My mother never learned how to make Bah Gui, or the white rice cakes,as shown in the photo.
Normally every Foochow woman would know how to make it. However we never asked her why she never learned how to make it from scratch. One of the reasons many of us younger foochow women never learned to make it from scratch is because they are readily available in the supermarket, in the dry form. And the real wet, and freshly made ones are also available on the day of the festival itself. And for Chinese New Year, they would definitely be made available every where. Some women would even make special ones to sell to friends and relatives, so that they could earn extra.
Interestingly, when I visited Minqing, I was told that bah gui was available every day. These rice cakes are like fresh noodles or mee hoon and are sold every day to housewives who need them and to stalls and restaurants.
The cakes are usually neatly stacked on a piece of white cloth and they are usually sold by the makers who specialise in fresh food made from rice flour.
It would be so nice to be able to get freshly made bah gui every day like in Ban Dong (Minqing). It is easy to stir fry a nice plate of bah gui for lunch or for dinner.
When I saw the pretty bah gui I thought about my mother and my ngie mah. they would have been so happy to know that fresh bah gui was available every day in the market. Sometimes, in the past, it was possible to have fresh bah gui if we begged an aunt to make some.
Any way, according to most of my Foochow friends, we Foochows are quite particular about our bah gui. I suppose it is true as my mother would not buy bah gui from any one except the few ladies she knew could make well in Sibu.
There are some qualities of good bah gui we must remember :
a) the fresh cakes must be easily sliced but they must be able to keep their shape when fried.
b) the slices must be easily cut by teeth and not tough and chewy and more over they must not disintegrate in the Kuali.
c) rice cakes of course must not harden when cooked, so the maker must really know a good recipe.
d) rice cakes can be sliced and dried in the sun for future use. They should not have a sour taste upon drying.
e) rice cakes can be frozen and thawed when needed. Freezing should not lower the quality of the rice cakes.
f) good fresh oil must be used to coat the rice cakes, to give it a lovely sheen.
My ngie mah kept a rice cake mould for the family to use. It had a nice floral design but after she passed away, we never knew who took the mould away. It could have been a good family legacy for her grandchildren and great grandchildren.
I did attend a class in Miri to learn how to make bah gui but I have not used my knowledge to make them. I suppose, like my mother, I have my reasons not to make them from scratch.
If my family likes to eat a bit of stir fried bah gui, I can always go to a bah gui stall in Miri and order take away, with even my own choice of ingredients!!
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