Lace Zhang - Three Dishes One Soup: Inside the Singapore Kitchen

Lace Zhang

Editor: Lydia Leong
Designer: Bernard Go Kwang Meng
All photographs by Lace Zhang except those on

pages by Teresa Teng

2018 Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited

Published by Marshall Cavendish Cuisine
An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International

All rights reserved

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Limits of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The Author and Publisher of this book
have used their best efforts in preparing this book. The Publisher makes no
representation or warranties with respect to the contents of this book and is not
responsible for the outcome of any recipe in this book. While the Publisher has
reviewed each recipe carefully, the reader may not always achieve the results
desired due to variations in ingredients, cooking temperatures and individual
cooking abilities. The Publisher shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit
or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental,
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National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Names: Zhang, Lace.

Title: Three dishes one soup : inside the Singapore kitchen / Lace Zhang.
Description: Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Cuisine, [2018]

Identifiers: OCN 1017762089 | 978-981-4828-03-1 (eISBN)

Subjects: LCSH: Cooking, Singaporean. | Cooking, Chinese. | LCGFT:
Cookbooks.

Classification: DDC 641.595957--dc23

To my mummy and daddy

Fried Shallots/Garlic
and Shallot/Garlic Oil 16

Century Egg and
Minced Meat Congee 20

Steamed Minced Pork
with Salted Egg 38

Grandpa Zhangs
Fried Chicken Wings 44

Steamed Fish with
Fermented Soy Beans 46

Stir-fried Cabbage with
Dried Shrimps 66

Stir-fried Snow Peas with
Baby Corn and Carrot 68

Stir-fried Bean Sprouts
with Salted Fish 70

Lotus Root, Peanut and
Pork Rib Soup 74

Lotus Seed and
White Fungus Dessert 100

This book would not have been possible without:

My granny, who feeds the family so well and takes care of us so
selflessly. She sparked the initial concept of this book and she is
the glue that binds everyone together. We are truly spoilt by her.

Auntie Alicia, who took care of me when I was younger and helped
cook all our Lunar New Year meals. She patiently taught me how to
make all these familiar dishes. It wouldnt be the same without her food.

My mummy and daddy, who helped me get all the ingredients for doing
this book while I was busy at work. They taste-tested what I cooked and
gave me feedback about the food. My dad finally revealed his secret of
being an excellent cook and shared all the amazing dishes he watched
my grandpa make.

Ian, for all his valuable advice.

Steph, from Anywhere Social, who helped with the website
(www.aroundthediningtable.com) and for her genuine involvement
and interest in this little project of mine.

Yaoen and Guofeng, who helped take the photo that would eventually
become the cover page!

Carol and Teresa, who helped with the very first mock-up of the book.
It has now evolved into a completely different animal, but some pictures
used here are the ones taken by Teresa for the initial draft.

Violet and Auntie Eileen, who generously loaned me the cutlery for the
first mock-up of this book.

Lennard and Tiffanie, who contributed their recipes, and Kimberly, who
gave me the idea of making chicken essence from stories of her mum.

Lydia, my editor, for taking the chance to meet with a girl who had
a dream to write a cookbook and ultimately to make all this possible...
She helped fine-tune things, gave me advice and encouraged me to
take the pictures for this book all on my own something I would
never have attempted otherwise allowing me to learn so much more
in the process.

Food is Memories.

~ The Hundred-Foot Journey

I look around the wooden table, every inch laden
with a dish or a pot. Theres golden and gleaming
ngoh hiong, piping hot and crisply promising; theres
sweet and sour fish, glistening red and interspersed
with chunks of pineapple; theres a plate of stir-fried
vegetables, two kinds of roast meats chopped into
chunks, stir-fried noodles for the vegetarians, pork
belly stewed in soy sauce with whole unpeeled garlic
cloves nestled between chunks of tender meat, a
plate of fried chicken wings, braised bean curd skin
and a pot of collagen-rich fish maw soup, chock-full
of ingredients

I am amazed at how my maternal grandmother
always manages to whip up this spectacular feast all
on her own every Lunar New Year. Her tiny living room