Wacs rEgionaL rEport – THIs TIme For AsIA
thE Way oF thE pEranakans Peranakan cuisine has been around in Asia for a long time but has recently surged in popularity. Discover the complex flavours of this cuisine steeped in rich heritage.
What is pEranakan cuisinE? Peranakans are descendants of early Chinese migrants who settled in Penang, Malacca, Indonesia and Singapore, inter-marrying with local Malays. The old Malay word nonya (also spelled nyonya), a term of respect and affection for women of prominent social standing (part “madame” and part “auntie”), has come to refer to the cuisine of the Perakanans. Nonya cooking is the result of blending Chinese ingredients and wok cooking techniques with spices used by the Malay/Indonesian community. The food is tangy, aromatic, spicy and herbal. Main ingredients include coconut milk, galangal (a subtle, mustard-scented rhizome similar to ginger), candlenuts as both a flavoring and thickening agent, laksa leaf, pandan leaves, belachan, tamarind juice, lemongrass, torch ginger bud, jicama, fragrant kaffir lime leaf, rice or egg noodles and cincaluk - a powerfully flavored, sour and salty shrimp-based condiment that is typically mixed with lime juice, chillies and shallots and eaten with rice, fried fish and other side dishes. rEgionaL pEranakan cuisinE There are regional variations in Nonya cooking. For example, dishes from the island of Penang in the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia show Thai influences. You get more liberal use of tamarind and other sour ingredients. Singapore and Malacca Peranakan dishes show a greater Indonesian influence, such as the use of coconut milk. A good example is this: There are two versions of laksa (a spicy noodle soup), which comes in two 36 World Association of Chefs societies
variants: the sour asam laksa from Penang and the coconut milk-based laksa lemak from Singapore and the southern regions of Peninsular Malaysia. FaMous pEranakan dishEs The best Peranakan dishes are prepared at home and it is common knowledge that Peranakans are the greatest critics when it comes to food. Like the Italians, the best Peranakan dishes are always cooked at home. hErE arE soME oF th E WELL-LovEd, popuLar pEranakan dishEs: ayaM Buah kELuak: A staple and hot favourite with its robust flavour and taste. Made with chicken and sometimes pork, it is combined with the star ingredient, “keluak” nuts. Keluak is an atypical type of nut which comes with a tough shell exterior, with a piquant paste inside; it yields a unique flavour. It is a notoriously challenging dish to make: the rempah (pounded spices) alone is made of seven ingredients and takes half a day to fry until fragrant. Every nut has to be scrubbed and soaked in water for two days, before one end of the nut is chopped off and the black flesh inside is scraped out! Then the flesh has to be blended with more spices before you stuff the flesh back in. Finally, the stuffed nuts, chicken and rempah is simmered for another half a day until the sauce thickens. The dish is best eaten with a bowl of steamed rice, chincalok egg (fermented shrimp omelette). For some vegetables, it has to be the sambal kangkong (water spinach). chickEn kapitan: This curry is a pot of aromas and flavours using tamarind juice,