CHINESE

by Sarah Koh Hui Min

When it comes to culinary influence, everyone has their part to play. And in the multi-racial, mixed population of Singapore, there are so many influences that could possibly determine how the dishes turn out.

IN THE BEGINNING

Every province in China has its own style of cuisine, and thus Singaporean Chinese cuisine consists of a sliver from everywhere. (Ma and Cartier, 2003, p.59) The Chinese migrants brought the unique tastes of their food styles to Singapore when they themselves migrated here. These emigrants were predominantly from Guangzhou and Fujian, and these influences have shaped the form of present day Singaporean Chinese cuisine.

Due to both provinces being located on the southern edge of China, the cuisine there specializes in fresh seafood. The use of spices was primarily introduced to disguise the “fishy” odour. Several notable spices used were ginger, which has a sweet, spicy taste, and garlic, which has a strong smell. (Hawkins, 1995, p.11) Thus, these practices were brought over to Singapore as well when the Chinese migrated.

WIDELY USED SPICES

Some of the popular spices in Singaporean Chinese cuisine include ginger in Cantonese-style fish dishes, soy sauce and wine, as seen in the preparation of dishes such as drunken prawn and crab. These spices help to bring out the fresh flavour of the seafood, resulting in complementing tastes.

The Chinese that migrated over were quick to form an association with other cultural groups and pick up their seasoning tastes. Tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce were among the first to be used to make dipping sauces. These were picked up from the British, who also brought their local tastes and seasonings to Singapore during the colonization.

CONCLUSION

The modifications have been small and simple, but it shows no less the changing tastes of the Singaporean Chinese through time. The cuisine now even shows touches of Indian and Malay influence with the use of spices. Fish curries, green chillies, and even the stinging hot red chilli paste have been introduced into many traditionally Chinese dishes to become the rojak, Singaporean Chinese cuisine of the modern world.

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Fu, C. (2005). Origins of Chinese Food Culture. Singapore: Asiapac Books Pte Ltd
Richmond, S., Cambon, M. & Harper, D. (2004). Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. Australia: Lonely Planet
Pilcher, J.M. (2006). Food in World History. Routledge Publishing
Chen, Z. (2006). Food and Chinese Culture. Hong Kong: Long River Press
Jones, A.W. (1971). Door to Chinese festivals, feasts, fortunes. Taiwan: Mei Ya Publications
Hutton, W. (2007). Singapore food. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish
Ma, L. J. C. & Cartier, C. L. (2003). The Chinese diaspora: space, place, mobility and identity. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield
Hawkins, K. (1995). The Book of Light Chinese Dishes. Arizona: HPBooks



FEATURED PROFILE

The various cooking scents that waft around the kitchen assail one right in the nose when they step into the territory of Madam Cheong Ah Lin, 99. Despite her great age, she bustles around with a great energy; lifting a lid here, stirring a pot of something there.

A flicker of something can be seen in her eyes when questions are asked; the ghost of a memory flitting through her filmy blue-rimmed irises. Her hands never stop moving as she answers questions effortlessly, the conversation ebbing and flowing. She was raised in China, she says, and coming with her late husband to Singapore in the mid 1930s was hard at first. They started a char siew rice stall together to ease things over, and they managed to succeed, if only just enough to get by and send their daughter to school. “It was hard, but still we made it work.” She smiles, and her eyes crinkle with the memory of days long past.

In fluent Cantonese, her blue-veined hands wringing a dishtowel, she says that she started to cook as taught by her husband when they came to Singapore. She smiles as she reminisces about how colourful his dishes were; all the bright red of chillies and the yellow of eggs. The smell of garlic frying in a teaspoon of oil, the rich aroma of gravy simmering in a pot. However, she says that she had no idea that these things were considered as principles in traditional Chinese cooking, although she picked up that colours, smells and even certain tastes were part and parcel of culinary tastes in the Chinese culture.

When asked about it, Madam Cheong says that she thinks that a traditional Chinese seafood dish would definitely include certain spices, like ginger strips, and chillies. These things, she says, will mask the smell of the sea, no matter how fresh the fish is.

She commented on her own cooking, saying that even back in the day, she used to make changes to her dishes when her customers said that this would taste better with a certain ingredient or two. It was good to experiment, she remarked. It was the tang of tomato ketchup mixed with Chinese noodles, kway teow, when it was least expected. It was the startling sweetness of sugar complementing the freshness of coastal fish.

Madam Cheong’s hands work the knife quickly, sliding the whole fish onto a large oval plate. “Pomfret was the fish most often used in the traditional steamed fish dish.” She adds. However, in Singapore, the popular fish to use was the marbled goby, locally known as the Soon Hock. A popular freshwater fish commonly eaten in Singapore, the Soon Hock is highly acclaimed for its tender white flesh and rumoured healing qualities, Mrs Cheong reveals.

When she made changes to dishes, such as adding condiments to sauces, she says that it was important to her that her customers tried and approved it first. Sometimes, foreign customers would come and try her food. They often said that it tasted good, but a little too traditional, like adding the vinegar into a dish of ginger like the Chinese so favoured. Instead, they recommended foreign ingredients, things like cheese, and onions, and deep frying. So Madam Cheong experimented, and found new dishes could spring from her own hands. Buttered, battered and fried fish was the main success with her customers, although they also felt it wasn’t traditional enough to be still called Chinese cuisine. The hype tapered off after a while because of this, and she switched back to the root of her cultural cuisine.

“When changing a dish, it is important to look at the long term,” She says gravely. The aromatic smell of steamed fish and fresh ginger rolls off the stovetop, and she looks down at her age-spotted hands. “It’s just like a relationship with a person. If you want to put something in, or take away something, you will have to deal with the outcome: whether it suits the person that matters most. ”

FEATURED DISH

Steamed Fish

• 1 Marble Goby (Soon Hock)
• Ginger strips
• Shallots
• Coriander leaves
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 3 Tablespoons rice wine
• Salt and sugar mixture for marinade

Gravy:

• Light Soy sauce
• Oyster sauce
• Fish sauce
• Water
• A dash of sesame oil for fragrance
• 2 Tablespoons rock sugar ground
• Pepper to taste

The Soon Hock should be cleaned, and patted dry with a paper towel. Next, make slits in the fish so that the steam can pass through better. Soak it for about three to five minutes in the salt and sugar mixture. Water should be heated in a wok, not high enough to reach the steaming dish. Bring to a boil and slide the fish onto the steaming plate. Place ginger strips on top of the fish and steam for approximately ten minutes.

While waiting for the fish to be steamed, prepare the gravy. Heat a pan, and add all the ingredients mentioned above. More sesame oil can be added if the gravy is too thick. Simmer over low heat and bring to a boil. When the steamed fish is ready, pour the gravy over the fish onto a plate. Arrange coriander leaves, cut chillies and shallots over it, and serve.

The steamed fish dish is prepared with Soon Hock, also known as the marbled goby. The traditional recipe included all the usual ingredients like soy sauce, ginger, and rice wine. However, in recent years, rock sugar is used in the recipe as well. One can either put it into the water used to steam or even into the gravy itself, but it is used to season the fish further and give it an underlying sweet fresh taste. One tip would be to soak the whole fish in water with salt and sugar for three to five minutes before it is steamed. This is to add flavour to the flesh of the fish, and make it even tastier.

The wok used is large, like they used from so many years ago. Also, the plate used to serve the fish is oval-shaped. This is used because of the longish nature of the Soon Hock. When served whole, as the Chinese like it to be, it is almost more than a foot in length.

In the interest of the traditions that Chinese food remains colourful, this dish is sprightly with colour. After the dish is cooked, strips of ginger, spring onions, coriander leaves and bright red chillies are placed on top of the fish to show a very colourful, wonderfully aromatic dish.