Tua Chye Pung.

Hi there,

Yesterday, 26th October, 2013, mummy cook "Tua Chye Pung" for dinner. I had taken some photos and I would like to record how she did it, so that you all can learn from it. The recipe was from my mother, but mummy modified it to suit her taste. I love mummy's recipe. It is simple and easy to cook. You will need the following ingredients:
(1) Tua Chye. The type that you used for Chye Boi.
(2) A slice of pork belly meat. Boil in a pot until soft. Retain the stock for cooking the rice. The cooked pork is the julienne and set aside.
(3) Dried prawns. A handful, wash and put aside. Do not soak in water. Lose its sweetness.
(4) Dried oysters. Mummy loves them. Soak 6 or 7 pieces in water earlier, to soften them.
(5) Fresh prawns,  a small cup, for a tastier and sweeter taste.
(6) Rice, measured and washed in a big sieve to be fried together with the ingredients.
(7) Shallots and garlic for taste. Peeled, washed and cut.

Picture 1.  The Tua Chye is cut and soak in water to remove any residual insecticide. The vegetable must be rinsed a few times before they are added to the rice.

Picture 2. Dried prawns. Just wash a few times and put them aside. Do not soak in water or they would lose their sweetness.

Picture 3. Soak a few dried oysters in water much earlier so that they would be soft enough to cook when the time comes.

Picture 4. A slice of pork belly meat that has been boiled in a pot until soft and tender. The meat is then julienne and put aside.

Picture 5. A small bowl of fresh sea prawns to sweeten the rice.

Picture 6.  Measure the right amount of rice, wash it and put it aside.

Picture 7. Peel a few shallots and garlic, wash and cut and put aside.

Now, all the ingredients are ready. Take a clean wok, put some oil and fry the shallots and garlic first. Then put in the dry prawns, fry until aromatic. Then add in the dry oysters, follow by the fresh prawns, pork meat and stir fry, mixing all the ingredients properly. Add in some pepper and sesame oil for fragrant and taste. Then put in the rice and finally the vegetable. At this stage, pour in the pork belly stock and stir fry everything. Let the whole thing boil for a short while. Then scoop up the whole thing into the rice cooker and then cook like you would with the normal rice.

Picture 8.  Stir fry everything and mix well. Then add in some salt, pepper and sesame oil for taste.

Picture 9.  Scoop everything into the rice cooker pot and then cook like you would with rice.

Picture 10.  Then cook everything in the rice cooker. Make sure the water (or the pork stock) is sufficient.

Picture 11.  Done! The Tua Chye Pung is ready to be served.

Picture 12.  Dinner is served!

 With this pictorial description,  I think it would be quite simple to cook this dish. And with a bit of imagination,  a slight change of ingredients to suit your taste-buds, you can cook practically anything that you fancy.  You can cook long beans rice (Chye Tao Pung), Pumpkin rice (Kim Kua Pung) and even chicken rice.  Come to think of it, cooking isn't that difficult after all, especially if you are cooking it for your own self.  When there is nobody to criticize you nor degrade you, then you are good to go.  To me, as long as the food is properly cooked, it is good to go.  I hope you all like this "Tau Chye Pung" as much as I do. This is a typical Hokkien dish.

Pa.