H O S T E D
Resonating strongest with me from the lunch at @restaurantkin.sg was this - the “Selar”.
Yes, it is probably seen as simple compared to the more labour-intensive dishes (hellooooo Nasi Ulam) but it is #Noshtalgia for me as I grew up eating this very often at home.
My late maternal grandmother who looked after us, use to prepare it at least once or twice a week. And when I got to my tween years, I was roped in to help. The process would involve cutting big red chillies (and shallots if we were going to have the other rempah that incorporated belachan), then hand-pounding it with buah keras (candlenut) using a traditional stone pestle and mortar. I would then carefully stuff the spicy paste into the Selar which I had made a lengthwise slit in prior. Later on, I was also put in charge of the frying which would see me skittishly hopping around the wok to avoid the splitter-splatter of the hot oil when I slid the fishes in. After a few attempts, I managed to produce much better looking results. The earlier fishes I fried looked like a mess as I had a tendency to flip them too soon, which made their not-yet-completely-crisped and hardened skin stick to the wok and tear. At the table, we would pour some light soya sauce over before digging in. But ah, those were the good ol’ days before we were told to watch our sodium intake.