My foodie friend Violet Oon, who seems to know everyone in Singapore, introduces me to Doreen Ho Fui Fah. Doreen’s eldest sister, Ho Huey Cheen, is an excellent cook. She agrees to show me a few Hakka dishes at Doreen’s high-rise apartment. Huey Cheen is already at work in the kitchen when we arrive. Trim and energetic, she doesn’t look like a seventy-year-old grandmother with six children and thirteen grandchildren. As she squats by the thick chopping block on the kitchen floor, cutting up chicken and vegetables, she shares tips on how to make the sweet Hakka rice wine that she will cook with the chicken. Soon Doreen and Huey Cheen’s middle sister, Ah Kum, arrives and the three women reminisce about their family.
