Roots Food

I am a Singaporean Fuzhou ren - Hockchew neng - and some of the food unique to Foochows are Engchow Keh, Hockchew Nyuee Yuan, stir-fried Pak-Kwor, and the Yann. They are, respectively:

- Chicken cooked in the special red-yeast wine and paste ingredient;

- Fishballs with minced pork within it;

- Rice-flour sticks;

- Skins to wrap minced pork, which itself is made by beating a mixture of pork and flour till it becomes a translucent sheet, which is then dried. Nowadays, the skins are simply made of flour, unlike the original Yann-pi (pi for skin) Interesting?

And Mother is an expert in brewing red yeast wine and its paste ingredient. She would make several bottles of each, to use during cooking, especially on festivals and auspicious dates, and to give to family members and relatives. And woww, she cooks up a mean dish of authentic Hockchew engchow keh that my Papa and his Foochow relatives relish and give the 2-thumbs up. Although Mother is Hokkien, she learnt the Hockchew dialect to its finest nuances, intonations and accents. I've once heard a Foochow lady exclaim her surprise to learn that Mother is not a biological Hockchew.

During Chinese New Year and weddings of my siblings, Mother will always cook up a sumptuous feast that will include all of the above, plus more - such as her Ngu-Hiong (fried 5-spices spring roll) and Engzhor Tha (red dates drink). Mother also prepares and cooks the most ingredient-filled Bak-Zhang. Her bak-zhang is the Hokkien variety - fragrant with dark soy sauce, chestnut, dried shrimps, fatty pork and black mushroom! Mother can also cook braised duck. Mother passed the art of brewing Eangchow (the paste ingredient) and Eangchow Jiu (wine), and the art of cooking Eangchow Keh to my two elder sisters Ros and Pat.

Recently when my 2nd Sis Pat brought us four girls to her club for lunch, we talked about Mother's cooking. Then last week, my Eldest Sis Ros again cooked some Engchow Keh and passed it to me. Hmmm - this is what I call Roots Food: food that reminds me of my roots. In fact, I still have a bottle each of Mother's Engchow and Engchow Jiu - which she made and labeled on 8 and 9 January, 2002. This was the final batch that she brewed. The two bottles are tightly sealed and there is no sign of deterioration, except that the wine has evaporated somewhat.

The photos posted above shows my Eldest Sis Ros' engchow keh which she brewed and cooked, and a bowl of Hokchew nyuee-yuan and the yann, which she bought. Roots Food - satisfying to the appetite, aromatic to the senses, invigorating to the roots. Yummm!

I am proud to be a Hockchew Neng who enjoys my engchow keh and other Hockchew cai (dishes). Thank GOD for my Hockchew roots!