A Unique Recipe

            Mama was fond of her afternoon naps. Every afternoon, when I was smaller, she would retire to her room after eating her lunch and fruit.

 

            Those were the days when platform beds were in fashion. In the room shared by my aunt and grandmother, two mattresses had been laid side-by-side on a raised and carpeted platform, with a bed-sheet over both of them. Mama would lie on her mattress, while I would lie on my Aunt's mattress (my Aunt being at work).

 

            While she cruised to Dreamland, I would sit beside her and read my storybooks. So Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, the Five Find-Outers and other finds were my companions during those quiet afternoons.

 

            Sometimes in the afternoons I would get hungry. I would boil a sausage and have it with a slice of buttered toast and Maggie's chilli sauce.

 

            Mama, after she got up, would cook dinner. One of my favourites was a rather unique looking and tasting dish called "babi tohay".

 

            This is a dish with a maroon coloured gravy, made from grago (tiny shrimp), a special powder and fermented rice, all of which have been ground together. Its main ingredient is pork belly. The gravy tastes slightly salty. We normally stew big chillies with it, so we can mash the cooked chillies into our rice and eat it with the pork.

 

            Even if I'm having a hard day, I cheer up at the thought of being able to eat this dish. It is surprisingly rare, despite the proliferation of restaurants and cafes which serve Peranakan food.

 

            I've displayed the recipe below, for any soul brave enough to attempt the laborious task of cooking it. The results will be well worth your efforts though :)

 

Recipe for Babi Tohay

 

How to make the tohay paste :

Ingredients :

8 cups grago (tiny shrimp) (keep dry, do not wash)

2 cups rice, washed and fried till brown, then ground

3 1/2 tbsp ang kak (pounded)

 

Method :

1.Grind the grago with salt, adding the pounded rice and ang kak slowly. DO NOT LET IT GET WET.

2.Rinse storage bottle with brandy.

3.Fill the bottle.

4.Keep in freezer.

 

Ingredients :

500gm pork belly

2 tbsp tohay (see section below on how to make this)

4 - 5 red chillies

1 large sliced onion

2 serai (crushed)

4 - 5 leaves lehmoh purut

 

Method :

1.Add 1 litre of water to pork, tohay paste, onions and serai.

2.Tear the lehmoh purut leaves, before adding to the pot.

3.Boil till the pork is soft.

4.Finally, add red chillies.

5.When the chillies are soft, serve with rice.