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.