There has been a series of documentaries recently (both English and Mandarin) on Singapore in the yesteryears and I cannot help but recall the food that I use do have which I can no longer have in Singapore. Some of my younger friends think that I am particular with food, and I confess, yes I am. I don't need to have expensive food or dine at restaurants, but I need to have food that quality as it was when I was younger. I don't like food court food, as they have been mass produced, and somehow I cannot taste the "heart" placed in preparing the food, the food simply screams to me " I am more interested in earning your money" than "please appreciate the food I have cooked for you." I know I am a little harsh and a little unfair, but I simply cannot help myself and so I rather not eat them and go hungry and stick with instant noodles if I cannot find what I like. My sister-in-law will attribute that to my
Melancholic
nature.
Today, feeling a little nostalgic, I decided to list down some of the things that I used to missed.
(1) My grandmother used to live at Kampong Bahru and whenever we visit on weekends, we will pass by Chinatown (Telok Ayer) to change bus. As my grandmother was a thrifty women, we tend to avoid having dinner at her place. So we will first have early dinner at Telok Ayer. The makeshift stalls then were all lined along the streets. So when you sit at the table, the cars, motorbikes would drive in the narrow street beside you. My father will always order ngoh hiang (five-spices roll) with fried beancurd and braised squid with all of us to have. Though there are still ngoh hiang stalls in Singapore, they never do taste the same and you will never have the makeshift stalls again.
(2) My elder brother was asthmatic, so there were many occasions which he was hospitalised. On those occasions, my father would fetch me from school (instead of me taking the school bus) and then bring me to visit him, as my school was at Victoria Street (the current Chjimes) and my brother was hospitalised at General Hospital. My father and I will then have dinner at the makeshift stalls at Telok Ayer. His favourite would be the fish head noodle. He would order a bowl and we would share. The fish head noodle then was cooked on a flaming wok where the cook would toss the contents and you could see big flames and large tongues of fire. I guess this was the cause of the "wok hei" taste. Though I must confess, the bowls were not very clean and the soup had remnants black specks which I think came from the wok, but nevertheless it was still one of the food I enjoyed and never had food poisoning eating it.
(3) My grandmother was a true blue Hakka and had many dishes that she kept to her heart and never did pass down to anyone, even her daughters. Though my mother managed to learn the "abacus seeds" by secretly observing her, there were still certain dishes I wished she could have taught someone. (If anyone can teach me....I will be most willing). One was preserved vegetables (客家梅菜). The preserved vegetable my mother taught and cooked is never the same as my grandmother's as it seemed more teochew. Those sold outside at Hakka restaurants also never came close. Hers was alot drier, chewier, sweeter and yet more flavourful. You needed only a little to go with a whole bowl of rice.
(4) (Continued from 3) The other dish is not strictly a dish, it is used as an acompliment for my grandparents when they drank stout. It is dried slivers of liver (not sure if it was pork or chicken, my mum said it was chicken) that had been heavily salted and spiced. That is definitely lost as I have never seen it again.
(5) The last one that I truly miss is not a dish, but a fruit. Till Primary Six, my other grandmother had lived in Geyland in a raised wooden house that was supposedly built by my grandfather when he first came here. They used to own a backyard which had all kinds of fruit trees. They especially had many guava trees. The local guava were so different from the ones sold in the markets now. Singapore seems only to have Thai variety guava now. The then local guava when fully grown were only slightly smaller than the size of a clenched fist, or tennis ball. When ripe was very soft in the centre and extremely sweet. Some had pink centres and those were even sweeter. The seeds could be eaten as well and need not be removed. Whenever I visit, I was sure to get a big bag of guava back, I can eat two to three in one sitting. Oh, in those times, we didn't even eat it with plum powder. I have tried looking for the local guava (which my mom calls "bak gia") in the fruit stalls or markets and have never seen them again.
(6) I first stayed in Toa Payoh till age of three before shifting to Ang Mo Kio. My elder brother 4 years my senior, was often tasked with looking after me and boy was I clingy. I simply adored him when I was younger and would follow him wherever he went and would cry when he was not to be seen, even when he was in school. My mother therefore made him bring me wherever he went....he must have found me a nuisance, but he would still bring me as my mum would give him a little more pocket money if he brings me along. I don't know why, cause people tell me they cannot remember stuff before three years of age, but I do remember some snapshots of events that happened to me before 3. For example, I remember my brother bringing me to play marbles at the field with the neighbours. I did not really enjoy watching him but would wait for him patiently, as after the game. The boys would all go to one of the units at a particular flat to buy icesticks in plastic (which they call Sng Pow - 冰包 in Hokkien). There were all sorts of flavours, all without colouring and preservatives as they were homemade, pineapple flavour with pineapple bits, green bean soup, red bean soup, dried longan, sour plum. These again, are never seen, for these family hawkers have disappeared.
So, was I fortunate to have lived through these times? Or are we unfortunate cause we have lost part of our history?
My mother always made tonnes and tonnes of Kaya to give away to my godmother, my neighbours and her friends when I was younger. And I do miss her kaya once in a while. With kaya easily available at all bakery shops and supermarkets. It seems no sense to make my own kaya. What is however interesting to note is that when one turns and look at the ingredients list at the side of the bottles, one will find many preservatives on the list of ingredients. The thickened kaya sold at supermarkets may also contain ingredients like modified starch.
Fill into bottles that has been washed and preboiled in hot water the cooled down. You should consume all the kaya within 2 weeks.
