Assam Stingray, Ginger Pork Liver and Bean Sprouts and Other Goodies

Mom came to visit me for a few weeks last month. As she's not fond of European food in general, I endeavoured to cook her Singaporean dishes wherever possible.

One of them was an Assam Stingray with Green Beans (Assam Kuah Pedas being a Tamarind and Ginger Flower-based sauce. Ladies' Fingers would have been better than green beans, but I couldn't get any then). I didn't make the gravy myself as I was really busy just back from our holiday in Tuscany and was fortunate to have a pack of Brahim's on hand. As it was, we went on a day trip to Strasbourg and were able to get hold of some fresh stingrays, so voilà the dish.

Another dish that I made was what I like to call the "ABC Chicken Wings" - in memory of the honey and black soya sauce wings that I used to buy from a food stall in Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre named ABC on an almost daily basis when I was a teenager. Out of a desperate desire to taste the dish again, I managed to cook the chicken wings out of pure memory of its taste and they tasted just like those that I used to buy nearly 2 decades ago!

What I did was to marinate the wings for a few hours in honey, dark soy sauce, sugar, oyster sauce, sesame oil, salt, pepper, ground paprika and a touch of sherry. Then I heated up some sesame oil in a non-stick frying pan and browned a generous amount of sliced ginger and crushed garlic. When everything was fragrant, I added in the marinated chicken wings (without their sauce) and grilled them in the fragrant oil. In the bowl that used to contain the wings, I added some water to the remaining marinade and stirred in 2 Tsps of corn starch. When the wings were nicely grilled, I stirred in the mixture to make a sauce and the chicken wings turned out moist and tender. They go quite well served on a bed of crispy Iceberg lettuce.

With the Agar-agar Tupperware mould that I've inherited from mom, I also made a traditional Almond Jelly with Longans. Could have used ground almonds, sugar and agar agar strips to make the jelly, but I took the easy way out and just used a packet of Asian Home Gourmet mix to do it.

Hubby and the kids are not at all into pork liver which I adore so mom's visit was a good occasion to prepare a dish with it. I therefore made Pork Liver with Ginger, Spring Onions and Bean Sprouts - a délice. The recipe is similar to my Chicken with Ginger and Spring Onion stir-fry.

The following are a few other simple dishes that mom likes, but I don't suppose that they will be popular with the rest of the world so I won't bother to post the recipes.

Pork with Iceberg Lettuce and Mushrooms

Sambal Prawns

Fishball, Meatball, Tofu and Chinese Cabbage Stir-fry

Preserved Sichuan Vegetable Soup with Fishballs, Meatballs and Chinese Mushrooms