The Food Canon

Bringing our overseas guests for Fish Head Curry can be an amusing experience.

Few of them expect just a single head and pair of eyes staring at them from the dish.

As there as as many type of curries as there are Indian, Malay home and Nonya homes, you can imagine the countless ways you can cook this dish.

It is as the name says: just fish head in curry. Cook your curry paste or sauce and add the fish head in. As fish cooks quickly, it is a dish that can be assembled just before serving.

I will share here what I usually do, including some alternative ways of cooking it.  I find this dish easy to cook but tedious to explain, as is often the case for curry dishes. I seldom use a fix recipe for this and it does not bother me if the dish turns out differently each time as long as it is delicious and the basic rules are observed:

• a well-balanced aromatic curry
• fresh fish which is not overcooked 
• veg that is not mushy. 

I believe in Yesterday

... and chendol, for the matter.

Melaka is a convenient for short getaway for Singaporeans. I was there for a short break recently. It is a haven for Nonya food but I did not have any of the usual dishes.

This is my usual cooking notes to remind myself of what I have been cooking.

Not that I get to cook a lot these days since I took up my new assignment at a very busy church (hint - it has the largest cross in Singapore - see pic). It is a cool church.

The humble roast chicken is something that is commonly done in many households and it does seem like our kitchen ovens are conventionally designed for it.

My idea of a good roast chicken is this: the skin should be crisped, nicely browned and the meat flavourful and moist. That is the reason why putting the chicken on a stack of vegetable is a big no-no for me. It was a method I used when I was following a cookbook. The meat should be moist and flavourful and this means you should not overcook your chicken.

L-R: Sous Vide Magic, Demi-Supreme, Anova Top: Codlo

If you do a lot of Sous Vide cooking, and assuming you can afford it, it is useful to have more than one type of appliance.

I have been using Anova, Codlo, Sous Vide Supreme and Sous Vide Magic.
I know this may sound like over-indulging a cook's fascination with kitchen appliances but I don't own all of them. Some are shared with my Mum-in-law and they are also used in my church food ministry. They fulfil a wide range of sous vide cooking needs.

I will let you know what I think of them.

This rock has been a steady thump for centuries.

It offers no glamour shots.
It has an old greyish look.
It makes color photos look monochrome.
It is simply not cool.
It does not make a good birthday present.

It has no manual nor fanciful package. In fact, even without a manual, a child or an elderly person are equally adept at using it.

It is a rock of all ages.

New gadgets with fanciful names like Philip, Meyers, Braun, National etc have all appeared and threaten to usurp it's place.

Yet, this rock seems immovable.

Brinjal. Eggplant. Aubergine.

Depending on where you live, it bears a different name. It also comes in many different shapes: round, oval and long. One thing is certain, it is popular in many cuisines and there are many ways to cook it. As I have mentioned it is a star piece of a Hakka Yong Tau Foo spread.

For regular dinners, to cook it the "Chinese" wok style, I will add it straight to the wok after making "fragrant" ingredients like garlic and sambal.

It will normally end up mushy with an unappetising brown colour.
What happened to the beautiful violet?

What makes bridal delicious is when the skin is crisped and the flesh is creamy.
But a mushy stir-fried brinjal dish is what you will normally get from your home wok.

The contrast in texture and appealing colors are some of the reasons why we like eat them in Cze Char stalls.

"A good plate of Nasi Lemak is about getting the basics right. It is not about adding good side-dishes or adding expensive gourmet ingredients."

This is one of those "public cooking notes," where I had to jot down notes after cooking a good dish and you get to read it.

It was a wonderful day of celebrating the 50th birthday of our nation. Being a Sunday, it started with worship in church where we prayed together a prayer of thanksgiving. Then families gathered to watch the NDP together in the evening. What should we serve for dinner?

We decided on Nasi Lemak and indeed, it was the right choice.

Both Malay and Nonya at the same time, this dish which originated in Malay seaside villages has evolved in our multicultural city to what it is today. In fact, there are many versions of it, from the simple and essential, to those that come served with many side dishes.

Most of us have a story of how we used to hate bitter gourd (or bitter melon) when we were young.

Somehow, growing up, as our taste buds and receptors mature, we begin to appreciate the nuances that bitter flavours bring to our food. For some, it changes from tolerance to cravings for this gourd.

The same can be said of life. We all like things sweet but life as we know it, will be pretty one-dimensional if we have not encountered difficulties and suffering. In fact, the Bible talks a lot about suffering and the darker realities of life. If life has been "bitter" for you, you know where you can turn to. As I am writing this, the sufferings of our friends in Nepal comes to mind.

I have actually posted a recipe on bitter gourd. Dig around under Hakka Yong Tofu and you will find a wonderful recipe there.

If you like bitter gourd, you have probably eaten it with fermented black bean ("tau see"). It is a classic combination. Interestingly, it is not sweet which balance the bitters, but saltiness.

I always thought that it is fantastic to serve Satay at a party.

I have been to some where a "Satay Man" was hired. You can smell it in the air as you walk in. And the sight of the charcoal fire which flared occasionally in the skilful pair of hands - one holding a fan and the other a bunch of satay - was always something that added a special atmosphere to the evening.

Note: The full recipe for HYTF can be found here.

When I cook Hakka Yong Tau Foo, it is almost always for a party.

It has been while since I last made this and along with the food team in my church, we had to find our bearings again. But it wasn't as difficult as we had feared. It all went very smoothly and about 100 diners enjoyed the unique dining experience at our Alpha Course last night.

Why HYTF for tonight? I was asked by the team to cook whatever I want as this was one of the last few meals I am doing in the church. It isn't quite the "Last Supper" but it is true that I will be moving to another church to serve as their pastor w.e.f. 1st July this year.

I was thinking of Japanese beef rice, using Sous Vide to 48-cooked some short rib beef to perfection. Or maybe coffee pork ribs and butter prawns. But the dishes will not engage the whole food team the way HYTF will. And so the decision was made.

Updating this old post and added some pics. I have written another post with a simplified recipe here. 

I have grown accustomed to her taste

Tau Yew Bak! Tow You Bak! Toyu Bak! (Oh dear, how do you anglicize or 'engli-pinyin' this?)

This dish has been blogged and 'reciped' to death. It can be found in just about any Nonya (almost synonymous with Singaporean) cookbook out there.

So why another one?

If you have been following my blog, you will know that I have done a few posts on Sio Bak, Siew Yoke or Cantonese Roast Pork.

I have even claimed that I have perfected the techniques.

Not quite.

• There has been times when the skin won't crisped. This is especially so when I have pricked the skin, using some forks. 
• There has been times when I decided not to prick the skin. The skin was crisped, but only partially. The inner skin can be chewy.

I have always wondered: why do you need to prick the skin? Maybe I have missed something in googling cooking sites but I have never found the answer.

You have just given birth. You are now confined to the house for the month.

You cannot bathe.
You cannot visit Island Creamery.
No macaroons.
No chocolate brownies.
No curry chicken.
Coffee? Smell it if you like, but no sipping please.

For the next few weeks, your mother in-law ruleth.

Recently, during Chinese New Year, I met my cousin. She told me that her neighbour made some Char Siew and Tau Yew Bak and gave some to her. She learnt it off the Net from a lady by the name of "Auntie Ruby".

**Smiley**

My cousin also told me that she had recorded some of her recipes. I asked her to whatsapp them over and she did. Some recipes were new to me. These will certainly be added to my upcoming notebook.

I thought my Mum's Wok-char Siew method could be used to cook pork ribs. I blogged about it here. Apparently my Mum already knew that long ago. See the above recipe for "Hong Siew Pai Kuat."

Sigh. I miss my Mum...still. I dreamt of her again just yesterday and it was as if she was really present.

“Loh Mai Farn"is a breakfast staple which my Mum made regularly for gatherings or parties.

Apart from getting the flavours into the rice, the key is to keep the grains separated and retaining the springy bite (“al dente”). Gluey and soft glutinous rice is to be avoided.

To achieve this, my Mum would slave over the wok. After soaking the rice for a few hours, she would slowly fry the rice in the wok and add water along the way. It can go on for a good hour till the rice is cooked and properly flavored. She would not use the electric rice cooker or regular steamers to pre-cook the rice.

Ever since I came across Leela’s splatter guard method (She Shimmers, a popular Thai Cooking blog), I have found an easier way of achieving the same results.

As I do not normally cook some of the CNY dishes, it is good to take down cooking notes. If it helps you to know what I am doing, it may give you some some ideas.

Planning for a meal up in Petaling Jaya (PJ) can be a challenge, especially if it is a kitchen which I am less familiar with. We are already in communication and various foodstuff is being bought or prepared, whether from Singapore, Ipoh or PJ.

This is what is being prepared for Reunion and rest of CNY:

If you are familiar with my Mum's way of using the wok to cook Char Siew, it should have crossed your mind that you can do the same with pork ribs.

This benefits from the same convenience. You do not need to marinate the pork ribs beforehand. For about 45 minutes from start to finish, you start by slowly braising the ribs and then towards the end, the sauce will caramelise. It is really that simple.

The bone in the pork ribs is a poor conductor of heat. So generally, you need more time to cook the ribs compared to boneless cuts.

Adding half a teaspoon of  bicarbonate of soda will help tenderise the meat as you cook, cutting down the cooking time. Cutting it into bite size pieces makes cooking easier and faster.

Remember to use a normal wok for this (i.e. steel, iron, carbonised steel) and avoid using non-stick ones. Your wok will be stained after the cooking. Just heat up some water in it, add dish washing liquid in the heated water, the stains should come off easily as you scrape with your spatula.

So, what are you cooking for this coming Chinese New Year's Reunion dinner?

This is a special dinner where everyone comes back "home" and the family catches up with one another. It is very special for the older folks - our grandpas and grandmas - as each CNY Reunion dinner continues a chain of tradition that stretches back as far as they can remember.

I know many families these days find it more convenient to eat outside but we all know that it is not the same. In the home, the littles ones can run around and scream their lungs out while the senior ones beam and smile, seated in their comfortable chairs. You do not need to rush through dinner to accommodate the "next seating." And home-cooked meals, lovingly made, are always delicious and warms the heart, don't you agree?

Steamed egg brings back many childhood memories. Next to milk and milo, it is one of the first foods which we were comforted with.

Quick and easy to make, I can imagine why mothers feed their kids with this. When the rice cooker button pops up, from "cook" to "warm", my mum will put a plate on the rice. She poured a layer of the egg-water mix into a plate, closed the lid, and let it steam-cook for a few minutes. It is an efficient way of cooking, making use of the steam and heat from the cooked rice. Sprinkle some diced spring onions to introduce some veg to the child's diet.

A new year has started! A blessed new year to all.

Thanks again for your feedback that you are finding the recipes and techniques shared here helpful. This motivates me to continue blogging. If anything, the discipline of blogging also helps me to be more organised, reflective and improve on my cooking.

I thought I should take down some cooking notes for the dishes I cooked last Christmas. In posting it here, I hope it can also be helpful for you as tips for party-cooking. I am of course very busy in my work as a pastor, and so I need to plan ahead and ensure the dishes are not too complicated. You will find these quite easy to do and good to serve for parties.