KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 — Like most Chinese New Year dishes, the recipe for this dish has been passed down many times in my family, and I recently learnt it from my Mum.
Chap Chai is an assortment of either braised or stewed vegetables and seafood, soaking in a rich, savoury gravy. This dish tastes best after being allowed to sit for some time as the vegetables then really absorb the gravy, flavouring them while retaining their individual tastes as well.
This also allows the juices from the vegetables and seafood to seep into the gravy, resulting in a pleasantly complex mixture of flavours.
Due to this, this dish is usually prepared in advance, maybe a day before the reunion dinner to allow it to be at its tastiest during the dinner.
While the ingredients for this dish differ slightly according to different recipes, Chap Chai basically consists of a host of usual ingredients, namely carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, lily buds, sheets of bean curds, glass noodles, a variety of seafood such as dried oysters or dried scallops, and fermented red bean curd.
The carrots and cabbage add a sweet note to this dish, while the mushrooms give it a slight twist. Dried lily buds are added in mainly due to their appearance. They have a beautiful golden-yellow hue, and it is this "golden" nature that makes them a familiar fixture at many auspicious events and occasions.
It is common practice among Chinese to consume food which has auspicious names, and so this is a popular ingredient in many Chinese New Year dishes.
If you ask me, I would say the uniqueness in this dish comes from the red fermented bean curd. The fermented bean curd is made from cubes of bean curd being added to rice wine, fermented red rice and a host of other seasonings before being preserved.
The resulting product has a strong smell, and it is a taste you would have to get used to. It is also quite salty, so I would advise you to keep an eye on the amount of salt you add into this dish.
Despite its strong aroma and taste, this fermented product does wonders to the gravy and the vegetables, and manages to elevate it to a whole new level.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with fermented bean curd, you might be a little weary as to how you would differentiate it from spoilt bean curd. It’s pretty simple, really.
Fermented bean curd has a tangy though pleasant taste, and although it has a strong smell, it is unlike the sourish odour that comes from spoilt bean curd.
Spoilt bean curd also tends to have a murky, cloudiness to it and there may be a deposit of liquid around it. This is usually an indication of bacteria growth, and therefore not deemed safe for consumption.
Of course if you still do not like the taste of the fermented bean curd, you can omit it from the recipe, but then you’re missing out on the very essence of this dish.
The recipe below outlines the simple preparations for this dish. It is one that brings a lot of homely comfort to me, and here’s hoping it would be the same for you too.
Chap Chai
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves 8
100g dried earwood mushrooms, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes and remove stems
100g fresh Shiitake mushrooms
20g lily bud, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes and tied into knots
1/2 bunch of Chinese cabbage (wombok), sliced to 2 inch lengths
Handful dried glass noodles, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes
1 carrot, thinly sliced to 2 inch lengths
1 sheet dried beancurd skin, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes
6 large dried oysters (optional)
1 bulb garlic, skin removed and finely chopped
6 pieces red fermented beancurd
500ml water
1 teaspoon sugar
vegetable oil
dash of pepper
1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok over high heat. Add 1/2 teaspoon garlic and then add shiitake, earwood mushrooms and 1 piece red fermented beancurd. Stir fry for roughly 1 minute until ingredients are well coated. Remove and set aside.
2. Repeat Step 1 with lily bud.
3. Using the same wok, add 1 teaspoon garlic, 1 tablespoon oil and then add Chinese cabbage and 4 pieces of red fermented beancurd. Stir fry for roughly 5 minutes until ingredients are well coated.
3. Add dried oyster, carrots, glass noodles, sugar and water.
4. Cover wok and let ingredients braise together for 10 minutes.
5. Open cover and add beancurd skin. Mix ingredients together before you turn off the heat. NOTE: The final product should have a little bit of sauce, if not do add some water.
6. Season with pepper before serving.
* For more recipes, go to www.chopstickdiner.com
