Hae Chor

I am a Teochew ah nia but sad to say, I have limited knowledge about Teochew cuisines. Unlike some people who have family recipes passed down from generations, I don't have any. Teochew food to me is muay (porridge) with some side dishes such as cai poh nengh (radish omelette), fishcakes and cai buey (preserved vegetables), loh ah (braised duck), orh ni (yam dessert) and steamed pomfret. I remember my dad, being the Teochew Ah Hia (now ah pek), used to like to bring us to eat Teochew muay when I was little (even now). Strangely, I never quite enjoy those meals and would rather have rice than the muay. My mum always says I'm more like her because she's a khek who prefers rice.

V has a Teochew recipe book (Soya and Spice) and raved to me about the hae chor recipe in it. I had always thought that it's another name for ngoh hiang. But the author wrote that the original dish is hae chor until restaurants started to wrap it in beancurd sheets. I'd tried making ngoh hiang before but it wasn't very successful. This hae chor recipe is not only easy to make, the end product is very yummy and juicy prawn balls. I didn't have any water chestnuts at home but I don't think it mattered much. Maybe it just lost a little bit of bite. However, they were still very delicious.

Hae Chor

(makes 35 balls)

Ingredients:

350g prawns

250g minced pork

8 water chestnuts, peeled & diced

2 stalks spring onions, diced

1 large onion, chopped

1 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tsp light soy sauce

1/2 tsp ground white pepper

1 tbsp cornflour

Oil for deep frying

Lettuce leaves

Method:

1. Wash the prawns well.
2. Shell, devein and dice the prawns coarsely.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix the prawns, pork, water chestnuts, spring onions, onions, cornflour and all the seasoning together.
4. Heat the oil in a small cooking pot.
5. Shape the prawn and pork mixture into balls about 1.5cm.
6. Fry 6 to 8 prawn balls at a time until they are golden brown.
7. Remove the fried prawn balls with a metal strainer and transfer them to a rack to drain off any excess oil.
8. Fry the rest of the prawn balls.
9. Arrange them on a bed of lettuce and serve.

Source: Soya and Spice by Jo Marion Seow