Southeast Asia nas always called to tne senses: tne balmy breezes of Pacific islands the thriving cities:and the rice fields, and above all the exot carray of flavors. In the days of trade missions and colonial power, many people were lured by the spices. The Portuguese Arab. British, and Dutch merchants, wno discovered 'the sweetscented treasure trove of the Padific Ocean transformed these islands into fragrant oases.ShoWy after, the Chinese joined in and took control of trade between the sands Indians in search of work came in the hope of finding wealth and happiness from cultivating peppercorns, nutmeg, and cloves. Today, ingredients from many different ocal cuisines are stirred together inside the cooking-pots of th s fasc hating region

Abbreviations and quantities

Instructions for use

Foreword

Map of Southeast Asia

Singapore

Introduction

Chinese Cuisine in Singapore

Dim sum to gladden the heart

Overview 18

Breakfast in the Coffee Shop

Egg jam 21

China Tea

  Tea and the seasons 23

  Utensils for the preparation of tea 25

  The traditional way of preparing tea 25

  Special teas (Overview) 25

Naturally Healing -- Healing Herbs

  Overview 26

  Exotic Remedies (Overview) 28

Pleasant and useful -- Soup as Medicine

  The most popular herbal soups 30

Winter melon and other Soups

Noodles

  Cutting, coiling and deep-frying 34

Eggs

  Overview 36

  Choosing hen's eggs 37

  Storing hen's eggs 37

The Spring Roll- Poh piah

  Pie tee 38

Soybean

  Soybean sprouts 40

  Dou ban jiang 41

  Dou chi 41

Meat from the fields --Tofu

  Soy milk products 43

Tofu recipes for every taste

Soybean sauce

Oyster sauce

Sesame

Condiments

  Overview

Vegetables

Overview

Shiitake, Cloud-ear mushrooms,

 and other cultivated mushrooms

From Chaozhou

From Fujian

From Szechuan

Peking Duck- from Beijing

Peking duck and the weather 63

How to serve Peking duck 65

From Canton -- Two versions of Cantonese

Smoked Duck 67

Hainanese Food

Hunanese Food

Peranakan

Buah keluak 72

Eurasian Food

Chinese Cooking utensils (Overview)

Fish cookery

Shark Fins and other Exotica.

You have to climb high enough -- Birds' Nests

Cooking in unglazed pots

Suckling pig

Central heating for the winter months --Mongolian

hotpot or Steamboats

Desserts

New Year

  The Return of the Gods 95

Pomelo

The symbolism of taste -- Symbolic foods

Chinese Festivals

  The Dragon Boat Festival

  Festival of the Hungry Spirits

  Mid-fall Festival (Moon cake Festival)

Restaurant

  Before the meal 102

  A Chinese table setting 103

  Chopstick etiquette 103

Vegetable artefacts as elegant as carved ivory -- Food Art

Wine

  Overview 106

Singapore Sling

  Tiger Beer108

Malaysia

Indonesia