For The Last Few Happily Quiet CNYs, I is Reminded Of Maternal Ah Ma

The feisty awesome cook of the clan who loves all her grandkids.  Some of them gramps of her era can be incredibly biased of grandkids from the sons + daughters.

I've blogged of Ah Ma here a few times, and it shall be the same again, to reminiscence of her kindness + cooking skills.  Well, I'm inspired to blog of her 'cos of something that mom said last night, over the phone to one of her sisters (my aunt) of Ah Ma.

"Actually, when Ma is still around + weak, we should not let her cook for CNYs and get catering instead!  It drains so much of her energy to cook for so many of us!  *pause*  Yah, she would accept if we make her + order in advance, then she can do nothing about it."

I was appalled to hear that, and thankfully, this thought only came after Ah Ma expired for sometime.

Mom is a very one-minded who often don't have the heart to think of the other party of what they want, she'd just bulldoze into what she thinks is right.  In short, she never cares if it's what the other person wants.

If she gets her way, the other person is marked "good" and of course "bad" if they voice out or rebel.  I'm often the prodigal daughter who fight for whatever equality + justice I can get in the household, and sometimes on behalf of dad + bro + sis.

But I digress.  Mom shouldn't be the limelight of my thoughts of Ah Ma.

Ah Ma headed a canteen back in the industrial era of S'pore where workers were by the tens, if not hundreds.  She can make food magic with the hands of hers and I often lamented at mom at why she didn't inherit the awesome skill to make us happy meals.

Mom has a poor judgement of ingredients, she doesn't know how to choose the good ones despite near to 40 years of cooking in her life.  Le sigh.  There're cooks and there're cooks, I guess.

Sorry, I digressed again.

With experience heading a canteen, Ah Ma has alot of recipes in her head, my growing up years is often well-fed of her magical cooking whenever we visit in the weekends.  How magical she was that simple food can taste so heavenly that mom couldn't replicate with our begging requests. 

Like fried chicken wings.

Ah Ma's always fragrant, well-seasoned, crispy and golden brown.  Mom's entirely opposite.  I think this is why we're all skinny under mom's culinary leadership = we're malnourished at our tastebuds.

Oops.  HAHAHAHA.

Come every Chinese New Year, Ah Ma would labour in the kitchen for 3 days prior, so her brood of kids + sons/daughter-in-laws + grandkids could feast on the products of her loving magical hands.  My mouth would water at the thought of them now.....

Curry chicken
Lye cakes (bought)
Braised sea cucumber with duck + dried mushrooms.
Ngoh hiang.
Stir-fry tang-hoon.
Braised dried bamboo shoots.  --> I heard this takes the most effort to make
Balacan chilli + a squeeze of fresh lime juice.  --> dad + some uncles + aunts would eat the lye cakes with just that
Pepper pork stomach soup.
Fried prawn fritters
Red dates + longan tea.  --> the only thing I avoid

In Ah Ma's late years, where her body starts getting weak, she'd still insist on making these CNY staples for all of us despite our callings to slow down + make everything a simple meal.  Astute o' Ah Ma would often reply, "No! I have to do it, or when I'm gone, you all won't be able to eat them anymore!"

Then all of us would CHOY at her words + my folks + aunts + uncles + us grandkids would reply that she'd live a ripe old age + live to see her great-great-great grandkids.  Well, Ah Ma was a great grandma at the time she expired.

But what a visionary Ah Ma was, none of my aunts (even more so my mom) has her culinary fingers.

I remember to smell the food she's cooking when I'm about to near her door come a visiting when I was a little kid.  And announce aloud of what Ah Ma's cooking + be often right.  Mom would say I've a very sharp nose.

Ah, Ah Ma's bak-zhang.....laksa.....hae-biah-zee (fried prawn dough cakes).....yam cake.....mee-hoon-kway.....that awesome pestled-dried-shrimps-cucumber-onions-chilli Malay food......

Ah Ma is a gambler who often pawn her jewelry to fund her losing hobby, and some of our aunts would redeem them back + chided her for giving up like that.  In the end, her favourite son (my youngest uncle) took them all to fund his gambling debts.

Other than that, Ah Ma is a real spunky one who would follow elderly tours to China + take a bus to her sister's for some little gambling fun at her late 70s.  Mom wouldn't even go over to Pasir Ris, or Farmart for fresh produce.

Ah Ma would approve all of her grandkids' love interest + welcome them with joy, she even learnt some smatter of English to talk to sis's ex-Belgian boyfriend that tickled us no end.

And whenever Ah Ma hear of her kids or grandkids very ill with cold or flu, she'd take the public transport to visit them without a call.  She has to do that because we'd tell her not to visit from her old age, we were worried of the roads for her.

Ah, Ah Ma.  She has expired for more than 3 years, exact time that I'd forgotten (not good with numbers), and still lovingly remembered by us.

I'm so glad thoughtless mom didn't manage to kill Ah Ma's love in time by that idea of doing catering for CNYs.  *shivers*