This is a scheduled post. I was having lunch, plain rice with dishes from a vegetarian stall, and there was this mixed veg dish which was really nice. The taste reminded me of my Grandma's vegetarian dish. It's been a long time since I last ate Grandma's dishes. Well, nowadays, even if we see her, of course we do not allow her to cook for us. We either cook for her or we bring her out to eat, since she is already so old.
However today, I suddenly miss her cooking. I searched the net for photos that look similar to Grandma's dishes some of which I do not have photos. This looks similar to her mixed veggie dish although she does not use young corn and broccoli - she uses chye sim, tau kee sticks, cabbage - all simple ingredients, but they tasted great and just so very different from those outside or those we cook. Even if the dish was reheated up overnight, it still tasted superb. Grandma has been "well trained" as she has been cooking this vegetarian dish for my Great Granny for decades as Great Granny was a pure vegetarian.
Another common dish Grandma used to make for us is Fish Porridge, or Fish Soup with rice. The slices of fish she used are just so fresh and well marinated. And the taste of the soup is really unique. I wonder what she put inside this simple dish. I remember seeing how Grandma would usually give us more fish meat, while she herself would take the leftover fish with bones in hers, and claims that she likes to "suck on the bones". Such is her love for us. That is why now, if we eat fish, we would scoop all the fish meat for her!
I definitely miss Grandma's Koo Chye Kueh (dumplings made of chives), a popular Teochew snack. Last time, she would make this once in a while, and we would be so excited. Her Koo Chye Kueh is nothing like those selling outside, and it is a long tedious process though - chopping and frying the ingredients, kneading the dough, wrapping each kueh, and steaming it. Hers was full of ingredients, generously bursting with chives, chopped mushrooms, tiny pork shreds, and the kueh skin is oh-so-thin (her delicately-honed skill) Her Koo Chye Kueh was so juicy. Those selling outside pale in comparison.
Another simple dish my sis and I used to be fed was Grandma's minced pork porridge. It is indeed very simple to prepare, very suitable for children. Grandma just used minced pork which she made into small chunks and added them into the porridge and added soya sauce. Grandma's minced pork porridge looks much darker than those outside. Those selling outside is normally more like congee, with pork slices, century egg, eggs and garnished with spring onions, and even with you tiao etc.... Grandma's was just plain minced pork and porridge, cooked just nice and very flavorful. She didn't even need to garnish it or add any other ingredients. Aaarggghhhh.... I really miss this porridge (especially since it is raining heavily now). Maybe one of these days, I will get Grandma to cook this for me again and relive my childhood moment.... hehe..... and this time, I will make sure I photograph it, my childhood porridge.
Any mention of Grandma's dishes is not complete without introducing her signature Long Beans Fried Rice. We called it "Chye Tow Perng" (don't ask me why). This fried rice is never found anywhere outside and it is so unique and popular among us in the family. The ingredients used are long beans, pork, carrots, chinese mushrooms, all chopped into tiny pieces and most importantly, fried with preserved radish. Grandma's version is out of this world and the rest of us can never replicate it.
However today, I suddenly miss her cooking. I searched the net for photos that look similar to Grandma's dishes some of which I do not have photos. This looks similar to her mixed veggie dish although she does not use young corn and broccoli - she uses chye sim, tau kee sticks, cabbage - all simple ingredients, but they tasted great and just so very different from those outside or those we cook. Even if the dish was reheated up overnight, it still tasted superb. Grandma has been "well trained" as she has been cooking this vegetarian dish for my Great Granny for decades as Great Granny was a pure vegetarian.
Another common dish Grandma used to make for us is Fish Porridge, or Fish Soup with rice. The slices of fish she used are just so fresh and well marinated. And the taste of the soup is really unique. I wonder what she put inside this simple dish. I remember seeing how Grandma would usually give us more fish meat, while she herself would take the leftover fish with bones in hers, and claims that she likes to "suck on the bones". Such is her love for us. That is why now, if we eat fish, we would scoop all the fish meat for her!
I definitely miss Grandma's Koo Chye Kueh (dumplings made of chives), a popular Teochew snack. Last time, she would make this once in a while, and we would be so excited. Her Koo Chye Kueh is nothing like those selling outside, and it is a long tedious process though - chopping and frying the ingredients, kneading the dough, wrapping each kueh, and steaming it. Hers was full of ingredients, generously bursting with chives, chopped mushrooms, tiny pork shreds, and the kueh skin is oh-so-thin (her delicately-honed skill) Her Koo Chye Kueh was so juicy. Those selling outside pale in comparison.
Another simple dish my sis and I used to be fed was Grandma's minced pork porridge. It is indeed very simple to prepare, very suitable for children. Grandma just used minced pork which she made into small chunks and added them into the porridge and added soya sauce. Grandma's minced pork porridge looks much darker than those outside. Those selling outside is normally more like congee, with pork slices, century egg, eggs and garnished with spring onions, and even with you tiao etc.... Grandma's was just plain minced pork and porridge, cooked just nice and very flavorful. She didn't even need to garnish it or add any other ingredients. Aaarggghhhh.... I really miss this porridge (especially since it is raining heavily now). Maybe one of these days, I will get Grandma to cook this for me again and relive my childhood moment.... hehe..... and this time, I will make sure I photograph it, my childhood porridge.
Any mention of Grandma's dishes is not complete without introducing her signature Long Beans Fried Rice. We called it "Chye Tow Perng" (don't ask me why). This fried rice is never found anywhere outside and it is so unique and popular among us in the family. The ingredients used are long beans, pork, carrots, chinese mushrooms, all chopped into tiny pieces and most importantly, fried with preserved radish. Grandma's version is out of this world and the rest of us can never replicate it.
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