So, well, lessee. My grandmother - my mom's mother - used to do a pretty mean pig brain soup. This is a simple clear broth containing, well, I think the
meat goes without saying. This isn't uncommon in Teochew Chinese families, mind. My best friend's mom does this too.
Then there's 'kway chap' which refers to the noodle-like stuff...more like flat sheets of pasta...in brown sauce. That's the carbs you get
alongside the meat, see. The meat in this case generally being a mix of large intestines and small intestines from a pig, chopped and fried with black
soy-derived sauce. Other bits like liver and kidney may be involved. Beancurd (tofu) often features as well.
While we're still on the subject of pig, there's always the 'Pig's Organ Soup'. This strong-tasting broth contains familiar favourite bits
like the various intestines, stomach, and so on. The soup generally's done with some vegetables too - ginger, pickled salted veggies, etc. The real special
bit though - 'Pig's Organ Soup' is also served with blood cubes; that is, pig's blood that's been solidified into jelly-like chunks in the
soup.
Most of my the family does like jellied pork trotters - that'd be bits of leg and foot meat suspended inside a clear gel. When served, it's cut up into
rectangular strips. My mom's been talking about making this again; it's been a few years since she last did it. Usually, you get jellied pork leg - de
ka - along with ha zhoa, minced pork chunks inside a crispy deep-fried shell.
The pig is a very useful animal, you see.
How about seafood, now? Hm.
My grandmother - dad's mom - does pretty good fishcakes and fishcake-related products, like fishballs and yong tau fu...tofu stuffed with fish. Fishcake in
this case means grinding the fish meat down and mixing it with flour, so you get this springy chewy substance. Sorta like the meat in cheapass chicken franks,
except it doesn't suck.
Grandma also does pretty good ikan billis - that's a Malay thing, not Chinese, but in Southeast Asia there's a lot of overlap. Crispy dried anchovies,
basically. She makes her own Otah too, another Malay (or Peranakan) thing which would be...soft fish meat mixed with chilli and red pepper, etc, bundled up and
grilled inside pandan leaves. For a horribly racist Chinese woman that's mean to Muslims, she makes a lot of traditional Malay food. I suspect this is so
she doesn't need to buy it from 'em. =)
My grandfather, on the other hand, is a simple man who was quite satisfied to have just a few large fish eyes in his rice. Not necessarily removed from the
fish head.
-- Acyl
meat goes without saying. This isn't uncommon in Teochew Chinese families, mind. My best friend's mom does this too.
Then there's 'kway chap' which refers to the noodle-like stuff...more like flat sheets of pasta...in brown sauce. That's the carbs you get
alongside the meat, see. The meat in this case generally being a mix of large intestines and small intestines from a pig, chopped and fried with black
soy-derived sauce. Other bits like liver and kidney may be involved. Beancurd (tofu) often features as well.
While we're still on the subject of pig, there's always the 'Pig's Organ Soup'. This strong-tasting broth contains familiar favourite bits
like the various intestines, stomach, and so on. The soup generally's done with some vegetables too - ginger, pickled salted veggies, etc. The real special
bit though - 'Pig's Organ Soup' is also served with blood cubes; that is, pig's blood that's been solidified into jelly-like chunks in the
soup.
Most of my the family does like jellied pork trotters - that'd be bits of leg and foot meat suspended inside a clear gel. When served, it's cut up into
rectangular strips. My mom's been talking about making this again; it's been a few years since she last did it. Usually, you get jellied pork leg - de
ka - along with ha zhoa, minced pork chunks inside a crispy deep-fried shell.
The pig is a very useful animal, you see.
How about seafood, now? Hm.
My grandmother - dad's mom - does pretty good fishcakes and fishcake-related products, like fishballs and yong tau fu...tofu stuffed with fish. Fishcake in
this case means grinding the fish meat down and mixing it with flour, so you get this springy chewy substance. Sorta like the meat in cheapass chicken franks,
except it doesn't suck.
Grandma also does pretty good ikan billis - that's a Malay thing, not Chinese, but in Southeast Asia there's a lot of overlap. Crispy dried anchovies,
basically. She makes her own Otah too, another Malay (or Peranakan) thing which would be...soft fish meat mixed with chilli and red pepper, etc, bundled up and
grilled inside pandan leaves. For a horribly racist Chinese woman that's mean to Muslims, she makes a lot of traditional Malay food. I suspect this is so
she doesn't need to buy it from 'em. =)
My grandfather, on the other hand, is a simple man who was quite satisfied to have just a few large fish eyes in his rice. Not necessarily removed from the
fish head.
-- Acyl