Stretching the Dollar at Home

 

My siblings and I loved the tomato and egg soup, cooked Foochow style.

It was one of our staple soups when we were growing up. Mum would say one beaten egg would be enough for the soup to make it golden in colour. She would only use two or three tomatoes (usually grown in our own yard) and lots of garlic. This would replace a meat soup or a chicken soup.  We did not often have chicken as chickens would be reserved for visitors, especially our grandmother.

But we were happy children and thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful soup, either in the afternoon or in the evening.

It was even considered a treat because sometimes we only had kang kong (wun chai) , cangkok manis soup (without the egg) or even a white gourd soup (without the ikan pusu).

Soups were very important to us because we were simple eaters. Our plate of rice would be filled with the soup and it was such a lovely meal.

God blessed us and our widowed mother with good health and joy. In the Chinese tradition, we were well fed, and we slept well.