Hospital food that made my knees go weak.

Never in my life did I ever think I’ll write about the food of these three institutions- the army, hospitals and airline offerings. Now, it’s two.

I finally decided to get the two decade old football tackle knee ligament problem licked, once and for all. The “you are still young and it’ll heal naturally on its own” advice a doctor once prescribed at the then Toa Payoh Hospital is what I know now as wishful thinking on my part and a prayer he recited in his heart. Twenty years later, the condition has gone south and undetected.

It took the recent reassurances of two very confident physicians at the Changi General Hospital (CGH) to get me under the knife. Sporty and sailor Dr Ben Tan said, yes, “it’s ACL” (hieroglyphics to me) and surgeon Dr Chang Haw Chong concluded “yes, you need the operation” (painfully plain English, even if it was only a keyhole day surgery). So I checked in one fateful morning only to be confronted by yet another reassuringly witty anaesthetist who suggested that the epidural (an injection which’ll numb it all) was something I “die die must try”, and Dr Chan proceeded to knock me out before I could laugh and thank him. Two hours later, I was warded for a two day recuperation period which, on hindsight, was unorthodox (for me) and tastefully executed. Each time I squirmed (I have a habit of rolling about in slumber) in pain, the painkillers would come, followed by the hospital’s executive chef Daniel Yeo, who would calm me down with his special menu (my real painkiller).

Knowing friends in “high” places there can only get so much done but knowing folks “down there” gets you the works. CGH’s award winning kitchen is located in the basement and has a HAACP (some fancy international recognition for operations, hygiene and efficiency) award. I recently contributed to their little publication of “Sensational Confessions”, which was about untold secrets staff and friends of the hospital revealed about themselves in telling details which was linked to their comfort food and flavours. All the dishes and recipes featured in the book were of the hospital’s culinary repertoires.

I was sure glad I was in their good books. Their toman fish (snake head) porridge they fed me can cause queues at hawker centres, and understandably, they were stingy with the special Malaysian style roasted char siew as “you should not have too much meat now”. I was sleepless in Changi knowing that their turkey ham foccacia sandwich was staring at me for supper. When I really yelled in pain, Chef Daniel prescribed their walnut brownie, which nearly killed me and sent me to heaven.

You don’t have to break a knee to savour their offerings. Their tasty and juicy little book of 36 recipes and stories is available at bookshops and retails at about $32.80, and a special price is offered at the CGH’s retail pharmacy store. I reproduced two very attractive (and my favourite) recipes from the book.

Fish fillet rolls with Coriander Sauce
The coriander sauce with wolfberries is a refreshing touch.

Ingredients:
600g fish fillet (pomfret or garoupa)

Marinade:
1 tbsp chopped garlic, 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger, ¼ tbsp salt, a pinch of pepper, 50g celery sticks, 50g carrots, 20g Chinese mushrooms, 300ml water, 40g coriander leaves, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp potato flour, 20 g wolfberries (kaechi)

Coriander Sauce:
¼ tsp pepper, 1tsp chicken stock powder, ¼ tsp salt, 2tbsp olive oil, 100ml fish stock, 100g fresh Chinese coriander leaves, 2 cloves chopped garlic.

Method:
Season the fish fillet with garlic, ginger, salt and pepper. Cut the spring onions, carrots, mushroomed and celery sticks into 5cm long strips. Arrange the vegetable strips onto one end of the fish fillet and roll. Place the rolled fillet on a steaming dish and steam for 12 mins or till cooked thoroughly. Set aside. Use the fish gravy left from steaming to blend the coriander till fine. Set aside. Fry garlic with some oil till fragrant, add blended coriander leaves, wolfberries and seasoning. Thicken sauce with potato flour and bring to boil. Pour sauce over fish and serve.

NB: tbsp(tablespoon), tsp (teaspoon). Dish contains 7 grams of carbohydrates and zero cholesterol.

Golden Almond Tofu Scrolls
The crunch of the surface almonds is addictive.

Ingredients:
2 tubs silken tofu-mashed, 100g diced water chestnuts, mash up 100g each of prawns, sotong and fish, 2 eggs-separated whites from yolk, 2 tbsp potato flour, ½ tbsp salt, 10 tbsp chopped almonds, a pinch of pepper, dipping sauce (sweet soy sauce or maple syrup)

Method:
Mix the mashed tofu, minced seafood, water chestnuts, potato flour and egg whites. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and mix well. Steam mixture for 20-25 mins or till cooked. Divide the mixture into 20-25 portions and shape each piece into cylindrical rolls. Coat the scrolls with flour and brush each scroll with beaten egg yolks. Roll each scroll in chopped almonds, coating the surface evenly. Deep fry over a slow fire till golden brown. Serve with dipping sauce on the side.

NB: Dish contains 58mg of cholesterol and 5 grams of carbohydrate