A Hakka Grandma's Labour of Love, In A Bowl Of Handmade Noodles

My grandma’s Hakka cooking was how we bonded, says producer Lam Shushan - and her food tells a poignant story of love, hardship and duty over 88 years.
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In the series Vanishing Home Recipes, CNA Insider captures the stories behind much-loved dishes by homecooks. From Eurasian kuehs to the classic nasi lemak, we visit homes in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia in search of heritage food done the traditional way.
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[@lohphat]

"Do you want to eat?" My popo was from a Hakka family and all the siblings of that generation's first words when you cane to visit was "You want eat?" They're all gone now. Their parents emigrated to Hawai`i around 1900 so most of the cousins are still there. To this day 5 generations later, we still keep in touch with each other and the topic is always good food. Good memories.

[@sk8ergalx]

My best memories of my Hakka grandparents is the food… we always ate Hakka food with the freshest ingredients, made with skill and most importantly love. Indeed women who willingly spend time in the kitchen to prepare the best food to feed the family are beautiful. Food forms such an important bond for Chinese families.

[@braydenho4373]

“Never seen this type of poverty “ that really got me

[@cloudyrain2146]

Grandma's are the real angel in disguise

[@bruhbro1181]

Funny thing is, my father's side is Hakka

[@eddiensw]

5:53 tear up almost immediately...those who miss their grandma will understand

[@lbagus4074]

I'm hakka too... I'm from Indonesia, watching this reminds me of my Bobo.... I love hakka food especially nyuk piang

[@xcript123]

Sama bro... Hakka Indonesia juga... Senang dengerin apho ini cerita.

[@chaerrudin477]

i feel sad when i see your name. it seems something or someone in indonesia is trying to erase your ancestral culture...

[@benedictasharon6509]

Same in here. I miss my popo :( and saya juga baru tahu kalau nyuk itu adalah bahasa Hakka :')

[@parabintangatomy3628]

A Bo sy bikin nyuk piang, hoi sem dll hampir tiap hari..sayang sekali waktu kecil cerewet makannya...makanya ga sbrp doyan (waktu itu) hahaha..

[@suckmaballs4294]

@@chaerrudin477 so you gotta mad at thailand's king too😂 look at those chinese in thai got no chinese name on paper

[@lisayap2157]

This made me miss my Po Po so much she cooked like your Nai Nai.

[@kittykitkat4968]

Take care of your grandmother, she is so good.

[@lsf.999]

I love how she keeps insisting she is 89 yrs old, wnhen they say she is 88, she is so adorable...😂

[@vanessakellylecouilliard4154]

I'm so lucky to have been adopted into my extended chinese family, especially as a white canadian. I miss my po po, who would come over to cook 三杯鸡 in my Shenzhen apartment when I was tired and overworked. She taught me how, also telling me stories of the poverty she lived in before she joined the revolution. I will never forget her.

[@sho9214]

I also miss my hakka popo

[@vanessakellylecouilliard4154]

@@sho9214 we are together in this. I think missing someone is the most painful feeling I ever get. Even more than breaking a bone or anything physical.

[@sho9214]

@@vanessakellylecouilliard4154 yes 👍 she will always in our heart and memory

[@HULI_AIXIA]

Shenzhen is my hometown, I’m also Hakka. What brought you to Shenzhen?

[@moonsorrow77]

Watching your grandma makes me think of my grandma..she passed away many years ago, And I really miss her,and her cooking..she always make my favourite fried rice..her way..my mum tried to cook the same but it doesn’t taste the same..lol..as Hakka myself I tried to understand your Hakka...lol

[@L46zebrapleco]

阿娘(客家人對長輩的稱呼）祝你身體健康，長命百歲。

[@sonnykhoo7236]

Lovely story. Glad You rediscovered ‘family’❤️

[@sf3682]

Your grandma is lovely!

[@thomastang9448]

Thank you for sharing your story, my parents/grandparents speak Hakka at home in Vietnam, I wish I could, I can relate to your story, especially the dialect barrier with my grandpa, I wish I could speak Hakka so I could have been more closer to him

[@buddyman8474]

This video dedicated to best grandma's

[@catherinedennis9953]

What a beautiful Grandma😁Bless with such a Happy families 💐💝

[@cfyong1105]

Great. A very joyous lady. Because she is surrounded by caring relatives and daughters. Cant ask for more. Respect. Take care.

[@jemimychannel7893]

Either malays, chinese or indians or any other races... old days folks always cooks with their heart without measuring those ingredients.... gram la... cups la... spoons la... nope... they will only say 'agak- agak je' but that agak-agak makes their meals 👍👍👍👍👍👍😘

[@onisuryaman408]

That's how our beloved grandma cooks. I always failed asking her to teach me to cook.

[@yakeen8429]

Cute granny indeed.😊😊

[@siskalim9465]

Watching this video made me miss my Apho ❤️.

[@peterchen952]

That is wonderful to see your grandmother is still cooking and able to communicate well with you all. Hakka Yang To-Fu with a little bit of salted fish in it. Yummy!!! Hard to find things like that anymore...

[@SC-livelife]

Very touching to watch. Be glad to capture such moments. When looking back next time. You will be so grateful u did.

[@BrightestStar1023]

This video makes me miss my Apho even more. :( We lost her almost 10 years ago. She still lives inside my heart.

[@eeniemeanie]

definitely watched this without crying.

[@fatimahibrahim4831]

Appreciate them when they still there...n yeah from Malaysia of course....loving fly

[@RachaelTiow]

This makes me miss my grandmother, who passed away in late 2019. Her delicious Hakka dishes!

[@kristinechan3444]

5:52 This is my favorite part. GOLD! I miss my grandmas now...

[@eddiensw]

God bless your Nainai...

[@adminjamie]

Greetings from Malaysia my mom family is hakka,my late grandma cooks some hakka food it's really good

[@thomasfebyanto43]

Greetings from Indonesian Hakka. Thai Ka Ho

[@l.s.m.o.5767]

A lot of love ...

[@AL-mm4vq]

aw so cute... reminds me of my Nai Nai and Po Po. They both had similar upbringings and made noodles by hand. They were great cooks too.

[@jh85075]

Grandma is measuring her age the old Chinese way which is essentially 1 year old on day one and 2 when the first birthday comes along. Remembered that from my childhood and being confused to be older than what I thought I was - not that it matters much these days (just old).

[@family-ahxin]

Alway feel good with ah mah around feeding us with food

[@toyoyoyo104]

So cute! 😘

[@Zagadoo607]

This made me cry sorta

[@rachelpunyanitya8696]

I am a Hakka too from Bantu Pahat. She reminds me so much of my mother who loved cooking and I really miss her Hakka dishes

[@CharlizeRed]

The video made me miss my Jiapo so much.

[@robincorprew9007]

I miss my grandmother

[@jleeproductions]

The final scene made me tear up xx Bless you Nai Nai xx

[@xorawilson]

GRANDMA/PA FOOD IS THE BEST!

[@6709LeftzBehind]

This reminded me of my time in Taiwan visiting my great uncle and his family, I wish I could communicate more with them but my Mandarin is no good. Or the relationship I never had with my great grandmas because we couldn't speak to each other. I used to call them waipo and popo because my mother never taught me what I was supposed to call them, but I don't think she knew either. Our family really tried hard to assimilate and a lot of stories and knowledge was lost. I think the most I learned about my family was when my grandfather was sick and willing to share. It's so important to learn your family's stories before they're gone.

[@meitsang9072]

Grandma’s hair style is exactly like my mom who also is a Hakka. I miss her so much, due to convid I can’t visit her in Hong Kong and I’m in US.

[@slp473]

Por por so cute...😁

[@rwonginnz]

Typical Hakka Japo/Popo...first question as you enter their house is, “Have you eaten? Would you like something to eat?” 😂😛

[@kitb9504]

teochew grandmas too

[@askeemee6530]

I'm not Chinese, but I always ask someone who come to my house that question 😊

[@mxgirl918]

Both my grandmothers (dad is Cantonese and mom is Teochew) ask that of any grandkid who steps in her home 😂

[@inthewonderlandz]

Yes yes! My Grandpa and Grandma always ask this question! Haha

[@iyang2341]

Same as Hokkien grandmas lol. I miss my amah

[@staceyng6473]

Aww v touching story

[@SweetieSweetin]

Ppp

[@pennylee2269]

Super sweet love ❤

[@edits_yikes7225]

ITS POSTED ON MY BIRTHDAY YAY

[@daveatanchristian4926]

Wow

[@sceneandseenful]

An elderly, and a traditional dish. Can't help it not to click.

[@jakeyau3457]

My Ja Po always say CI FAN AA

[@marielim1519]

If you have a chance better learn..im living with my mum for 23 years o hv learnt a lot of dishes from her since after my marriage n i started to learn how to cook late 30s ..cooking is fun n healthy too..home cooked food is the best..

[@hellow.yellow9673]

Who love their popo♡ 🙌🙌

[@jmgjmg3110]

Looks like my late 104 year old great grandma

[@rontheoracle]

Oh wow, your grandma is 10 years younger than my grandma.

[@glipglobs6679]

Wow now this is amazing👌 But the grandma is right, it is way too much work😂

[@georgelo3226]

Grandma speaks mandarin with her hakka

[@budidarmawan1321]

I miss my grandma. She was born in 1930.

[@remhk6672]

This girl needs to be more respectful and caring of her grandmother. She only care about trying to learn how to cook from her.

[@vaishnavichauhan1405]

She is just like my Dadi😆always want to make me plump

[@ILUVBAKKUA]

Since you have now whetted our appetite when is cna going to give us a tutorial video for this i want to learn how to make that noodle dish please do the needful (, actually I had it 2 years ago already in dabu meizhou wah really good cannot forget I had 3 bowls of it.

[@kanashi04]

Ngai he hakka ngin

[@mannamarketing2456]

Hello Nai Nai pleasse send me some hakka noodles!

[@shannont6764]

these are xing chiew hakka

[@Robgti180]

Grandma's Hakka is different to our family. It sound like Fukinese to me.

[@alexanderyau6347]

The sound you speak Nai is Hakka I think.

[@HULI_AIXIA]

Nope. That’s Mandarin. Hakka is ah po for father side grandma 😊.

[@user-qt2et6jf2k]

JIT JONG APHO NGAI

[@brianyap4697]

Hanna People .....Boleh

[@changwanxuan709]

I’m her neighbour

[@malaysianinukfoofoo4763]

Why dont you speak the same language? You speak Mandarin right?

[@serapia1976]

Maybe that dialect or maybe she can't Chinese

[@AerisReyha]

There're several chinese language other than mandarin... But the popular one is mandarin and cantonese...

[@malaysianinukfoofoo4763]

Hey I'm a Hakka girl who speaks Mandarin...my dad made sure of that. Modern Singaporean Chinese just can't be bothered to learn.

[@ariel8026]

Waking Up From A Nightmare i can speak my dialect and so can my family-

[@Anonymous-zb8lv]

I m a Singaporean Chinese and I can speak Mandrain. Well and eloquently.

[@user-qt2et6jf2k]

MO PUN KI NGIOK THAI JI

[@maricarpatubo7581]

Ahmah all of us came from poor family

[@Nonnonnona]

Through my dad, we have a dish name Suan Pan Zi too, my grandpa is from mainland (called Taipu/Taiphu, it sound like that), actually I’m looking for my ancestry, does anybody in here know where is Taipu? Beside Suan Pan Zi, we have Nepan too (both made from potatoes).

[@ILUVBAKKUA]

I think taipu it's dabu county in meixzhou county in guangdong province. In the olden days there were no roads like now so people traveled by river and rivers led to the sea where you can get a ship and that's how southerners migrated out to the whole world. dabu used to be a very rural place when my grandfather went back in 94 but after 2000 much has changed today it has everything malls hotels condos. To see what modern day dabu looks like try this song kzbin.info/www/bejne/jnTHZ3mMq86KeNk&

[@aoiaoi5534]

I am hakka in Thailand. Why can't I understand Po Po language?

[@HULI_AIXIA]

She speaks Mandarin most of the video , and just a little bit Hakka when teaching cooking.

[@MATTIE1010101]

You look alike

[@talkstraight2060]

Hakka dominated Singapore eventhough Hokkien has larger percentage. Grab popcorn.

[@chongyikong3268]

☺☺

[@user-qt2et6jf2k]

MIAN HAU SIT

[@kyil7105]

Don't forget your root. Don't forget your culture. Nowadays Singaporean youngsters are stop speaking thier dialect. Even malay also when i speak malay they speak english.

[@platoze]

馬來西亞或客家麵

[@phatlyuc7277]

a fo speaks hakak!

[@streamfresh4741]

she said she wasnt close to her grandma. only after her father died she wanted know her grandma. b4 that she didnt care about her?