The Food Canon

I love beef rendang. We love beef rendang. 

As I have said in an earlier book and in my cookbook, local beef cooked the rendang way transforms it into a very special dish. From the humble to the sublime, slowly braised, beef rendang is to Malays what beef bourguignon is to the French.

Early stage of cooking it in a wok.

You may have come across the popular Indian dish, Palek Paneer. For those who are less familiar, Paneer Cheese is delicious and relatively cheap. Ordering a frozen packet is just an online click away.

Mattar Paneer is a ubiquitous Indian dish cooked in many Indian homes, with each having their own version. The key is to start with a good *onion-tomato masala paste*. You need to be patient in caramelising the onion paste in oil till it is dark brown without burning it. And don't sting on the oil. As with all good curries, oil is needed to caramelise the onion paste and gives a good mouth feel to the curry. The principles behind a good curry is the same behind every cuisine, whether Indian, Chinese or Malay. Check this post for some tips on good curry making. I also have a slew of curry recipes here. 

Once a good paste is done, just add the perfect combination of paneer cheese cubes and green peas. It will go great with basmati rice or chapatis.

300 ml cooking oil

The Mattar Paneer finished in a wok.

This dish needs some effort but it is very delicious. Serve it with ice berg lettuce. 

Lead photo: This is a fanciful way if serving the Jiu Hu Char on some special wasabi lettuce grown in my hydroponic system. 

Yin Tai uses pork knee (see below) which has been deboned and this cut must be ordered from the butcher in advance. This cut is great to use for a festive or special dinner. If you can't get it, using the normal boned-in pock knuckle will be fine. 

Ingredients
100g sugar (about 8 Tbsp)
1 pork knee, deboned 
1 cup of premium soy sauce

2. Add the pork into a deep pork. Add the soy sauce, sugar and water. Add the scallops, garlic and mushrooms. 

3. Braised on low flame for 3 hours. You will know that the pork is done if you can pierce a fork easily into the skin. 

4. Taste the sauce. Adjust sweetness or saltiness of the sauce if you need to. The sauce should be on the sweet side. With off the fire and let the pork steep in the sauce. 

5. Steam the broccoli florets for 4 minutes. 

5. When you are about to serve it, reheat the pot. On a large plate, lay out the pork, mushrooms and broccoli. 

Serve immediately. Best eaten with rice swift some fresh chilli sauce on the side. 

Lo Hon Chai is a regular feature at our Chinese New Year reunion table. I remember that, being a vegetarian dish, it was prepared in the past for those who were abstaining from meat during the first two days of the new year. 

I used to pity those who took this option, considering all the other delicious meaty dishes on the table. As I grew older, I have come to appreciate how satisfying a bowl of this can be – all on its own – accompanied by a steaming bowl of rice and a small plate of Sambal Belacan.

My Mum's version involves a braised cabbage dish, using wong bok (Napa cabbage). It will be better to use the smaller younger cabbage, which is less green in colour and sweeter. The recipe can be simplified for daily dinners or enriched with protein added through fried bean curd, mushrooms, and lily buds to become a standalone vegetarian dish for Chinese New Year. The Nonya version includes tau cheong (salted soy beans) and Hokkiens will add fermented bean curd.

My mum used the milder-tasting white fermented bean curd or fu yee instead of the reddish nam yee, though, as a general rule, the red one is for cooking and the white is for eating as an accompaniment. She also added shredded carrots for its sweetness and bean curd skin and vermicelli, both deep fried.

I prefer the wok for cooking this dish as the heat is more even, I can stir easily and see what is going on. If you use a deep pot, it is likely that the heat will be higher at the bottom and the stuff there will be overcooked unless you stir more frequently. Look to see that the cabbage is soft enough, and use your taste buds as a guide.

While this dish is easy to make, it can be difficult to master. Flavour balance is important as too much of one ingredient can change the taste. Dried oysters and mushrooms have strong flavors. Soak and wash your oyster carefully.  

Texture is another challenge as the cabbage can be too soft when overcooked. The cabbage pieces should not break apart. Remember that even after you switch off the fire, the pot of food is still cooking.

This dish is suited for ‘all day long’ eating, as you can continue to add ingredients to the first lot and cook new batches.


Serves 6-8
Ingredients
1 large Chinese long cabbage, cut into broad strips
1 liter (4 cups) water or stock
100 g bean vermicelli (fun see), deep fried
4 dried sweet bean curd wafers (tim chok), deep fried and cut into bite-sized pieces
2 dried bean curd sticks (fu chok), cut into 7½-cm (3-in) strips and deep fried
8 Chinese dried mushrooms, soaked and sliced
15 small dried oysters (hou see), soaked
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp salt
3 tbps vegetable oil
2 thin slices of ginger
4 cubes (2 cm, 0.8 in) white fermented bean curd, mashed finely
15 small black fungus, soaked and cut into pieces
12 dried lily buds, trimmed, soaked and knotted
2 carrots, shredded
30 g (1 oz) black moss (fatt choi), (optional), soaked