Memories in the Cooking

My late grandmother cooked this soup almost every weekend. She believed that this soup will make us strong and healthy, especially with a dash of hard liquor (i.e. XO or Martel). Ingredients: - 1 pig stomach - pig intestines (small or big or both) - 500g of pork ribs - 2 bulb of garlic - 100g of whole white pepper corns - salt - sugar - spring onions, chopped - 5 dried mushrooms * For Bak Kut Teh, use 1kg of prime pork ribs instead of pig organs. Procedures: 1) Scrub pig stomach and intestines with rough salt and wash it off. 2) Bleach pig stomach, intestines and pork ribs in boiling water. 3) In a slow cooker, add bleached pig stomach, intestines, pork ribs, garlic and white pepper corns. Add enough water to cover the ingredients. Cook at high for 3 hours. 4) Take out the pig stomach and intestines. Cut them into bite-size. 5) Add some dried mushrooms to the soup. 6) Adjust to taste of the soup using salt and sugar. 7) Add back the pig stomach and intestines. S...

Another Singaporean hawker dish for the National Day celebration - Cuttlefish Kang Kong. Ingredients: - 2 packets of kang kong, washed - 1 cuttlefish, cut into bite-size - 1 tablespoon of rojak sauce - 2 limes, squeeze the juice - 100g of crushed peanuts Procedures: 1) Bleach the Kang Kong. Set aside on serving plate. 2) Bleach the cuttlefish. Set aside on serving plate. 3) In a bowl, mix the rojak sauce with lime juice and half a cup of water. Pour on the dish. 4) Top up with crushed peanuts. Serve.

Being not very fond of coconut milk, my mother prefers Assam Fish to Curry Fish. So, for our National Day dinner party, I decided to cook her this dish. Ingredients: - 1 red snapper or fish head  - 1 thumb-size ginger  - 1 thumb-size galangal  - 3 large chili and 3 chili padi  - 1 tablespoon of fish curry powder  - 1 tablespoon of toasted belacan  - 5 shallots  - 4 cloves of garlic  - 1 stalk of lemon grass  - 1 packet of assam, dissolves in 1 bowl of water  - 1 tablespoon of salt - 1 tablespoon of sugar  - 10 ladyfingers, sliced  - 3 tomatoes, cut into wedges  Procedures: 1) Steam fish with a few slices of ginger. See aside in a serving plate.  2) Blend ginger, galangal, chilis, shallots, garlic and lemon grass into a paste.  3) In a frying pan, toast the belacan. Add some vegetable oil and fry the paste until fragrant.  4) Add curry powder and assam water. Bri...

This is a North Africa's breakfast that one can have at anytime of the day. Ingredients: - 4 cloves of garlic, minced  - 1 large onion, chopped  - 4 stalks of celery, blended  - 2 stalks of carrots, blended  - 500g of minced beef  - 7 fresh eggs  - 1 beef cube - 2 teaspoon of sugar  - 3 chopped tomatos - 1 can tomato paste  - 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds  - salt and pepper  Procedures: 1) To a flat frying pan, add vegetable oil and stir fry garlic and onions until fragrant.  2) Add celery and carrots and fry until soft.  3) Add minced beef and chopped tomatoes and fry for a while.  4) Add tomato paste and 1 cup of water.  5) Season with beef cube, sugar, cumin, salt and pepper.  6) Make 7 wells in the sauce. Break an egg into each well. Cook the dish covered until the eggs are cooked but still runny. Serve. 

My family had this at a zichar stall and we loved it. It is not easy to cook pork liver as it has to be cook just right, tender yet not bloody. Ingredients: - 500g of pork liver, sliced but not too thinly - 3 tablespoons of huatiao wine - 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce - 2 tablespoon of light soya sauce - 1 tablespoon of sugar - pepper - 300g of ginger, sliced thinly - 150g of spring onions, cut into large strips - 1 tablespoon of cornflour - 4 cloves of garlic, peel of skin Procedures: 1) Marinate pork liver in huatiao wine, oyster sauce, light soya sauce, sugar and corn flour for 30 minutes. 2) In a claypot, add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil. Fry ginger and garlic until fragrant. 3) Add pork liver and 2 cups of water. 4) When the sauce boils, add spring onions. Serve.

My husband is a Hakka and one famous Hakka dish is Fried Yam Abacus. However, making yam abacus is very tedious. So, I decided to 'cheat' a little and use store-bought yam cake. It does taste a bit like Fried Yam Abacus. Ingredients: - 500g of yam cake, cut into chunks  - 200g of beanspouts, washed  - 3 Chinese sausages, sliced - 250g minced pork - 5 Chinese mushrooms, cut into strips  - 100g of spring onions, chopped  - 50g of fried shallots  - 1 bulb of garlic, minced - 5 shallots, sliced - 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce  - 1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce  - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce  - 1 tablespoon of huatiao wine  - pepper  - 1 tablespoon of sugar  Procedures: 1) In a frying pan, add some oil and pan-fry the yam cake chunks until they are slightly crispy at the sides. Set aside yam cake chunks.  2) Stir-fry garlic and shallots until fragrant.  3) Add mushrooms, sausag...

I found some pre-made carrot cake at the supermarket. Looks like it is now convenient to make fried carrot cake at home, the way we like it - black, white or both. Ingredients: - 1 kg of carrot cake, cut into small pieces - 200g of sweet pickled radish - 10 eggs, beaten - 1 bulb of garlic, minced - 10 shallots, sliced - 100g of fried shallots - 2 tablespoons of dark soya sauce - 2 tablespoons of sugar - 2 tablespoons of fish sauce - pepper - 200g of spring onions, chopped Procedures: 1) In a frying pan, add minced garlic and sliced shallots and fry until fragrant. 2) Add pickled radish and carrot cake. Fry until the carrot cake dices become soft. Set aside half the portion. (Black carrot cake) 3) Push the carrot cake dices to the side of the wok. Add half of the beaten eggs to the wok and fry them into omelette. Mix the carrot cake and the omelette together. 4) Add dark soya sauce and sugar. Mix well. Serve with fried shallots and chopped spring onions. (Whit...

Okay... My mother loves this dish, my husband loves this dish but I am not really very enthusiastic about this dish. Bittergourd is like the durian of vegetables. Either you like it or you don't. But for the love of my family, I will still gladly serve it at my dinner table. Ingredients: - 1 bittergourd, cut into thin slices  - 10 eggs, beaten  - 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce  - 1 teaspoon of sugar  - pepper  Procedures: 1) In a frying pan, add some vegetable oil and stir-fry the bittergourd until soft. Add some sugar and fry well.  2) Add beaten eggs and fry them into omelette. Mix well with the bittergourd slices.  3) Add oyster sauce and pepper. Serve.  

I love tofu and century eggs. So, this dish is naturally my favourite! Ingredients: - 2 blocks of soft tofu, sliced - 4 century eggs, diced - 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce - 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce - 1 tablespoon of sesame oil - half tablespoon of sugar - 3 large tablespoon of fried shallots - spring onions Procedures: 1) Place tofu in a steaming plate. 2) Top up with century eggs. 3) In a mixing bowl, mix oyster sauce, light soya sauce, sesame oil and sugar. Drizzle on the tofu. 4) Steam tofu for 15 minutes. 5) Top up with fried shallots and spring onions. Serve.

I used to think that clear fish soup is very bland. However, I realised that with some ikan bilis and chicken bones, the fish soup can have a very robust taste. Ingredients: - 400g of Toman Fish slices - 1 chicken back - 6 tomatoes, quarter - 1 ice-berg lettuce - 2 piece of seaweed - 10 slices of ginger - 100g of ikan bilis - 1 chicken cube - 2 tablespoons of Chinese Huatiao wine - 1 tablespoon of sesame oil * add some fried garlic Procedures: 1) In a pot, add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and fry the ginger slices until fragrant. 2) Add washed ikan bilis and fry until brown. 3) Add a kettle of boiling water. 4) Add chicken back and let the stock simmer for 1 hour. 5) Add tomatoes, ice-berg lettuce and seaweed. 6) When the soup starts boiling, add fish slices until just cooked. 7) Add chicken cube and huatiao wine. Serve.