by Cheryl Tan
Soak the bamboo leaves in water to soften them.
Drain the rice and set it aside.
Take 2 bamboo leaves and fold them in the center so you form a triangular hollow, with the ends of the leaves pointing upward. Place in the hollow 1 or 2 tablespoons of rice (or more if you’d like), then 3 or more heaping tablespoons of meat mixture (or more, if you’d like), and top it with 2 or 3 tablespoons of rice, until the hollow is filled. Then fold over the leaves to cover the top of the hollow, twist them to seal, and tie the bak-zhang with string.
When all the bak-zhang have been wrapped, heat a large pot of water with the knotted pandan leaves. When the water is boiling, place the bak-zhang in the pot and boil them for 90 minutes.
Bak-zhang can be kept in the refrigerator for a week or the freezer for up to 2 months. Serve with chili sauce on the side.
SIMPSON’S POPIAH
Makes 4 rolls
3 tablespoons canola oil
12 peeled, deveined shrimps
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons minced shallots
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 pound julienned jicama
2 tablespoons preserved soybean paste
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 ½ cups water
Salt and pepper
4 (8-inch-by-8 inch) popiah (spring roll) wrappers
4 lettuce leaves
4 ounces julienned five-spiced tofu
2 tablespoons minced scallions
For sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha chili sauce
1 tablespoon preserved soybean sauce
In a pan, heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil over medium heat, add the shrimp, and sauté until they are cooked through. Remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside.
Add the remaining canola oil and the sesame oil, heat over medium heat, add the shallots, and cook until soft but not brown. Add the garlic and continue cooking for another 30 seconds; stir constantly to prevent the mixture from browning. Add the jicama, 1 tablespoon of soybean paste, oyster sauce, and sugar, and toss evenly. Add the water, turn the heat to low, and let the mixture cook for 15 minutes or until the jicama is soft. Season with salt and pepper. Strain the mixture, set the solids aside to cool, and reserve the “juice.”
Lay a sheet of popiah skin on a clean surface; put a piece of lettuce on top; place the cooled shrimp, jicama, tofu, and scallions in the middle; and gently fold the extra skin over to form a roll. Continue making the rolls.
Add Sriracha sauce and the remaining soybean sauce to the juice.
Slice up rolls into ¾-inch-thick slices; serve with dipping sauce on the side.
AUNTIE KHAR IMM’S SALTED VEGETABLE AND DUCK SOUP
Yield: 6 to 8 Chinese soup bowls of soup
¼ head salted mustard greens
½ duck, cut into large pieces
2 sour plums
1 (2-inch-long) piece of ginger, peeled
2 tamarind leaves
2 tomatoes
Cut the mustard greens into large chunks and soak for 30 to 60 minutes. Snip off as much of the duck skin as you can (the more skin you leave on, the oilier the soup will be). Heat a pot of water. When it’s boiling, blanche the duck in it for a few seconds.
Put 2 to 3 inches of water in a large pot. Bring the water to a boil and then add the duck, sour plums, ginger, and tamarind leaves and bring it to a boil. Simmer for 45 minutes. Add the mustard greens, then simmer for 40 minutes. Add more sour plums and tamarind leaves to taste. Add the tomatoes and boil for about 10 minutes longer. Serve with rice.
AUNTIE ALICE’S TEOCHEW BRAISED DUCK
1 whole duck
2 level Chinese soup spoons (each is about 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons) five-spice powder
2 level Chinese soup spoons salt
2 level Chinese soup spoons sugar
10 to 15 thick slices of peeled galangal (ginger can be used as a substitute)
15 cloves of garlic, peeled and lightly bashed
1 Chinese rice bowl (slightly over 1 cup) dark soy sauce* (add more if you like the taste)
*Note: Dark soy sauce can be purchased in many Chinatowns in U.S. cities.
Trim the duck, cutting off its head, behind, and feet if you’re not planning on eating the feet. Wash it thoroughly inside and out.
Mix together the five-spice powder and the salt and rub it all over the outside and inside of the duck. Let the duck marinate for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.
Heat a large wok over low heat and add the sugar, stirring until it melts. Add the galangal and garlic, frying the mixture until it is brown. Add the dark soy sauce.
Lightly rinse the marinated duck—this will make the end product less salty. Slide the duck into the wok, then coat the top of the duck with the sauce and turn it over. Add enough water so that the liquid comes halfway up the sides of the duck. Bring the mixture to a boil and cover.
Uncover and turn over the duck every 15 minutes. After 50 to 60 minutes, see if you can poke a chopstick through the fleshiest part of the duck. If the chopstick goes through fairly easily, the duck is ready. If not, cover and continue boiling until the chopstick pokes through easily.
Once it’s ready, turn off the heat and let the duck sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Then slice it up and serve it with rice, with the sauce on the side.
AUNTIE KHAR MOI’S PANDAN-SKIN MOONCAKES
Makes 60 small mooncakes
For the filling
3-pound bag of lotus-seed paste
Melon seeds
Salted egg yolks
For the skin
8 ½ ounces all-purpose flour that has been steamed for 10 minutes, then dried
6 ounces Prima Flour Top Flour (a super-fine flour; cake flour can be substituted)
3 ½ ounces mochi flour
7 ounces confectioners’ sugar
4 ounces shortening
14 ounces pandan water
A few drops of green food coloring
To make the filling, mix the lotus-seed paste with the melon seeds for crunch. Then form into little balls, a little less than 1 ounce each. Hollow out each ball and fill it with about a quarter of a yolk. Then roll it back up.
Measure out 60 (approximately 1 ounce) balls of the lotus-seed paste filling and set aside. Using a stand mixer, mix together the three kinds of flour and confectioners’ sugar. Then add the shortening and gradually mix in the pandan water. Mix until the dough is stiff but also soft. Add a few drops of green food coloring and mix well.
Divide the dough into 60 balls weighing 9 ounces each. Roll each ball into a flat circle, place a ball of lotus-seed paste in the center, turn it over, stretch out the skin, and seal so the paste is entirely covered.
Place the ball sealed side up in a mooncake mold and use your palm to smooth it out. Tap the mold on the counter to loosen and remove the mooncake.
Mooncakes should be stored in the refrigerator. If you’re planning on eating them after 1 week, store them in the freezer.
MY MUM’S GREEN BEAN SOUP
Yield: 8 to 9 cups of soup
7 to 8 cups water
3 pandan leaves, knotted loosely
1 cup dried green beans (also known as mung beans)
1 to 1 ½ cups peeled and cubed sweet potato
2 tablespoons pearl sago (add more if you like sago)
3 tablespoons sugar (add much more if you like it sweet; my mother doesn’t make hers very sweet)
Add the water and pandan leaves to a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Rinse the beans, add them to the pot, and boil for 25 to 30 minutes, adding the sweet potato halfway through.
Then add the sago and sugar, and boil for 10 more minutes. The soup is done when the beans have split and the sweet potato has softened.
Serve hot or chilled.
TANGLIN AH-MA’S OTAK
Makes about 80
2 to 3 thick stalks lemongrass
2 pounds shallots
2 ou
nces blue ginger or galangal
2 ounces yellow ginger or turmeric
2 tablespoons toasted, crumbled belacan
2 ounces candlenuts (macadamia nuts can be substituted)
3 ½ ounces dried chilies, boiled in hot water for 15 minutes to soften
12 chili padi, also known as bird’s-eye chilies (add more if you want it to be spicier)
¾ tablespoon plus ¾ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups vegetable or canola oil
Fresh banana leaves,* cut into 8-inch-by-5-inch rectangles
2 pounds mackerel
3 ½ cups coconut milk
8 eggs, beaten
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons ground coriander
2 tablespoons tapioca flour
¼ teaspoon monosodium glutamate
*Note: If you can’t find fresh banana leaves, you can scoop the fish paste into a bowl and steam it.
Thinly slice the lemongrass, shallots, blue ginger or galangal, and yellow ginger or turmeric, and blend them together in a food processor with the crumbled belacan, candlenuts, and a little water. Remove the paste, transfer it to a large wok, and fry over medium heat.
Blend together the softened dried chilies and chili padi in the food processor with about ¼ cup of water. Add the chili mixture to the paste in the wok. Add ¾ tablespoon of salt.
Keep frying the paste. After 30 minutes, start gradually adding about 1 ¼ cups of oil to the mixture while frying. You want the mixture to get really dry. The best way to tell whether there’s still water in the paste is to add oil by the ¼ cup and then inspect to see if white wispy strands appear. If you see the wisps, there’s still water in the mixture.
After about 90 minutes, the paste should be dry enough. Remove it from the wok and let it cool overnight.
The next day, fill a large wok with water and bring it to a boil. Soak the banana leaf rectangles in batches in the water for 1 or 2 minutes to soften the leaves. You want them to be pliant enough to be folded with ease.
Cut the fish into smaller-than-bite-size pieces. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 4 to 5 cups of the chili paste (add more if you like it spicy), the coconut milk, eggs, sugar, coriander, tapioca flour, monosodium glutamate, and ¾ teaspoon of salt. Add the fish to the bowl and mix well.
Take a banana leaf, position it on your hand so its veins are vertical, then scoop 2 to 3 tablespoons of the fish mixture onto the leaf so it forms a slender vertical strip along the middle. Make sure the paste does not reach the ends of the leaf; you don’t want it to spill out.
Fold over the left side and then the right side of the leaf so you have a long, slender otah that’s about 1 ½ inches wide. Secure the top and bottom with sharp toothpicks. Repeat with the rest of the mixture.
Steam the otah for 10 minutes and serve them with rice or bread.
AI-KYUNG LINSTER’S MANDOO
Makes 100
Dumplings
2 cups shredded cabbage
2 cups minced chives
1 cup chopped green onions
1 pound minced pork
1 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1 large egg, beaten
Mandoo, gyoza, or round Chinese dumpling wrappers
Dipping sauce
1 cup soy sauce
½ cup apple cider vinegar
Black pepper, to taste
Lightly salt the cabbage and set it aside.
Mix the other filling ingredients in a large bowl.
Wring out the cabbage until it is very dry and add it to the mixture.
Take a mandoo wrapper and lay it flat on your palm. Dip a finger into a bowl of room-temperature water and lightly coat the edge of the wrapper with water. Scoop a scant 1 tablespoon or so of the filling into the center of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half, lightly press the edges together to seal, and then fold 4 small vertical pleats into the edge so the mandoo will seal tightly.
Add a bit of salt to half a pot of water and boil. Add the mandoo, in batches of 12 for a regular-size soup pot, then cover the pot and bring the water to a boil again.
Add 1 cup of cold water, cover the pot, and bring it to a boil a third time. Do the same one final time. Remove the mandoo.
To make the dipping sauce: Mix a 2-to-1 ratio of soy sauce to apple cider vinegar. Add freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Acknowledgments
Thanks, first and foremost, must go to my two grandmothers: Tanglin Ah-Ma, who fed me well and whose pineapple tarts inspired this journey into my aunties’ kitchens; and Ah-Ma, who loves all her “smelly puppy” grandchildren with such tender ferocity.
The journey would never have been possible without my parents and sister. Thanks to my father, Tan Soo Liap, for never letting me beat him at Scrabble; my mother, Cynthia Wong, for teaching me to read; and Daphne, for being my partner in crime, confidante, and just about the best sister anyone could have. I miss you dearly every day.
Special thanks to two women who opened their hearts and kitchens to me: Auntie Alice and Auntie Khar Imm, I remain in awe. I am also grateful to Auntie Leng Eng, Uncle Ah Tuang, Uncle Soo Kiat, Ai-Kyung Linster, Auntie Donna, Auntie Hon Tim, Auntie Khar Moi, Ng Geak Tieng, Jessie, Kuku, Matthew, Zachary, Uncle Paul, Auntie Sophia, Valerie, and Auntie Jane. And Erlinda, our trusty sous chef.
To Simpson Wong and Willin Low, two amazing chefs and truly great friends.
To Jeanette Lai, Kevin Cheng, and Regina Jaslow, who have loved me, saved me, and cheered me on for more than twenty years now. I would be a mess without you.
And my dear New York friends for their patience and support during my year of traveling and writing—and, basically, ignoring them: Brian Fidelman, Jesse Pesta, Robert Sabat, Robert Christie, Henry Wu. Greg Morago, I adore you. In Washington, D.C., thanks to Laura Sullivan, Kris Antonelli, Rachelle Pestikas, and Laura Smitherman—I love you all.
I would not be where I am today without the mentorship and teachings of my journalism editors. I’ve had the good fortune of working with a few of the great newspaper editors of my time, and I consider myself lucky to also call them my friends: John Carroll and Paul Steiger. Thanks, too, to my dalaoban Marcus Brauchli, whose work and career have been an inspiration. As well as editors Bill Marimow, Tony Barbieri, Diane Fancher, Michael Gray, Edward Felsenthal, Elizabeth Seay, and Felix Soh. Last but not least, to an editor whom I love dearly and who shaped me greatly: the incredible and incredibly sweet Mary Corey.
At Medill, thanks to John Kupetz, Roger Boye, Pamela Cytrynbaum, and the late Dick Schwarzlose.
I have so much gratitude for the Asian American Journalists Association, whose members have offered me support and love for more than a decade. I can’t list everyone but special thanks to Jeannie Park, Albert Kim, Abe Kwok, Ed Lin, David Ng, Victor Panichkul, Charles Price, Mei-Ling Hopgood, Sachin Shenolikar, David Oyama, Charles Christopher Chiang, Randy Hagihara, Joe Grimm, Donna Kato, Jessie Mangaliman, Sharon Chan, Craig Gima, and Keith Kamisugi, who was so very helpful with the launch of www.cheryllulientan.com.
I can’t offer enough thanks to my family at Yaddo, the artists’ colony, where I completed this book. Elaina Richardson, Candace Wait, Mike Hazard, Jim Ryall, Cathy Clarke, and the rest of the Yaddo staff provided the serenity and nourishment that made writing a breeze. And I owe gratitude, of course, to my Yaddo mates, who gave me a bubble of encouragement and invaluable advice during a few very crucial weeks. Your art inspired me; your faith nudged me toward the finish line: John “Nonny” Searles, Nicholas Boggs, Gordon Dahlquist, Lucy Puls, Peter Mountford, Zachary Keeting, Noa Charuvi, Gretchen Somerfeld, Thomas Cummins, Darren Floyd, Silvia Pareschi, Jonathon Keats, Andrew Solomon, Rebecca Pappas, Steve Giovinco, Rachel Cantor, Emily Mast, and Cleopatra Mathis. And special thanks to Robinson McClellan for the gift of PIG.
Thanks to the thoughtful Daphne, Leonard Lee, Jeremy
Tan, Ryan Page, and Doris Truong for sending generous care packages to help with the writing. And a big thank you to Ng Aik Wye, the Singapore Tourism Board, KF Seetoh, Aisah Omar, and Auntie Jianab for all their assistance.
Major thanks to Hyperion and the people there who have been a true joy to work with: Barbara Jones, Allison McGeehon, Claire McKean, and my editors Sarah Landis and Leslie Wells.
My deepest thanks and love go to my indefatigable agent Jin Auh and the Wylie Agency. Thank you for loving this book from the very beginning.
And, of course, Mike. Sweetie, I hope I thank you enough every day.
Reading Group Guide
Introduction
It would be enough for Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan to walk us through the many and varied delicious traditional dishes she spent a year learning to cook from the women in her family in Singapore: Tanglin Ah-Ma’s pineapple tarts, or Bak-Zhang (pyramid-shaped dumplings with pork and mushrooms wrapped skillfully in bamboo leaves), or Otak (a spicy fish mousse steamed or grilled in banana leaves); Auntie Khar Imm’s salted vegetable and duck soup; Auntie Alice’s Teochew braised duck; Auntie Khar Moi’s pandan-skin mooncakes (stuffed with lotus-seed paste). Throughout it all Tan describes the intricate preparation and eating of each meal with such vivid detail, passion, and genuine hunger that she brings us wonderfully close to tasting it all ourselves.
