What You'll Do

Join Cathy Leong for a comforting and flavourful dinner programme where participants will come together to reflect on My First Journeys through the lens of confinement food—nourishing meals prepared with care to support mothers after childbirth. Across many cultures, confinement meals are rooted in the belief that food plays a vital role in recovery, using ingredients that warm the body, boost energy, and restore strength during this important time.

For Cathy, these recipes are deeply personal—carried down through generations and first learned when she began cooking to support her cousin during pregnancy. Under the guidance of her cousin and aunt, she delved into the traditions of her family’s heritage in Foshan, a city in southern China known for its refined, nourishing cuisine. In her family, food is a quiet act of care and continuity, and these dishes have become central to how they mark new beginnings and gather across time.

The evening’s menu draws from classic Foshan-style confinement fare, lovingly prepared in Cathy’s own kitchen. Expect comforting dishes such as pig’s trotters, ginger chicken, vegetables with sesame oil, and red date soup—each selected for its warming, healing qualities. A highlight of the meal is Chinese Wine with Chicken, made with a fragrant, amber-hued wine brewed within Cathy’s family. Unlike typical versions that use white rice, this wine is made with glutinous rice, believed to contain higher levels of antioxidants to help mothers expel wind and restore balance after childbirth.

This dinner is an invitation to slow down, savour time-honoured recipes, and share in stories of motherhood, resilience, and heritage. Whether you’ve experienced confinement meals yourself or are encountering them for the first time, Cathy’s dinner offers a heartfelt taste of how food carries us through life’s earliest and most tender journeys.

About What’s For My Dinner

Food is more than just sustenance; it carries history, culture, and care. Nowhere is this more evident than in confinement food—a deeply rooted and intimate tradition designed to nourish new mothers during one of the most vulnerable and transformative periods of their lives. For this special edition of What’s for My Dinner, we invite you to step into the world of postpartum nourishment, where food becomes a form of healing, and every meal tells a story of maternal resilience, ancestral knowledge, and familial devotion.

Across cultures, confinement food is both a practical and symbolic gesture of love. These meals are crafted not only to help mothers recover physically after childbirth, but also to offer emotional comfort, reestablish strength, and provide warmth during a time of rest, bonding, and redefinition of self. What makes confinement food so powerful is its blend of nutritional science and inherited wisdom—recipes passed from grandmothers to mothers, from one generation to the next.

Though ingredients and techniques differ, the intention behind confinement meals is remarkably similar across cultures. In Chinese traditions, for example, dishes often feature warming ingredients like ginger, sesame oil, and rice wine, believed to dispel “wind” from the body and replenish qi (energy). In Malay and Indonesian households, herbal tonics and jamu—a mix of turmeric, ginger, and tamarind—are consumed to restore balance and vitality. Indian confinement meals often include ghee-rich lentils, warming spices, and iron- and calcium-rich vegetables to support lactation and boost strength. In Western traditions, too, bone broths, soft proteins, and hydrating fruits and vegetables play a role in postpartum care.

What binds these traditions together is an underlying belief: that a mother’s well-being is the foundation for a child’s early life. Confinement meals reflect this value by placing care at the centre—care in preparation, in intention, and in nourishment. They are not quick fixes or convenience meals, but slow, considered acts of love that honour both the physical demands and emotional journey of motherhood.

In this dinner, we invite you to experience this cross-cultural tapestry of postpartum care. Through warm broths, restorative dishes, and thoughtfully prepared sides, you’ll taste more than just food—you’ll taste heritage, healing, and the universal understanding that to nourish a mother is to nurture a family.

About The Host

Cathy Leong may not have children of her own, but her connection to the tradition of confinement food runs deep. When her cousin became pregnant, Cathy took it upon herself to learn the art of cooking confinement meals—recipes lovingly passed down through her aunt. For Cathy, these dishes are more than just nourishment for new mothers—they’re a powerful way of keeping family bonds and traditions alive.

In her household, cooking confinement meals is a collective act. It brings the family together, not just after childbirth, but also during moments of renewal and celebration, such as Chinese New Year. With thoughtful tweaks, these nourishing dishes often reappear at special gatherings, marking new beginnings and shared joy.

Join Cathy as she shares the warmth, wisdom, and memories tied to these treasured recipes, offering a heartfelt window into how food continues to bring generations together.

Who should come?

Everyone is welcome to participate!
Participants under 13 must be accompained and supervised by a parent/guardian at all times.

Programme Details

Approximate Duration: 2 hours (Please arrive 15 minutes before the tour for registration)
Language: English
Meeting Point: Meet outside McDonalds' Buangkok Square Mall (991 Buangkok Link, #01-14, Singapore 530991)

Ending Point: The event will start and end at the same point.

The events will proceed rain or shine.

What to bring?

Participants should be dressed respectfully in smart casual (i.e. collared shirt, long pants and covered shoes). Sleeveless attire, shorts/miniskirts or sandals are strictly not allowed. Participants will be denied entry if they dress inappropriately.
Participants should bring along an umbrella and a bottle of water.

Please ensure that you bring along any personal medication. Asthmatic individuals are reminded to bring their inhaler.

Other important information

Dishes contain eggs and rice wine. The food is not non-vegetarian and not halal-certified.
Parking is available at Buangkok Square Mall.
The venue is not wheelchair accessible.
Photography is allowed at event premises.

Disclaimer

Each ticket admits only one participant.
By agreeing to participate in the tour, every participant will be responsible for any injury, loss of damage due to careIessness of other actions on his/her part or that of children under his/her charge.
Videos and photographs may also be taken during the event. By registering for this event, you give My Community full rights to use the photos for marketing and publicity.

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My Foshan Dinner with Cathy Leong