Scrumptious Sunday: My Mommy's Favorite Food

This was one of my (late) mother's favorite Indonesian soup. It's called "Sayur Asem" (Sour/Tamarind Soup). We usually eat this with fried salted fishes, but if it's hard for you to get them, just skip the additional fun :)

Ingredients

• 400gr beef and bones
• 1/4 cup raw peanuts
  
• 3 corn on cob, cut into 4 each
• 2 chayote or zucchini, peel, wash, discard the seed, cut into small pieces
• 200 gr long beans, but this time I used string beans, wash and cut into 4cm in length
• chili paddy/bird's eye chili, as many as you like
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 5 cloves of small red onion
• 5 candle nuts
• 1 tsp shrimp paste
• 2 tsp tamarind paste
• 1/2 tomato
• salt
• sugar
• water
  

Method
In a pot boil the beef and bones in water until tender. While boiling the meat, prepare the spices. In a blender put garlic, onion, candle nuts, chili, shrimp paste and tomato, grind until smooth. Put it aside. When the meat is tender enough, take it out and cut into small pieces. Put it back. Add corn, continue to boil until cooked. Add the chayote and string beans, cook for 3minutes until they are cooked (not overcooked). Add the smooth spices. Add salt and sugar and adjust the taste.

- by Lidia Sianturi

And this was one of the reason why Mom loved Singapore and always missed going there all over the time. It's Hainanese Chicken Rice, but you can find it in the whole city/country of Singapore. She also only ordered this food when we dined out in any Singaporean restaurant here.

Ingredients

• 1 (2-pound) chicken
• 1 scallion, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 4 slices fresh, peeled ginger
• 6 tbsp vegetable oil or chicken oil rendered from chicken fat
• 6 to 8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 4 cups long-grain uncooked rice, washed and drained
• 1 tsp fine salt
  

Mix together for Chili Sauce
2 to 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice, 5 tbsp finely chopped fresh red chilies, 5 cloves garlic, chopped, 3 tbsp finely chopped ginger, 1 tsp fine salt, 1/2 cup boiling hot chicken soup        

Method
Boil a large pot of water. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with scallion and ginger. Add chicken to boiling water, breast side-down. Lower the heat to a simmer just under boiling point and cook, covered until just cooked through, about 40 minutes. Bathe the chicken in an ice water bath till chicken is cold to create a tender, springy texture. Heat oil in a rice cooker, add garlic, stir fry till fragrant. Add uncooked rice, stir fry for two minutes, add salt and enough chicken soup to cover 1/2 inch above the top of the rice. Boil on high heat, lower heat when steam holes form, cover and steam for 30 minutes till rice is cooked. Chop chicken and serve with steaming hot rice and chili sauce. Dark soya sauce is the ideal accompaniment.

- by Violet Oon