Comfort Food - Chicken Stew

Chicken Stew - This is a family favourite and the recipe has been handed down by my Grandmother to my Mother and to me.

Long Forgotten Food 3 - Lepat Kacang

What is Lepat Kacang? In the just published book " A Baba Malay Dictionary" by William Gwee Thian Hock.
He defines it as a glutinous rice and soya bean cooked in a leaf packet. To me this is a simple kueh using readily available ingredients (glutinous rice, soya beans and grated coconut).

The Nyonya version of Lepat Kacang comes wrap in triangular packets using Doan Nipah (Attap Leaves) and is only made subject to the availability of the leaves. Sadly the Nyonya Lepat Kacang is very hard to come by here in Singapore.

I would have to wait for my supply from Malacca to enjoy this old forgotten kueh.....

Long Forgotten Food 2 - Ikan Kekek

Why all the fuss for Ikan Kekek? Firstly it was nostalgia and memories of comfort food brought about by tete a tete with fellow Babas and Nyonyas. So to the local wet markets, I went searching for Ikan Kekek. In Ang Mo Kio the fish stall holders told me "Must Order" but they were not able to assure me when they will be able to get the fish. In Chong Pang the stall holder wife told me "Why do you want this fish, no one wants to eat it to little meat and lots of bones" A thought came to my mind- have we be come so affluent that we do not eat such fish any more? Is that why there is no supply as there is no demand for this fish or could it be due to all the land reclamation, over fishing???

What do you cook Ikan Kekek with? Well you cook it with a rempah mixture of lengkuas (Blue Ginger), kunyit(Tumeric), bawang merah(Shallots), fresh red chillies and belachan (Shrimp Paste) which makes Kuah Pedas Nanas (Spicy Pineapple Gravy) The rempah is boil with water or stock with the pineapple and season with salt and sugar. Add the fish when you are ready to EAT and boil till it is cooked.

Guess i will have to continue searching and maybe be lucky one day or not sing the old children song Ikan Kekek and dream of silvery fishes....

Ikan kekek Mak Iloi, Iloi
Ikan gelama Mak Iloi, Iloi
Mari adik Mak Iloi, Iloi
Menyanyi sama Mak Iloi, Iloi
Ada satu si ikan parang
Badannya banyak berbelang
Isi sikit, banyak tulang
Sedap di makan, masak panggang

Ikan Kekek - Common Pony Fish - Leiognathus equulus

Ikan Kekek is silvery with a brown saddle on the caudal peduncle. It has faint bars on the back and sometimes a dark blotch on the forehead. The anal fin is yellowish.

Like all species in the genus Leiognathus, it can extend its mouth into a downward pointing tube. This species grows to 25cm in length.

It if found in estuarine and coastal waters. It is also found in muddy river mouths and sometimes ascends into freshwaters. When freshly caught it exudes lots of slime.

Long Forgotten Food 1 - Sayur Bermis

Sayur Bermis was once regarded as a peasant vegetable and eaten by Nyonyas in the '60s. It is difficult, but not impossible, to find sayur bermis (duckweed), a dao miao lookalike, except it's rougher and crunchier.

How to cook your Sayur Bermis you can fry it with Sambal Belachan or Rempah Titek.

During my last trip to Malacca. I came back with 12 bundles. After giving away six bundles to relatives and friends ...Boy oh Boy did i really have my fill of Sayur Bermis. Come to think of it when will the next trip be???

Tauhu Masak Titek

This is one of my favourite comfort food. There are two variations of this dish one using Tauhu (Soft Bean Curd) the other Buah Paya Masak Titek which is actually unripe papaya. Sadly the latter dish is fast disappearing due to changing tastebuds ?? in the younger generation.



Tauhu Masak Titek cooked the way of our ancestors have meat balls in them. Some Nyonyas instead use minced prawns and pork balls in thier recipe.

My grandmother style of Tauhu Masak Titek the prawns are kept whole and minced pork are made into pork balls. Tauhu Masak Titek is best eaten with steamed white rice and sambal belachan.

:-) Wicked....