nuts. Allow it to simmer for 30 minutes – 45 minutes, till the gingko nuts are soft, and the water turned into a sweet syrup. Put aside to chill till ready to serve

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Yee Ma, grandma’s younger sister

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