The Food Canon

Editor's notes: I have re-written this recipe to better explain the method used. 

Egg tofu is delicious, cheap, nutritious and easy to make.

Though not as quick as the 1-minute tofu assembling recipe, the additional work of making your own tofu can be fun and satisfying. Akin to making custards, you see various liquid ingredients turn into a luscious custard which you can easily cut and scoop with your spoon.

When egg is heated up, it turns solid. That is probably the first dish you help your Mum to make.

This is the magic of proteins as they coagulate, and the albumin in the egg white will. Of course, egg alone will not result in a soft custardy texture. You need to add water and the properties of both the water-clinging and water-repelling amino acids will react to form a soft tofu texture. Heat has to be applied gently for this to happen.

Steaming is a way of cooking which the Chinese has popularised through their cuisine.

There are many advantages of steaming over stir-frying (wok) and deep frying, the other two popular techniques used in Asian cooking. For one there is no oily smoke to contend with which can be quite a bother for those living in small apartments. And if the air is dry (i.e those who live in colder climates), the vapors and smoke from your fried dishes will smoke the air. This may explain why vigorous wok-frying is less popular for those who live in Western cities.

Thai Galangal - Looks great, smells great, taste great

A dish which will "debut" in our CNY lineup this year is Steamed Chicken in Ginger Sauce. I have already talked about steaming the corn-fed Anxin bird but this recipe is different.

I have already blogged the recipe for this steamed version with ginger sauce. What will make a difference this time round is the fantastic corn-fed Anxin chicken and adding Thai Galangal to the ginger mix.

When using the steaming method to cook chicken, you will be able to tell the quality of the bird. In this recipe, the chicken is cut into small pieces and then steamed for 15-20 minutes. After that, the ginger sauce (prepared beforehand) is added. The Anxin "kampung" bird is fresh, succulent and flavorful. For this recipe, you will need a good "kampung" chicken. White broilers won't do.

I will post a few recipes describing some dishes which I will be cooking for the coming Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner.

Traditionally, for our Wong dinner, my mum will always steamed a chicken. She will get the best chicken she can find. And by that I mean one with a thicker layer of fat and gelatin with yellowish skin. She will make a ginger sauce to go with it. Normally this dish is overshadowed by other more flavorful dishes, but she will insist on steaming at least one chicken.

You can steam the chicken in advance and chop it up just before you serve. It taste best when served in room temperature or slightly chilled.

With Cantonese style soy sauce based sauce

Sis, this is for you

My sister called me up from KL and asked me to post up something on steamed fish.

She was quite excited with my food blog, especially the way Mum's recipes are now easily accessible.

Steaming is probably the easiest way to cook fish and the best way to eat it, especially if it is eaten whole.

This way of doing fish is something normally associated with Chinese cooking. It is a great way of showcasing a good piece of fish in all its glory - head, body, colour and texture. It is a regular dinner feature in many Chinese homes.

In Chinese restaurants, live fish will go from the tank to the steamer and then, the table. Some of them can be very expensive. You may have heard of the rather controversially priced Sultan fish. I have eaten it once before. It is fantastic eaten steamed (and this is the best way to cook this boney and succulent fish) but I wouldn't pay a thousand dollars for it.    

Loh Mai Kai. 

It has been a long time since I had a good one. It was my childhood favourite. The Siew Pau stall sold this. He will move the stacks of bamboo steamers around to get to the Loh Mai Kai bowls. Then, scooped out of shallow aluminum bowls, it was served on a plastic plate with chili sauce. Memories.

It is nothing like that sold in aluminum foiled dishes in many coffeeshops here, with a cardboard stuck on the top carrying the brand and name of the supplier. Outsourcing. Clearly, convenience has triumphed once again over effort and passion when it comes to cooking.

This is why I am intrigued by stories such as this on Muah Chee scooped by Ieat here. There are some who still believe that food should be done well even if most customers don't care.

I wish I could tell you that what you see above is bought from somewhere here in Singapore. And I am happy to know if you have some "lobang." (tips).

My Mum made fabulous glutinous rice ("Loh Mai Fun") and this was one of her regular contributions to church potluck breakfast gatherings.

She will labor on it in her wok, working on it constantly with her 'wok chan' and adding water occasionally till it iscooked to perfection. It was hard work. She did not like to use the regular steaming methods. Those who have experienced cooking glutinous rice will understand why. She wanted the rice to be fluffy and separated, not in gluey wet blobs or clumpy.

The latter can dislodge your dentures.

It is notoriously difficult to achieve some consistency using regular steaming methods. This is especially so when you are making a large batch. Some parts will end up too soggy/sticky or under-cooked. And what happens most times is that the rice will end up being overcooked as no one likes bits of it which are still hard.