September 15, 2015

Nang Chong Stories: Fried Eggs and Red Wine Soup

A Foochow rite of passage I fondly remember is the loving gift of two bull's eye (fried eggs) cooked in Foochow Red Wine Soup .

When a daughter has her first menstruation, her mother would initiate her into womenhood and tell her very discreetly about the 4 feminine virtures of a Chinese woman.

This is an old custom from Minqing, Fujian. Passed from one generation to another this custom was brought to Sibu where many Foochow mothers also cooked the same dish for their daughters.


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It is to me a love gift, from a loving mother to her child and in time to come, if the daughter remembers her mother's gift, she will pass on to her daughters.

This is how culture is perpectuated. Heat up a small kuali, add sesame oil and stir fry thin slices of ginger until crispy. Set aside and crack an egg to cook Bull's Eye. Make another one.

Add a cup of red wine into the kuali and eggs, add the ginger. When the soup is boiling hot, take out and serve. Mee sua can also be added to make a really good breakfast dish, as well as confinement dish.

This simple dish also helps to reduce period pains.

This is a small initiation ritual to start a young woman's path when she must remember her " four feminine virtues" :

morality (Chinese: 妇德; pinyin: Fùdé)
proper speech (Chinese: 妇言; pinyin: Fùyán)
modest manner/appearance (Chinese: 妇容; pinyin: Fùróng)
diligent work (Chinese: 妇功; pinyin: Fùgōng)

4 comments:

Small Kucing said...

Good recipe but too bad it's hard to get the special wine here

Ensurai said...

Try the Foochow kopitiam near Restaurant Gembira, PJ...I forgot the name of that kopitiam..nice Foochow red wine.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the four virtues.

Ensurai said...

You are most welcome Anonymous.

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