From the monthly archives:
Spring rolls, or locally known as “popiah” (簿饼) is a popular snack for Nyonya households in Penang. In fact, spring rolls or popiah are so popular that every ethnic group in Malaysia–be it Chinese, Malay, or Muslim-Indian (known as “mamak“)–has their own interpretation of spring rolls. So, there is no exception that Nyonya has their own take on this popular Chinese dish…
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Sambal udang (prawn sambal) is a much celebrated recipe in my family and everyone loves it. My late mother made a killer dish of sambal udang…it was always the most popular dish on my family’s dining table. Whenever she made sambal udang, everyone would be waiting in anticipation for a great meal.
Sambal udang is quite easy to make and you need only a few key ingredients–prawns/shrimps, sambal, belacan, and tamarind. In our family, we use shredded kaffir lime leaves to infuse the sambal udang with its exotic and citrusy flavor; it also adds a lot of depth and aroma to this dish. My late grandmother loved sambal udang with petai (stinky beans), and I remember vividly the after smell of her eating petai. Personally, I am not a fan of petai. I like my sambal udang (prawn sambal) really simple, with plenty of shrimps and the right balance of spicy, sour, salty, and a tint of sweetness from the freshness of shrimps/prawns.
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Pinang Peranakan Mansion, Penang
If you are interested to learn more about Nyonya culture and have a glimpse of Nyonya or Peranakan heritage, you ought to visit the Pinang Peranakan Mansion in Penang, Malaysia. (Peranakan culture or Nyonya-Baba culture can mostly be found in the British Straits Settlements: Penang and Melaka of Malaysia and Singapore.)
The Pinang Peranakan Mansion is precisely a museum that offers a deeper look of the opulent lifestyle and the many customs and traditions of Penang’s Baba and Nyonya back in the old days. With over 1,000 pieces of antiques and collectibles of the era on display, it is an eye-opening experience for those interested in the subject matter…
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Photo Credit: Pinang Peranakan Mansion, Penang
Nyonya food, as the name suggested, is the food of the Baba-Nyonya in Malaysia and Singapore. Known also as the Peranakan or the Straits Chinese (Straits-born Chinese), these groups of people are descendants of the very early Chinese immigrants to the Nanyang or 南洋 in Chinese–which literally means the “south sea” region.
The origins of the Baba and Nyonya could be traced all the way back to the Chinese Admiral explorer Cheng Ho, who sailed across the Indian Ocean more than 400 years ago to Melaka, a busy and prosperous trading port back in the early 15th century. Nanyang or 南洋 refers to the the Malay peninsula and the islands of Java.
Nyonya cuisine is generally referred to as the result of inter-marriages between the Chinese immigrants and the local Malays, which produced a unique cuisine where local ingredients such as chilies, belacan (Malaysian shrimp paste) lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, etc. are used. To assimilate to the local culture, these early days Chinese immigrants also adopted local Malay traditions–the men were called Babas and the women were called Nyonyas…
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