Bak stake

With only my wife and I cooped up in the house during the Movement Control Order
period, this wok of bak stake is going to be our meal for the next 2½ days.   

Today, the 37th day of the Movement Control Order here in Penang, I decided to cook a dish that has always been close to my heart. The dish called bak stake or bak steak, which I suspect is more of a hainanese-inspired fare than baba-nyonya. Anyway, it has been one of my favourite dishes since small. My mother cooked it and later, after she had passed away, my aunt continued with this dish. With my aunt now also not around, I guess it has to be my wife and I to carry on with this tradition. But it is just too bad that my daughter and son are not home with us to enjoy it.

The bak stake is not unique to my baba-nyonya family, of course. I know of several friends and other people who consider this dish as their childhood favourite too. Same as me, this dish is a reminder of the days when we were young: sitting down at the table, eyeing the meatballs and impatiently waiting for our parents to say we can start eating our lunch and dinner. And we would then spear the meatball with the fork, ladle the broth onto the rice and have our feast. Ahh, the comfort food of our good old days.

So here is my version of the recipe for bak stake. You can improvise the recipe any which way you want to suit your own taste buds. Add in green peas if you want, add in carrots too if you wish, but peas and carrots do not feature in my family's version of the dish. The most important thing is to enjoy the food that you yourself have cooked. [A note of warning: you may have to budget 2½ to three hours for the preparation and cooking but I'm sure the end result completely justifies everything!]

Ingredients for meat balls:
750g pork, minced
½ medium-sized onion, chopped
2 large-sized eggs
2 tbsp corn flour
1 tbsp oyster sauce
½ tbsp salt

Ingredients for broth:

2½ medium-sized onion, sliced

2 large-sized tomatoes, sliced
2 tbsp corn flour
3 pips garlic, chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp tomato sauce
1 litre water
cinnamon stick, star anise and cloves
pepper and salt

Ingredients, other:
3 large-sized potatoes, sliced

Method:
1. Add the ingredients for the meat balls into a mixing bowl and mix well until the paste becomes sticky.
2. Set the meatball mixture aside in the refrigerator for about an hour.
3. In a large wok, fry the potato slices in vegetable oil until cooked. They should be slightly brown.
4. Remove the cooked potato slices and set aside.
5. Fashion the meatball mixture into large pattie balls and fry them in the wok until brown. Do not over-cook.
6. Remove the cooked meatballs and set aside.
7. Remove the remaining oil from the wok.
8. Fry the chopped garlic.
9. When the garlic turns slightly brownish, add the sliced onion, cinnamon stick, star anise, cloves and soy sauce.
10. Stir fry until the onion becomes translucent.
11. Add the tomatoes.
12. Pour in the water and bring the broth to boil.
13. Add the cooked meatballs and leave until the broth boils again.
14. Add the cooked potato slices and let the broth continue to simmer for about five minutes.
15. Add the pepper, salt and tomato sauce according to one's taste.
16. Mix the corn flour in a little water and add to the broth to thicken it.