The Food Canon

Editor's note: I want to dedicate this post and recipe to my late brother, Clement Wong, whom I am missing dearly.

"Keong Choong Cho Yin Kai" - or Steamed Chicken in Ginger sauce - served by the brothers at Public Pusing Restaurant in Ipoh is a family favourite. We never failed to order this dish whenever we get to dine there.

It has taken me quite a while to come up with a version that is close to theirs. I have to confess that over many visits and some clever conversations with the waitresses, tips can be had. I just piece it all together and experiment till I get the dish closer to their version. 

Sometime last year, we had the privilege of visiting a some good friends in Kuching who hosted us to a wonderful family holiday.

One of them is a foodie to the boot and we were introduced to some interesting food and produce. As expected, Foo Chow cuisine is a prominent feature here.

Red Wine Lees

In early 20th century, Foo Chows from the Hokkien province of China braved the seas of South China and landed in port towns like Sibu. Lured by their clansmen, they were promised fortune and wealth. The Foo Chows were hardy and laid their hand son jobs like farming and rubber tapping.

Gradually more Foo Chows came over. Eventually, some ventured into the lucrative timber business and till this day, Foo Chows control much of the timber business in Sarawak. All these was happening  under the controversial colonial rule of the James Brooke and "white rajahs": a dark chapter with an impact which still lives on in the beautiful islands of Borneo.

Enough about the Foo Chows or colonial politics but let's talk about food. One of their famous dish is "angjiu" or Foo Chow Red Wine. Red Glutinous Wine Chicken and Mee Sua is a popular dish. When I was in Kuching, I could easily buy good red wine and lees. They keep well in the fridge. You can also put the less in the freezer. If you have both, making this dish is really easy.

Ingredients

1 Kampung or "French" Chicken, cut into small pieces
200 gm of ginger, slice.
400 ml of red glutinous red wine
3 tablespoon of red wine lees.
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Some wood ear black fungus (optional, soaked and cut into pieces)
1 tsp of salt
2 tbsp of light soy sauce
1 tbsp of sugar or sugar crystal
1 tbsp of oil

In a wok, heat up some oil and add the ginger slices. After 2 minutes, add the red wine lees, soaked
wood ear fungus and stir. Then, add the chicken pieces, salt, sugar, soy sauce and mix. Pour in 200 ml of wine and simmer for 305 minutes, stirring occasionally. Towards the end, our in the remainder red wine. Adjust the taste with more sugar or salt, if needed. Garnish wiht coriander leaves before you serve.

You can eat it with rice or noodles like Mee Sua.

There are other ways to use the red wine and lees. Stay tuned for future recipes.

Red Wine Chicken with Mee Sua

As you should know by now, there are many ways of cooking a dish.

When it comes to our favourite dinner meal - Claypot Chicken Rice - I have experimented with variations.

I have blogged about it here. If you are starting out on this, please read up on my thoughts on how the home can come up with a great pot of this, rivalling anything you can get outside. From stove to table, you and your family will want this for dinner regularly.

My latest way of cooking this is to simplify to the following:

1. Nothing needs to be added to the rice except for water of course. The 1:1 rice to water ration remains important.

2. Marinate the chicken beforehand and the marinate will also sauce the rice later on.

As is a daily dinner dish, keeping it fast and simple is important. Learning from my experience of cooking this in so many ways, sometimes less is more.

To feed 4 persons

Half a Chicken, chopped into small pieces
1 chinese pork or chicken sausage, slice into small pieces

2 cups of jasmine rice
2 cups of water

For the marinate and sauce:
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp corn flour
2 tbsp of water
1 tbsp of Hua Tiao wine
a few pieces of salt fish (preferably Mui Heong variety)

Marinating the Chicken

Make the sauce. Toast the salted fish for in a dry pan for a minute or so. Break it into small pieces and add to the sauce. Add the chicken pieces and marinate it for at least half an hour. If you are omitting salted fish, add another teaspoon of light soy sauce to the sauce.

Wash the rice. Put the water and rice into the claypot and start cooking in small to medium flame. After 10 minutes, add the chicken pieces and the sauce. Place the pieces of Chinese sausages on top of the chicken. Cook for another 15 minutes in small flame.

Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve hot.

A bowl of soup and small plate of sambal on the side will be nice.

Trust me, this is delicious!

Ayam Sioh is a simple Nonya staple.

As you should know by now, Nonya or Peranakan is a cuisine which evolved from the coming together of Chinese (mostly Hokkien) and Malay cuisine cultures. Sometimes, it reflects foreign cultural influences like Portuguese, Dutch and English as well, those being the colonial masters of earlier years. It is also called "Straits Cuisine" as most of the areas where Nonya culture evolved from were port cities like Melaka, Penang and Singapore.

In this recipe, using the tau-chu or soy bean paste is obviously from Chinese cuisine. But what other ingredient marks it out as Nonya? Tamarind paste and ketumbar.

Ketumbar is basically a Malay term for Coriander powder. Technically one should call it serbuk ketumbar, but typically the term alone speaks for itself.  Tau chu+ ketumbar + tamarind, and the coming together of this Chinese and Malay  paste and spice in this recipe reflects it's inter-cultural roots.

There are many types of Ayam Goreng and I hardly stick to a fixed recipe, apart from being consistent with a few basics behind a good fried chicken Malay style.

This latest recipe is quickly becoming one of my favourite for its simplicity and great results.

I have been making it as a side dish with Nasi Ulam, a recipe which I will be blogging soon.

I have always been curious about the "crispies" that I see on the Ayam Goreng which is served in Malay stalls in Malaysia. After some conversations with makciks (they are always friendly and willing to share their tips...some will even let me see who they cook them in their kitchens!) I finally figured out that it came from blended or pounded ginger. The blended ginger sticks to the chicken when fried and adds texture and flavour.

This is my usual cooking notes to remind myself of what I have been cooking.

Not that I get to cook a lot these days since I took up my new assignment at a very busy church (hint - it has the largest cross in Singapore - see pic). It is a cool church.

The humble roast chicken is something that is commonly done in many households and it does seem like our kitchen ovens are conventionally designed for it.

My idea of a good roast chicken is this: the skin should be crisped, nicely browned and the meat flavourful and moist. That is the reason why putting the chicken on a stack of vegetable is a big no-no for me. It was a method I used when I was following a cookbook. The meat should be moist and flavourful and this means you should not overcook your chicken.

I always thought that it is fantastic to serve Satay at a party.

I have been to some where a "Satay Man" was hired. You can smell it in the air as you walk in. And the sight of the charcoal fire which flared occasionally in the skilful pair of hands - one holding a fan and the other a bunch of satay - was always something that added a special atmosphere to the evening.

You have just given birth. You are now confined to the house for the month.

You cannot bathe.
You cannot visit Island Creamery.
No macaroons.
No chocolate brownies.
No curry chicken.
Coffee? Smell it if you like, but no sipping please.

For the next few weeks, your mother in-law ruleth.

Every cuisine has their signature rice dishes.

I like them all: Claypot Chicken Rice, Paella, Risotto, Nasi Goreng and so on. The great thing about all the dishes is that the focus, for once, is not on the meat but the rice.

But no rice dish excites my taste buds like Nasi Briyani, especially when it is cooked using Basmati Rice. I have made it from time to time. Indian in origin, there are many types of Nasi Briyani, including versions which are more popular with Malays.

I have worked at a Nasi Briyani recipe for my home dinners using the claypot, simplifying it over a few tries to the point where it can be a regular dinner feature. Tasting good is one thing, but it must be easy to make. In this recipe, the only crockery you use is the pot. You cook in it and serve it at the table. It takes a while longer and involves more steps & ingredients than the Claypot Chicken Rice recipe but it is still practical for the usual daily dinners. From start to finish, it will not take you more than 45 minutes to prepare and cook this.

This versions is more akin to the Indian version of Dum Briyani, where the meat is cooked in the rice. You can use the same method for fish. If you prefer, you can cook the rice and chicken separately and it will taste good too.

Chicken Rendang (wet variety)

Rendang is a dry type of curry, which my Mum cooked often. I have many memories of eating her  Beef Rendang (check her recipe here) and Chicken Rendang.

According to tradition, it is an Indonesian dish. As the meat is cooked for a long time ("merandang") till the curry is dried out, it can keep for a long time. This explains why the recipe was popular during pre-refrigeration times. There are two types of Rendang, the dry and wet variety. The dry one can keep very well, even in room temperature. In fact, dry beef rendang is almost like dry beef jerky.