Taste o f Maca u Portuguese Cuisin e on the China Coas t Annabel Jackson # m *. * & m *t HONG KON G UNIVERSIT Y PRES S Hong Kon g University Pres s 14/F Hing Wai Centre 7 Tin Wan Praya Road Aberdeen Hong Kong © Hong Kong University Press 2003 ISBN 96 2 209 638 7 All rights reserved. No part of thi s publication ma y be reproduce d or transmitted, in any form o r by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storag e or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from th e publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Dat a A catalogue record fo r this book i s available fro m th e British Library. Secure On-line Orderin g http://www.hkupress.org Designed an d photographed b y Robert Stone Limited Printed an d bound b y Kings Time Printing Press Ltd., Hong Kong, China CONTENTS FOREWORD by Antonio M. Jorge da Silva x by Wilson Kwok x v INTRODUCTION 1 TOWARDS A DEFINITION OF MACANESE COOKING 6 MACANESE STOR E CUPBOARD 9 POEM Secret Family Recipes by Leung Fing-kwan 2 2 VIGNETTES Macanese in Their Own Words Anabela Estorninho 2 4 Isabel da Silva 2 6 Marina de Senna Fernandes 2 8 Antonio M. Jorge da Silva 3 0 Henrique de Senna Fernandes 3 2 Carlos Marreiros 3 4 RECIPES Soups and Starter s Almondegas Mince d Pork Patties 3 6 Caldo Verde Cabbag e and Potato Soup 3 7 Casquinha de Caranguejo Stuffe d Cooke d Crab 3 8 ChamUfaS I Macanes e Samosas 3 9 Chamucas II Macanes e Vegetarian Samosas 4 0 Chilkotes Deep-frie d Mea t Pies 4 2 Pasteis de Bacalhau Sal t Cod Cakes 4 4 Repo/ho Receado Stuffe d Cabbag e Rolls 4 6 Rissdis Shrim p Rissoles 4 7 Sopa de Abobora & Caranguejo Cra b and Pumpkin Soup 4 8 Sopa de Couve Flor Cauliflowe r Sou p 4 9 Tostas de Camardo Vivienne' s Har Toasy (Shrimp Toasts) 5 0 Tostas de Queijo Chees e Toasts 5 1 Fish and Seafoo d Bacalhau a Gomes de Sd Sal t Cod in Gomes de Sa Style 5 2 Bacalhau d Penha Sal t Cod in Penha Hill Style 5 4 Bacalhau FreSCO Assado Bake d Fresh Cod 5 5 Bacalhau Guisado Sal t Cod Stew 5 6 Caril de Camardo Shrim p Curry 5 8 Caril de Caranguejo I Currie d Whole Crab 6 0 Caril de Caranguejo II Flake d Crab Curry 6 2 Empada de Peixe Fis h Pie 6 3 Gambas d Macau Kin g Prawns with Chilli and Garlic 6 4 Gambas em Molho Picante de Abobora <& Coco Prawns in Spicy Pumpkin an d Coconut Sauce 6 5 Tulas Recheadas Stuffe d Squi d 6 6 Peixe Assado Bake d Perch in Tomato Sauce 6 7 Meat Capela Mea t Loaf 6 8 Caril de Galinha Chicke n Curry 7 0 Chau Chau Parida I Salte d Saffron Por k Kidneys 7 1 Chau Chau Parida //Tosse d Chicke n with Saffron 7 2 Diabo 'Devil'Dis h 7 3 Teijoada Por k and Kidney Bean Stew 7 4 Galinha d Cafreal Africa n Chicke n 7 7 Galinha Portuguesa Portugues e Chicken 7 8 Minchi Minc e with Soy Sauce 7 9 PatO Cabidela Duc k Cooked in Its Own Blood 8 0 Pa to Tamarinho Tamarin d Duck 8 1 PorCO BafaSSa Saffro n Por k with Potatoes 8 2 Porco BalichaO Tamarinho Por k with Balichao and Tamarind 8 3 PorCO Com Restrate Por k with Lotus Root 8 4 Sarapatel Spic y Pork Offal (Organ ) Stew 8 5 Sarrabulho Mixe d Offal Ste w 8 6 Tacho Winte r Casserole 8 7 VacaTLstufadal Ric h Beef Ste w 8 8 Vaca Estufada II Po t Roast Beef 8 9 Vegetables AmargOSO Torcha Bitte r Gourd in Coconut Milk 9 0 Qtieijo de Soja COm Cagumelos Bea n Curd with Mushrooms 9 2 Salada a Portuguesa Gree n Salad 9 3 Sambal de Bringella Eggplan t Sambal 9 4 Vegetais em Ijeite de Coco Vegetable s in Coconut Milk 9 5 Rice and Noodle s Arro^Carregado Presse d Rice 9 6 Arro^i de Bacalhau Codfis h Ric e 9 7 Arro^Gordo Assorte d Meat Rice 9 8 Tacassd Noodle s in Shrimp Broth 10 0 Desserts Bagi Glutinou s Rice Cake 10 2 Batatada Potat o Cake 10 3 Bebinca Coconu t Milk Cake 10 4 Bebinca de Teite Coconu t Milk Set Custard 10 5 - Boh Menino Nu t Cake 10 6 Molotoff Meringu e with Sweet Egg Yolk Sauce 10 7 OVOS COmJagra Egg s with Jaggery 10 8 Plidim de Manga Mang o Pudding 10 9 Pudim de SagU Sag o Pudding 11 0 WINE AND PORT 11 2 GUIDES Macanese Restaurant s in Macau 11 4 Where to Buy Ingredients in Macau and Hong Kong 11 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS u s INTRODUCTION jLjLbout te n years ago I began work on a food-culture-travel guid e entided Macau on a Plate, during the research fo r which my interest in Macanese cooking was piqued. I also came to understand how the cuisine was already becomin g marginalized eve n among sections of th e Macanese community in Macau. In fact , it was dying out. It was when I committed to try to gather a body of Macanes e recipes and test them tha t I really began to truly understand th e cuisine. My kitchen shelve s began to fill with an almost confusing juxtapositio n o f ingredients ; exotic aroma combinations wafted acros s the apartment . Gathering such a body of recipes , particularly for a non-Macanese, is no easy task. Macanese recipes have traditionally been passed down orally , or in decades-old, handwritte n albums. I have been privileged to see precious recipe albums brimming with historica l fascinations, where, for example, the inclusion of papay a flower s recall s the days when everyone would have a kitchen garden, and each of thos e kitchen gardens would nurture at least one papaya tree; and where amounts of a n ingredient are recorded not by weight but in currency — fo r example, 20 cents of ginger . Liquids are often measure d b y 'tumbler' or 'wine glass', or the measurement guide instruction i s little more than ' a little'. Macanese recipes are closely guarded and rarely given away , and those which are shared are often incomplete . One friend ha s yet to be given her family's recipe s by her father : apparently he is convinced she would share them too generously. Yet there is a growing sense within section s of th e Macanese community that unless the already dying cuisine is recorded fo r a wider audience, it will be forever lost. Some of thos e Macanese, several of who m I have known fo r more than a decade, have willingly shared recipes with me. But there are just as many who have obviously felt unable to entrust to me and this cookbook with what I am compelled to assume are viewed as family heirlooms and , further, one of th e last surviving tenets of Macanes e cultural identity From time to time one comes across a Macau-produced recip e anthology that includes some Macanese recipes in English, and there are three or four Macanese cookbooks written in Portuguese. Yet not only are these difficult t o find, they are also difficult t o cook fro m (even for a Macanese), assuming too much prior knowledge on the part of th e home cook or even excluding a key ingredient or technique. This, then, is essentially the first comprehensive, English-language cataloguing of th e cuisine. Even with recipes in hand, the process was still complicated. Cuisines that are not taugh t in the school but learned within the family operate inside their own fascinating set s of rules . There is no singl e way in the Macanese cooking lexicon to cook a dish like, say, sarrabulho — but the childhood memories o f ever y Macanese are framed wit h the unique aromas of thei r own grandmother's sarrabulho . So there is only one way to cook it, and that is her way! 1 - I was keen, for this book, to get real recipes fro m rea l people, rather than writing them myself, and many recipes have a 'story' behind them which is included alongside . In case s where more tha n one famil y gave me the recipe fo r a dish, I have selected the one I find the most delicious. I have 'fiddled' a s little as possible with the recipes, occasionally taking a feature fro m on e recipe and incorporating it in another, but in general allowing an origina l recipe to speak fo r itself. I have been struck during the recipe-testing phase how Macanese cooking truly is a hybrid, because it is accessable and enjoyabl e to many people and palates. I have tested out dishes on Asian and Caucasian friend s an d colleagues from a range of background s and cultures, and there wasn't one who did not enjo y th e majority o f th e food sampled . 2 The intention ha s been to include recipes which can more or less work in kitchens aroun d the world, and simultaneously document the fascinating cooking styl e of Portugues e descendants o n the Pearl River Delta.