PETALING JAYA, Jan 11 ― We’re crazy about Pheng’s Kitchen’s acar kiam hoo or pickled salt fish.
Quite simply, we can just eat the appetising acar with a plate of steaming hot white rice. And nothing else.
The spicy umami-laden sauce with the slightly salty chunks of fish transforms plain rice into the most satisfying of meals.
Pop a whole shallot or a garlic clove from the acar into your mouth. Brave ones can pick the tiny power packed chili padi. Crunch, chew and you get a burst of the rich spices. Heaven! This is the ultimate pantry saviour.
Started last year, the home-grown brand is run by Tan Lee Pheng or “Pheng.” The 44-year-old homemaker grew up in a Peranakan household where she was taught how to cook by her 67-year-old Malaccan Nyonya mother who is known by many as Aunty Nancy.
According to Pheng, the homemade acar kiam hoo was given as gifts to family and close friends during the Chinese New Year festivities. The family also made acar chilli, pickled chillies stuffed with papaya or cucumber that requires tedious work like sun-drying the fruits and vegetables.
This year, she was persuaded by friends who got hooked on her family’s acar kiam hoo to turn it into a homegrown food venture. “Five months ago, I brought the acar for a potluck party with my line dance group who liked it so much,” she says.
She decided to market the bottled acar under the label, Pheng’s Kitchen. It bears the same name as the food blog she started last February to document her cooking adventures.
The recipe for the acar was passed down by Pheng’s great-grandmother. The Nyonya matriarch was known in Malacca as “Bibik Bakul” as she used to weave baskets at the family’s shop on Cross Street, off Jonker Street. The whole family has relocated to Kuala Lumpur since then.
Pheng works closely with her father, Uncle Tan, 69 and her mother who helps her to prepare the acar. Working as a team, each of the family members have their own roles to keep them occupied.
“We make a good trio as my father is into cooking and can’t sit still,” says Pheng. The sprightly Uncle Tan is the one doing the hard work as he slowly tumis or saute the rempah or ground spice paste in a hot wok for it to become aromatic before sugar, vinegar and deep fried salted fish are added.
Aunty Nancy’s task is to peel the whole shallots and garlic cloves that are then tossed into the acar.
She keeps things relaxed, as she multi-tasks by sneaking glances at her favourite Korean dramas on television as she does her peeling duty. Lastly, Pheng carefully divides and packs the acar in bottles. Usually, the acar is left to steep for a few days to allow the flavours to develop.
When it comes to the acar, Pheng exhibits the typical characteristics of a Nyonya cook – being fussy about the ingredients and how everything is cooked. The exacting standards are followed to make sure the acar is an exceptional product.
For instance, only ingredients sourced from trusted suppliers all the way from Malacca are used for the acar. An important element is the salted fish, made only from good quality ikan kurau or “tanau.”
According to Pheng, a good salted fish must be medium sized. If the fish is too large in size, this means the flesh will be too coarse. For a small-sized fish, the flesh will be too flaky and disintergrate in the acar. Their supplier which they have used for the past 40 years is able to source for the good quality salted fish that has a lightly salted taste and still moist texture.
The acar is only made in small batches, to keep its quality intact. Each batch cooked in a large pot produces 30 bottles, the perfect proportion that the Tans have worked with throughout the years. According to Uncle Tan, the Peranakans have this saying, if you increase too much, the taste changes. Just like char kuey teow, the taste differs when you fry the noodles, plate by plate.
Unlike other acar kiam hoo, Pheng’s family version is a little unique. The pickle includes sun-dried chili padi, shallots, garlic cloves and curry leaves. They are all kept whole and tossed in the acar mixture once the sauce is ready. This gives a bite to the acar.
“We let it sit for a couple of days for the onions and garlic to absorb the rempah,” says Pheng. Bite into a crunchy shallot and you will find it infused with the aromatic spices. It’s Pheng’s favourite part of the acar. The acar is preservative-free with a life span of six months stored in a cool and dry environment. As the acar sits longer, it gets better as the flavours develop.
Pheng’s childhood was a rich one filled with memories of the family’s Malaccan shophouse where everyone gathered together to play Cherki (an old Peranakan game) as they chatted about their favourite topic -- food.
When her mother worked in a clinic, the 13-year-old Pheng would cook lunch for the family before she went to school. “It was just simple dishes like fried fish, tau eu bak or vegetables.” Her cooking repertoire grew after she got married.
As her mother-in-law is a Penang Nyonya, she also inherited her recipes including acar hu or fried fish, acar awak or vegetable pickles and inche kabin or fried chicken. Pheng also packs the inche kabin spice mix and sells it to customers for RM3.
One of her greatest treasures is her beloved grand aunt or “kim poh”’s family recipes of dishes like ayam buah keluak, acar chili and curry chicken, all beautifully written in cursive script. Over the years, she has been intent on collecting recipes that reflect her Peranakan heritage.
The demand for the acar has seen it travelling to places like England, Vietnam, and the Phillipines. Feedback from friends have them pairing the acar with fried beehoon or even blanched ladies fingers for a carb-free option.
According to Aunty Nancy, you can even add petai beans and prawns to the acar to create a makeshift dish of sambal petai prawn. One fan of the acar - the owner of Checkers Restaurant in Damansara Heights has even turned stockist for the appetising pickle. Moving forward, Pheng hopes to expand production for the acar. And like any Nyonya, this is with the strict condition that quality is maintained.
The acar kiam hoo retails for RM8.50 per bottle. For Pheng’s Kitchen’s stockists, see http://www.phengskitchen.com
This story was first published in Crave in the print edition of The Malay Mail on January 10, 2014
