As a chef, I appreciate food of all kinds. As years pass by, my go-to comfort food tends to steer towards home-cooked dishes that my parents used to cook when I was young. Call it nostalgia or biasness if you like, but simple home-cooked meals always hit the right spot for me!

I grew up with this modest dish called Ikan Singgang, which was a basic sweet and sour fish dish. Being one of six siblings in a big family of eight, eating luxurious food was not something my parents could splurge on. Ikan Singgang was a regular feature on our dining table as the ingredients were cheap to source for and it used basic pantry supplies found in almost all Malay homes.

When my siblings and I were children, we would cheer each time my mother cook this dish. The sweet and sour flavours were very appetising to our young palates and we would eat each meal with gusto and appreciation.

Although a simple and inexpensive dish, Ikan Singgang is a heritage recipe that I would like recorded in My Singapore Food. It reminds me, as a chef, to go back to my roots, and be thankful for my parents for bringing my siblings and me up in the era when times were difficult and yet, they were always find ways to give us the best in everything.