Читать книгу My Father's Kampung - Shawn Seah - Страница 14

Beyond speaking the dialect, being Teochew could also be about the food. My online friends from Teochew Facebook groups frequently post pictures of the mouth-watering Teochew food they are eating. As I am not a foodie, it is hard for me to describe food. But Teo Cheng Wee can, and he vividly described his childhood experiences:

I had countless meals of Teochew porridge with pickled cucumber, fermented beancurd, and salted egg—a meal combo which still frightens me today.

But the upside was the festive Teochew food my grandmother used to make.

I was only a few years old, but I remember she would toil for hours to make her delicious png kueh (rice cakes), filled with dried shrimp, mushroom, pork and peanuts, from scratch…

I also had to help dor bee , or sift rice grains, whenever the Dragon Boat Festival came around.11

When I read those lines he wrote, I felt really hungry. And my father and many people I interviewed had a love of Teochew cuisine. They seemed really happy when they talked about Teochew food. But most importantly, reminiscing like this helps them feel in touch with their identity most keenly.