Wet Market to Table: A Modern Approach to Fruit and Vegetables

by Pamelia Chia

Celtuce? Fingerroot? Tatsoi? If you've never heard of these produce names, local chef Pamelia Chia is here to help.

Wet markets promise charm and authenticity that supermarkets and online grocers cannot replicate. Local chef Pamelia Chia explores uncommonly used vegetables, fruits and herbs found in Singapore wet markets, using over 80 recipes to bring out their unique flavours and textures. Writing in a frank and easy-to-read manner, Pamelia shares stories from wet-market vendors, memories of grocery shopping with her mother and how each ingredient inspires her to push the boundaries of local cooking.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food

297 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2019

About the author

PAMELIA CHIA is a cook and writer born and raised in Singapore. Though a graduate with an Honors’ degree in Food Science and Technology, she decided to trade in her lab coat for chef whites. To encourage Singaporeans to return to the wet markets and be excited by regional produce, she wrote her first cookbook Wet Market to Table: A Modern Approach to Fruit & Vegetables. Her second cookbook Plantasia: A Vegetarian Cookbook Through Asia takes you on a journey to discover techniques and recipes that will completely transform the way you cook vegetables. Both books have become national bestsellers. Pamelia is also the author of Singapore Noodles, a newsletter with the mission of keeping Singapore’s food heritage alive. Her essays on hawker food and Singaporean food culture have been featured on Channel News Asia.

Reviews

[Harry Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am glad Pamelia made this book. So many of these vegetables that I grow up with would have fade away (because these days we just do Fairprice). And it’s just amazing how she incorporated it to all other kinds of Southeast Asian, Western and Indian cuisines. Amazing.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got this book from the library thinking it would be about helping novices better appreciate and use ingredients from the wet market - how to choose the fruit and veg, how to use them in basic recipes - and generally be more confident navigating wet markets instead of relying on pre-packed ingredients from supermarkets. Well, yes and no.

From Wet Market to Table covers 25 fruits and vegetables found in wet markets. Some of them fairly common like lotus root, cassava, laksa leaves, Thai basil, water chestnuts and taro. And some of them less so - borlotti beans? In the 2 pager intro to each ingredient, Chia covers the basics like how the name of the ingredient is pronounced, other common names, possible substitutes, how to select, prep, store and cook the ingredient. But a book for novices this is most definitely not, given the suggested recipes Chia offers - upside down chrysanthemum lotus root cake, tamil goat marrow curry, malabar spinach & lamb gozleme, pan puri with cassava, jambu galette. And for larder recipes, in addition to a recipe for chicken stock (fair enough), it also offers recipes for home-made cheese...

I did learn some interesting nuggets. Like how green dragon vegetable is a cultivated variety of Chinese chives presently grown exclusively in Cameron Highlands. While yellow chives are grown in complete darkness to hinder chlorophyll synthesis, green dragon vegetable is covered in thick nylon netting to allow for partial exposure to sunlight, producing a lighter green shade and milder fragrance than the usual, dark green Chinese chives. Also that cassava is the name of the plant and tapioca is the name of the extracted starch. Huh.

I can see why people rated this book highly - it's beautifully laid out with gorgeous photos of the dishes and scenes from wet markets. But the subtitle "a modern approach to fruit and vegetables" should have warned me that this wasn't going to teach me simple ways of using the ingredients introduced. 2.5 stars.

[Ryan Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and well illustrated and descriptive