The Food Canon

This cookbook has been a few years in the planning but many decades in the making. It is an attempt to pass on my mother’s recipes to future generations of cooks.

My mother, or Auntie Ruby as she was affectionately known by many, was a cook by profession and passion. It was her stepmother - of the kebaya generation - who first taught her some amazing Nonya recipes. Her skills were honed further in the multi-cultural environment that West Malaysia was and still is. She did not make significant headway in her profession, certainly not in the same way as we will understand culinary career success today. But her cooking was well-loved by many.

Family and friends gathered around my cheerful, bubbly and generous Mum – and if the way into a person’s heart is through the stomach, she did that in spades. Her Assam Laksa, Curry Chicken, Prawn Mee, Hakka Yong Tofu and Bubur Cha Cha were homing beacons.

Unlike many Asian home cooks, she did not have the concept of ‘secret recipe.’ She was very generous in sharing her recipes and tips. A humble and constant learner, she connected with other cooks, making them feel like companions on a learning journey rather than competitors.

She was also very adept at making traditional nonya kuih and biscuits. Her Kueh Bangket, Kuih Kapik, Peanut Cookies and Pineapple Tarts were extremely popular running up to Chinese New Year. The more orders she received, the more we had to work. They were whole-day affairs. At the end of the day, we looked and smelled like the cookies we made.

My Mum aka Auntie Ruby

My Mum was quite a perfectionist about her cooking. She kept tweaking her recipes till she was satisfied with the results. She often asked for feedback. I recall how disappointed she looked when we told her something was amiss in her dishes. Looking back, I think we could have been more encouraging in our remarks. Sadly, we often take our own mothers for granted.

When she retired, Mum stayed with us and helped with her grandchildren. We got to enjoy her food again. She was then able to cook entirely for pleasure. When my church ran Alpha courses, her dinners were always memorable for guests. Dinners in my home were wonderful as she unleashed her gathered years of experience into every meal. It seemed like she could cook anything, from homey dishes to restaurant fare.

Mum passed away in 2007. We miss her bubbly presence. We miss Mother. And of course, we miss her cooking.

When she was gone, we initially tried to improvise with takeaways and home deliveries for daily dinners. However, it came to a point when I knew I had to continue her legacy. I wasn’t thinking then of anything more than continuing our family tradition of home-cooked dinners.

The Food Canon Blog

I have always thought that it would be good to help my Mum write and publish a cookbook. When her illness set in, she became incapacitated very quickly. All we could rely on in recreating her dishes was a file of about 30 of her recipes - written down by one of her friends - the rest were just palate memories.

When I put on Facebook a photo of Mum’s Char Siew I made, there were requests for her recipe. That inspired the creation of the food blog. Even then, I was only writing and posting recipes for my friends. I was trying to be silly, to amuse people I was familiar with. Even the title of the blog was tongue-in-cheek. My good friend, Leslie Tay, an established food blogger (ieatishootipost) helped to publicize my blog early on. That drew public attention to it. When I realised that netizens were interested in my Mum’s recipes and what I was doing, I knew that I could do my bit to keep some of the traditions of good home cooking alive.

Thus, in an unexpected way, the blog became a memorial to my Mum. Each time I blog about one of her recipes, memories of her are relived.

The blog has also helped me to connect with many who share my interest in the dynamic world of Southeast Asian cuisine. I have found that those who are studying or living overseas are keen to find authentic recipes and techniques and recreate what their grandmas, mums or aunties have made. It is fascinating how closely intertwined food, family and culture can be.

Cuisines and recipes are evolving very rapidly today. Cooking traditions are now better explained through food science. My Mum loved soft-boiled eggs and she would have been very amazed by how perfect soft-boiled eggs can be achieved by Sous Vide appliances. She had no idea that there would be another way to make good Bak Kut Teh. Yet, there still remains an appreciation of the necessity of traditional techniques. The Nasi Lemak rice needs to be steamed. Good Sambal Belacan still needs to be pounded. Claypot Chicken Rice still taste best in a sand claypot. The wok is still irreplaceable as a simple yet versatile appliance.

The TFC Cookbook

Can be purchased from local bookstores or The Cathedral Cafe @ St Andrew's Cathedral

Undoubtedly, this cookbook flows from the blog. Being my first cookbook, it has a strong focus on reliving my Mum’s favourite recipes. I have written a helpful article on how you can use these recipes effectively (see pagexx).

It is not easy to master a recipe and cook it consistently well. Be patient. I know of some cooks who stop working on a recipe because they ‘failed’ the first time. Keep at it as you will learn from your mistakes. ‘Failure’ has to do with your expectations. Lower them when you start on a new recipe.

This cookbook needs to be read with other cookbooks and cooking websites in mind. The number of pages could easily be doubled if I include details on regional herbs, spices, vegetables and traditional utensils.

My blog and this cookbook aims to add value to the growing discussion and sharing of dishes and techniques from the Malaysian, Singaporean, Nonya, and other Southeast Asian cuisines, as well as the way they are interacting with other food cultures.

Most of all, I want to inspire the home cook - an endangered species in our hectic, modern world. It is often at the dining table, over a home-cooked meal, that family memories are formed and bonds strengthened. This tradition can easily be lost over the span of a generation, along with time-honored family recipes.

Likewise, we risk losing our regional, even local recipes in a globalized world where the new generation is more enamored by Western celebrity chefs, longing to make Beef Wellington rather than Sio Bak, mastering a soufflé and ignoring Kueh Kosui.

As a Christian and a pastor, I have also become more aware of how food and cooking can enrich communities (see page xx). My faith in a Creator whom I know and worship is not restricted to Church services on Sundays. It is something that centers my life and gives meaning to everything I do.

I hope you will find this cookbook enjoyable and useful. Visit my blog and stay in touch. Drop me an email. I will appreciate your feedback.

Yumms....

I use to think that the electric cooker messes up the nasi for Nasi Lemak.

I have most of the time gravitated to steaming the rice as one way to ensure that the rice is separated and fluffy. I have done up many posts about it here. Indeed the steaming method is a good one, albeit more troublesome and not always practical if you are cooking a small batch.

I have since learned that with care, an electric cooker, even a very large one can be use to make good nasi. The basic principles I adhere too is this:

1. When I am cooking the rice, I do not want to cook it in oil. The texture for Nasi Lemak should be different from Chicken Rice, which is cooked with oil added. It should look like plain rice (white and opaque) and yet, has the unmistakable flavour and fragrance of Nasi Lemak.

2. To ensure that the rice will not end up mushy, I use the 1:1 rice/water ratio.

3. It is after the rice is cooked that I flavour the rice with the coconut cream or thick milk and pandan leaves.

When I am cooking the rice, I minimise or omit together any oil.

When I am flavoring the rice with coconut milk, I keep the liquid (water) to the minimum and ensure thick coconut cream is used. If you add too much water after the rice is cooked, it won't turn mushy but soggy. You won't want this either.

In this recipe, I will give the proportions but you are free to adjust i.e. add more coconut cream or pandan leaves. As long as you don't cook the rice in the oil, you will get the end result that I seek for in a good nasi. And yes, salt is important or else the rice will be tasteless.


Nasi for  10 pax

5 cups of jasmine rice
5 cups of water
1 Tbp of table salt or 2 tsp of cooking salt
Cream from one coconut
10 pieces of Pandan leaves

Add the rice, water and salt into the rice cooker. Start the cooking

When the button turns to "warm", pour in the coconut cream and stir gently. Tie up the pandan leaves and add to the rice. It is important to fluff and stir the rice as the way the electric cooke ris designed, the rice eat bottom is often more cooked that this eat the surface. Close the cooker and keep cooking it. After about 5-10 minutes or so, the button will turn back to warm (because of the internal heat). The rice will be ready to serve by now. You can keep it at warm mode for another half an hour if you wish.

If you are serving the rice much later, it will be better to switch off the rice cooker. Depending on the rice cooker you are using, even in warm mode, sometimes it is hot enough for the rice to keep cooking. Here is where it could turn mushy.

It is actually quite simple. Experiment for yourself and once you understand how to do it, you will be encouraged to cook Nasi lemak more often as the electric cooker is convenient to use.

Photo credit: Joyce Ho

I have been asked if Beef rendang can be made using the Sous Vide method and the answer is absolutely yes.

For braising recipes with long cooking hours, I often use the SVmethod. I find it convenient to cook the meat beforehand as it frees up stove space and time for me to cook other dishes.

Beef rendang is one good recipe for this. I have already blogged the recipe here and it is also found in page 87 of my cookbook. Beef Rendang is a wonderful dish to serve for dinner parties and the SV way can make a delicious version. .

The traditional way of cooking beef rendang will end up with the meat picking up a lot of flavours from the rempah. For this reason, I use the cheeper and leaner cuts like chuck, top-side or shin beef.

If I am using Sous Vide, I will have better control over the meat and work at a balance where the meat almost taste like steak and yet you have  delicious rempah. I will go for higher marbled cuts like brisket or Short rib. After long SV cooking, it will have a "melt in your mouth" effect.

Sous Vide Rendang beef is not necessary better. It is just a different kind of rendang.

It involves three steps:

1. Sous Vide cook the beef for 24 to 48 hours
2. Cook the "rempah"
3. Add the beef and braise for 20-30 minutes.

In the recipe here, I am going for a green looking rendang through using green chillies. As I am not braising the rempah for a long time, it will result in a fresher looking rempah with some of the colours retained.  (??)

As for kerisik, you can now easily buy from local stores. However, there is nothing like making your own.

Ingredients

2 kg of boneless Short rib beef

For the Rempah (Paste)

To blend:
20 pieces of green chillies or 10 pieces of green chilli padi
15 Shallots
1 inch turmeric (kunyit)
1 inches of galangal (blue ginger or lengkuas)
1 inches of ginger

2 stalks of lemon grass – bruised
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp table salt
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
100 ml fresh coconut milk (optional)
2 dried tamarind slices (asam gelugur or asam keping)
2 tbsp of kerisik
3 Kaffir lime leafs, diced finely (to garnish)
1 cinnamon stick

Steps

Preparing the Kerisik

1. Use 1 grated coconut (clean, without any husks). 
2. In a wok on low fire, toast the coconut till it is brown in colour, but not burnt. Stir from time to time to prevent burning. It will take about 30 minutes.
3. Using a strong blender, blend it till it is only. You can also use mortar - will be a lot of hard work!
4. Reserve the kerisik for other use i..e Nasi Ulam. It stores well for weeks in the fridge. 

Preparing the meat

Making the rempah