'Twas a sunny mid week afternoon in Melbourne when I suddenly thought about a dish that, as a child, I had looked forward to eating rain or shine, exam time or holidays, hot/rainy or hot/humid - it was something my entire family loved because it was super tasty and it could not be found at any restaurant. I half suspect now that it was a concoction put together by my Nyonya grandma, the bona fide born-in-Malacca sarong-toting epitome of virtuous housewife-dom that we all dearly loved and respected. It is at this juncture that I have to stop talking about food and share a bit about my grandma.
She was among a rare breed of English-educated women during the early 1900s in Singapore, and I was told she came from a well-to-do Malaccan family which even had its own burial area marked out in Bukit Brown. Something didn't add up because even though I knew the Ong family owned lots of properties in Malacca and Singapore, I didn't think she had an easy life growing up because of a rather comical (to me, not to her) story she related about having to eat her pet pig. She had the most beautiful cursive handwriting, and always looked immaculate and elegant in her sarong kebaya, the top pinned together with an ornate krosang. Mama was one of the most gracious and polite women I knew, always friendly to shopkeepers and serving staff, and if there was any woman I wanted to be like, it would be her. I have such fond memories of staying with her in Joo Chiat when I was younger, and walking with her to buy "50cents of grated coconut" or "30 cents of tumeric powder". Every time we drove past Victoria Street, she would point at CHIJ and tell me this was where she went to school (Dad would point to Raffles City on the other side and say regretfully that his school got torn down for - of all things - a shopping mall, conveniently forgetting about the hotel and office towers.)
But I digress. Back to the recipe - I managed to find tiger prawns at my favourite seafood shop in Victoria Street, which looked pretty fresh to me.
I kept the heads and shells for stock, and minced the flesh
Mama's recipe also had tau kwa, which I sliced up into small pieces
The rice grains needed to be solid - think khau tom - Thai boiled rice/porridge.
The tau kwa slices were shallow fried in oil until golden on the outside
Mama used streaky pork, but in the interests of health, I decided to go lean. Not as shiok but oh well.
I fried the prawn heads and shells with some minced garlic and a tablespoon of tau cheo, or ground bean paste - the aroma was amazing!
Beautiful thick orange prawn stock
I removed the stock, and then without wiping the pan, fried the minced prawn in there.
Putting it all together was pretty simple - I had a pot of pork bone stock boiling away, so I added the prawn stock and all the different ingredients, and lastly added the rice.
Best served with chinese parsley and fried shallots, but I didn't have any on hand
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