My mother is an amazing woman on all counts. She knows how to run a tight ship. Despite the fact that she is a working professional, she has never failed to come home and make us all a delicious home cooked meal every day. When we come back from abroad, she has all our favourite food prepared. I can only hope that someday I will be able to be even a fraction of what she is. From her, I learned the virtues of discipline, frugality and a deep and unshakable commitment to family. She has been the pillar of strength for all of us through the years. The picture above, I feel, really captures her beauty and the love she has for my father. Dressed in traditional nyonya kebaya (passed down from one generation to the next), she looks absolutely beautiful. Nyonya women are known to be particularly fussy about details. I remember hearing about how my grandmother used to meticulously match her kebaya top with her sarong - ensuring the perfect contrast in colours - and how she would travel to Singapore just to make beaded shoes for special occasions. Likewise, I guess I've inherited the trait of wanting to make my curries from scratch, rather than to rely on ready made pastes from the supermarket.
Though past Chinese New Year, I decided to make my grandmother's recipe for Nyonya Chap Chye tonight. My grandmother, like many women of her generation, did not get a chance to go to school, although she was incredibly bright. Her parents feared that an educated woman at the time would not be able to find a husband. A fortune teller had told them she would end up becoming a professor (!?) and thus, unmariable. Before she passed on, I undertook a project with my parents to transcribe as many of her wonderful recipes down as possible. This is one of them. Unlike many families, we generally keep to a vegetarian diet on the first day of the New Year, as a sign of respect for all that has been given to us and to not harm or kill other living beings. This dish is known as "Buddha's feast" in the US, but I've added additional traditional ingredients. The combination is meant to bring luck and prosperity to the family.
Ingredients:
1/2 head of cabbage, cut into cubes
1 small carrot, cut into desired shapes
5 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked until soft, and cut into halves
1/2 head medium cauliflower, cut into florets
5-7 sweet snow peas, peeled (optional)
handful of wood ear fungus, soaked until soft and cut into chunks (Substitute cloud ear fungus if unavailable)
1 packet fatt choy or black sea moss, soaked until soft and drained
handful of lily buds, soaked until soft, knotted and remove hard ends
1 small handful transparent rice vermicelli, soaked until soft and drained (optional)
5-7 pieces of dried beancurd sticks, soaked until soft, drained and cut into thirds
3 slices young ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
Sauce:
2 cubes fermented bean paste/fu yee
1 tbsp Shao Xing wine
1 tbsp. vegetarian oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
dash pepper
dash sesame oil
1/2 cup water
Heat wok with 2 tbsp oil. Add garlic and ginger and fry for a few seconds until fragrant. Add in fermented bean paste and fry until fragrant. Toss in cauliflower, carrot, and dried mushrooms. Add 1 tbsp Shao Xing wine and toss quickly. Sprinkle water and add cabbage. Stir fry briskly for a couple of minutes, sprinkle in sauce ingredients and water. Lower heat and cover, simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring ocassionally. When cabbage and cauliflower are fairly cooked, add sweat peas, wood ear fungus, dried lily bulbs and beancurd sticks. Cover and simmer over low heat for another 5 minutes. Remove lid, add fatt choy, toss around quickly. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve immediately.
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