When the late Joseph Chean visited people on his mission trips, he would bring things like bak kut teh (pork bone soup) spices and cook for those in the mission field.

“That food represented hospitality and love. It’s just how he showed love to people,” said his wife Kim Chean in a recent documentary.

Joseph Chean often cooked Singaporean fare when he went on mission trips overseas.

Joseph Chean passed away on November 15, 2023 in a car accident in Türkiye. A mentor to many and a friend to even more, he was deeply and widely mourned.

On The Red Dot: Finding Lost Recipes is a series by Channel News Asia that traces and remakes recipes of those who have passed away or become incapacitated, as a way of remembering or honouring them.

Finding Lost Recipes is a Channel News Asia series that researches and recreates beloved recipes of those who have passed.

Joseph’s legendary Hakka yong tau foo was the subject of episode 3 of the first season, hosted by Jonathan Ng, who was a participant in MasterChef Singapore 2023.

“Hakka yong tau foo is the dish that his father cooked when they had big get-togethers, like Chinese New Year or special birthdays. So I think it has a special meaning,” Kim told Jonathan.

Remembering Joe, who would host friends and family and cook for them, through his food.

Joseph – fondly referred to as Joe by those who knew him – had tweaked this family recipe to include “his preferences, and it became a very Joe-special yong tau foo,” said Kim.

The late missionary had never written down his recipe, and so in the show, Kim and Jonathan embarked on a journey to recreate his legendary dish.

“It’s close to two years since he passed,” Kim told Jonathan. “If we can make this dish, it will help us to remember him and celebrate him.”

Kim told CNA that her late husband’s ashes were scattered across his mission fields. Here, she planted a tree in Lebanon in his memory.

It was not an easy quest. But after seeking advice from restaurant chefs and Hakka yong tau fu specialists, running a test batch, taking in the feedback from Kim and old friends of Joe’s who had enjoyed his yong tau fu enough times to remember its taste, Jonathan arrived at a version that was close to Joe’s.

Jonathan and Joe’s family, including his daughters Olivia and Ashley, came together to recreate the final version of his yong tau fu. The girls shared memories of their father as they prepared yong tau foo.

Chef Jonathan Ng (centre) with Kim, Olivia and Ashley Chean (left of Jonathan). Across from the Cheans is Joe’s mentee Nelson Kim and his wife.

Sitting down to enjoy their recreation of their father’s dish was an emotional experience for the family.

Olivia said: “When I taste the yong tau foo … I can really taste the warmth, and that warmth really makes me miss my dad.”

Kim added: “I’m glad it’s something we can do together. Now that we have the dish, we can do it as a family to continue that tradition. So I’m very thankful.”

Watch On The Red Dot: Finding Lost Recipes episode 3

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Live-stream: Joseph Chean’s wake and funeral services, 21-23 November 2023