Nyonya Cruisine

While Nyonya food contains many of the traditional ingredients of Chinese food and Malay spices and herbs, Nyonya cuisine is eclectically seasoned and different than either Chinese or Malay food. As in Malay cooking, a key ingredient in Nyonya cuisine is belacan - a dried shrimp paste. It's commonly in the form of a pressed brick or cake. Not overly 'fishy', a tiny amount of this paste adds sweetness to meats, intensity to fish & seafood and a 'kick' to vegetables like Kangkung Belacan. It makes a flavourful base for sauces and gravies, adding depth and an intriguing taste that you can't quite decipher. When uncooked, the pressed cake has a powerful scent, like "stinky cheese", but don't be put off - it mellows out and harmonizes in the cooking, leaving behind an understated richness that cannot be reproduced. Best described as a natural flavour enhancer,belacan is what gives many of the foods from Southeast Asia - Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam - that authentic zest and flavour underlying the dense fabric of spice and herbs!

belacan

Nyonya food originating from the North of Malaysia - Penang, and Nyonya food originating from the South - Malacca and Singapore, have distinct differences.

Nyonya cooking in the South has an Indonesian influence. The food is generally sweeter, richer with liberal use of coconut milk and more traditional Malay spices. In Malacca especially, Nyonya cooking is heavily influenced by Portuguese-Eurasian style of cooking. Many Nyonya dishes are indistinguishable from Portuguese-Eurasian dishes, with both kitchens using similar ingredients and methods of cooking.

pongteh chicken

Nyonya food in the North drew inspiration from neighboring Thailand. Nyonya food in the North, Penang, has a preference for tangy or sour food such as the famous Penang Assam Laksa. Tamarind paste is used as a souring agent as well as green mangoes and Belimbing or Belimbi [Averrhoa Bilimbi], a close but sourer relative of Carambola also calledStarfruit. Similar to belacan but slightly sweet tasting - a black color molasses-like paste - locally called haeko [pronounced 'hey-ko'] or Otak Udang, in Malay [Prawn Paste, in English] is also used in many Nyonya gastronomic creations.

Assam Laksa

Ladyfinger Sambal

Nyonya cooking is not only about the blending of pungent roots but also the long marinating of meats and seafood before it is cooked. Fresh herbs such as lemongrass, lengkuas[galangal or wild ginger] and kunyit [turmeric root] are pounded, more often than not, by hand using a granite mortar & pestle. Chilies, candlenuts, shallots and belacan are a must in most Nyonya dishes. Aromatic leaves such as kaffir lime leaves, pandan or pandanus [screwpine leaves], daun salam[fresh bay leaves] and daun kunyit [turmeric leaves] add 'Nyonya zest' to it's wonderful cookery.

Nyonya cuisine is also famous for it's Kuih [cake or dessert]. Nyonya desserts are varied and extraordinary. They are strongly Malay influenced - made from local ingredients such as sweet potato, yams, agar agar, gula Melaka [palm sugar], coconut milk, glutinous rice - and Chinese ingredients such as red beans, green beans or mung beans. The ubiquitous vanilla bean used for essence is replaced by a local plant leaf Pandanor Pandanus [Screwpine leaves], giving Nyonya desserts it's signature quintessence!

gula Melaka jelly

By : Ong Yee Wearn