Ah Loy

Then there was Ah Loy.  She was the resident cook in Grandpa's country house. She was an easy going and patient woman who minded her own business.  She mostly learnt her Nonya cooking from another elderly aunt staying with us.  She soon became very adept in cooking popular dishes such as "Lor Bak" and "Joo Hoo Char" and also learnt to make "bak chang" (glutinous rice dumplings) for the Festival of the Patriotic Poet and "kuih ee" (glutinous rice balls) for Winter Solstice.  We kids had a lot of fun helping her!  I also still remember her fried mackerel with sambal filling which was a great favourite with us.  In those days, we didn't have a blender, so she would patiently pound the chillies,"belacan" (prawn paste) and other ingredients in a small mortar - and her sambal always tasted great! Sadly, she too had to return to her homeland after many years with us, taking with her a rich legacy in Nonya culinary.