Saturday, February 21, 2009

Recollection of Ah Mah's recipes and Mum's signature dishes.

Recent food scares and food recalls due to unscrupulous business practices by some unethical people have prompted my Mrs and I to look into Ah Mah and Mum's recipes on pickles and food preservation for alternative supply. Have you ever noticed the the artificial colouring they have added into the kiam chai you buy from the Asian grocery store or the brightly orange-coloured egg yolks in the moon cake?.

We hope to start a collection on Ah Mah and Mum's signature dishes in this blog before they are forgotten and slipped beyond the realm of recall. Please contribute and share some of your family's secret recipe for this collection.


Salty Eggs

10 duck eggs/or chicken eggs


1 cup salt


1 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns(optional)


10 cups warm water



Step One



Put water, salt, and Szechuan peppercorns in a large glass container.

Step Two



Stir and mix until salt is completely dissolved.


Step Three.





Lower egg carefully into the brine solution.




Step Four.




Pickle for about 30 days. ( Actually, you do not have to wait that long. The egg floats when it is introduced to the brine. When it sunk to the bottom of the brine, it is ready to be eaten. Try it, if not wait for another couple of days.)




14 comments:

  1. nice post with all the pictures!
    what is szechuan pepper corn by the way?

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  2. It is known as huajiao in Chinese and sansho in Japanese. Click on the first photo to enlarge the Chinese writting on the package. You can easily buy them at most Asian Kek Ai Tiam. It is used in Sichuan cooking to give that unique aroma. Despite its name,do not mistaken with white/black pepper as it is not related. It is hot and has a numbling effect to the mouth. Quite a different sensation from eating chilli.

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  3. Awesome!..salted egg costs a lot here. Btw, why add huajiao? what effect it gives?

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  4. Hi Danny,
    It gives a unique sweet aroma to the egg. And it is also my late Mum's guarded cooking secret. Haha. Best with duck egg as I'm unable to buy them, I have substituted chicken eggs for duck. Keeping fingers crossed and will post result.

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  5. Hi^2,
    There is a lot of room for improvement in my blogging and typing skill. How do you do the underline? Lookout for the kiam chai recipe to go with your congee. Haha.

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  6. Hi Yama chan,

    If you are following this recipe, you must cook it until the egg is hardboiled. You can eat it with okayu. You only take a small bite each time as it very salty. About the Singlish, I didnt know that you are following the blog. Gomen ne.

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  7. can i request the recipe for making kiam hue, please??

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  8. Hi By,
    You have to wait until I get a fish from the fishmarket, so that I can show you how to prepare kiam hue(salted fish)from scratch. But I can show you a simple way of making hue woo (fish floss) in the next posting.

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  9. Do you keep the bottle in the fridge or left outside at room temperature?

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  10. Hi Danny,
    It is better to keep it in fridge if you are making them during Summer.

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  11. Thanks for the receipe. I have always wondered how salted eggs are made. I have not come across salted chicken egg. It was always the duck eggs. I noticed that it is covered with a black substance. So actually there is no need for the black substance? What is the ideal temperature for making salted eggs. Salted eggs in Singapore is getting expensive. How long can these homemade salted eggs keep? Thanks

    Retireed

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  12. Hi Roger,
    If I am not wrong the black substance is actually soot. It prevent breakage during handling and transport. You can leave them at room temperature and once it is salted you can put them back in the egg carton and store in the fridge until needed. Friends came over for a Teochew porridge lunch and finished my dozen salted eggs in one sitting.

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  13. Hi Phil,
    Thanks for your reply. Room temperature in Australia should be different from the room temperature in Singapore? Is it better to leave it in the fridge at 5 degrees celcius or at room temperature which is about 27 degrees in Singapore. I went to the supermarket but could not find any raw duck eggs, only chicken eggs for sale. Did you find your salted chicken eggs taste any different from the usual salted duck eggs?
    By the way, my tomato plant is growing quite well now, after I added in a fertiliser meant for flowering orchids. I could not find a fertiliser meant for tomatoes so I used one that is high in phosphorous although it is meant for orchids. It worked and I am getting fruit on the whole vine now instead of just one single fruit.

    Roger

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  14. Hi Roger,
    Yes, You are right to point out our room temperature can vary in different countries.If that is the case, please put them in the fridge. Likewise, duck egg is also difficult to find here. We find that the chicken egg is a good substitute and taste no different. Glad to hear that your tomatoes are growing well and bearing fruits for you. I think we also have to start a blog on gardening. Thanks for visiting and hope that we have enough gardening "kakis" to start a blog. So let's start recruiting. (haha)

    Cheers,
    Phil

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