Friday, May 04, 2007
Hawker foodies we are ...
This is a tribute post to all kinds of Singapore hawker food. Like what my husband says "you can take the girl out of Singapore but you can't take Singapore out of the girl". I am forever the Singapore girl when it comes to food - and Singapore hawker food is bagus lar!
Morgan's 婆 婆 brought me to try the Teochew (朝 州 pronounced as chao zhou) porridge at the Redhill market, while on a visit to Morgan's great-grandmother. Interestingly, my dad is Teochew and my mum is Hokkien but we speak Cantonese at home mainly because we live with my paternal grandmother who is Cantonese. She lost my granddad to ill-health (I suspect it is TB) when my dad was only 3 and my uncle 6. A brave woman of her times - she brought up her sons single-handedly. Hence we never quite got into grips with the Teochew language although both my parents can get by with understanding a couple of sentences.
A typical Teochew meal comprising of white porridge (rice cooked to a bland broth), sauteed sliced pork and all its bits like intestines and guts, eng chai or chinese green spinach, fishcake and stir-fried bean-sprout vegetables. Very 清 淡 as in light but refreshing and healthy! Its no wonder that there's a saying about how Teochew women maintain their porcelain skin and slim figure because their diet uses so little oil and fats.
I guess when one is living abroad - no matter how accustomed I have become to eating British food, I still long for the Singapore local. Nothing beats eating katong laksa, chilli crab, or seafood hor fun in full pespiration and even to drive round Singapore's night hawkers to look for durians is a thrill in itself! Our fixation with hawker food is so great that we celebrated Morgan's birthday in a famous hawker centre, endorsed by localfood-critics and celebrities. Kuodos to Singapore food lar!
Morgan's 婆 婆 brought me to try the Teochew (朝 州 pronounced as chao zhou) porridge at the Redhill market, while on a visit to Morgan's great-grandmother. Interestingly, my dad is Teochew and my mum is Hokkien but we speak Cantonese at home mainly because we live with my paternal grandmother who is Cantonese. She lost my granddad to ill-health (I suspect it is TB) when my dad was only 3 and my uncle 6. A brave woman of her times - she brought up her sons single-handedly. Hence we never quite got into grips with the Teochew language although both my parents can get by with understanding a couple of sentences.
A typical Teochew meal comprising of white porridge (rice cooked to a bland broth), sauteed sliced pork and all its bits like intestines and guts, eng chai or chinese green spinach, fishcake and stir-fried bean-sprout vegetables. Very 清 淡 as in light but refreshing and healthy! Its no wonder that there's a saying about how Teochew women maintain their porcelain skin and slim figure because their diet uses so little oil and fats.
I guess when one is living abroad - no matter how accustomed I have become to eating British food, I still long for the Singapore local. Nothing beats eating katong laksa, chilli crab, or seafood hor fun in full pespiration and even to drive round Singapore's night hawkers to look for durians is a thrill in itself! Our fixation with hawker food is so great that we celebrated Morgan's birthday in a famous hawker centre, endorsed by localfood-critics and celebrities. Kuodos to Singapore food lar!
# posted by Morgan & mummy @ 4:03 pm 
