The Food Canon

I am not cooking as much as I used to and even when I do, I will be cooking recipes which I have already blogged about or published in the cookbook.

Some recipes for home-cooking should evolve. It can involve variations or simply just improvements.

The following cooking notes can be helpful if you have been following some of these recipes in may cookbook:

Hae Mee or "Penang Prawn Noodles" (p 177) 

This remains our favourite noodle recipe and as I have said, it is among some of the top noodles recipes in the world when prepared well.

I have modified my Mum's recipe as I will normally buy pork soup bones and use it as a base. This will result in a milkier soup and I avoid using any chicken stock or granule powder. Slowly simmer the bones for at least two hours.

The rest of the ingredients remain and of course, prawns heads and shells are very important for a good Hae Mee stock. I have a few posts on Hae Mee here. Check them up. This is a great recipe to work with and feel free to improvised to suit your taste.  

Assam Laksa  - Kembung fish (p 179)


Kembung fish remain the fish of choice for Assam Laksa. I have grown in confidence in cooking this well. The fish carcasses are the key to a good stock. Deboning it is troublesome but with experience, you will know how to use your hands to detect and remove them. Pull the flesh gently from the tail's end. The small bones in the middle of the fish can be tricky. If you gently break apart the flesh, the bones will be visible. Use a blender to blend the carcasses very finely. When you strain the stock later, you can remove whatever that is sieved.

Like strong tasting foods like durians, you will either love or hate this amazing bowl of Malaysian goodness. I have met some Assam Laksa lovers who are addicted to it. I can understand why.

I have a series of posts here on this wonderful recipe.

Ikan Sumbat or Chilli Fish (p 144)
I am now convinced that the best fish to use for this recipe is Kembung fish. Selar and Saba can also be used but kembung brings the taste and texture closest to how my Mum used to make. Remember to fry it gently in medium fire and let the fish gently bubble and cook away.

I have recipe here which uses Ikan Selar. The technique remain the same.

Curry Puff (p 216)

Diced prawns

Frying the filling

Gorgeous filling - don't stinge with the diced chicken and prawns

Along with the Food Ministry team from my church, we made a batch of 700 puffs recently. Undoubtedly, the best way to enjoy it is to eat it while it is still warm. Don't eat it when it is just fried unless you enjoy burning your mouth. Let it rest for half and hour.

For the filling, I was generous with the chicken and prawns. Diced it to the size of the tip of your last finger. Home-made curry puffs are amazing and 2020 should see me making them more regularly.

I have blogged the recipe here.

Nonya Curry Chicken (p 40)

If I want my curry chicken to taste like the ones my Mum made, the coriander and cumin seeds (in my book's recipe) should not be used. If you are using curry powder, use the lighter ones which do not have the usual spices that are used for Indian curries. Don't get me wrong. I love Indian curries. But for Nonya ones, let the herbs shine (i.e. tumeric, lemon grass). And yes, make as many variation of chicken curries as you wish. Just observe some of the basic principles of good curry making. Check out this link.  

And yes, come to think of it, the recipes in the cookbook do need their own table of content list. The next cookbook will have that.

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.

The flour:water ratios given in the cookbook (page 213) is wrong. The amount of water is too low.

Below is the correct recipe. Basically, you need to add water. This recipe is just a guide. As long as you add water to flour, you can always adjust the consistency.

I have been asked a few times:

"What are the easier recipes in the cookbook that one can start with?"

This list is good for new cooks:

Stir Fried Ginger Chicken - p 49
Steamed Egg - p 45
Tow Yew Bak - p 65
Pan Fried Turmeric Mackerel   - p 117
Cold Tofu in Bango Sauce - p 129 (more assembling than cooking)

As for noodle recipes, Ipoh Kai See Hor Fun (p 160) is good for one to start with. You can use the hor fun commonly sold here (some stalls actually call it Ipoh Hor Fun) or use dehydrated pho from NTUC etc.

And there are a whole set of recipes which are only slightly more challenging for new cooks such as the Wok-Cooked Char Siew, Steamed Pork Ribs in plum sauce, Ayam Goreng Halia etc. I also don't think Claypot Chicken Rice is difficult and I have listed an easier version (p 189).

You are likely to cook what you feel like cooking on a given day. Remember that there is nothing like freshly cooked home dishes. Just put a lot of love into it!

It has been proofread many time over but *groan*, there are still some typos, most which are minor.

But this addendum is important for the Nasi Lemak Recipe.

At the bottom of page 201, which has been cut off:

"If you do not have a suitable steamer, you can still cook the rice well in an electric rice cooker. Add the thin coconut milk into the water (remember to keep the 1:1 liquid-rice ratio). Include the salt and pandan leaves. When the rice has cooked, switch the cooker to ‘warm’ mode. Add the coconut cream, more pandan leaves and stir gently. Then let it stay in warm mode for another 15 minutes."

Something amazing happened at The Cathedral Cafe last Sunday.

By now, you would know that the book is out.

It is a bit surreal. To see a replicas of myself, rather Matrix-like, with the dreaded pineapple repeating it's thorny appearance many times over. I am just glad that is at the back-cover and that the bowl of Hae Mee is receiving all the limelight and attention.

The book will be launched publicly this Saturday, 11.30 am to 2 pm. If you have been a fan or supporter, please pop by and say hello. The Cathedral Cafe is just next to the City Hall MRT Exit.

You are likely to bump into other food enthusiasts and home cooks, both budding and experienced ones. It will be a jolly good crowd. And I am also hearing rumours that Auntie Curry Puffs may be offered so that you can taste the real thing and not just gaze hungrily at those photos.

I have mentioned  that I thought that this cookbook would be easy to do since it is a matter of going from print to screen.

The fact is I had to rewrite most - if not all - of the recipes. There will be good number that is not on the blog or at least not yet. It has taken a lot longer than I had earlier envisaged.

One reason why I had to do some rewriting is because of some difference in expectations when it comes to print and screen.

For one, my blog started out on a very casual and sometimes silly tone. Some of you who visit the blog to be entertained and not just get recipes will be amused by some of these posts, largely satirical, which I categorised under "just-for-smiles." Even some recipes here are long because they tell stories.

Auntie "Har Jie" (extreme left) teaching my friends how to make curry puffs

The upcoming cookbook will be the first book I have authored. I thought I should jot down some notes about the process involved and this may inspire those of you who hope to publish someday.

It was an interesting experience.  It has encouraged me to consider writing more, either for cooking or issues relating to my work as a pastor.

Since I already have a cooking blog, one should think that it should be easy enough to do a "screen to print" thing. And so I thought. The effort needed was far more intense than I anticipated.

Firstly, I made a decision to restrict the recipes to "Aunty Ruby's classics." This means that a whole swathe of recipes which I have worked on myself, including those using modern techniques like Sous Vide will not find their way into the book. My Mum never made Roast Pork (Siu Bak) or any of the Thai recipes. These recipes could not be included. I had to work on a few more of her recipes to meet the target needed. But I have practically cooked up every  written recipe that I could lay my hands on. So what else could I do? I do have palate memories but is it possible to work backwards from there?