Night Tiger

Yangsze Choo

“Technically, I was only touching the glass bottle, but she was right—it was unsettling. The skin had blackened and shriveled so that the finger resembled a withered twig. Only the telltale crooked joint and yellowed fingernail prompted a lurch of recognition.” p. 14

“At the canteen, I wanted to try the exotic Western food—sardine sandwiches, chicken chops, and mulligatawny soup—listed on the blackboard.” p. 114

“Ah Long asks, ‘Who died?’

‘A plantation worker.’ William passes a hand over his eyes. ‘I need a bath and a drink. A whisky stengah, please.’

William goes off to the tiled bathroom, where he’ll rinse himself off with a bucket dipped in a pottery jar of water. Ah Long turns to Ren.

‘Know how to make one?’

Ren looks dubious. Dr. MacFarlane drank things from bottles, but he never asked Ren to mix them for him.

‘Now’s a good time to learn. Watch me.’

Stengah comes from the Malay word setengah, meaning ‘half.’ Ah Long fetches a block of ice from the cold box in the kitchen, where it’s kept buried in sawdust. Chipping away with an icepick, he fills a tall highball glass.

‘Don’t make the ice too small,’ he warns. ‘Otherwise it melts too fast.’

Next, he fills the glass one-third full of a medicinal, tea-colored liquid that he pours out of a square bottle. It has a picture of a man in a tall black hat with white trousers. Johnnie Walker Blended Scotch Whisky reads a label that seems to have been slapped half-heartedly on the bottle.

‘Why is the label crooked?’ asks Ren.

‘It’s not crooked. It’s just like that. Now watch carefully!’

Using the soda siphon, a glass bottle encased in metal wires that Ren has never dared to touch, Ah Long dispenses a stream of sparkling soda water into the frosty glass. The sharp whiff of carbonation makes Ren wrinkle his nose.

‘The water and the whisky should be about the same amount.’ Ah Long cocks his head, listening. ‘He’s probably done now. Take it out on the veranda.’ pp. 75-6

“Since William is at the hospital, Ah Long has put together some simple noodles and broth. Shredded chicken and boiled greens are piled on top, with a gloss of fried shallot oil. Ren notices that Ah Long has given him a larger portion than usual, with extra meat. They eat in silence. When they’re finished, Ah Long says, ‘you shouldn’t have done it. If she dies after you treated her, it’ll never your misfortune.’” p. 43

“Sour green mangoes are shredded in a kerabu: a salad tossed with mint, shallots, and dried shrimp drizzled with lime and spicy sambal sauce.” p. 202

“Three plump chickens are in the wooden coop at the back. They’ll be made into chicken cutlets and Inchi Kabin, crispy twice-fried chicken served with sweet-and-spicy sauce.”

p. 163

“Shin and I, future step-siblings-to-be, met when his father came to call on my mother. It was a very straight-forward meeting. No one bothered to pretend that there was some romantic pretext. They brought Chinese sponge cakes wrapped in paper from a local bakery. For years afterwards, I was unable to swallow those soft steamed cakes without choking.” p. 16

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“Returning to the cafeteria, I found Shin eating the remains of my kaya toast.” p. 152

“William slides back into his seat just as dessert comes out. Sago gala Malacca, pearls of tapioca drizzled with coconut milk and dark brown coconut-sugar syrup.” p . 205

“One of my mother’s conditions of boarding at Mrs. Tham’s dressmaking shop was that I would return home to Falim often. Each time I did, I brought a treat to make up for the fact that I wasn’t homesick at all. Today it was rambutans, the hairy, red-skinned fruit that snapped open to reveal a sweet white interior. They’d been selling them at the bus stop, and I’d bought a bundle wrapped in old newspaper. As I sat on the bus I rather regretted it, as the rambutans were crawling with ants.” p. 27