Sour and Spicy "Vegetable Feet"

Its a wonder that I am not any fatter than I already am. Growing up in a household like mine, every meal is a banquet. My friends are always shocked at how much food we have at each meal. My mum loves to entertain. I remember the food-fuelled parties well. The most popular being the popiah, lam meen and choy kiok (inset). Ironically, I don't care much for all three. Mum's made choy kiok for her mah jong kakis today. It looks like somebody threw everything from the fridge into the pot which is exactly what choy kiok is essentially, that is, leftovers. It really is the last thing I want to eat right now in this miserable heat. Can you imagine a hot steaming, spicy and sour bowl of soup at midday? I'm sweating just thinking about it!

Mum's popiah is a hot request from friends and family. Its never fun for me because mum would often get stressed at making popiah for 40 people (meaning we are only really expecting 20 people). The preparation would start 2 to 3 days beforehand. Chinese sausages need to be steamed, finely chopped then fried, eggs need to be fried and shredded, pork fat to be cubed and deep-fried, crabs steamed and meat extracted, and the list goes on. And then there's the piece de resistance, the sa kok. Shredded turnip braised over a slow fire with cuttlefish and pork. If we were to sell mum's popiah, we'd have to charge rm6 each!

Some of my favourite dishes from mum are steamed old melon stuffed with minced pork, lotus soup, pork & potato stew, chicken casserole, chicken rice, roast pork, king prawn noodles and glass vermicelli with shredded melon & dried shrimp. All her pork dishes are pretty good and since she subscribes to the 3 meat, 1 veg theory, we eat a lot of it! If you are ever hungry, do pop by because I guarantee there is something to eat. I keep telling my mum there is no need to buy and cook in bulk as the war was over many, many years ago.