Although Peggy Tan only started cooking in earnest after she got married, her culinary skills soon became the stuff of family legend.
“Actually when I got married, I didn’t know how to cook, but I soon learnt, because some of my relatives kept saying, ‘Why you don’t know how to cook? You’re married already!’
“I was very angry with those comments, so I said, ‘I must show them that I can cook’. So I bought a lot of cookbooks and learnt how to make different dishes, ” says the cheerful Tan.
After her marriage, Tan went on to have six children and developed a strong passion for cooking for her family. She even attended baking classes in between sending her children for tuition and other extra-curricular activities.
“It was quite fun because when she learnt how to bake, she would make two or three cakes for our birthdays so we always got to try different cakes. That’s why we’re all fat!” recalls youngest daughter Gwen Lo.
“After I won, they gave me the permission to join their association as a chef. I had so many children to look after, so I declined. Anyway, I just joined it for fun, ” says Tan.
Given her proficiency in the kitchen, it is no surprise that Tan says she now prefers to create new recipes rather than stick to traditional ones.
On the first day of Chinese New Year for example, Tan typically has all six of her children as well as in-laws together and devises at least six to seven original vegetarian recipes to feed her large family.
“We don’t believe in killing animals on the first day of Chinese New Year, that’s why we opt for vegetarian meals instead. But I soon discovered that every time I cooked vegetarian food, it was the same type of dishes. So I thought, ‘Why can’t I think of something different that uses vegetarian ingredients? So I started thinking of recipes and experimenting, ” she elaborates.
The fruits of Tan’s imagination speak volumes about her passion for concocting bold new creations. Her torch ginger flower enhanced ‘say kwai sing kor’ dish for example, calls to mind the zesty, punchy exuberance of a Thai salad and is packed with vegetarian squid and prawns as well as canned fruits like peaches and longans, all cut into uniform pieces and arranged beautifully.
An auspicious beginning
Although this year’s CNY celebrations will be more muted for Tan and her family, she says she will continue the tradition of cooking up a vegetarian storm for CNY, and is hopeful all six of her brood will be home for the annual gathering.
“I don’t know if my whole family will be together as one of my daughters and her husband live on their own, so they might not be able to come over, depending on the restrictions in place.
“If they can’t make it, I will be sad but I will still continue to make all the usual vegetarian dishes for the rest of the family, because I believe it is very important to create a positive energy on the first day of the new year with auspicious vegetarian meals, so that the rest of the year will be a blessed one for the family, ” says Tan.
“For Chinese New Year, I like to think of dishes with good meanings. From my own point of view, this dish means that the whole year will be blooming, so we will get the fruits of what we have planted. So this dish will help you fulfil what you have been working so hard to get, ” she explains.
Tan’s Fatt Choy Yau Yee is another sumptuous vegetarian dish that she has tried very hard to imbue with positive connotations. Filled with Chinese mushrooms, vegetarian gluten puffs and braised peanuts, this is a hearty meal that is really quite filling.
“I use mushrooms, because even in very hard conditions, they can still grow, so this gives us hope for whatever we are going through now, especially during this pandemic. It’s sort of like saying you mustn’t give up, because you can come out of this.
“The recipe also uses braised peanuts, which represent abundance and unity, because peanuts are always clinging to each other when harvested. So this shows unity in the family.
“Ultimately, I believe that the food that you cook should make the whole family happy. Once you create positive energy in the house, then there will be harmony and peace among the family, ” she elaborates.
Tan’s deftness with Chinese vegetarian recipes is such a hit with her friends and family that she recently even decided to start sharing her dishes online on her brand new YouTube channel, Cooking with Compassion.
“I have so many ideas about cooking vegetarian dishes and life is so short, so I thought, ‘Why don’t I share so that young people can learn more about vegetarian food?’” she says.
ALSO READ: Making Lor Hon Jai is an annual CNY tradition for this Malaysian family
Tan is also determined to teach her children how to make all her CNY vegetarian creations, as she is now 65 and had a health scare a while back that motivated her to start writing her recipes down with proper measurements, instead of her usual agak-agak (guess-timation) method.
“The thing is, all my recipes are agak-agak, so I said, ‘Cannot lah, I must weigh and measure everything. It’s a lot of work, especially when my recipes are self-created but I want to do it so my children can make the dishes and enjoy cooking the way I do.
“Because through my experience, when you enjoy cooking, the taste will be different – all the happiness you put in the meals will come through too, ” she says, smiling.
Ingredients
- 160g dried Chinese mushrooms, stems removed
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 400g seaweed vegetarian fish, sliced thinly and pan-fried till golden brown
- salt and pepper to taste
- 100g vegetarian gluten puff, boiled to soften
- 110g canned braised peanuts, rinsed with warm water
- a pinch of dried black sea moss, soaked
- 1 small carrot, skin removed, blanched and cut into slices
- For garnishinga few fresh red chillies, chopped
- 250g to 300g siew pak choy, blanched
To make
Soak mushrooms in some water, sesame oil and sugar. Mix and allow to marinate for 1 hour.
Pan-fry the vegetarian fish slices till golden brown.
In a pot, heat up mushrooms with 1 litre of water. Lower heat and leave to simmer for 25 to 30 minutes. Add a bit of water if gravy dries up. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add in the vegetarian gluten puff, braised peanuts, dried black sea moss and simmer for 2 minutes. Add carrots and remove pot from the heat.
Arrange fish slices at the bottom and other ingredients in neat layers. Garnish and serve.
Ingredients
- 10 limes, juiced
- 1/2 a can longans, cut into halves, syrup reserved
- 5 kaffir lime leaves, shredded thinly
- 1 torch ginger flower, shredded thinly
- 350g vegetarian squid, blanched
- 250g vegetarian prawns, blanched
- 180g vegetarian Hokkaido balls, blanched
- 2 tsp dried chilli flakes
- 5 canned pineapple rings, cut into small pieces
- 2 canned whole peaches, cut into small pieces
For garnish
- a handful vegetarian seaweed meat floss
- a few red chillies, diced
- a few sprigs Chinese parsley, chopped
- a handful of roasted peanuts, chopped
To make
In a mixing bowl, add lime juice and longan juice. Season with sugar, salt and vegetarian mushroom seasoning. Add kaffir lime leaves and torch ginger flower.
Mix well and then add in vegetarian squid, prawn, Hokkaido balls and chilli flakes. Toss thoroughly.
Add all the fruits. Stir and mix well. Leave in the fridge to cool until ready to serve. Garnish immediately before serving.
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