The best of both my worlds

Mum's cooking is a true labour of love. Cleanest, healthiest, yummiest. And peppered, liberally, with her devotion. Remember those "chiack bor" dishes we all had to take during exam time? That really put zest into life, if not into the studying! And the good ol' chicken soup when we were ill? Nothing like mum's loving hand helped us bounce back just so quickly!

But, strangely enough, we still love hawker food, don't we? Okay, DON'T look when they shower every dish with tons of MSG. DON'T look when they forget to wash their hands after handling money, and handle food after. DON'T look when they wipe their noses on their sleeves ….the food they serve up, piping hot. IS an alternative for most of us, to mum's loving cuisine. Here are some of my favourites …. which even mum cannot duplicate as well.

Noodles with Mushroom - the type that is full of "bak po" fried flat fish, and slimy mushrooms, And noodle al dente. The Ah Chek with the bushy moustache makes it much better than his pint sized wife. While mum loves "bak po" herself, she would never give it to me in her cooking. Mum's version of my favourite noodle is her rich, rich fried hokkien noodle, Full of prawns, belly park, squid and tons of garlic! But - no "bak po". Yummm ….. mum's best noodle.

Now Briyani - the hawker I grew up patronising week after week has gone back to India. But my goodness - his Dum Briyani unsurpassable. Succulent mutton in fragrant rice, with lots of "rempah" and not oily too. Sigh … cannot find this anywhere else anymore! And mum's answer to my much missed dish? Beef Rendang. Hers is chock-full of "rempah" too, minus the msg and sugar, but well seasoned with the creamiest coconut milk, and the tenderest of beef slices loaded with cartilage "Must use shin beef - no cartilage not nice lah!" is her famous quip.

Here's one dish that only mum makes the best of - her port porridge. Why? Because the secret is in the stock. The porridge is so loaded with flavour, there is not need to add soya sauce, and certainly NOT msg like the hawker stalls - even then theirs is comparatively bland and weak. But mum's porridge is not for the faint-hearted. In fact, it's a meal I can eat and eat and eat, without feeling guilty too! Her pork balls are crammed with pounded flat fish - NOTHING beats that.

The one thing that mum doesn't really like doing are soup dishes. Now, the best "Kiam Chye Ark" stall has convinced me that I have missed out on something these thirty-plus years! I could drink the soup forever, and the duck is so well-cooked that it comes right off the bone! (Check out page 119 of Makansutra 2000). Now that's something that mum can't do, that Ah Chek really does better. And who really cares what he puts in it? I drink every drop of the soup, every time.

I really have the best of both worlds, don't I? Thank you, mum, for the devoted hours slaving away over the stove, getting it "just right". And thank you, Ah Chek, for keeping prices low, and food so delicious. You just can't lose in Singapore, can you?

by Quek Li Huan