A Mother’s Love
Nigel Chua, who runs the popular Founder Bak Kut Teh restaurant with his father (and its founder), Chua Chwee Whatt, says that even though it has been two years since the passing of his mother, “my father and I have never stopped missing her”.
So as a tribute to her from a husband and a son, the restaurant, which was established in 1978, launched a Mama’s Home-cooked Dishes menu in March, available exclusively at its Hotel Boss outlet at Jalan Sultan. The menu features 12 nostalgic dishes, including “Hong Kong Supper” and “Mama’s
Signature Simple Steamed Fish”, tweaked to suit modern taste buds. “We took notes of the recipes she verbally passed on to us and fine-tuned them,” explains Chua, who admits that Hokkien cooking can be on the saltier and oilier side.
To offer diners an insight into the family’s fond memories of its matriarch, the dishes have been given quirky names. Chua’s favourite is “Too Moody to Eat”, a dish of pan-fried garlic marinated chicken. He recalls how he and his siblings would spend all day playing outdoors and refuse to eat during mealtimes.
“Mama had a trick up her sleeve. She would prepare this dish to entice us, and it worked every time.”
To get her children to eat more vegetables, Chua’s mother would secretly add spinach and mushrooms to her home-made tofu dish, which they always happily polished off, without knowing the “secret ingredients”—hence the name, “Cheeky Secret”.
The dishes were always made with love. Chua reminisces, “As
I got older, I realised Mama’s commitment and love for us was unwavering.”