Comfort food

When I was young, I loved going to my Mamma (grandma's). Not only did she have tonnes of sweets for me but she was a fabulous cook. She was a typical Nonya (Straits-born Chinese) in her sarong kebaya (every single day) and always cooking, cooking, cooking. One of my favourite dishes of hers was 'see u bak' or pork stewed in dark sauce.

For years I tried re-creating the dish from memory because Mamma had no recipe (of course). My mum (who was also a good cook) didn't know. Finally, a few years ago when my aunt was visiting me in Bangkok, I asked if she knew how to cook it and she did. Best of all, she cooked it the way Mamma did.

This is comfort food for me. Reminds me of the days when I'd sit in Mamma's kitchen with a bowl of see u bak in front of me and a slice of soft white bread (those days no such thing as whole grain/multi-grain etc) before dunking it into the bowl till the bread is soaked with the soup.

I cook this often as it is very easy to cook and it keeps well if not finished (actually tastes better after a day or two).

Ingredients:

1 cinnoman stick
2 clove
2 star anise
4 cloves garlic (intact and with skin)

4-6 big pieces of pork ribs (I use ribs that have more meat on them)
2-3 hard boiled eggs
3-4 pieces of fried tofu

Method:

Fry spices with garlic in a pot with 1 -2 tbs oil. When fragrant, put in pork ribs and fry for 1 minute.

Add water (about 500ml). Add dark soya sauce (4 tbs), light soya sauce (2 tbs). Bring to boil. Then simmer for 45 minutes or till pork becomes tender. Add hard boiled egg, tofu and salt to taste.

Serve with rice or bread.