I was 7 years old back then. I remember lining up for rice and essentials. Every month we had to line up and stay in the queue overnight until the distribution began in the morning. Some of the rationed essentials I queued for included sugar and cigarettes.

Vegetables cooked with chilli paste

Illustrated by Julia Tay

We had a decent plot of land at our place where we planted tapioca, sweet potato, banana trees and vegetables. Some examples of vegetables which we planted are kangkong, long beans and brinjal (eggplant). We also reared ducks and chickens. We would cook the leaves of the sweet potato plant. My parents were Peranakan so we would cook our food with belacan and chilli. The chilli would be freshly plucked from our garden. 

Fiddlehead ferns (paku paki) cooked with cut chilli padi (birdseye chilli)

Illustrated by Julia Tay

Sometimes we would gather wild paku pakis ferns (fiddlehead ferns) from the fields. They’re bitter when they’re raw but sweet when cooked. 

As kids, we would sometimes steal fruits like jambu (water apple) from other people’s gardens. Bananas were the one thing we couldn’t steal because they grew in large bunches on the tree. 

Washing clams in clean water

Illustrated by Julia Tay

We often went to the seaside to dig for “kahpa” (Cantonese or Hokkien for a variety of clams like the Asiatic Hard Clams). 7-8 of us would walk along the low tide to look for them, then we would bring them home to cook. We would dig for “rumis” (a colloquial term for siput remis also known as surf clam) from the sand when it was in season. You soak it in clean water, then add a bit of white dao you (light soy sauce), chilli and a bit of salt. Leave it aside for two days and it will be ready without you cooking it.