By ALICE YONG
Pictures by BONNIE YAP
The Hokkiens are the largest Chinese dialect group that migrated to the Nanyang (South-East Asia) area in the 19th century. Most of them came from the Fujian province on the southeastern shore of China.
According to renowned Shanghainese author Lynn Pan, in her book Sons of the Yellow Emperor, the coastal Fujian province is about the size of England, predominantly mountainous with limited land for agriculture. Although the area is home to some of the finest Chinese teas, life was hard and its harvests so terribly unpredictable that the province was struck by famine time and again.
However, its coast was dotted with many islands, creating well-sheltered harbours for Fuzhou (Hokchew), Quanzhou (Chuanchew) and Xiamen (Amoy) that later developed into trading ports. Hokkien sailors were reputedly some of the best in China, as sea travel became the main mode of transport to other parts of the country. When the wind was right, it only took three days to reach the Philippines by junk.
Later, more and more Hokkiens ventured to other parts of South-East Asia such as Singapore, Malaya, Indonesia and Siam, in a bid to escape the difficult times back home. They were lured by the promise of better opportunities in the Nanyang area.
The difficult living conditions in the recent past have taught the Hokkiens to be frugal and thrifty, hence giving rise to the popular notion of them being kiam siap (stingy)! Food is never wasted and any extra supply of fish, eggs and vegetables would be carefully preserved or pickled, and kept for consumption during winter months or when food was scarce.
This is probably one of the reasons why older generations of Hokkiens have been known to consume vast quantities of kiam chai (salted vegetables), kiam hu (salted fish), chai poh (pickled radish) and other assorted pickles and preserved vegetables.
The province is famed for its noodles and robust pork dishes. Pork is popular, basically because the pig symbolises good luck, fertility and virility. These hardy and versatile animals – due to the scarcity of land, are easy to raise (most are fed kitchen scraps) – provide fertiliser for the fields and can be slaughtered for food during feast days. Famous Hokkien pork dishes include Hong Bak (braised pork in black soy sauce) and Bak Kut Teh, stewed pork in a herbal broth which is served with rice.
But rather than displaying original provincial tastes, the two dishes are local Hokkien developments from the Hokkien strongholds of Penang and Klang. Bak Kut Teh (BKT), recognised as a Hokkien food in Malaysia, originated in Klang, a port town where BKT is the breakfast staple.
Fujian is also famed for its popiah, a fresh roll filled with shredded vegetables. The term popiah in the dialect means a ''thin biscuit'', a reference to the floppy, paper-thin crepe used to wrap the filling into a roll.
Violet Oon, one of Singapore’s foremost food authorities, gives a recipe for Hokkien Poh Piah at the website http://food.asia1.com.sg/recipes/. Among the filling ingredients called for include yam bean, bamboo shoot, French bean, cabbage, shrimp, belly pork and garlic.
Most Hokkien dishes are simple and lacking in sophistication and lightness of flavour compared to other Chinese cuisines. According to Lee Yuh Shoo, the president of the Hokkien Association in Klang, the foods of the Hokkiens are simple and unembellished, prepared only for the practical purpose of filling the stomach. ''That is why you will not find Hokkien dishes served in restaurants,'' he said.
In his research paper published in the book, Changing Chinese Foodways in Asia, Tan Chee-beng wrote that while the Cantonese identity is adopted in Malaysian restaurant food, ''only at the level of hawker food is the Hokkien identity distinguised or assumed,'' although many restaurants may be operated by Hokkien people.
This is certainly the case in Penang, where many hawker food bears the Hokkien hallmarks and names: popiah, char kuey teow, char kuey kak (fried radish cake), Hokkien mee, mee hwoen kuey (a fresh flour soup noodle), lor bak, etc.
In The Heritage of Chinese Cooking by Australian Chinese culinary consultant and author, Elizabeth Chong, it was mentioned that Fujian soy sauce is said to be the best and richest which probably explains why the Hokkiens have such an affinity for this ubiquitous Chinese condiment. In fact, the first soy sauce and canning factory known as Amoy Canning was set up in Fujian in the year 1908.
Many Hokkien dishes are stained brown by the heavy use of soy sauce. The famous slippery Hokkien-style fried noodle, for example, is so dark it is referred to as ''black noodles''. The Hokkiens love noodle as it symbolises longevity.
When some of the early Hokkien traders settled down in the Straits Settlement of Singapore, Malacca and Penang, many of these men eventually married local women, resulting in the Straits-born Chinese or Peranakans, also known as the Babas (men) and Nonyas (women).
A unique cuisine evolved from the Peranakans, reflecting the marriage of the mostly Hokkien immigrants to the local Malays. This union has left its indelible stamp on Nonya dishes and vice versa. The Penang Nonyas speak the Hokkien dialect and many of their dishes bear Hokkien names such as jiu hu char (stir-fried shredded cuttlefish with yam bean), kiam chai ark (salted vegetable and duck soup), hee peow th’ng (fish maw soup) and sambal heh bee (dried shrimp sambal).
Through intermingling, some of these dishes found their way into Hokkien homes. Having developed a taste for chilli, the Penang Hokkiens adopted spice into their diet. Hence you find a spicy Hokkien noodles on the streets of Penang.
As a Peranakan Hokkien who married into another Hokkien family, Mrs Yong Eng Swee explained that noodle dishes such as Hokkien mee is a ''must have'' dish for major Chinese festivals like the lunar New Year while mee sua is served to commemorate birthdays and when one needs a change of luck. ''The Hokkiens will always serve mee sua with a pair of hard boiled eggs to denote good things come in pairs.
''Certain Hokkien dishes are no longer popular today,'' she notes. ''For instance, hong bak was usually eaten with ki ah kueh, a type of traditional steamed rice cake favoured by Hokkiens. The younger generations today have no inkling what this is.''
Mrs Yong recalls that jiu hu char was originally prepared using bamboo shoots, dried cuttlefish, dried shrimps and belly pork. ''This laborious dish required one to soak the bamboo shoots in several changes of rice water to get rid of the pungent smell before being cut into fine strips by hand,'' she said.
''Due to the scarcity and costliness of bamboo shoots, people began substituting it with sengkuang or yam bean that is more readily available and cheaper.''
| Ang KooSavoury Glutinous Rice (Chu Bee P'ng) Hong Bak (Braised Pork in Thick Black Sauce) Sweet Rice Cakes (Huat Kueh) Char Liap Liap (Stir-fried bean curd with preserved radish and long beans) Hokkien Mee Char Kuih Kak (Pan-fried Radish Cake) Jiu Hu Char (Stir-fried Shredded Sengkuang and Dried Cuttlefish) Penang Hokkien Prawn Mee Mee Suah (Flour Vermicelli in Soup) |
.jpg)
