Recipes

Make the Radish Cake, which has the texture of moist compacted rice – this makes 4 portions:

1 small radish, peeled, grated and steamed till cooked

Pinch of salt

1 cup rice flour

1 cup water

1 teasp oil

Combine the ingredients, and pour into a cake tin. Cover with tin foil with a few holes poked in and steam for 45 minutes. Use half the portion and store the other half in the refrigerator for another day. If you’re feeling lazy you can buy the ready-made radish cake at supermarkets.

2 eggs, beaten

2 teasp fish sauce

1 tbsp sweet dark soy sauce (for the black version)

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp lard oil

2 tbsp chai poh, preserved turnip

2 cloves garlic, minced 

1 spring onion, sliced

Slice portions of the radish cake for 2 persons. Heat oil and lard in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and fry radish cake till golden brown and crisp on both sides – about 3 minutes. Use 2 spatulas and break into smaller pieces. Add the garlic and fry until fragrant. Add the fish sauce, chai poh and salt to taste. Fry and combine well. Make a well in the centre of the frying ingredients and pour in the beaten egg. Combine all well. Sprinkle spring onion on top and dish out to serve.

Serves 4

400g rice noodle stick bee hoon

Handful of bean sprouts

3 shallots, diced

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

Oil for frying

½ cup chicken stock

2 Tbsp sweet dark soy sauce

2 Tbsp light soy sauce 

1 Tbsp fish sauce 

1 teasp Sugar

Salt to taste

2 tbsp lard oil for frying

Soak bee hoon in water for 1 hour or until soft. Drain off water

Mix sauces and sugar together and set aside. Heat a large wok over high heat. Add lard oil and fry shallots and garlic till aromatic – about 1 minute. Add the pre-soaked bee hoon and sauces. Stir fast and furious to mix everything. Pour in chicken stock and continue to stirfry until stock has dried out. Taste and adjust seasonings. Fry for a few seconds more and serve. Beehoon should be al dente and not soggy.

Serves 4

4 Sri Lankan crabs, cleaned and cut into pieces

5 garlic cloves

1/2 inch ginger, minced

3 onions, sliced 

1/4 cup grated coconut 

1 tablespoon tamarind juice 

2 teaspoons fennel seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

Bunch of coriander leaves

1 green chilli, sliced

1/4 cup fresh grated coconut

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

1 tablespoon garam masala powder

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon coriander seed 

1 tomato, quartered

1 tablespoon cooking oil

2 cups water

Salt to taste

Heat a small pot with a little oil and add the fennel seeds and cumin seeds. When they start popping, add the onion, garlic, 1/4 cup grated coconut, ginger and green chilli. Sautee until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Put the whole lot in the blender together with the coriander leaves and a little water and blend to a paste. 

Heat a wok or large deep pan on the stove, add a little oil and sautee the paste mixture. Add the tomato, salt, tamarind juice and the rest of the spices and sautee for about 8 minutes until fragrant. Add water if it gets too dry. Add the crabs and combine well. Add a little more water, and cover with a lid and let cook for about 5 minutes. Check if crab is cooked and check taste. Serve in a dish with a few coriander leaves for garnish. Best eaten with white rice.

500g prawns shells on, cleaned and deveined

2 tbsp tamarind paste, extracted from tamarind pulp mixed with a little water

Salt to taste

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

3 tablespoons cooking oil

Mix tamarind paste, sugar and dark soy sauce together. Marinade prawns with the mixture and set aside in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Heat a wok on medium heat and add oil. Cook the prawns till they turn a vibrant pink and slightly charred on the shells. Note food will continue to cook even off the heat. Lay the prawns on a platter, garnish with coriander and serve immediately.

Serves 4

Mutton Ingredients:

8 mutton leg bones (with marrow inside)

3 star anise

4 cloves

1 3cm ginger, sliced

1 cinnamon stick

2 cups water

Onion Blend:

2 onions, quartered

8 dried chilli, deseeded and softened in hot water

1 3cm ginger, sliced

3 cloves garlic

3 shallots

Braising Ingredients:

2 tablespoons tomato puree

1 tablespoons tomato ketchup

1 boiled potato, mashed

3 tablespoons beef curry powder

4 tomatoes, quartered

1 cinnamon stick

2 onions, quartered

4 cardamom pods

2 star anise

3 cloves

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Salt to taste

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon red food colouring (optional)

Oil for frying

1 1/2 cups water

Garnish:

1/2 cup finely sliced raw cabbage

CHAR KWAY TEOW

Serves 4

Have all the ingredients ready and easily grabbable beside your wok

4 tablespoons lard oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

400g flat rice noodles (kway teow)

200g egg noodles (mee)

Handful of beansprouts

2 eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons shelled cockles

1 Chinese sausage, steamed and thinly sliced

1 fishcake, sliced

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 tablespoon dark, sweet soy sauce

Chilli sauce (optional)

Stock or water to prevent drying out.

Heat a wok until smoking hot over high heat. Add lard oil and fry garlic till fragrant. Add noodles and sautee with light soy sauce for a couple of minutes. Drop in the Chinese sausage and fishcake. Lower heat if it gets too hot. Keep the noodles moving and infusing with all the ingredients. Make a well in centre and mix in the eggs. Add a dash of stock or water for steam. Add dark soy sauce, chilli sauce and beansprouts. Finally add the cockles. Sautee all for a few more seconds. Dish out and serve immediately. 

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WONTON MEE

Serves 2

2 bundles wonton egg noodles

1 tbsp pork lard oil

2 tbsp crispy lard bits

6 stalks Chinese flowering cabbage (chye sim), cut and blanched  

1 teasp oyster sauce

2 tbsp light soy sauce

2 cups chicken broth

1 teasp sesame oil

10 slices char siew (barbecued roasted pork)

WONTON DUMPLINGS

10 round wonton wrappers

Wonton dumplings filling:

3 prawns, cleaned and minced

250g minced pork

1 stalk spring onion, sliced

1 teasp ginger juice

Dash of sesame oil

2 teasp Shaoxing wine

Salt to taste

1 teasp sugar

2 teasp light soya sauce

Mix filling ingredients together well. Pinch a ping pong ball size of this mix and encase in wonton wrapper. Cook wonton dumplings in simmering water until they float – about 5 minutes. Remove to a dry oiled plate and set aside.

ACCOMPANIMENT FOR DISH

2 tbsp unsweetened chilli sauce

2 tbsp pickled sliced green chilli

4 tbsp light soy sauce

Remaining chicken broth, and wonton dumplings portioned in 2 bowls

MAIN PREPARATION

Prepare a large pot of simmering water. Fill another pot with ice cold water. In a bowl mix the lard oil, sesame oil, 4 tablespoons of chicken broth, soy sauce, oyster sauce and stock together. Divide into 2 portions and put each onto a serving plate. Place one bundle of wonton noodles onto a sieve spatula and plunge into the simmering water. Cook till al dente, about 2 minutes. Immediately plunge the noodles into the ice cold water. Plunge it back into the simmering water for 2 seconds and place onto serving plate with the sauce mix, tossing well. Top with one portion char siew slices, crispy pork lard bits and chye sim. Repeat process with second wonton bundle. Serve immediately with wonton dumplings in remaining chicken stock as a side soup, and accompaniments of chilli sauce, light soy sauce and pickled green chilli.

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NASI LEMAK

Serves 4

Coconut rice

1 3/4 cups long grain jasmine or basmati rice

1 cup water

1 cup coconut milk

Pinch of salt

2 pandan leaves, tied into a knot

Place all ingredients in rice cooker and cook. When cooked, give rice a stir to fluff it up.

Sambal (chilli paste)

3 cloves garlic

2 candlenuts, chopped

3 shallots

6 dried chillies, soaked till soft

2 tablespoons tamarind water (a knob of tamarind pulp mixed with warm water and sieved)

1 tablespoon sugar

Salt to taste

Oil for frying

Blend garlic, candlenuts, shallots and chilli with a little water to make a paste. Heat a pan or wok, add oil and cook chilli paste till fragrant, add tamarind water, salt and sugar. Cook over low heat for about 10 to 15 minutes. Add water if it gets too dry. Adjust seasoning. 

Accompaniments

3-egg omelette, cut into 4 pieces

1 cucumber, sliced

4 chub mackerel fish, seasoned with a little turmeric powder and salt, and fried

Other items – you can be as elaborate or as simple as you wish: fried anchovies, salted peanuts, fried chicken, pickles, stirfried vegetables 

To serve

One person: line a plate with banana leaf and spoon rice on top, 1 piece omelette, 1 fish, cucumber slices and a dollop of chilli sambal

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APEROL SPRITZ

Serves 1

3 ounces prosecco

2 ounces Aperol

1 ounce club soda

Garnish: orange slice

Add prosecco, Aperol and club soda to a large wine glass filled with ice and mix. Garnish with a slice of orange.

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HOMEMADE KAYA

Makes 1 1/2 cups

Equipment: Heatproof bowl that will sit on top of a deep pot; muscles to stir for 30 to 40 minutes

5 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup gula melaka

1 cup coconut milk

2 stalks pandan, knotted

Pinch of salt

Whisk the eggs and sugar until sugar dissolves. Sieve the mixture into a heatproof bowl and add the pandan leaves. To double-boil fill the deep pot with about 2 cups of water and bring to gentle simmer. Place bowl with the kaya mixture over the pot. The base of the bowl should not touch the simmering water below. It’s all about the steam.

Stir the mixture frequently with a whisk as it gently cooks. This takes about 30 to 40 minutes. When it reaches the consistency and thickness of thick curd or yoghurt add a pinch of salt, and mix well. Take off heat and set aside to cool completely. Spoon the kaya into sterilized jar and store in refrigerator. It lasts for a week. Slather kaya on toast with slabs of chilled butter and enjoy with your favourite coffee.

HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE

Serves 5-6

CHICKEN

1 large chicken (1.2kg)

Enough water to submerge chicken in large pot

Large bowl of ice and water to hold cooked chicken

4 slices ginger

2 pandan leaves, knotted

2 spring onion

1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

Pinch of salt

Mix sauce, oils and wine together, and rub all over chicken – inside and out. Rub salt. Stuff chicken cavity with pandan, ginger and spring onion. Set aside to marinade for 30 minutes.

Poaching the chicken: 

In a large pot of tap water submerge chicken. Bring to boil and turn chicken over. Reduce to low simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Switch off heat, cover pot and keep chicken submerged for another 20 minutes. Reserve chicken stock for cooking rice, for garnish and for chilli sauce. Lift out chicken and place into ice water bath for about 15 minutes. Pat dry cooked chicken and rub all over with a little sesame oil and light soy sauce. Let rest for about 20 minutes till ready to serve and cut into portions.

RICE

3 cups uncooked jasmine rice, washed

1 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon raw chicken fat from chicken

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup water

2 garlic, chopped

3 slices ginger

2 pandan leaves, knotted

Pinch of salt

In a little oil, fry garlic and ginger till fragrant. Add this together with the other ingredients in a rice cooker and cook. Discard pandan, ginger after cooking.

CHILLI SAUCE 

5 red chilli

2 cloves garlic

2 slices ginger

2 tsp lime juice

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsp chicken stock

Pinch of Salt

Pound or blend chilli, garlic and ginger together – not too fine. Mix together with other ingredients until sugar dissolves.

GARNISH 

2 Japanese cucumbers, sliced

2 stalks coriander, cut 3cm

2 stalks spring onion, cut 3cm

Sauce: 

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp Chinese rice wine 

2 tbsp chicken stock

Spread out sliced cucumbers on serving platter, cut chicken into portions and lay out on top of cucumber. Drizzle over sauce mixture. Garnish with coriander and spring onion.

ACCOMPANIMENT

Thick dark caramelised soy sauce to serve along side chilli sauce.

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ROTI PRATA

Makes 8

Roti prata or roti canai is a flaky Indian flat bread from southern India. It is one of the favourite foods in Singapore and Malaysia.

3 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

3/4 cup ghee, room temperature

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup water

In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, sugar and 1/4 cup of the ghee. When the mixture comes together in a ball, add the milk and water. Knead for about 5 minutes to form into a smooth, elastic dough.

Divide into 8 balls, coat with ghee, cover with a damp cloth and let rest at room temperature for at least 5 hours.

To cook, heat a frying pan on low heat. Roll out the dough ball as thinly as possible so you can see through it. Either disc-shaped or square is fine. Fold the edges in to meet in the middle like an envelope. Drizzle some ghee in the pan and cook the prata dough 3-4 minutes per side until golden brown.

Serve with a tangy curry or sugar.

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DEVIL CURRY

RECIPE BY GRANDMA FREDA

Serves 4

CHICKEN

1 1kg chicken, cleaned and cut into pieces

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

Pinch of sugar

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon oil for frying

Marinade for 10 minutes the chicken with seasonings and soy sauce. Heat a large wok with oil and brown the chicken pieces. Remove and set aside.

SPICE PASTE (REMPAH)

Chilli Blend:

9 dried chillis, cut into 2cm lengths and soaked in hot water to soften

Shallot Blend:

6 shallots, peeled and sliced

2 cloves garlic

1 2cm fresh turmeric

1 3cm galangal, sliced

4 candlenuts, softened in hot water

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

CURRY

2 onions, peeled and quartered 

4 potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 stalk lemongrass, bruised

1 3cm ginger, peeled and julienned

2 tomatoes, quartered

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon English mustard

1 tbs sugar

Salt to taste

2 cups water

1/2 cup (or as needed) cooking oil

In the same wok over medium heat, add 2 tbs of oil and fry the Chilli Blend. Lower heat and fry for about 5 minutes till fragrant. Add the Shallot Blend and fry for a further 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, onions, tomatoes, English mustard, ginger and lemongrass and return the chicken pieces to the wok. Gently mix well until fragrant. Add water and simmer for about 25 minutes till the potato and chicken are cooked. Add salt, sugar and vinegar, and simmer for about 10 minutes more. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking. The curry has more depth when cooked a day before serving. Serve with rice or baguette.

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GORENG PISANG

Banana fritters

The secret to a light, crispy batter is sparkling water and a dash of alcohol

Serves 4 to 6

8 bananas

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup rice flour

1 teaspoon baking powder 

Pinch of salt 

Oil for deep frying

1 teaspoon rum

1 cup sparkling water

Mix the flour, rice flour, baking powder and salt well in a bowl. Beat the sparkling water, rum and egg into the flour mixture until batter is smooth. Set batter aside to rest for 15 minutes.

Heat the oil in a deep skillet. Dip the bananas in the batter and gently drop them into the hot oil. Turn bananas  so that they colour to a rich golden brown on all sides. Remove and drain on paper towels.