By Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING, Dec 9: After more than two decades of assisting her sister in the culinary trade, 54-year-old pork leg rice vendor Winnie Chai is now proud to be running her own stall, continuing the legacy her grandfather started.
Equipped with culinary skills, Chai explained that she is one of the few in her family who continues the tradition of preparing the dishes her grandfather first created at a café in Padungan.
“We are all proud to continue the family legacy. We are happy to share these recipes that remind us of our ancestors.
“We hope that our customers and regulars, who are familiar with our dishes, will continue to support us. We also hope that Kuchingites who love simple food will be reminded of their roots,” she said when interviewed by DayakDaily.
She shared that her father, Chai Shong Chiang, now in his eighties, and her mother learned to make the dishes from her maternal grandfather. It was from him that the siblings also inherited their culinary skills in preparing these dishes.
“Now, we are expanding the culinary traditions, and my nephew is also skilled in it, helping my older sister at one of the cafés in the city.
“The family tradition of making pork leg rice dishes continues with the fourth generation taking over the business,” she said.
Chai later on said that she is one of the few in her family who continues this tradition.
“I decided to open my stall three years ago to share our family dishes. I named my stall after my father, so I called it ‘Xiong Pork Leg Rice’ to commemorate his legacy.
“That is as much I can do and I am sure he is pleased with it,” she chuckled.
She said it was a fortunate coincidence that they opened the stall at a café accidentally named ‘Foo Ge’ located in Sunny Hill Garden.
“In Chinese, ‘xiong’ means strong, and ‘foo ge’ means fortune. At the same time, the café is located on a ‘sunny hill.’ It sounds like ‘strong fortune on a sunny hill,’ which is a positive interpretation in Chinese,” she chuckled.
She believed that the pleasant name and good ‘feng shui’ of her stall’s location could ensure the continuity of her family’s culinary legacy and provide for future generations to come.
“It’s the pride of our family’s culinary tradition, and we are proud to carry on the legacy started by my grandfather,” she said.
She said that one dish is enough to provide a decent livelihood—a dish that people love, in a city with many gastronomic choices.
Chai said she typically serves a plate of assorted pork meat, including leg parts and offals, accompanied by white rice. The dish is complemented with separate bowls of vegetable curry, spiced soy sauce broth, and a chilli dip.
“We also serve braised chicken meat and savoury eggs with white rice and the broths at our stall. For those who love flattened rice noodles, we offer the option of ‘kueh chap’ dishes.
“The soy sauce and curry broth also play a significant part in the pork leg rice dishes and customers at times often request for more of the broth,” she explained.
Chai said she was grateful to have learned the trade of making this one dish and thanked her grandfather for passing down the skill.
“There is no regret leaving my 9-to-5 job, and it is amazing to continue making one dish that could make a difference in my family’s life.
“We will continue to take pride in the culinary legacy my grandfather left behind and share these dishes with our patrons, as that is what he always wanted to do,” she smiled.
Chai’s Xiong Pork Leg Rice is in Foo Ge Cafe at the Sunny Hill Garden, Jalan Bukit Cahaya. It operates daily from 8am to 1pm except on Wednesdays. For more information, call 012 898 6211. — DayakDaily
