Chinese-Surinamese cooking: moksi meti, tjauw min, Ve-Tsin and dried goods

Ask for moksi meti in Paramaribo or Amsterdam and you won't get an explanation but a plate: white rice with glossy slices of tjauw sieuw, crispy pork belly and chicken, a splash of sauce poured over it and a spoonful of sour pickle on the side. Suriname is a country where Hindustani, Creole, Javanese, Chinese, Maroon, Indigenous and Dutch cuisines have long sat at the same table, and the Chinese side has contributed dishes that almost everyone knows, whatever your background. For us, this is close to home, because Tjin's Toko is a family business with Hakka-Chinese roots that run through Suriname to Amsterdam. Here you can read what Chinese-Surinamese cuisine is, which bottles and packets you need to stock up on for it and how to cook moksi meti, tjauw min and kiem tjiem chicken yourself. If you are new to Surinamese cuisine, start with Surinamese cuisine 101.

What is Chinese-Surinamese cuisine?

Light soy sauce, oyster sauce and a pinch of Ve-Tsin form the basis of Chinese-Surinamese cuisine: Cantonese and Hakka dishes that in Suriname got their own name and a permanent place at the table. Many Chinese Surinamese people have Hakka roots in southern China, and you can still hear it in the names, because tjauw min, tjap tjoy and kiem tjiem are Chinese words in a Dutch spelling.

In Suriname, the Chinese shop on the corner is a household name, and in the Netherlands many people know this cuisine from the Chinese-Surinamese toko or restaurant where you take moksi meti in a box with rice. You can taste two layers in it: the counter with roasted meat and fried noodles, and the home kitchen with stews, steamed dishes and dried mushrooms.

On our shelf are the Chinese brands that Chinese-Surinamese families in the Netherlands have been cooking with for generations, such as Lee Kum Kee, Mee Chun and Ve-Tsin, and for the pepper next to it the pots of Lekker Bekkie. Our own family recipe for a chicken stew is in Tjin's family recipe: chicken stew.

What is moksi meti?

Bee's Maltose gives the tjauw sieuw of moksi meti its glossy, sticky layer, and that tjauw sieuw is just one of the three types of meat on the plate. Moksi meti is Sranantongo for mixed meat: sweet roasted pork neck (tjauw sieuw), crispy pork belly (sieuw joek) and roasted chicken, in slices on white rice with a splash of brown sauce. Next to it are cucumber, a spoonful of sour pickle and a spoon of pepper, and exactly what sour pickle that is varies by shop.

At home you make all three in one ordinary oven. Do plan one night ahead: the pork neck needs to marinate and the pork belly lies with salt on the sword in the refrigerator, so that the skin goes dry into the oven and puffs up crispy. If you have less time, then rub the pork neck with Lee Kum Kee Char Siu Sauce, a ready-made marinade for that same sweet layer. All the steps are in our recipe for moksi meti.

What is the difference between tjauw min and bami?

Thin Chinese egg noodles are the basis of tjauw min, the fried noodles from Chinese-Surinamese cuisine, and you can already see the difference with the color. Tjauw min is lighter and less sweet and relies on light soy sauce and oyster sauce, while the Javanese-Surinamese bami gets its dark color from ketjap. Through tjauw min often go strips of tjauw sieuw or chicken, with Chinese cabbage, bean sprouts and spring onions that are briefly fried along with it at the end. About bami, ketjap and se-oen you can read more in Javanese-Surinamese.

Tjap tjoy is the Surinamese name for chop suey: mixed vegetables with pieces of chicken in a light, glossy sauce that you thicken with cornstarch at the end. Cauliflower, pak choi, snap beans and carrot are common, but every kitchen does it just a little differently, and a pinch of Ve-Tsin rounds off the sauce. At Chinese-Surinamese shops, tjap tjoy often comes to the table next to rice, tjauw min or moksi meti.

Which Chinese-Surinamese dishes do you cook at home?

Dried golden lily, in Chinese-Surinamese cuisine kiem tjiem or golden needles, is the ingredient by which you recognize kiem tjiem chicken: a stew of chicken thigh with bone, dried shiitake and wood ear mushroom. It shows well how much of the home kitchen runs on dried goods, just like these Hakka and Cantonese dishes:

• Kau yuk: a Hakka classic of pork belly with sword and taro, steamed in a marinade of red fermented tahoe and then turned upside down on a plate.
• Steamed chicken with lap tjong: chicken thigh fillet with slices of Chinese sausage and shiitake, on one plate in the steamer.
• Lo han jai: a Cantonese vegetarian stew of shiitake, wood ear mushroom, kiem tjiem, tahoe and se-oen.
• Chicken with mixed pickles: a stir-fry of chicken thigh fillet with the sweet and sour ginger from a jar of Mee Chun Mixed Pickles.

Which products do you need for Chinese-Surinamese cooking?

Light soy sauce and dark soy sauce are at the front of the cupboard, because they each do something different: the light gives salt and flavor, the dark mainly color and a soft, syrupy sweetness.

Light soy sauce Lee Kum Kee · light soySalty and savory, for marinade, stir-frying and sauceDark soy sauce Pearl River BridgeFor color in tjauw sieuw, stews and kau yukOyster sauce Lee Kum Kee PremiumRound, savory sauce for tjauw min and tjap tjoyShaoxing Chinese cooking wineA splash in the marinade and around the edge of the wokSesame oil Lee Kum Kee · roastedA few drops at the end, not for fryingFive spice powder Mee Chun · five spiceFor tjauw sieuw, sieuw joek and kau yukVe-Tsin Tien Chu · monosodium glutamateA pinch in tjauw min, tjap tjoy and soupMaltose Bee's · maltose syrupFor the shiny glaze on tjauw sieuwMixed pickles Mee Chun · Chinese sourSweet and sour ginger and papaya next to moksi metiLap tjong Chinese sausageSweet and dried, for steamed chicken and rice

Which soy sauce to use for what, you can read in Soy Sauce 101, and the difference between the Lee Kum Kee oyster sauces is in Oyster Sauce 101. If you want to continue into the Chinese kitchen itself after that, start with Chinese Cuisine 101.

View all Chinese sauces and flavourings →

What is Ve-Tsin and how do you use it?

Tien Chu Ve Tsin is monosodium glutamate, the white crystal powder that is called MSG or vetsin elsewhere, and in Chinese-Surinamese kitchens a pinch is often added to tjauw min, tjap tjoy and soup. It makes savory dishes fuller and rounder, much like a good broth does. A quarter teaspoon for a pan for two is enough. In our shelf you can also find Ve Tsin in a small pouch and Ajinomoto, the same kind of product under a different name. If you prefer not to use it, leave it out, because the soy sauce and oyster sauce carry the dish without it too.

How do you use Chinese dried goods such as shiitake and kiem tjiem?

Dried shiitake you soak for at least half an hour in lukewarm water, and you don't throw away the soaking water, because that is where the savory flavour that gives your sauce colour and body is. Dried goods keep well and after soaking give a depth that you don't get with fresh vegetables.

Dried goods guide: soak and use

Soaking times such as in our recipes. An indication, not a law: the thickness and age make a difference, so feel it and follow the package.

Dried shiitake lukewarm water · at least 30 min

Squeeze them out over the bowl, cut the hard stems off and strain the soaking water for your sauce.

kiem tjiem chickenlo han jai

Wood ear fungus lukewarm water · at least 30 min

Swells up a lot and stays crispy. Tear it into pieces after soaking without the hard core.

kiem tjiem chickenlo han jai

Kiem tjiem (golden lily) lukewarm water · at least 30 min

Cut the hard tip off the stem side and tie a loose knot in each bud, then they stay whole.

kiem tjiem chickenlo han jai

Se-oen (glass noodles) lukewarm water · ca. 10 min

Let drain and cut into pieces with scissors. Only add to the pan at the end, so it doesn't become mushy.

lo han jaisaoto soup

Lap tjong (Chinese sausage) do not soak

Cut diagonally into thin slices and lay them on top of the chicken, so the fat runs over the meat during steaming.

steamed chicken with lap tjong

What are Chinese plums and mixed pickles?

Mei Yuan Dried Red Prune and the white variant are dried Chinese plums, sweet, salty and a little sour at the same time, which many Surinamese people know as a snack for in between. The chan pei plums from Hop Tai Hong also belong in that list.

Mixed pickles from Mee Chun are the Chinese sour of the table: ginger, shallot, papaya, cucumber and carrot in a sweet and sour syrup, which you serve next to moksi meti or toss in the wok with chicken and mixed pickles. How this sour stands next to the chutney, the cucumber sour and the piccalilly of the other Surinamese cuisines, you read in Sour, chutney and pepper sauce.

Chinese sauces soy, oyster, hoisinLight and dark soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oilShop nowCanned goods and dried goods shiitake, golden lilyDried goods, maltose, sausage and picklesShop nowChinese noodles mie and se-oenEgg noodles for tjauw min and glass noodlesShop nowSurinamese cuisine pepper, rice, sourEverything for the Surinamese tableShop now

Chinese-Surinamese recipes to make at home

Mali Flower Surinamese Rice belongs in every recipe below, because almost everything from this cuisine you eat with a bowl of white rice.

Moksi metiTjauw sieuw, crispy pork belly and chicken on rice, with sauce and sour.Tjauw minLight fried noodles with chicken, pork loin, cabbage and taugé.Tjap tjoyVegetables and chicken in a glossy, thickened sauce.Kiem tjiem chickenStewed chicken with golden lily, shiitake and wood ear mushroom.Kau yukHakka steamed pork belly with taro and red fermented tahoe.Steamed chicken with lap tjongChicken with Chinese sausage and shiitake from one plate out of the steamer.Lo han jaiVegetarian stew with dried goods, tahoe and se-oen.Chicken with mixed picklesStir-fry with sweet and sour ginger, bell pepper and spring onion.

Read more about the Surinamese cuisine

Surinamese cuisine 101All cuisines of Suriname side by side, from pom to saoto.Roti, masala and dahlThe Hindustani-Surinamese cuisine, from masala to bara.Javanese-SurinameseKetjap, se-oen, bami, nasi, petjel and saoto.Sour, chutney and pepper sauceWhat is on the table at Surinamese eating.

Frequently asked questions

Chinese-Surinamese cuisine may be the cuisine that most easily finds its way into your home, via a box of moksi meti on Saturday or a plate of tjauw min that someone brings over for you, but behind that counter is a home kitchen that is worth getting to know yourself. Start with a bottle of light soy sauce, a jar of oyster sauce, and a bag of dried shiitake, let the dried goods soak slowly while the rice cooks, and put a small bowl of mixed pickles and a spoon of pepper next to it, because that is what the plate should look like. If you are in our toko in Amsterdam and are not sure which soy sauce or dried mushroom you need, feel free to ask us, and if you want to see how all this fits alongside the Hindustani, Creole, and Javanese side of Suriname, read on in Surinamese Cuisine 101.