Her mother is crying in the kitchen because the dish will not come right.

Beverly does the sensible thing and telephones her grandmother. The three of them cook together for a party — pong tauhu among the dishes — and Beverly picks up the tools, like the batu lesong, and the words that go with them.

What your child will learn

• New words in context: dish names, kitchen tools, a whole vocabulary
• Peranakan cooking and the equipment it depends on
• That asking for help is usually what fixes things

About the series
One of five Illustrated Heritage Cookbooks, each following a child through the food of one of Singapore’s communities — Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali, a Peranakan party and a Eurasian Christmas.