Lontong is a soupy,rice dish. Malaysians like to say that the dish is originally from Johor, I first ate it in Johor years ago when I visited a varsity mate in Johor Bahru . Ever since I do order it whenever I see it on the menu. However no every one casn do it at home because it takes time to make the pressed rice cubes.
The Indonesians however also claim that lontong is from their country.
the rice is partially cooked and then pressed and rolled up in banana leaves to be steamed again. Then when needed it is cut into cubes. This is also called nasi emptt. It is quite a skill to make nasi empit, especially early in the morning when one is hardly awake!! I really admire the ladies of yesteryears who woke up early to make it.
The soup is coconut based and would include dried prawns, loads of vegetables like cabbage, carrots, foo chook (bean curd sheets), tempe, boiled potatoes and strands of tang hoon. I love the extra heat which comes from a serving or two of pounded dried chillies sambal. The coconut based soup should not be like a thick curry. It should be light, sweet and refreshing, with a bit of heat.
At times I wonder if my Chong grandmother ever cooked Lontong Chap Goh Meh(Javanese and Singapore cuisine) for the family. My Chong grandmother was born in Java and went to Singapore to study.
Indded, in our family, my grand aunt or Goo Poh often served a vegetable curry very similar in taste to the soupy lontong (without the pressed rice). As a child I enjoyed her soupy "Foochow" curry.
My father had also good taste buds. He would eat a dish for the first time and replicate the dish at home, creating the new dish with my mother.
I would have loved to ask my Grand Aunt and father about Lontong Chap Goh Meh.
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