Growing Up in Nonya kitchen

Ngo hiang was one of my mother’s specialties. My sister Angela takes pride in making
them now, but they are never enough for the entire family. You see, when my mother made
them, she seemed to have an endless supply at every party, and for days and days during
Chinese New Year. We ate our ngo hiang with chilli chuka (page 160) or sambal belachan
(page 75).

Ngo hiang literally means five fragrances and refers to the five-spice powder that
gives the meat rolls their signature aroma. The five spices used are: cassia bark, Sichuan
peppercorns, fennel seeds, star anise and cloves. The best quality five-spice powder is
actually sourced from Chinese medicinal shops. Alternatively, you could settle for the
bottled powder found in supermarkets.

My mother’s ngo hiang differ somewhat in that she cut them up before frying, so that
both sides of each small piece were evenly browned. I find that hard to do at times—the
individual pieces could fall apart. So I fry them as long rolls, slice them with a bread knife
and keep them warm and crisp in an oven.

My mother preferred to chop or grind the individual ingredients first and then mix them
together by hand, refraining from using an electric blender. This retained the crunchiness
of the water chestnuts. She also steamed the rolls beforehand so that the filling cooked and
stayed moist, thus shortening the frying time before the outer bean curd skin charred.

I have chosen to stick with the original recipe portion for several reasons. The quantity
may seem plenty but ngo hiang is a great buffet item and can feed many guests. Besides,
the tok panjang meal usually accommodates 10 to 12 guests per seating and over many
seatings throughout the day. My father often preached that nothing was more embarrassing
than to run out of food for your guests. Should you have too many rolls, you could always
freeze the extra for as long as three months, and fry them for other occasions.