Aunty Rose's legacy: Energy, passion and really good Peranakan recipes.
Rosemary One or Aunty Rose, as she was affectionally known, joined Gunong Sayang Association (GSA) with her husband Bob Tan in 1995. Together they served on the management committee and organised the many activities held at the association including the annual wayang performed for the public.
Aunty Rose continued to serve on the committee into her 80s and was still singing and dancing with the GSA Singers for their annual shows and other events. Aunty Rose headed the Nyonya Sayang committee for 4 years and later served as their advisor for 2 years.
Aunty Rose's love for the wayang spilled over to her son KT who is a well-known personality in the Peranakan circle.
In her younger days, Aunty Rose worked in the Bank of America. Apart from her work, Rosemary enjoyed dancing and would spend the weekends with Bob on the dance floor of different hotels, her favourite place being the Westpoint.
Aunty Rose is no longer with us but she continues to live on in our memories as a friend, mentor and through the many elements of the Peranakan culture that she refined and helped pass on to future generations. We hope that by sharing her ikan assam pekat recipe, we can honour our memories of her and her contributions to our Peranakan culture.
Recipe for Ikan Assam Pekat
Ingredients
2 pieces of ikan parang
5 red chilli – sliced
Assam – amount depends on desired thickness of gravy
1 big bowl of water
1 tablespoonful of oil
2 pieces of duan limau perut (kaffir lime leaves)
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Pound together
4 pieces of 2.4cm lengkuas (galangal)
3 pieces of 3.5cm turmeric
4 buah keras (candlenut)
6 cm of belacan
6 piece of garlic
Method of preparation
1. Dissolve Assam in water. Stir thoroughly until the assam is completely dissolved. Strain the assam leaving only the liquid.
2. Boil the pounded ingredients with the assam liquid and oil until fully boiled.
3. Add in fish, duan limau perut and sliced chilli and let is simmer until cooked.
4. Serve hot with rice or yew char kueh. Best eaten with samba belacan, green chilli and a dash of dark soya sauce.
Gunong Sayang Association