• Half roasted duck or boiled chicken
• 150 grammes (5 oz) honey dew melon
• One pear
• Half cucumber
• 150 grammes (5 oz) cantaloupe melon
• One mango
• 120 grammes (4 oz) jicama
• 3 Tbs coarsely grounded toasted peanuts
• 2 Tbs toasted white seasame seeds
• One coriander plant
  

• Half Tbs light soya sauce
• 2 tsp fine sugar
• One tsp oyster sauce
• One Tbs cooked vegetable oil*

• 3 Tbs water
• Half tsp salt
• One to 2 tsp sugar
• Half tsp sesame oil
• Half Tbs tomato ketchup
• One tsp chilli sauce
• One-and-a-half tsp cornflour
• One-and-a-half Chinese plum sauce or apricot jam
• 2 tsp vegetable oil

1. Remove flesh from duck and cut into fine strips. Cut flesh of melon, mango, cucumber, pear and jicama into fine strips, discarding skin and pulp first.
2. Arrange each vegetable and fruit neatly around a large serving platter, varying the colours. Put the duck in the centre, after first marinating it in the sauce. Top with a sprinkling of peanuts, sesame seeds and plucked coriander leaves. Chill in the fridge.
3. Mix all the sauce ingredients together except fro the oil and plum sauce. Heat oil in a wok and add the mixture, stir well till sauce thickens, add plum sauce or apricot jam and turn off heat. Cool in the fridge.
4. To serve, pour the sauce over the duck at the table and all the guests should toss the salad together.

• 1 kg Crab
• 3 tbspn white pepper
• 1 tspn coriander seeds
• 1 tbspn minced garlic
• 1 stalk spring onion ( cut into 1 inch section )
• 1/2 tbspn cornflour

• 1/4 tbspn dark soy sauce
• 1 tbspn light soy sauce
• 1/2 tspn sesame oil

1. Blend white pepper and coriander seeds in a blender until fine.
2. Wash and clean crabs, discards lung and organs. Chop crabs into 4 pieces. Scald crabs in 250g of hot cooking oil for about 30 secs. Remove from wok.
3. Stir-fry minced garlic in 2 tbspn of hot cooking oil until fragrant.
4. Add in 1 cup of water and 2 tspn of blended white pepper and coriander seeds, and mix well. Add seasoning and 1 tbspn of cornflour solution. Bring to a boil. Add crabs and cover the wok. Cook for 5 minutes or until crabs are cooked.
5. Remove the crabs from wok. Add sectioned spring onion into gravy and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
6. Serve hot.

• 2 Tbs All-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp Curry powder
• 1/8 tsp Cayenne pepper
• Salt
• 3/4 lb Shrimp (about 12), shelled and deveined
• 2 Tbs peanut oil
• 1 bunch Green onions, cut into
• 2-inch lengths
• Lemon wedges for garnishing

In a heavy wok heat oil over moderately high heat until hot; saute green onions until almost tender.

Add shrimp to scallions and sauté, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes, or until shrimp are opaque throughout.

Add oyster sauce, curry powder and soy sauce. stir and toss well to mix thoroughly. Drain noodles. Add and toss. May be served now or cover and place in 250F oven to hold until ready. Makes 2 good sized plates if 4 nexts are used, 3 plates if 6 are used.

• water for scalding vermicelli
• 1 packet coarse rice vermicelli (Hokkien: bee hoon)
• 250 9 beansprouts
• 100 g Chinese chives (Hokkien: koo chye)
• 500 9 small prawns
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 4 firm soybean cakes (Hokkien: taukwa)
• 5 tablespoons oil
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 250 millilitres water
• 2 tablespoons tamarind powder mi e
• 4 hardboiled eggs, sliced
  Rempah
  • 5 tablespoons dried prawns (pounded separately)
  • 5 large onions
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 6 candlenuts
  • 20 dried chillies
  • 3 tablespoons belacan powder
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
    
  Gravy
  • 2 litres water
  • 4 tablespoons tamarind powder
  • 3 tablespoons fried rempah (see method)
  • 2 tablespoons preserved soy beans (Hokkien: taucheo), mashed a little
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/4 coconut, grated
  • 150 millilitres water

  Directions

  Boil a large kettle of water and scald vermi- celli for 10 minutes, longer if necessary to soften until strands are pliable and soft to the touch. Wash and tail beansprouts. Cut chives into 4 cm lengths. Wash and drain. Wash and peel prawns. Heat 3 tablespoons oil and fry firm soybean cakes until brown. Cut into pieces 1 x2x 1/2 cm.
  

  Sambal Heat 5 tablespoons oil and fry pounded dried prawns for 3 minutes. Add all other rempah ingredients except sugar and salt and fry until oil seeps out again. Add sugar and salt and stir once. Remove about half the amount of rempah and put aside. In remaining rempah, add sliced onion and fry for 2 minutes. Add prawns and tamarind liquid and simmer for five minutes. Remove and set aside.
  

  How to Fry Vermicelli Putting all but 3 tablespoons of the reserved rempah in a kwali, fry vermicelli and bean- sprouts for 8-10 minutes, stirring all the time until cooked. Moisten occasionally with tamarind liquid from the gravy allow- ance if vermicelli gets dry during frying. Add about 3 tablespoons of fried soybean pieces and half the chives to this fried vermicelli. Dish up and arrange on a large plate with sliced hardboiled eggs, remaining chives and remaining soybean pieces for garnish.
  

  Gravy Bring tamarind liquid to a boil. Put all ingre- dients in. Adjust seasoning to suit your taste. Serve Mee Siam with sambal prawns and as much gravy as each person wants from a gravy boat.
  

  Source: Terry Tan's Straits Chinese Cookbook

  ---

  Opor Sotong

  Ingredients

  • 1 kg sotong (squid) - cleaned and cut
  • thumb size piece galangal (laos) - bruised
  • 2 lemon grass - bruised
  • salt to taste
  • msg (optional)
  • several lime leaves
  • a few spoonful graded coconut - roasted
  • oil
    grind the following:
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 red onion
  • 1/2 tea spoon tumeric (or powder)
  • some dried chillies - soaked
  • 2 tablespoon ketumbar (coriander) powder
  • 1 teaspoon jintan puteh (cumin) powder

  Directions

  Heat oil in wok and fry ground ingredients till fragrant, add coconut milk and season with salt and msg. Cook till thick, add sotong and cook for several minutes till it's done.
  

  Bak KutTeh

  Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 kg pork spareribs
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 3 tbsp cooking oil or lard
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp preserved brown soya bean
  • 1 tsp dark soya sauce
  • 1 tsp peppercorn
  • 1 inch long cinnamon bark
  • 2 segments star anise
  • 1 1/2 Litres water
  Garnishing Ingredients:
  • fried crispy shallots
  • Chinese crispy crullers (Yu-Char-Koay)
  Preparation of Ingredients:
  1. Cut spareribs into bite-size pieces and marinate with pepper and 1 tsp salt for ½ an hour.
  2. Pound the preserved brown soya bean.
  3. Smash the garlic.
  4. Cut the Chinese crispy crullers into ½ inch pieces.

  Ingredients

  In a pot, bring water to a boil.

  Heat 2 tbsp oil in wok. Then fry the spareribs until well-browned. Set aside for use later.

  In a clean wok, heat remaining oil. Add sugar and carameilze until light brown. Then add the smashed garlic and preserved brown soya bean. Stir fry for 30 seconds. Add in the spareribs, dark soya sauce, peppercorn, cinnamon, star anise and remaining salt. Continue to stir fry for another 30 seconds.

  Remove from heat and toss into the pot of hot boiling water.

  Allow the consomme to boil on high heat for 10 minutes. Then reduce the heat and allow it to simmer for 1 to 2 hours or until the meat is tender.

  Dish consomme onto a serving bowl. Garnish with fried crispy shallots and Chinese crispy crullers.
  

  Chwee kueh

  Chwee kueh, a popular local dish, is actually rice flour pudding that is traditionally a Teochew's snack.

  These round rice puddings by themselves are plain and tasteless and so you have to eat them with shredded preserved radish toppings (otherwise known as 'chye poh' in dialect) cook with vegetable oil to bring out the fragrant of rice flour. A little bit of home-made chilli will add some spice to an otherwise simple snack.

  In Singapore, most Chinese Singaporeans like to start their day with chwee kueh as breakfast. Hence, it's a common sight to see well-dressed executives with one hand holding their leather brief case and the other holding an oily plastic bag with the tasty chwee kueh in it.

  Delicious and cheap, the chwee kueh is normally sold in a pack of four or six. These are the normal amount enough to fill your stomach.

  If you were to ask any Singaporean, the best and well-known chwee kueh is at Tiong Bahru Market, Stall "Jian Bo Shui Kueh" at Blk 83, Seng Poh Road #01-15E. With four chwee kuehs costing around $1.00, that explains the long queue at the stall ! Well, the best stuff is definitely worth waiting for!

  Ingredients:
  * 1 cup rice flour
  * 2 cups water
  * 1 heaped tbs corn flour
  * 3 tps oil
  * 170g Lard
  * half tsp salt
  * 2 tsp sesame seeds
  * 2 cloves garlic
  * 200g chopped, preserved, salted radish
  * pepper
  * soy sauce

  Method:
  To cook rice cake
  * Mix two types of flour with water
  * Add salt and 1 tsp of oil, beat well
  * Stir mixture over low heat till it thickens, keep stiring to prevent lumps
  * Arrange steel moulds in a bamboo steamer over boiling water and steam empty moulds for 5 mins
  * Pour mixture into moulds and steam for 10-15 mins or till well cooked
  * Remove from bamboo steamer and leave to cool for 10mins before serving.

  Note: test the constituency of the rice cake mixture first by steaming 1-2 moulds. If rice cake is too hard, add more water to mixture. If rice cake is too soft, add more rice flour.

  To cook the radish
  * Toast the sesame seeds till golden brown
  * Dice the lard, wash and drain
  * Fry lard, garlic and remaining oil in a saucepan until brown
  * Discard garlic and lard
  * Add radish to remaining oil, cook over low heat for 30mins, stirring occasionally to prevent burning
  * Add sesame seeds, stir well. Add pepper, soy sauce to taste

  To serve
  * Remove rice cakes from moulds after 10 mins of cooling
  * Place a spoonful of cooked radish onto each rice cake
  * Serve with chilli sauce.

  Chris Choo August 2000

  
  

  Chicken/Cucumber Broth
  (Huang Quar Gai Tong)

  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Really just a warm up for spicy dishes to follow, this hot first course to a meal in Singapore is delicate, warming, and puts 6 people in the mood for the next course.
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  

  Ingredients

  • 1 uncooked chicken breast, boned, skinned, and sliced into paperthin strips
  • 1 Tablespoon egg white, lightly whipped
  • 6 cups chicken stock
  • 1/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 cucumber, peeled and seeded and cut into a julienne
  • 3/4 teaspoon dark sesame oil
  • salt and finely ground white pepper, to taste
  Mix chicken strips into the egg white and set aside. Pour chicken stock, sugar, and soy sauce into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir in the chicken strips and the cucumber sticks and bring the stock back to a boil. Immediately stir in the sesame oil, salt, and pepper--ladle into bowls--and take to the table.
  

  Singapore Curry Puffs

  

  Ingredients

  For the Pancakes
  • 1 cup "All Purpose Flour"
  • 2 eggs (set 1 aside and beat lightly)
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 2/3 cup cold water
    For the Filling
  • 5 tbs corn oil
  • 1 medium size red onion - chopped
  • 8 oz lean beef - minced (alternative: chicken)
  • 2 carrots - grated
  • 1 parship - grated
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp corn starch
  • 2/3 cups beef stock (chicken if using minched chicken)
  • Enough vegetable oil for deep frying

    Directions

  To prepare pancakes:
  Sift flour into a bowl
  Make a well in center and add egg
  Gradually stir in milk and beat well until smooth
  Stir in cold water and beat well
  Pour batter into a pitcher, set aside
  Heat a little oil in a small skillet and pour off excess
  Pour a little batter into skillet, swirling skillet to spread batter evenly over bottom to make a thin coating
  Fry until 1 side is golden brown then flip over to do the same
  Repeat with remaining batter, adding more oil pan each time, to make 8 pancakes
  To prepare fillings:
  Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a saucepan adding onions, parsnip and curry powder
  Cook gently 5 minutes, stirring constantly
  Add tomato paste and mix well
  Blend cornstarch with a little stock
  Add remaining stock to ground beef mixture and bring to a boil
  Add corn starch mixture and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly
  Simmer mixture 10 minutes
  Lay pancakes, cooked-sides up, on a flat surface
  Spread filling in a 2" horizontal lines across center to within 1-1/2" of side edges
  Fold these side edges over mixture and then fold remaining top and bottom edges over to cover filling
  Brush with egg and fold pancakes in half
  Chill for about 1 hour
  Half fill a deep fat fryer or saucepan with oil
  Fry folded pancakes, 4 at a time, 2-3 minutes or until golden brown and heated through
  Drain on paper towel
  Serve on an attractive flat plate, garnish with carrot strips if desired Makes about 4 to 6 serving.

  Steamboat Sizzler