Ma's Cabbage Rice (serves 6 to 8)

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Ma's cabbage rice

Thng Lay Teen 
Sun, May 01, 2005
The Sunday Times 


A SIMPLE dish can bring back lots of childhood memories. Like cabbage rice, which is often referred to as 'chye png' in Hokkien.

During my childhood days in the 1960s, my mother would cook this all-in-one dish with dried shrimps, vegetables and pork slices whenever it rained.

Eaten steaming hot when the weather was cold, it was comfort food at its best.

Simmered gently over low heat, the wok of rice would cook slowly, absorbing the sweet, natural flavours of the ingredients.

There would be a thin layer of burnt crust at the bottom of the wok which some of my siblings (there are eight of us) would fight over.

The original recipe uses a can of stewed pork chops, but if you prefer fresh food, lean meat or pork belly would do as well.

Since Mother's Day is just around the corner, making the dish is the best tribute to my 86-year-old mother that I can think of.

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Ma's Cabbage Rice (serves 6 to 8)

Ingredients


1kg rice

1,050ml water

1kg cabbage (break off leaves, wash and tear into big sections)

1 big can of stewed pork chops (can substitute with 350g pork belly or lean meat, sliced)

4 Tbs oil (for frying)

3 shallots (finely sliced)

3 garlic (chopped) 
Seasoning


1 Tbs fish sauce

1 tsp salt (to taste)

1 tsp pepper 
Method

1. Wash and drain rice. Leave aside.

2. Remove bones from pork chops in can and mash with a fork. Leave aside. If you are using pork belly or lean meat, cut into thin slices.

3. Heat wok, add oil and fry dried prawns till fragrant. Remove from wok.

4. Put in shallots to fry, followed shortly by chopped garlic. Place cabbage and dried prawns in next and fry for about two minutes. If you are using pork belly or lean meat, put it in to fry for about 1-2 minutes just before putting in the cabbage. But you need a little more oil, about half a tablespoon, to fry the meat.

5. Put in rice, stewed pork and gravy from the can and fry about 1-2 minutes to mix them evenly.

6. Put in water, make sure it covers the rice. Put the lid back on and let the water boil. Once it boils, lower the heat and let it simmer for about 10 minutes before stirring rice gently. Cover wok and let it simmer for about 10 minutes more.

7. Stir rice gently, cover wok and let it cook over low heat for about 10 minutes before adding the seasoning. It is ready to serve.

Tips

1. If you want to cook the dish in a rice cooker, transfer everything there after step 5. Add water and seasoning and let the cooker do the rest.

2. Using the canned stewed pork chops (I usually use Narcissus brand) and cooking the rice slowly in a wok gives the best result.