I cooked this a couple of years ago for my cousin May when she visited us in Melbourne. She took one mouthful and said, “this is your mum’s soup”, even though she hadn’t tasted it in 20 years. What a wonderful compliment!
My version of mum’s soup is not an exact replica but that hardly matters; I only hope that there will come a time when my children cook for their extended family and they experience the same nostalgic thrill of recognition that May did.
I love the convenience of two minute noodles, literally ‘convenient noodles’ in Chinese. With some veggies and a beaten egg thrown in, a snack is never more than a couple of minutes away. However, the MSG and salt laden flavour sachets they come with leave me itchy and thirsty and wheat doesn’t always agree with me.
So this is my version of two minute noodles – perfect for a quick, gluten-free snack any time of the day or night. I make this when I’m starving and craving a salt fix.
My father was born in Penang, Malaysia, and his family later moved to Kuala Lumpur. Until I moved overseas, I used to visit Malaysia once a year with my family and food was always a major feature of these trips.
My Grandmother, my Popo, is an amazing cook. Her version of Asam Laksa (the sour, fish-based noodle soup) is famous amongst our friends, while her fried chicken and congee (thick with shredded chicken, fried onions and anchovies, roasted peanuts and white pepper) take ostensibly simple dishes and turn them into works of art.
When we’re not eating at Popo’s house, we’re out and about trying hawker stores for the best of Malaysian street food. It’s cheap, plentiful and incredibly tasty. We have our favourite eating places, and visit them each time, smiling when we see the same old familiar hawkers we saw the year before. Many of them specialise in only one dish and that is all they make, day after day and year after year. They’re the ultimate food specialists. You have to admire that dedication to quality and consistency.
Since we’ve had kids I’ve only been to Malaysia once, when my daughter had just started eating solids. We’re going again in a few weeks and I can’t wait to introduce my kids to Malaysia food. My daughter is now almost 5 years old, old enough to remember this trip, and my 18 month old son, robust enough for a week of eating all types of strange and wonderful food.
Fish and eggplant may sound like a bizarre combination, but trust me, it really works.
I love this curry of my mother’s. She made a big pot of it for me when my daughter was a newborn. I was constantly ravenous as I was breastfeeding around the clock then and I remember eating large bowls of this curry throughout the day and night.
Serve it with plain rice for a rich, hearty and sustaining meal.
When my husband took me to Germany for the first time, mushrooms were in season. For lunch one day his mother cooked us pancakes with a creamy mushroom sauce using fresh pfifferlinge and dried steinpilze (porcini).
Inspired by this lovely meal, we took dried steinpilze back to Shanghai and created this dish.
As a working mother our mum was always time-poor. So when I was a young girl learning ballet she used to attach the silver sequins to my tutu by stapling them on. Those of you nifty with a needle may squeal in horror but as a time-saving alternative to the more usual and laborious sewing it was genius.
These dips are the culinary equivalent.
Perfect for drinks parties and BBQs, these dips are beyond easy to prepare and can be made well in advance.
Minimum effort for maximum reward. If only all of life could be this simple.
The food we cook is often a way of connecting with those we love.
In this case, the following recipe always reminds me of my Dad because he would make us this for us s a special weekend treat. So eating this always brings a smile to my face.
This is a Chinese style omelette – it’s not folded neatly in half and stuffed with filling as the French ones. This one is meant to be gloriously haphazard and messy.
