My love for wet markets
Rambling about grocery shopping and cooking + an excellent cookbook you should check out
Hello, hello.
I started writing this post like a week and a half ago but then I got interrupted by the previous clams post and also gave myself food poisoning at the start of my break, which I was VERY upset about. If you must know, I am a huge fan of leftovers and ate this 10-day old chocolate bread that I was testing, which was sitting at room temperature. To be fair there wasn’t visible mould but I suppose the 31°C weather here doesn’t keep microorganisms away. Ha!
Cooking for sanity.
While baking is my profession, cooking is real pleasure for me. Have I already mentioned this in a previous post? I feel like I have. It allows me to really slow down; to really be present and focus on what I’m doing in the now. Kind of like yoga. It engages my senses and tickles my brain. Exploring ingredients (native to different cuisines) and using them in ways I am unfamiliar with. Cooking food of another country/culture helps me learn more about the world out there and realise I’m so small, a feeling I particularly love and find myself craving? Weird, I know. It’s all so exciting - what you don’t yet know, how much there is out there if you only make the effort to venture out.
I used to really look forward to my off days — they were days where the clock didn’t exist and I could do things at my own pace and really enjoy them. As you already know, I nerd out on cookbooks and scour the food internet A LOT. As a result, I always have a long list of dishes I want to try my hand at. I jump at the opportunity on an off day to cross that long list off. Even better if I’m planning to cook for friends or family. (I’ve been finding it a little more difficult to disconnect from work ever since starting Wheathead and on off days, sometimes I deal with a lot of mental exhaustion, so I haven’t cooked in a non-hurried manner in a long time.)
SUPERMARKETS ARE NOT VERY SUPER. WET MARKETS ARE.
As with all kinds of cooking, sourcing ingredients is the very first step. Throughout the week, I’m only afforded the convenience of supermarkets. I close both eyes so that the subpar produce (sometimes rotting) doesn’t offend my very existence. You would think looking for herbs in a supermarket isn’t like playing in between. (The first time I played that stupid game, I lost $500 - like, real money. not monopoly money. I will never play it again.) BUT IT IS?!?! Sometimes I have to go to four different supermarkets to get what I’m after, but I’ve learned that you can pull through with multiple eye rolls and some under-the-breath cursing.
Which means! A trip to the wet market in the morning ON A WEEKDAY is sheer joy. As a baker, I’m used to early starts. (read: used to, not enjoy) So getting up at 7 or 8 am is eaaaasy and a treat. It gets my blood pumpin’. The seafood is fresh! The vegetables are glorious! You don’t have to buy a packet of five tomatoes when you only need one! Free spring onion and coriander when you buy enough! The MINT isn’t slowly getting choked to death! WAIT THERE’S MINT? The ears of corn are still in their husks and not pale and insipid! They’re sweet, juicy, crunchy! And at those prices! Two chicken legs don’t cost $6!
If you’re younger and don’t go to the wet market because it’s dirty and hot or because you’re intimidated — can I urge you to? Put on some sneakers, have sanitiser or wet wipes on hand, have a dedicated pouch for wet market money so you can put change from the butcher that you have to pretend not to gingerly handle. It’s SUCH a treasure trove and you’ll start to scowl at the stale fish and prawns that fairprice offers, or the pork that’s been lying in the cabinet for god-knows-how-long. Don’t get me started on the super sketch chicken that was “packed 12-06-2023” and still on sale on 14-06-2023.
It’s also easier to get acquainted with stall owners, because they love telling you that they don’t see young people coming to the market, and what do you do? wow you know how to cook? so rare these days! So yes, you’ll stick out - but for all the right reasons. The market I visit most is Block 16 Bedok South Market, because you can get pretty much everything there. There are good butchers (chicken, pork, sometimes lamb/mutton/beef), an outstanding fishmonger, and a crab wholesale stall where you can get rejects at lower prices (Crabs that have one pincer larger that the other. APPARENTLY some animals are more equal than other animals.) And SO many vegetable stalls. And they’re all GOOD. I used to roll my eyes at my mum when she insisted on going to some faraway wet market because it was a “good market” but now I take those eye rolls back. Mum’s right — there are markets, and then there are good markets. Tekka and Chinatown are both excellent. If you know of/shop at another good one, please feel free to share it with me!
I love browsing multiple stalls brimming with fresh produce, each one trying to outdo the other by offering lower prices. You get acquainted with what each stall’s USP is and find your way around. Some owners are friendlier, some not so. You’ll find the ones that have a special something that others don’t. It could be herbs like dill/basil/thyme, or a specific type of lettuce, or really good cherry tomatoes on the vine at a really good price. The wet market is your oyster!! ALSO, once you get to know your market people, they like throwing in a good deal for you or telling you what’s best that day.
I usually go with my mum because a) I can’t speak mandarin to save my life and b) I can’t speak dialect either and c) the stall owners stress me out because they have to work so quickly. So yes, I kiiinda lied. I’m not all that brave. I hide behind my mum even at age 30. Just kidding. I just stand next to her and ask her to translate. If you have someone older or who knows their way around to go with, do that!
And the best way to end a trip to the market? Some good ol’ coffee to really start the day while watching old(er) people going about their daily banter.
Sheng Shiong is the bee’s knees.
Ok, so. I used to dislike sheng shiong because it was so similar to a wet market. In terms of smell and cleanliness. BUT you’ll realise this is actually a good thing. SS has fresh seafood and clams almost every day. Their pork is fresh and moves fast. Their range is pretty standard and consistent. Their prices are better, and their produce fresher. The quality of the fruit they have, when in season, is just MILES better. Their reduced-to-clear section ACTUALLY functions.
Check out this gigantic bag of vegetables I got for $1.50 the other day! (One of my favourite meals is just simple stir-fried vegetables with a fried egg or two and chili crisp. It literally takes no time to put together if you already have rice in your fridge.)
Plus, another bag of four cucumbers for $1. All the smashed cucumber salads to be had! I love saving produce from getting thrown away because I like feeling heroic everyday ok, and you deserve to, too.
Sometimes they have mud crabs; other times they have beautiful flower crabs. And other times they have whole spanish mackerel, beautiful large prawns, etc. It’s also always fun and thrilling when you see some seafood that makes an appearance! Like razor clams and the like.
So anyway, the other day on a particularly uninspiring day, I picked up a particularly inspiring book: Mother Tongue by Gurdeep Loyal
I was soaking in some existential dread and decided to make a pit stop at the library to maybe pick my mood up and boy was I glad I did. The first book I laid eyes on was Mother Tongue - its cover is striking and a quick flip of the pages made me realise that sometimes, it is okay to judge a book by its cover. More than okay, actually.
Loyal has Indian roots but grew up in the UK, so his recipes are fundamentally Indian but with very exciting twists on them. He lets on about how he thinks of and plays with flavours, and I love when it’s a refreshing take. I find that few cookbook authors actually manage to have your interest piqued this throughout their book.
While his book calls for several types of spices and ingredients that are a little uncommon such as sumac and dried black lime, I fortunately have a very well-stocked pantry from my never-ending hoarding.
I made a very delicious curry leaf, lemongrass & aleppo pepper roast chicken; cucumber & black lime raita; hot curry-crunch roasties (BOMB roasted potatoes). And then I also roasted some zucchini with ghee and cumin seeds to go along and it was heaven.
I wanted to show you parts of the process that reminded me just how GREAT and EXCITING cooking is.
The first thing I did was to brine the roast chicken which involved fresh ginger, some amchoor and lots of lemon juice. Amchoor in a brine! That’s new to me. I also didn’t have amchoor so I think I used sumac LOL. And then making the rub for the chicken, which was a crazy fragrant spice paste. I felt like a kid at the candy store.
First, you fry coriander and fennel seeds in oil. Then, you throw in curry leaves. OH. MY. GOD. Spices frying in fat are truly one of the best experiences to live for.
And then you blitz all that up with more aromatics like lemongrass, garlic, aleppo, etc. and season with salt and sugar. You know how, with some recipes, you JUST know they’re going to be SO BOMB?
Loyal has you brine the chicken for about an hour, dry it, then smother this beautiful spice paste all over, and let the chicken marinate for 2-3 hours. I did this over two days because.. poor planning but, why not amirite. With spice paste marinades you don’t really have to worry about the chicken starting to break down after a certain number of hours, so I let it sit overnight.
The next day all I had to do was pull out the chicken, roast it, and cook the other dishes. On to the potatoes!
Once again, he has you infuse oil with aromatics that we all know and love. Garlic, shallots, curry leaves, chili. Crazy smells again!! You basically fry them till crispy, drain the oil, use that to toss the potatoes in, then save the crunchies for finishing when the taters are out of the oven! MAD LOVE.
You know, all these things take time, and cooking really DEMANDS your attention. If you start to get impatient and rush things, then the beauty of cooking really gets lost. I found myself wanting to skip steps at one point because I was a little frazzled but then I realised that the whole point of me cooking was to really slow down. So, if you’re cooking in a rush, it’s no good for recipes like these where it really rewards patience — knowing what temperature your oil is at for frying by listening to how quickly it’s bubbling, making sure your garlic is fragrant and not burnt by smelling it.
He then has you make a “curry-crunch sprinkle” for coating your parboiled potatoes in. It’s a mixture of spices and semolina and polenta for crunch.
And then the raita is really simple. It’s a salt-sugar cure with blitzed up dried black lime which is just intoxicating. Cure your thinly sliced cukes for about 5 minutes, then mix that with yogurt, mint, coriander, lime juice and zest. This was soo good. Dried black lime is sharp but in a mellowed way; you don’t get that freshness of fresh limes - duh, but I don’t know how else to describe it.
As I really like vegetables a lot, I roasted some zucchini on high heat till the outside got a little charred and the interior, meltingly tender. SO TASTY. Please give zucchini more love. It’s not bland, you are. Basically melt some ghee, maybe infuse a smashed garlic clove for flavour, toast cumin seeds in it, then drizzle all that over half-moons of zucchini and toss with enough salt to make your zucchini sing. Throw that in the oven at 220°C with top heat, preferably, for about 12-15 minutes. It’s so buttery from the ghee and it just melts in your mouth. I could cry.
ALL TOGETHER! (No, I don’t have the energy to make this look like a styled picture out of a cookbook.)
Here is a picture of a very delicious plate, which does not look all that delicious from the terrible lighting. I ask for your pardon.
It made me extraordinarily happy because all dishes were flavour bombs. And to pull this off on a working weekday! Ok if you’ve noticed the burnt garlic slices on the zucchini, you got me. Don’t do that LOL although I happily ate it.
If you can, borrow a copy of this cookbook at your library and make plans to cook from it! If I could clone myself, my clone would be cooking out of it for the entire month and everyone would be happy.
Thanks for reading all the way, if you have. If you haven’t.. thanks either way!
BISOUS
M.