Friday, May 8, 2020

Hong Bak

Hello everyone. It's May 2020. We will remember this time because the whole world is going through something which I may say, is unprecedented. We are in the middle of a pandemic. Most of us are staying at home and many have taken up cooking and baking, and are becoming home chefs.



Today, I'm sharing a traditional Nyonya recipe which is a little less known. It is probably because the most important ingredient, cekur, is quite hard to find. I'm only cooking this now because the cekur we planted has finally grown enough for me to harvest its roots.





I looked up the English name for this spice, and it's called "lesser galangal" or "sand ginger". The scientific name is Kaempferia galanga. I suppose you can find this root in some of the markets but I personally have not seen it sold anywhere.


The cekur, or "cekoq" as most Penangites call it, gives a distinctive fragrance and flavor to this rather unusual dish. I remember this dish as my mom made it. She also cooked it with duck (Hong Ak) which works very well, or even better than pork.


Another important ingredient is the coriander seeds. You can use coriander powder but it's best to toast whole coriander seeds and then grind them. Your nose can very clearly notice the difference.

Below is the recipe.


I can't remember where the recipe came from but I know I copied it long ago from one of my mom's collections. After more than 10 years I finally got around cooking it myself. I look forward to recreating this dish many more times. I hope you will enjoy this recipe.

I wish everyone good health and may we overcome this pandemic soon. Blessings to all!