Above photo shows my Halal Sup Ikan Masak Foochow or Foochow Style Sour Fish Soup in Mukah.
The Foochow legend of the origin of Chow Chai: Once the Emperor's army came to Fujian to tax the people and they would take away all the food they found. A farmer was terrified that his store of fresh vegetables would be taken away so he buried them in his backyard with the red wine lees he had and everything else worthy of being taken by the soldiers.
The soldiers did not find his treasures and moved on. A few days later, when the family ran out of food, the farmer went to the back yard to find monkeys feasting on the buried vegetables. He took some home and cooked what he thought was edible.
Lo and behold, chow chai was born.
Today, chow chai is one of the ThREE TREASURES of Minqing, my grandfather's home district in China.
Chow Chai is made from Foochow red wine lees (chow) and mustard green (chai). It is sourish in taste like and preserved vegetable in the world.
Recently I visited Mukah and made a nice and happy discovery.
The Melanaus have also learned to use chow chai when they cook Souptapah or tengirri in their coffee shops in Mukah. They call the fish noodle dish quite aptly, Ikan masak Foochow. Totally Halal.
No comments:
Post a Comment