My maternal grandmother Tiong Lien Tie was a very natural teacher. Our class room was the dinner table or the balcony which joined the main house and the kitchen of our Nang Chong house on the banks of the Rajang, just a little further down from Chung Cheng Secondary SChool.
A tinned dace would be opened when we had porridge.
My aunt would cook porridge on days when it continued to rain and not much energy would be needed by the rubber tapping uncle and aunt. In those days a tin of dace cost around $1.00, so it was very affordable.
We would have side dishes of salted vegetables and deep fried peanuts and perhaps a dish of preserved long beans (in ern chow).
Our porridge was very water and we could even DRINK it from the bowl. That was the way my grandma liked her porridge.
Making porridge is a way to save money according to my grandma. It saved money because only One MILK tin of rice is enough for 10 or 12 of us for the meal. And it was delicious even with just a bit of salt and some lard.
My ngie mah would tell her moral stories and we would enjoy our porridge as we listened. So it was a very good meal, at a table where love and bonding abounded.
My grandmother never raised her voice in anger. That was one thing I remember about her. I suppose that was passed down to my mother and my youngest aunt, Aunty Yung. Grandma always taught us to be good to each other. My mum and my Aunt Yung were the best of friends because of her teaching.
The tinned dace has several characteristics. It has black beans. My grandma would use her chopsticks to pick a black bean one by one. One black bean to go with one mouthful of porridge. She showed us how not to be greedy at the table by example. I still eat like that. One black bean at a time,using my chopsticks.
The dace is easily cut into small pieces, to be shared by all at the table. Grandma would see to it that we shared the soft ad tender shreds of nice fish. Sharing at the table is an act of love.
thinking about those days and my grandmother's love invigorates me.
I hope you like my memories today.
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing another beautiful experience from the past.
Your grand ma's love and stories from that dinning table are still within you.
Best Fried Dace with salted black beans today, in my opinion, is the "Ganzhu Brand" from China. Cost per tin from RM10 - 11. 227G per tin which is more than most if not all other brands. You can even buy it online from Lazada ( or is it Shopee ? ).
Post a Comment