Singapore's 50th celebration - looking back at our trading roots

A 'pepper mountain' in my family warehouse

I never realized how special it was to grow up in a food paradise and to be part of a food family business.

As Singapore celebrates it's 50th birthday, I look back to my family business, Hiang Kie - a coffee and spice trading and retail company. The growth of the business mirrored Singapore's change from busy entrepot trading port to wealthy 'first world' city.

Yes, my family business was actually a small piece of the historic spice trade story. My grandfather, a Chinese Indonesian immigrant, started a coffee and spice trading company in 1936. Singapore's multiculturalism is taken for granted now but at that time, the Chinese stuck with the Chinese. My grandfather was one of the few Chinese who looked beyond race and started doing business with the Indians and the Malays. Later, Lee Kwan Yew's multicultural policies started to take root and this became the norm in Singapore.

I remember our family godown - stocked with gunnysacks filled with coffee and spice. I distinctively remember the earthy smells of gunnysack, green coffee, roasted coffee and pepper. I also remember the loyal and extremely fit and hardened workers transporting the gunnysacks onto the open lorries. A big salute to these pioneers.

The Hiang Kie warehouse was situated in one of the shophouses in the business district, near the Singapore river, where the bumboats would transport all manner of goods into the bustling growing city of Singapore. Later, as Singapore's land grew costly, we moved further out into the fringes into Genting Lane and Woodlands.

Transporting coffee beans

As Singapore developed in the 80s and 90s, the retail and lifestyle sector also flourished. My father started a chain of coffee retail shops called Coffee Club and we worked hard at developing Singapore's first gourmet coffee retail shops. I am proud to have worked with my family during this period, to shape a coffee retail concept from scratch, in Singapore. The coffee trading arm of the company also continued to grow and we were selling our coffee and spice to household names like Nestle and McCormick.

It is important not to forget that the identity of a typical Singaporean is also intertwined with being Southeast Asian. My family had Indonesian roots and my grandfather and father spoke Bahasa. During the Japanese war, my grandfather fled to Cameron Highlands, Malaysia, and my father was born in those hills.

Growing up, family holidays to Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and later Indochina made a mark on me. One of my most memorable family trips was a food trip in Vietnam. We toured the countryside, sampled the food and visited the coffee plantations in Dalat. (Vietnam is the second biggest exporter of coffee). I was also drawn to Indonesia, learnt to speak a little Bahasa as I traveled the islands and visited many towns.

As I traveled in Southeast Asia and made friends, it reinforced the deep linkages we had with our neighbors. I realized how important it was to understand, respect and love their culture.

Coffee plantations in Dalat

Sadly, we lost our family business during the Asian economic crisis. It was heartbreaking to watch a third generation family business quietly fizzle out. Although we lost our family business, it is interesting to see the name of Hiang Kie breathe a life of its own in Hong Kong and Vietnam. It is a testament of the influence Hiang Kie had in its heyday and how the name still makes a mark in business even though the original owners no longer operate in this space.

As Singapore celebrates its success, I hope the people of Singapore will always remember their humble roots, their kinship with their Southeast Asian neighbors and their unique heritage. Majullah Singapura!

This post is written by Juyi Ong, grandaughter of Ong Wai Soeij, founder of Hiang Kie Trading Company (1936)

Back to school lunch ideas

My oldest is going to kindergarten this fall and that means packed lunches. I am now brainstorming and trying out different meals for him. I am inspired by the Japanese bento style of eating. 

This is what I found in the Japanese supermarket. Genmai Inari (brown sushi rice encased in tofu);
I paired it with 'baby mushrooms' fried in butter. The only way my picky vegetable eater would consume tomatoes and cucumbers is to have it in a sandwich. This time, I rolled tomatoes, cucumber, sliced chicken and a touch of hoisin sauce with rice paper rolls. The boys were intrigued with the rice paper. When you buy it in the supermarket, it so stiff like paper and when you damp it with water, it becomes rice skin! It's almost like a science experiment. Needless to say, the rice paper rolls were a surprising hit with the boys. You never know until you try.

For dessert, I got chocorooms (little chocolate mushrooms) They are delicious and reminds the boys of the little mushrooms in Fantasia.

Watch this space for more lunchbox ideas!

What to do with my tomato crop?

So I planted heirloom tomatoes in my garden box in the springtime. It's one of the easiest vegetables to grow for a novice gardener. Now in July, the tomatoes are ripening aplenty. And I am getting a bounty of tomatoes. I have to constantly think up more recipes to use up the tomatoes.  

A recipe I always fall back on is Shakshuka. 

(Adapted from Ottolenghi and Tamimi's cookbook, Jerusalem)

This is my adapted recipe: 

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 tsp tomato paste

2 large red peppers (diced)

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1tsp ground cumin

5 large, very ripe tomatoes, chopped

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add garlic, onions, pepper, cumin and 3/4 tsp salt. Stir and cook until peppers soften. Add the tomatoes and gently simmer the sauce. Cook until you have a thick sauce. Season accordingly.  It's that simple. You can either make small dips in the sauce and cook a few eggs in the sauce (be sure to watch them and don't overcook)

Or you can put the shakshuka sauce into jars and give it to friends as a gift (to make for breakfast).  Or freeze them for another lazy sunday morning. It's all good. 

Mee Pok in San Francisco

Let's talk about noodles. To the uninitiated, noodles are just that. But there's so much variety - the type of noodle, the type of sauce or soup can be mind boggling and then you have the different types of dishes from different regions - China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, etc.

One of my favorite noodles growing up in Singapore is Mee Pok (noodles from Chaozhou, South China). El dente wide noodles with a soya-chili-vinegar sauce. It is topped with fish ball, minced meat, sliced meat, fried garlic and sometimes fried lard. It is highly popular and good Mee Pok stalls always have long queues of customers. My favorite store growing up is Tai Wah Pork Noodles. The eatery used to be situated in a corner shophouse on the banks of the Singapore river. I would remember watching the workers ferrying goods into the godowns from the wooden bumboats as I slurped on Mee Pok.

San Francisco has it's very own Mee Pok store too! Hai Ky Mi Gia is a Teochew Vietnamese noodle house (Vietnamese Chinese from Chaozhou province) in Tenderloin (707 Ellis Street). The noodles were bouncy and el dente and the fish ball tasted home-made. You will have to add the soya-chili- vinegar sauces yourself.

Think Mezze!

Being married to a Middle Eastern, I am constantly being exposed to mezze-style food. I like this concept immensely. Mezze actually just means appetizer. But the Middle Easterns have perfected the practice of whetting your appetite. Typically, in a Turkish, Lebanese or Israeli restaurants, a mezze serving would consist of small plates of dips, morsels of deep fried food, grilled seafood, cheese and salad. This probably influenced the 'small plate' tapas culture in spain.

A Mezze serving looks impressive to serve at a party. It's a feast for the senses as it is made up of a variety of delectable food. It's the perfect accompaniment to drinks - to be enjoyed slowly with good friends. This Mezze was served for breakfast in Israel as part of an Israeli breakfast.

It's so easy to create your own mezze dish at home. Think mediterranean ingredients and add color and texture on your plate. Contrast fresh salads with grilled veges, fried items or even pickled items.
This mezze plate consists of (from top going clockwise) tomato and olive salad, fig with parmesan cheese, zucchini fritters and char grilled shishito peppers.

How to get you kids to like vegetables

I have a picky eater in my house so I am constantly trying to re-invent vegetables.
Recently my husband gave me a tapas cookbook and I discovered a wonderful stuffed mushroom recipe which I adapted slightly.

I fry some pancetta in my frying pan. Then I cut out the mushroom stalks, dice them and add it to the pancetta in the frying pan. Then, in a separate bowl, I stir some breadcrumbs, lemon rind and chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper. I add the pancetta mix to the breadcrunbs and fill up the mushrooms and mini bellpepers. Pop it into the oven to bake for 15 minutes. Who says Sunday dinners had to be roast meat? My kids loved it!

Are you ready for the year of the goat?

Get ready for lunar new year in the Bay Area
Get into the mood and visit the San Francisco Flower Fair in Chinatown on the 14th and 15th of Feb. 

Watch The Reunion Dinner, a touching and nostalgic short film by Singapore filmmaker Anthony Chen. It captures old Singapore and the mood of the new year. 

The reunion dinner is the all-important event on new year's eve. (evening of Feb 18) Families get together and feast. In some households it's hotpot (steamboat) in others, it's roast duck and yet others it's dumplings. 

My family reunion dinner has always been hot pot (steamboat). Thinly sliced beef, fishballs, seafood, a mountain of vegetables and noodles cooked in chicken broth. At the end of the meal, as we add more and more ingredients to the stock, the soup gets richer and is filled with 'umami' flavor.  

What's your reunion dinner going to be like? 

Share pictures of your reunion dinner with us!

Rice cakes in the shape of red tortoises symbolizing long life 

Who doesn't love Chinese New Year? The perfect excuse to get a new wardrobe (new clothes for the new year), red packets (for the kids) and 15 days of feasting. Traditionally, the week before, Chinese families are busy cleaning the house and stocking up on cookies and food. I remember going to night markets in Singapore, selecting plants and flowers for the house. Spring blossoms, narcissus and orange trees are auspicious plants for the new year. Every household will be stocking up on tangerines and oranges too (symbolic for gold). Chinese New Year is a time for visiting family and friends. Remember to bring even numbered (2,4,6 or 8) oranges with you, wear happy colors and you'll be safe from the radar glare of any superstitious grandmas.