The Food Canon

It should be obvious that the most important piece in Hakka Yong Tofu is the Stuffed Tofu, from which the dish is named.

One challenge with making this is Singapore is that it is difficult to find a kind of tofu which is easily available in KL. The KL version - called 'soi tofu" in Cantonese - has the right texture: silky smooth and taste divine when served stuffed, after a brief pan fry, in soup or sauce. And yet, it is firm enough to hold the stuffing. The local varieties here are either too hard or too soft (thus, it cannot hold the stuffing).

But if you can lay hand on very fresh Tau Kwa which is made to have a softer texture, you can replicate the KL version. This was what I was happy to discover recently when I manage to use some very fresh Tau Kwa. It was imply delicious.

Read this post on how to make the stuffing and for fuller instructions. We used a 1:1 fish-pork ratio, using Batang fish (Spanish Mackeral) and minced pork with some fats in it.

Slice the tau kwa into two tri-angle shaped pieces. Scoop a bit of the center and fill in with the stuffing using a spoon. Smoothen it with a corn flour slurry.

Stuffing the Tau Kwa (Photo credit: Joyce Ho)

Make a fish stock from the fish bones and heads. Wash them first and deep fry briefly to remove the fishy taste. Then heat up some water, add salt to taste and add the fish parts. After about 30 minutes, the stock should be done. Strain. Using the stock, gently cook the stuffed Tau Kwa for about 10 minutes. Be gentle with the handling as the tau kwa can break. Alternatively, you can also steam the stuffed Tau Kwa, which will be my preferred way of cooking this.

Add oyster sauce to the stock and corn flour slurry to create a sauce. The stuffed Tau Kwa is best served immediately after it is cooked or steamed as it is best eaten hot.

You need to serve it with chilli sauce and "tim cheong" (recipe here), garnished with diced spring onions.

Now the challenge is - where can you get very fresh Tau Kwa? Supermarts are out. Try wet market stalls.

Hakka YTF served with Chee Cheong Fun

Alpha Course is starting again and once again, we can expect some good home-cooking from the Cathedral community. More info on the Alpha Course at the Cathedral can be found here.

We made Nasi Lemak again for the 190+ -pax Alpha Intro dinner.

At the Cathedral kitchen, the facilities are more limited. For the rice, we had to cook it using the electric rice cookers instead of steamers, our usual preferred method. I am learning that you can also do some really nice Nasi Lemak Rice without going the "kukus" way.

So, how did it go?

With some care, I will say that it is possible to cook some good NL rice this way. We were pretty happy with the results and I will detail here our cooking notes of what we did.

The Rice
10 kg of Jasmine Rice
Fresh milk from 6 coconuts
Salt
Pandan Leaves

A ratio of rice:water 1:1.1 was used to cook the rice. A tablespoon of salt was used for every kilo of rice. After the rice has cooked (when the switch goes to “warm”), coconut milk and pandan leaves were added. We used freshly squeezed milk which we bought from Tekka Market. Using a spatula, we fluffed the rice. Then we kept the rice cooking on warm till it was served for dinner later.

For good Nasi Lemak rice, the rice should be fluffy, with whole unbroken grains. Too much coconut milk will make the rice greasy and keeping to this ratio is important. Salt - and enough of it - is essential.

You need to imagine how the rice will go with the rather oily sambal and the salty ikan bilis. 10 kilo was barely enough for 190 pax and we could have cooked a kilo more.

I have been encountering folks who have been cooking off my blog. With the released cookbook, users of my Mum's recipes seem to have risen considerably.

I am both amazed and grateful. Already, serving as a pastor since I graduated from Uni, I am grateful that I am of some spiritual use. I never expected to be of some earthly use, given that I have never had  a career apart from pastoring and preaching. The opportunity to connect with new acquaintances is also precious, especially those outside of the church community.

I want to introduce in this post an "old school" recipe which my Mum cooked regularly.  This is one of the classic comfort foods that has stood the test of time. She often cooked this attractive, colourful dish for parties, accompanying the likes of curry chicken, Hakka Deep Fried Pork and rice. I have memories of eating it when I was a child. It is the kind of recipe which you are likely to find in one of Tham Yui Khai cookbooks (see the link here about his cookbooks).

It is also often served as the filling for the traditional fried Yam Ring dish, with steamed yam (taro added of course) It is somewhat similar to the Italian ratatouille. You can omit the chicken and go vegetarian. Once you have prepared the ingredients, the cooking is fast and easy. For this dish, texture is important. So don’t overcook the dish.
Marinade
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp Chinese wine

Slice the chicken meat into 1-cm (0.4-in) cubes and marinate for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the baby sweet corn into three pieces each. Also slice the peppers and red onions into bite-sized pieces. Rehydrate the chillies and slice them into 1 cm rings.

In a wok, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and fry the dried chillies till they are lightly browned. Remove.

Add another tablespoon of oil and fry the cashew nuts until they change to golden brown color. Note that some oil is necessary when cooking nuts in a wok or they will burn. Remove and set the nuts aside.

Using some of the leftover oil, fry the minced garlic. Then add the vegetables and the marinade sauces and stir fry for 3 minutes. Then add the chicken meat and dried chillies along and stir fry for another 3 minutes. Then add the Chinese rice wine and the cornflour slurry. Fry for a further 1 minute and the dish should be done.

This dish can be eaten atnroom temperature. Garnish with the cashew nuts before you serve it.

I should add that there is an old school restaurant technique used for this dish where oil is used to stir-fry every item. It is called "lai yau" (pull with oil) in Cantonese. I am not recommending this technique here as some may view it as unhealthy. But it is a good technique to use.

Also if you are making a huge batch for parties, it makes sense to cook the items separately first to ensure that the texture stays crunchy and that each item is cooked "just right."

Oh I love it.

The idea that you can turn discards into something so appetising.

Just when we thought that Roger Federer's days are over, he turned around and won yet another Gland Slam title, while we were slurping our bowls of discards.

My CNY 2017 batch was indeed a "head to toe" pot of goodness. Using leftovers parts from suckling pigs served at a wedding dinner, a huge bone from Christmas ham and a roast duck (sans head) we managed to make two huge pots, eaten over a span of three days.

We used lots of pickled ham choy (long variety) and the round kai Choy (long one out of stock). Tamarind paste and assam keping for the sours. We also added lemon grass and kaffir lime leafs for the herby tones. And yes, lots of dried chillies.

Still good and hungry

What has science or philosophy to do with this traditional Hokkien "leftovers" dish, you may ask.

As always, what goes on behind a dish always piques my curiosity, especially something as unique as Chai Buay or Choi Keok.

Yes, this is what makes Chai Buay great: the way it uses leftover dishes. Roasted bones and meat are great for the stock. You can also add some fresh pork bones and chicken feet. 

This we should know by experience: there is still life yet in your cooked meat and bones. The flavors are never completely extracted through normal cooking or even the first round of stock making. Most households will discard the least desirable boney parts. But these make for a great stock. I remember this huge pot in my Mum's restaurant kitchen where she 'dumps' meat and bones, some fresh, some cooked. If you know what you are doing, that is a very efficient way of cooking, making the most of your meats.

While good meat stock is essential for Chai Buay, the heart of the dish is the Mustard Green veg or "kai choy." This veg absorbs flavors very well. Sponging anything you cook with it, and with a luscious texture, it is fantastic for this.

Hum Choy - Salted/Brined Mustard Green

There are two types of Mustard green, the round stem version, and the leafy one. As the latter's leafy texture makes for good eating and is cheaper, it is more popular during CNY. If you can't find any of these, you can add some pickled or brined salty version: hum choy. Hum choy, whether the round stem or leafy one, is basically pickled mustard green. It is salty of course. Soak it in water for half and hour or more. You may have to do it  a few times. The texture of the pickled version will be different from the fresh one and I will normally prefer to use both.

Getting down to it

Make the meat stock first. What meat you have for it will be good for eating. Lots of bones will be good. Roast duck or roast pork will impart a smoky flavor to the dish. However, leave out the duck head and neck as your soup will have a strong smell the next day. Add lean pork, spare ribs and roast pork if you have any. Add a lot of dried chillies (or fresh red chillies) as it is important that this is spicy. For the sour, you need a a lot of  assam keping (dried tamarind slices). A good meat stock needs about 2 hours at least. If you have a pressure cooker, you can cut down the time by a third.

Then add the cut or tear up the  mustard greens and simmer for another hour or so.

Towards the end, adjust the taste. Add some chicken stock concentrate (or chicken powder), some oyster sauce and rock sugar (ping tong). Taste your soup. It needs to have a tinge of sourness. At this point, add some tamarind sauce (assam) and taste to get the balance right. The texture of the veg needs to be soft enough and yet, have a nice bite to it.

Good ChayBuay= Good meaty stock + Mustard Greens + Chillies (Spicy) + Assam Keping & Tamarind Sauce (Sour).

This is best eaten the day after as the flavors will continue to develop. We will normally leave it overnight on the stove. Just boil it and leave it undisturbed. This pot can be "rolled over" over  a few days, i.e. stuff, meat or veg can still be added. While you can add other veg into the pot, I advise that you stick to just mustard green. Almost any meat (and especially skin) will go well in it. Chicken or duck feet taste great in it. I will not add any leftover Chinese sausages or fish bones. These will spoil the taste. Yes, use your leftovers but not any leftovers.

Eat this hot in a bowl with chopsticks. Some white rice if you like some carbo to complete the meal.

Don't let the CNY end without at least cooking this once. After all, you need to do something with your leftovers. They will be delicious in your Chai Buay. The funny thing about Chai Buay is that the "second rate" meat there actually tastes very good.

As I reflect on this, I think of the verse from the Bible in Isaiah 41:3

"A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice..."

Yes, God specializes in turning nothing into something. Chai Buay reminds me of this. If you think your life's usefulness is exhausted, think again. In His hands, the best is yet to be.  

Have fun cooking the discards this CNY.

I add here a recipe list as a guide. 
5 litres (1.3 gals) water
1 roast duck or leftover meats
10 dried chillies
4 slices dried Garcinia Cambogia fruit (assam keping)
400 g tamarind pulp (assam), rendered in 240 ml (1 cup) water, seeds removed
4 stalks round-stemmed mustard greens
2 stalks leafy mustard greens
Salt and rock sugar to taste

Choi Keok - A wonderful dish from leftovers (Photo credit: Goh Eck Kheng)

As another year turns, it is helpful to remind myself that TFC is simply about inspiring and getting home cooks to cook more. To this end, I am surprised (though I shouldn't be) at the role of ink and page (still) in inspiring home cooks to translate their reading into cooking. That is good to know.

Well, another CNY is coming. What are you planning to have on your Reunion table? 

I know you are gawking at those advertised pictures of pencai and roast meat and wondering about what you should be ordering in for your Reunion Dinner.

You have to be realistic about how good some of these commercial dishes can be, given the rush of CNY season and the mass cooking approach. You are not likely to get what you see...WYSINWYG!