A Tiger in the Kitchen (33 page)

Yield: 6 to 8 Chinese soup bowls of soup

¼ head salted mustard greens

½ duck, cut into large pieces

2 sour plums

1 (2-inch-long) piece of ginger, peeled

2 tamarind leaves

2 tomatoes

Cut the mustard greens into large chunks and soak for 30 to 60 minutes. Snip off as much of the duck skin as you can (the more skin you leave on, the oilier the soup will be). Heat a pot of water. When it’s boiling, blanche the duck in it for a few seconds.

Put 2 to 3 inches of water in a large pot. Bring the water to a boil and then add the duck, sour plums, ginger, and tamarind leaves and bring it to a boil. Simmer for 45 minutes. Add the mustard greens, then simmer for 40 minutes. Add more sour plums and tamarind leaves to taste. Add the tomatoes and boil for about 10 minutes longer. Serve with rice.

AUNTIE ALICE’S TEOCHEW BRAISED DUCK

1 whole duck

2 level Chinese soup spoons (each is about 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons) five-spice powder

2 level Chinese soup spoons salt

2 level Chinese soup spoons sugar

10 to 15 thick slices of peeled galangal (ginger can be used as a substitute)

15 cloves of garlic, peeled and lightly bashed

1 Chinese rice bowl (slightly over 1 cup) dark soy sauce* (add more if you like the taste)

*Note: Dark soy sauce can be purchased in many Chinatowns in U.S. cities.

Trim the duck, cutting off its head, behind, and feet if you’re not planning on eating the feet. Wash it thoroughly inside and out.

Mix together the five-spice powder and the salt and rub it all over the outside and inside of the duck. Let the duck marinate for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Heat a large wok over low heat and add the sugar, stirring until it melts. Add the galangal and garlic, frying the mixture until it is brown. Add the dark soy sauce.

Lightly rinse the marinated duck—this will make the end product less salty. Slide the duck into the wok, then coat the top of the duck with the sauce and turn it over. Add enough water so that the liquid comes halfway up the sides of the duck. Bring the mixture to a boil and cover.

Uncover and turn over the duck every 15 minutes. After 50 to 60 minutes, see if you can poke a chopstick through the fleshiest part of the duck. If the chopstick goes through fairly easily, the duck is ready. If not, cover and continue boiling until the chopstick pokes through easily.

Once it’s ready, turn off the heat and let the duck sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Then slice it up and serve it with rice, with the sauce on the side.

AUNTIE KHAR MOI’S PANDAN-SKIN MOONCAKES

Makes 60 small mooncakes

For the filling

3-pound bag of lotus-seed paste

Melon seeds

Salted egg yolks

For the skin

8 ½ ounces all-purpose flour that has been steamed for 10 minutes, then dried

6 ounces Prima Flour Top Flour (a super-fine flour; cake flour can be substituted)

3 ½ ounces mochi flour

7 ounces confectioners’ sugar

4 ounces shortening

14 ounces pandan water

A few drops of green food coloring

To make the filling, mix the lotus-seed paste with the melon seeds for crunch. Then form into little balls, a little less than 1 ounce each. Hollow out each ball and fill it with about a quarter of a yolk. Then roll it back up.

Measure out 60 (approximately 1 ounce) balls of the lotus-seed paste filling and set aside. Using a stand mixer, mix together the three kinds of flour and confectioners’ sugar. Then add the shortening and gradually mix in the pandan water. Mix until the dough is stiff but also soft. Add a few drops of green food coloring and mix well.

Divide the dough into 60 balls weighing 9 ounces each. Roll each ball into a flat circle, place a ball of lotus-seed paste in the center, turn it over, stretch out the skin, and seal so the paste is entirely covered.

Place the ball sealed side up in a mooncake mold and use your palm to smooth it out. Tap the mold on the counter to loosen and remove the mooncake.

Mooncakes should be stored in the refrigerator. If you’re planning on eating them after 1 week, store them in the freezer.

MY MUM’S GREEN BEAN SOUP

Yield: 8 to 9 cups of soup

7 to 8 cups water

3 pandan leaves, knotted loosely

1 cup dried green beans (also known as mung beans)

1 to 1 ½ cups peeled and cubed sweet potato

2 tablespoons pearl sago (add more if you like sago)

3 tablespoons sugar (add much more if you like it sweet; my mother doesn’t make hers very sweet)

Add the water and pandan leaves to a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Rinse the beans, add them to the pot, and boil for 25 to 30 minutes, adding the sweet potato halfway through.

Then add the sago and sugar, and boil for 10 more minutes. The soup is done when the beans have split and the sweet potato has softened.

Serve hot or chilled.

TANGLIN AH-MA’S
OTAK

Makes about 80

2 to 3 thick stalks lemongrass

2 pounds shallots

2 ounces blue ginger or galangal

2 ounces yellow ginger or turmeric

2 tablespoons toasted, crumbled belacan

2 ounces candlenuts (macadamia nuts can be substituted)

3 ½ ounces dried chilies, boiled in hot water for 15 minutes to soften

12 chili padi, also known as bird’s-eye chilies (add more if you want it to be spicier)

¾ tablespoon plus ¾ teaspoon salt

1 ¼ cups vegetable or canola oil

Fresh banana leaves,* cut into 8-inch-by-5-inch rectangles

2 pounds mackerel

3 ½ cups coconut milk

8 eggs, beaten

1 ½ tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons ground coriander

2 tablespoons tapioca flour

¼ teaspoon monosodium glutamate

*Note: If you can’t find fresh banana leaves, you can scoop the fish paste into a bowl and steam it.

Thinly slice the lemongrass, shallots, blue ginger or galangal, and yellow ginger or turmeric, and blend them together in a food processor with the crumbled belacan, candlenuts, and a little water. Remove the paste, transfer it to a large wok, and fry over medium heat.

Blend together the softened dried chilies and chili padi in the food processor with about ¼ cup of water. Add the chili mixture to the paste in the wok. Add ¾ tablespoon of salt.

Keep frying the paste. After 30 minutes, start gradually adding about 1 ¼ cups of oil to the mixture while frying. You want the mixture to get really dry. The best way to tell whether there’s still water in the paste is to add oil by the ¼ cup and then inspect to see if white wispy strands appear. If you see the wisps, there’s still water in the mixture.

After about 90 minutes, the paste should be dry enough. Remove it from the wok and let it cool overnight.

The next day, fill a large wok with water and bring it to a boil. Soak the banana leaf rectangles in batches in the water for 1 or 2 minutes to soften the leaves. You want them to be pliant enough to be folded with ease.

Cut the fish into smaller-than-bite-size pieces. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 4 to 5 cups of the chili paste (add more if you like it spicy), the coconut milk, eggs, sugar, coriander, tapioca flour, monosodium glutamate, and ¾ teaspoon of salt. Add the fish to the bowl and mix well.

Take a banana leaf, position it on your hand so its veins are vertical, then scoop 2 to 3 tablespoons of the fish mixture onto the leaf so it forms a slender vertical strip along the middle. Make sure the paste does not reach the ends of the leaf; you don’t want it to spill out.

Fold over the left side and then the right side of the leaf so you have a long, slender
otah
that’s about 1 ½ inches wide. Secure the top and bottom with sharp toothpicks. Repeat with the rest of the mixture.

Steam the
otah
for 10 minutes and serve them with rice or bread.

AI-KYUNG LINSTER’S
MANDOO

Makes 100

Dumplings

2 cups shredded cabbage

2 cups minced chives

1 cup chopped green onions

1 pound minced pork

1 pound ground beef

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

1 large egg, beaten

Mandoo, gyoza,
or round Chinese dumpling wrappers

Dipping sauce

1 cup soy sauce

½ cup apple cider vinegar

Black pepper, to taste

Lightly salt the cabbage and set it aside.

Mix the other filling ingredients in a large bowl.

Wring out the cabbage until it is very dry and add it to the mixture.

Take a
mandoo
wrapper and lay it flat on your palm. Dip a finger into a bowl of room-temperature water and lightly coat the edge of the wrapper with water. Scoop a scant 1 tablespoon or so of the filling into the center of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half, lightly press the edges together to seal, and then fold 4 small vertical pleats into the edge so the
mandoo
will seal tightly.