You can match the colour of the bowl or plate to the saucer containing the dip to know the answer. For those who gave the correct answer and would like to receive a surprise little gift from me via normal snail mail, please feel free to email me. :D
Pan Mee (must be served with a watery sourish sambal belacan dip?)
Char Siew/BBQ Pork (must be served with a watery sweetish chili boh dip?)
Curry noodle (must be served with a thick spicy sambal belacan paste dip?)
The 3 dips - do they even have names?
They all come under one name - sambal, so many variations.
ReplyDeleteI think I have to check the dictionary for the word sambal.
DeleteNot necessary must match all dips to the mee.. I love pan-mee cili dip, so I will ask for this dip even if I order yee-mee soup (from the same stall)..
ReplyDeleteIf from different stalls then the yee mee fella won't have pan mee cili dip.
Deleteof course the dips are what we think served commonly in most places.. i am sure some would asked for something else instead of the "de facto" dip given..
ReplyDeleteEven if some ask for something else the stall would not necessarily have it. My question is would the stalls give something else by default or the recipes specified that the chili dip used must be cooked this way using these ingredients.
DeleteI seldom use the dipping. Only on certain food to enhance the taste
ReplyDeleteWhich are the types of food that you would use the dips?
DeleteActually not necessary for me personally lah, but I think most hawkers will only have their specialized type of chili paste depending on the dish. I don't think you can request the pan mee chili when you order char siew rice.
ReplyDeleteProper name I don't know, Lazy Man's name: sambal, pan mee chili and chicken rice chili. I'm not kidding, we really call them like that in my family. Hahaha :P
I know each stall will only have certain dips depending on the food they serve. What I am asking is are the dips fixed. Say for example I open a stall to sell char siew rice but I serve the rice with pan mee dips, will customers scold me and ask for the dips that they are used to, for char siew rice? NuxV family also uses the same names for the dips as your family.
DeleteI probably won't scold you, but I will feel amused then go home and write a blog post about how I discovered a restaurateur who does not know what she is doing.
DeleteBut yeah, I can imagine there would be people who would be annoyed enough to tell you off for serving them the "wrong" chili dip.
But who is the first person who set the precedence of which dip to go with which dish???
DeleteTraditionally like that loh, like pickled chillies with wanton mee. Of course not necessary. But personally I like it 'complete'.
ReplyDeleteBut who is the one who determines which dip goes with which food and then we all got used to the combinations and will feel incomplete if someone serves sambal with wanton mee.
DeleteI believe all the chilly sauces have their own names. If in Hokkien dialects, they refer the chilly as ginger based chilly sauce, white vinegar cut chillies, garlic red chilly sauce, sambal belacan chilly etc etc etc... The same goes with Thai sauces with proper names that also mention sweet, sour or spicy hot sauces etc etc... Plenty!
ReplyDeleteIs it important to know their names?
DeleteIt depends on the person. My mum was particular on the names as she's a Thai.
DeleteYour mother was very good at cooking many special dishes and making Thai chili dips so I guess that was why she was particular on the names.
DeleteI don't know their names but my favorite dip would be the curry mee sambal and the char siew chilli sauce. I don't really like the watery sambal belacan dip.
ReplyDeleteYou don't like the pan mee dip? Or the stall you frequent for pan mee serves you a different dip from this one here?
DeleteI like to have the dips to add more flavour to the food. When comes to Pan mee I would ask for more limau kasturi..mouth watering already
ReplyDeleteHere, they also give limau kasturi for the sambal dip to go with curry mee.
DeleteLooks like an interesting meal.
ReplyDeleteUsual hawker fare. :)
DeleteFirst one, I called it curry yau.. curry oil... second one, sambal belacan and the third is lak chiew aka spicy chili... :)
ReplyDeleteMy answer same as Reana Claire. Not necessary must have fixed dips.
DeleteIpoh hawker stalls also serve the same dips with these food?
DeleteGood that you all have the same understanding and same names for easy communication and reference.
Deleteme same as RG, my family also called them chicken rice chili, sambal, and pan mee chili.
ReplyDeleteEasy to refer to them with the names. :)
DeleteI will never feel satisfied with my meal if the dips are not served.
ReplyDeleteA bit of chili dip to spice the food. :)
Delete