Eating My Last Festive Cuisine

This is the reason why I have not started my diet log. The Chinese New Year is the only time I cook the Hou Si Fatt Choy (Braised Dried Oysters with Black Moss). Most of the ingredients used were probably those that I should either avoid or eat very little of. Today is the last instance I am eating this dish. I had them for lunch and dinner. Each mouthful was savoured to the fullest – the taste and the aroma conscientiously saved in my memory. From tomorrow onwards, my food will be bland. That will buy my kidneys more time. That I willingly do to sustain my renal health.

The fish maw soup is another of my favourite festive cuisine. I have modified the recipe to suit my current dietary needs. Mum had bought this piece of fish maw two years ago. I have been breaking it into smaller pieces to cook soups over the months. I do not know if fish maw is something I can indulge in too. Perhaps, when the time comes to cook the last portion, I will enjoy it unhurriedly like I did the Hou Si Fatt Choy.

Hou Si Fatt Choy (Braised Dried Oysters with Black Moss)

Ingredients:
8 dried oysters, soak in 1 cup warm water for 1 hour
38 g black moss, soak in 1 cup warm water for 30 minutes and drain
300g roasted pork, cut into 1 cm thick portions
6 shitake mushrooms, soak in enough water to cover and leave overnight

3 garlic, minced
5 shallots, chopped
3 slices ginger

3 tbsp cooking oil

2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp thick soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp corn flour
1 cup water
a dash of sesame seed oil

Heat oil and saute garlic, shallots and ginger until fragrant. Add oyster and fry for another 1 minute. Add shitake mushrooms and roasted pork and stir fry for another minute. Add the sauces and water, 1 cup each of the water the oysters and mushrooms were soaked in and let simmer for about 30 minutes. If the gravy becomes too thick, add water. Add the black moss and simmer for another 10 minutes before turning off heat. Serve with rice.

I forgot to buy Chinese cabbage and it was not added. The cabbage would have made the gravy tastier.

Author: Peter Tan

Peter Gabriel Tan. Penangite residing in the Klang Valley. Blissfully married to Wuan. A LaSallian through and through. Slave to three cats. Wheelchair user since 1984. End-stage renal disease since 2017. Principal Facilitator at Peter Tan Training specialising in Disability Equality Training. Former columnist of Breaking Barriers with The Borneo Post. This blog chronicles my life, thoughts and opinions. Connect with me on Twitter and Facebook.

14 thoughts on “Eating My Last Festive Cuisine”

  1. Jinny,
    Fish maw is dried foodstuff. It did not smell weird. I guess it is still edible.

    Charlyn,
    Hou si fatt choy? Nice huh.

  2. Hou Si Fatt Choy:

    Peter, what exactly about this dish (prep or ingredients) makes it health-wise undesirable (but sinfully delicious) for you renal health? Is it the roast pork or the oil/frying?

    If so, you might like to try having this treat dianxin style.

    I had it for my reunion dinner in delightful bite-sized oval shapes of steamed fish paste nuggets each hiding the buried treasure of an oyster.

    Replace the roast pork with fish paste, sauces with chicken broth and frying with steaming. Instead of all that sauce, braise the steamed fish paste nuggets in chicken broth.

    Yumm…. Scrumptious ‘little touches to the heart’!!!

    (dianxin literally means ‘to touch the heart’)

  3. Arusa,
    Apart from roasted pork which is seasoned with salt-based marinate, there are the oyster sauce and mushrooms both of which are high in the taboo list. Dimsum is also something I should avoid for its abundant use of prawns and meat. As far as possible, I have to avoid sauces and seafood too.

  4. if i still wasn’t sick, i would actually try and cook “hou si fatt choy” but thanks to my supreme omnipotent skill i’m frightened that the hospitals in the petaling-kl-klang area wont have enough rooms for the victims of my culinary powers.

  5. MrsT,
    🙂

    Leo,
    So terror ah your cooking prowess? Must show me the next time I am in KL.

  6. Peter!
    I was looking for you this Sunday morning but too bad, you miss my ang pow! I had read this post for a few days oredi and don’t know what to say, hence the silence. But this came to my mind last Friday (World Sick Day) when I was at church for Way of the Cross, So I hope you find strength with this verse:
    “Cry, and the Lord will answer
    call, and he will say, ‘I am here.”
    Isaiah 58:9
    Take care, Peter.
    P/S : Happy Valentine’s Day

  7. the only items i can cook is omlette,boil water and cook normal rice…and instant noodles. im a failure even for can food

  8. Lilian,
    Thank you for sharing.

    Leo,
    That is enough to keep your tummy full, no?

    Bkworm,
    Probably the last I will ever post.

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