My oldest daughter Lucy is moving out today. She has found an apartment in Boston, nearer to work, and we're all excited for her starting out on her new adventure. It got me thinking last night, about writing down some of our family recipes, so she can cook the same foods she grew up with.
Food is so emotional isn't it? My mother's recipe for Chinese ginger chicken soup or "Shoon" as we call it is the perfect comfort food and was my remedy for homesickness. It is a strange concoction of ingredients, dried shitake mushrooms, fresh ginger, dried tofu sheets, rice noodles, cabbage and chicken, but put them together and just the smell of it wafting through the house reminds me of home. My fondest memories are of my mum and dad cooking together, stirring chicken curry and rolling potato roti. My job was to fry them on the ancient cast iron pan, flip them and brush them with oil. Today, my girls love the family favorites of potato roti, cha sui bao and meat patties, not to mention the good old English favorites such as Toad in the hole and trifle.
The problem with family recipes is that ingredients are hardly ever measured. So, in the following months, I will be cooking these recipes, replicating the tastes and textures from memory, but measuring the ingredients and recording cooking times and temperatures. I will do my best to stay true to the original recipes, but would value your imput if you happen to stumble across this site.
So, this site is dedicated to my three daughters with love. Lucy can't wait to start cooking for herself and I hope these recipes will remind her of her family wherever her life takes her.
Food is so emotional isn't it? My mother's recipe for Chinese ginger chicken soup or "Shoon" as we call it is the perfect comfort food and was my remedy for homesickness. It is a strange concoction of ingredients, dried shitake mushrooms, fresh ginger, dried tofu sheets, rice noodles, cabbage and chicken, but put them together and just the smell of it wafting through the house reminds me of home. My fondest memories are of my mum and dad cooking together, stirring chicken curry and rolling potato roti. My job was to fry them on the ancient cast iron pan, flip them and brush them with oil. Today, my girls love the family favorites of potato roti, cha sui bao and meat patties, not to mention the good old English favorites such as Toad in the hole and trifle.
The problem with family recipes is that ingredients are hardly ever measured. So, in the following months, I will be cooking these recipes, replicating the tastes and textures from memory, but measuring the ingredients and recording cooking times and temperatures. I will do my best to stay true to the original recipes, but would value your imput if you happen to stumble across this site.
So, this site is dedicated to my three daughters with love. Lucy can't wait to start cooking for herself and I hope these recipes will remind her of her family wherever her life takes her.
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