Food – Page 4 – Peter Tan – The Digital Awakening

Purple Potato Porridge

No other food beats the sweet potato porridge to soothe an upset tummy. After suffering one week of discomfort, I got Wuan to cook some porridge for me to cleanse my system. She got one Japanese sweet potato and one Okinawan sweet potato when she went to the market. The Japanese variety has yellow flesh while the Okinawan variety purple.

Purple sweet potato porridge.

What I did not expect was the Okinawan sweet potato turning the porridge purple as well. The sight of the unusual looking porridge put me off initially. I had also half-expected it to be awful. Not wanting to let it go to waste, I decided to try a mouthful anyway. Fortunately, it tasted just like regular sweet potato porridge. That notwithstanding, I shall use only sweet potatoes that do not change the colour of the porridge from now on.

Teochew Porridge Condiment Recipe

This Teochew guy does not speak a word of the dialect. My father neither taught me the dialect nor the culture. From a young age, I spoke Hokkien, that being the predominant Chinese dialect in Penang where I grew up. I also learnt some Hakka from my mother and Cantonese from the landlady where we rented a room in Ayer Itam in my early years.

While I am as Teochew as a banana is yellow, I have an inherent love for the simplicity of Teochew cuisine, especially the porridge with its multitude of tasty dishes and appetizing condiments. Teochew moi, as it is popularly known, is light on the stomach yet filling enough to be considered a main meal.

Dishes for Teochew porridge uses a lot of preserved and pickled ingredients. The common accompaniments for the porridge I used to eat are salted duck eggs (kiam ark nui), braised salted vegetables, salted fish (kiam hu), canned fried dace with preserved black beans, canned pickled lettuce, preserved bean curd (tau joo), sweetened pickled mustard (kong chai), salted peanuts, stir fried beansprouts with anchovies and preserved radish omelette (chai por nui).

My favourite is a simple condiment of dried prawns, shallots, garlic, ginger and chilli marinated in taucheo and calamansi juice. I could finish entire bowl of porridge with just that dish. The taste is a mix of sweet, salty, tangy and spicy, its texture accentuated by the firmness of the dried prawns, crunchiness of the shallots and garlic and softness of the preserved beans.

It has been a long time since I last had a taste of this. I got Wuan to make the condiment for me today but could not remember all the ingredients needed. After I had my fill for lunch this afternoon, I suddenly remembered that we left out ginger. Nevertheless, it was appetizing but not something that I can eat often due to the high salt content in the taucheo. For now, my appetite for Teochew porridge is satiated.

Teochew porridge accompaniment - taucheo, dried shrimps and shallots condiment

Appetizing Teochew porridge condiment – taucheo with dried shrimps and shallots.

Taucheo with Dried Prawns and Shallots Condiment Recipe

6 shallots, slice thinly
3 cloves garlic, slice thinly
(3 slices young ginger, shred finely)
1 red chilli, remove seeds and slice thinly

1 tablespoon dried shrimps, remove shells, wash and drain

1 tablespoon whole bean paste (taucheo)

Juice from 1 calamansi (keat la, kat chai, limau kasturi)

Put all ingredients in a bowl, adding the calamsi juice last. Mix well. Serve with porridge.

*By the way, if anybody knows what this dish is called in Teochew, please let me know.

A New Beginning

This Chinese New Year is the fourth I celebrated with Wuan’s family in Ipoh. Something is different this year. I was embraced by a sense of belonging, a sense of familiarity, a sense of festivity that I have not experienced in a long time, not since my mother’s death in 2003.

In the subsequent years after her passing, I had consciously chosen not to partake in the celebrations. I was simply too disraught to even think of making merry. Festivals were mostly spent in quiet reflections of the sacrifices she made to ensure that I was never in need.

Although the pain of losing her is still as fresh today as it was seven years ago, I realised that the grieving has to end somewhere for the living to begin. The advent of the new spring is as good a time as can be to start afresh. That was what I did and intend to do from now on.

Flavourful salmon yee sang from New She Lai Ton Restaurant.
Photo by Wuan.

We spent four days in Ipoh, taking along Fei Por and Cheeky with us for their vaccinations and annual check-up at the Ipoh Garden Animal Clinic. As for us, it was feasting, feasting and more feastings. Needless to say, the Chinese New Year season is the most difficult time for me to keep to my low-protein diet.

New She Lai Ton Restaurant red cooked pig trotter with black moss

Hung siew chu sau with fatt choy (Red cooked pig trotter with black moss).
Photo by Wuan.

Of all the restaurants we ate at, we liked the food most at the New She Lai Ton Restaurant. We had one half portion of salmon yee sang and three simple dishes as there were only Wuan’s parents and us for that meal. The yee sang came in a very generous serving. We had to confirm with the waitress to be sure it was indeed for us. Of all the yee sang I have eaten this year, this is the best.

New She Lai Ton Restaurant steamed fish with tau kan

Steamed king grouper fish (long tan) with tau kan.
Photo by Wuan.

The hung siew pig trotter with black moss was well marinated and tender. I actually had to stop myself from eating too much. Next up was the steamed fish fillet with tau kan (bean curd sheets). It was done just right despite the restaurant being almost full. The stir-fried lai pak with garlic looked deceivingly plain but was tasty.

New She Lai Ton Restaurant stir fried lai pak with garlic

Stir fried lai pak.
Photo by Wuan.

The food was so good that my mother-in-law is already planning the next reunion dinner and new year lunch at this restaurant. Wuan and I certainly do not have any objection. We all left the restaurant with our appetites fully satiated. Most importantly, the restaurant is accessible from the car park. We usually have a hard time selecting a restaurant that I could get into.

The joy of celebrating the Chinese New Year, the rekindling of family ties and the sitting down for a good meal together have all stirred up that warm and fuzzy feeling in me. Finally, after so many years, I have again found the reason to be happy during these auspicious occasions.