Mastering my Dad’s fantastic Kong Ba & Ayam Buah Keluak has always been a life-goal for the simple reason of wanting to pass these recipes down to my own children. I believe in this one simple equation, that Heritage = Food = Togetherness.
In a bid to learn, I thought I’d start with the simplest way – observation. Last Christmas, dad cooked Kong Ba and Ayam Buah Keluak for us and he encouraged me to do a pictorial and record videos. So I did. Here’s a basic step-by-step photo book of how Kong Ba and Ayam Buah Keluak is made. Do note that I do not have metric measurements as yet. My dad does not measure his ingredients. He’s that good. 
This Lunar New Year, we had the usual suspects – tantalizing kong ba, ayam buah keluak, udang belado and pork bone soup. As you can tell, we love our pork.
To all of you who celebrate this festive season, I would like to wish you a very very happy lunar new year! May this year of the water dragon bring you plenty of blessings, good health and prosperity.
And now, here’s a wee little exclusive peek into our kitchen.
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Kong Ba
Step 1: Buy ‘gor huay ba’ (pork shoulder) from your market. About 1kg+ is fine. Make sure that it has enough fat on it. Lean pork leads to tougher bite. Marinate in Soy Sauce for a few hours before you begin cooking.
Step 2: Heat oil and throw in star anise, leng kuas (blue ginger), and chopped shallots. Sauteed till golden brown.
Step 3: Once the aromatics are ready, add in your beautiful piece of pork shoulder. Let it cook on one side for a while. When that side is seared properly, turn it over.
Step 4: Drizzle a good amount of dark thick soy sauce. I think my dad uses Tai Hua. I think any brand works.
Step 6: Add some honey.Honey adds a tinge of sweetness to the Kong Ba.
Step 7: Let the pork braise in the pan for approximately 1 hour. (note that this really depends on how big your piece of pork shoulder is)
The dark soya sauce aroma that engulfs the kitchen, the first few seconds that Dad removes the lid off the pot that holds the glorious braised pork shoulder – that’s one of my favourite smells.
But nothing beats the moment it is time to devour those fatty slices of pork
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Ayam Buah Keluak –
Step 1: Fry your rempah (spice paste). It is made of just 5 ingredients: dried chillies, onions, lemon grass, blue ginger and candle nuts. *Note: My dad prepares his rempah in big batches and keeps in in the freezer for convenient usage.
Step 2: Prepare your chicken. Clean it, and chop it just the way you like it. Prepare your assam juice (tamarind juice) in a bowl. Set aside.
Step 3: Prepare your buah keluak. This is an Indonesian nut, known for its earthy texture and taste. Those who hate it, feel like it tastes like soil (not that they have ever tasted soil. probably their guess of what soil would taste like).
Dad prepared these before hand so I did not capture the process of cleaning the shell, cooking the filling and restuffing it. Note that the best way to have buah keluak is NOT adding any pork or additional ingredients. I like mine pure & unadulterated.
Step 4: Add the chicken to the cooked rempah. Saute it for a few minutes.
Now add in the assam juice. Assam is one of my favourite ingredient. Adds a tangy kick to every peranakan dish. Assam Pedas! My fav!
Cook it for a few minutes.
Step 5: Now add in water, so it is not so thick. Add in however much you want. My dad doesn’t like his Ayam Buah Keluak too diluted so he adds only a fair amount of water.
Now let it simmer till it cooks. My dad boils the potatoes last and adds them in, so they stay firm.
To me, Dad’s ayam buah keluak is H-E-A-V-E-N. I want this to be the last dish I eat before I die
There are so many other dishes I want to learn from my dad. But that’s for another time.
Me with darling papa and youngest sis.
In the meantime, happy feasting this lunar new year!
With love,
Cheryl & Family
And here we go again. Yet another year, another set of 365 days of feasting, playing, working and bonding to be done.
I am buzzing with excitement, just thinking about all the cooking, baking, travelling, eating, exercising (yes i am going to resume muay thai!) I plan to do in 2012.
2011 was a splendid year for me, solely because of my wonderful family and friends. Work-wise, I got many opportunities and love-wise, I’m content. You won’t hear me complaining about 2011. Life is what you make of it. If you are given apples, make apple pie, if you are given curry leaves, make some curry!
Every year, I find myself enjoying a quieter New Year’s Eve and this year is no exception.
My colleague invited me to her home for a home-cooked meal and to usher in the New Year. She cooked seven dishes in total. I enjoyed every morsel very much. Spicy, just the way I like it.
I snapped some photos to share the joy Enjoy!
Fried Chicken. Very tasty.
Quail egg sambal. I like quail egg sambal alot and my colleague’s version is fantastic.
Square beans with chilli. It was excellent. Slightly crunchy, with the right amount of chillies.
This is black pepper beef. Again, very very spicy!
Sambal sotong.
Udang masak nanas. My goodness, this is the spiciest of the lot. But I have a high tolerance for spice 
This is my portion And only the first helping. I had seconds. Yes I am an unabashed eater. I like, I take more. Thank you Shen, for cooking for us. Really sweet of you.
Me and my colleagues. The lovely cook is the one in green, beside me. Her house is gorgeous. I had to take more pictures….
Her musical carousel is so quaint. Love it.
She also has many Santa Claus decorations around the house! My Christmas spirit is reignited. I don’t care if it is Chinese New Year in less than 4 weeks. I am still in a Christmas mood.
And now, I will enjoy the rest of today, and tomorrow before finally returning to the first work week of 2012.
To all my dear readers – thank you for your support all these years. This little blog of mine turns 7 this year. How fast time flies indeed. I will be posting more and cooking more for sure. You are in for a treat. Especially if you want to learn more about Peranakan food. I am embarking on a mission. A serious mission to master all my Dad’s Peranakan recipes so I can pass them on to my own children in future.
Till then, take care and be safe!
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