A happy memory for me is waking up in the mornings and cooking with chef Violet Oon in her kitchen. That was many years ago.
Now 72, Violet continues to champion Singapore cuisine and is the country’s ambassador for food. She is also a writer and cookbook author who specializes in Peranakan cuisine as well.
Over a piping-hot steamboat reunion dinner and auspicious pineapple tarts, we celebrate Chinese New Year with her.
According to Violet, for the Chinese diaspora, the Lunar New Year’s Eve dinner is the most important night of the year. It is when families gather in thanksgiving for the year that was, and to welcome the year ahead.
In Singapore, the Lunar New Year celebrations start immediately after Christmas, sometimes as early as Dec. 26. This is when red Chinese decorations make their debut alongside celebratory food that mark the season. This is so, according to Violet, because sentiment in Chinese-based culture is most often reflected in food.
She expressed how ingredients come with deep meaning associated with love, filial piety, devotion to family and, more importantly, how “food language” centers around wishes of good fortune, business success and plentiful children.
The pineapple is a noble fruit in Chinese culture. Its many eyes symbolize fertility and plenty. The word itself is a homonym that by its sound also means “the arrival of prosperity” in several Chinese dialects.
Oranges are prized for their golden color, and the word for oranges in Chinese sounds like “gold.”
Even the Mandarin word for the simple lettuce shengcai translates to “raw lettuce,” a homonym that means to “grow money.”
Fish is the most auspicious food, as the Mandarin word for fish (yu) is a homonym for “surplus.”
Steamboat
Violet narrated how the simmering steamboat represents the strengthening of family ties and happiness, as everyone cooks together and shares the soup from a common cooking pot.
The literal translation of “reunion” in Mandarin is “group round.” In the language of food it is meaningful, that is, for families to meet and gather for the “reunion” dinner.
The spherical shape also has deep meaning. It signifies common sharing, and that there is no beginning and no end, as the Chinese believe strongly in both honoring their ancestors as well as the renewal of life, for succeeding generations.
Like a true teacher, Violet was quick to lecture: In these days of social distancing, make sure that the chopsticks and spoons used to dip into the hotpot are different from the ones you eat with!
She shared her Family Togetherness Steamboat recipe. She also demonstrated how the delectable pineapple tarts are made—watch “Life in Food by Violet Oon,” produced by the Singapore Straits Times on YouTube. It is a beautiful six-part series where Violet shines bright, while presenting her signature dishes.
I wish you and yours a prosperous, healthy and purpose-filled Lunar New Year!
Chef Violet’s Steamboat with Cantonese Meat and Prawn Balls
Stock: Mix washed pork bones, about 2 kg, with the carcasses of 2 chickens. Boil in about 6-8 liters of water till the stock is rich, around 3-4 hours.
Steamboat components:2 to 3 liters rich homemade pork and chicken stock
- 1 portion Cantonese meat balls (recipe below)
- 20 fish balls
- 300-400 g thinly sliced belly pork, without skin
- 300-400 g thinly sliced filled of beef
- 300-400 g thinly sliced fillet of fish
- 20 big prawns, unpeeled
- 500 g Chinese cabbage (napa cabbage)
- 300 g spinach
- 1 head lettuce
Assorted mushrooms, seafood like fresh oyster in half shell, fresh scallops, a variety of vegetables
- ½ c light soy sauce
- 10 red chillies, sliced
- ½ c garlic chili sauce (optional)
- ½ c labuyo Arrange components in individual serving dishes. Serve each person with soy sauce, some cut chillies and a small platter of labuyo.
Put a round cooking pot on top of a tabletop gas cooker or use an electric hot pot. Each person should have their own bowl, plate, chopsticks and cutlery.
- Cantonese Meat or Prawn Balls
- 450 g pork, finely chopped or minced
- 150 g freshwater chestnuts or jicama
- 60 g fresh shiitake mushrooms
- 60 g crab meat or prawns, weighed after peeling
- 1 Tbsp corn flour
- ½ tsp white pepper powder
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 egg
Chop or mince the pork, mushrooms and chestnuts very finely and mix with the crab or prawn meat, seasoning with a little salt, pepper and sugar with the cornflour and egg. Knead well till you get a firm sticky texture.
Roll into small balls 1½-2 cm in diameter. Chill till ready to cook.
This mixture is great wrapped in wonton skin to form a Chinese gold nugget shape.
This mixture is also perfect for deep-frying. Beat one egg and mix with a little water. Coat the balls with this and roll in corn flour. Deep-fry in hot oil till the meatballs float; this indicates that they are cooked. Drain well on paper towels.
Note: If using prawn meat, chop roughly. INQFollow @violet.oon on Instagram
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