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By Dr Veronica Tay

Chinese New Year is coming up and I would like to share 2 dishes I always have on my menu. Buah Keluak is a Nonya dish which I learnt from my mother. Ngoh Hiang is another.  For those of you who love to eat buah keluak, you must learn to cook it. Once you cook it, cook a lot so you can freeze it and eat it when you feel like it! I cook it only twice a year and I use 50 buah keluak every time I cook it. I purchase these nuts from Ghim Moh market at 20 cents a piece. KK market and Bedok Central Market also sell these nuts but they are more expensive. These nuts must be chosen carefully. Choose the heavy ones, the light ones are usually dried out.

The other 2 dishes are variations of fried kway teow which I normally cook during lunch on Sundays when my maid is off.

Have fun trying it out.

Buak Keluak

Ingredients:
One whole chicken/ pork ribs
20 buah keluak nuts
assam (tamarind) water - about 1.5 litres depending on sourness preferred
300g shallots
3 stalks of lemongrass
4 pcs small yellow ginger (tumeric)
5 pcs of candlenuts (buah keras)
a few slices of blue ginger (to taste preference)
a tablespoon of belachan
10 dried red chilli soaked
sugar    } according to taste
salt       }

Stuffing the buah keluak nut:
Soak the nuts for 5 days in water and scrub clean. Slice the tip off the open end of the nut. Scoop the black paste out and mix it with minced chicken and prawns. Blend some fish paste (raw fishball meat) into it as it holds the mixture together during cooking. Now stuff the buah keluak meat paste back into the empty nut shells. Note: you may prefer to cook the nut without any stuffing, for a "heavier" buah keluak taste.
Making the "rempah"
Pound or blend the highlighted ingredients till it is a paste. Fry it with oil (about 6-10 tablespoons) over medium fire for no more than 5 minutes.
Cooking Method
Cut the chicken into pieces that are not too small (as they may break up during the marinating and re-heating process). Fry it in the rempah  with a teaspoon of the buah keluak paste in canola oil together till fragrant. Add assam water, sugar and salt to desired taste. Add the stuffed buah keluak nut. Add the chicken pieces. Switch of the stove when the chicken is tender and the gravy thickened.
Here's a tip
Store the dish over night in the fridge before serving. That way, when you reheat the next day, the marinate would have gone into the meat and nut more completely.

Ngoh Hiang

Ingredients:
500g minced pork
150g minced prawns
100g frozen crab meat
200g chopped water chestnut
1 beaten egg yolk
Salt & pepper to taste
1 bunch of spring onion-chopped
Ngoh Hiang skin (1 packet)

Method:

1. Mix the pork, prawns and crab meat together in a big bowl.
2. Add the water chestnut followed by the egg yolk.
3. Add salt, pepper and spring onions
4. Spread ngoh hiang skin and use a damp towel to wipe away the saltiness of the skin.
5. Cut according to desired length.
6. Roll and fold in the sides.
7. Fry in oil till cooked.
8. Garnish with cucumber and tomatoes.

Seafood Kway Teow

Ingredients:
1 kg of ‘narrow’ kway teow
Bean sprout (about 30 cents)
200 g Chye Sim
200 g prawns (deveined with tails on)
1 Fish cake (sliced)
200 g of sotong (sliced)
1 big onion (sliced)
Light soya sauce to taste
2 beaten eggs.

Method:

1. Heat the wok and add a little canola oil. Fry the eggs. Lift it out and cut into thin slices.
2. Heat oil again.
3. Add in the kway teow when wok is warmed up.
4. Add a little dark soya sauce to colour it.
5. Lift the kway teow out.
6. Fry the sliced onions till soft.
7. Add the prawns, sotong and lastly fish cake.
8. Add the bean sprouts and chye sim.
9. Add back the fried kway teow and add a little water if too dry.
10. Mix well and remove the kway teow when done.

Char Kway Teow

Ingredients:
1 kg kway teow mixed with a little yellow noodle ($1)
1 tsp chopped garlic
3 tbsp canola oil
10 prawns
10 thinly sliced Chinese sausage
1 Fish cake, sliced (50 cents)
Cockles – if obtainable
20 cents worth of beansprouts
2 stalk of Chye Sim
3 sprigs of chives, cut into 2 inch lengths
2 eggs

Seasoning
1 tbsp Chilli paste(bought from the Indian man selling chillies and curry powders)
1 tbsp light soya sauce
A little dark soya sauce for colour
2 tbsp of sweetened black sauce ( optional)
A little water

Method:

1. Heat wok with 3 tbsp oil until hot.
2. Fry chopped garlic until fragrant, then add Chinese sausages. Add prawns and fry until cooked.
3. Push all the fried ingredients to one side and add in kway teow.
4. Stir-fry the kway teow, bean sprout, chai sim and add seasoning (chille paste, light, dark and sweetened soya sauce) and sprinkle with a little water to mix.
5. Spread all the ingredients around the wok and create an empty space in the centre, then crack the eggs into it and add a little more oil.
6. Cover the egg with all the ingredients and stir-fry evenly. Add cockles if desired and mix in the chives. Do not overcook.
7. Remove the dish to a plate and serve hot.