A TALK BY Pat Lim Chooi Ewe at the Penang Peranakan Festival in December 2021 about her family's version of kiam chai boey and khong assam expedited the completion of this article.
Many years ago, when I was first asked to write about kiam chai boey and khong assam, I tried to think of how the dishes were prepared in both my mother’s and father’s families. Our own family’s version of kiam chai boey remains clear in my mind, but the khong assam (hu) is a sour fish dish. Strangely, the word hu or fish in Penang Hokkien has been left out of the dish’s name in our family. When I asked my cousin, Yoong, about khong assam, she thought I was referring to the sour fish dish.
