Bee Koh Moy (Bubur Pulut Hitam) pictures (1 of 4)
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Nyonya and Peranakan are known to have sweet tooth; their penchant for everything sweet is most pronounced in their skills in making very delicate, sinfully sweet, and utterly delightful Nyonya kuih—local sweet cakes that are eaten throughout the day—and many decadent desserts.
My mother was the biggest sweet tooth in my family. She loved sticky-sweet foods and was notorious in my family as she added sugar to everything she made, even savory dishes. I remember grandma and aunt always joked that we constantly ran out of sugar because mother used too much sugar in everyday cooking! So, growing up, we were fed tons of sweet foods—kuih, pancakes, and various kinds of hot desserts such as this bee koh moy or black sticky rice dessert…
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Other than the vibrant Peranakan culture and colorful culinary traditions, Nyonyas and Straits Chinese also thrive on intricate, elaborate, one-of-a-kind Nyonyaware–crockery, tableware, porcelain, kitchen utensils, tools, and pots and pans.
In prominent and wealthy Peranakan families, tableware such as serving plates, bowls, tea pots were mostly imported from China and Europe. Nyonyaware are much-valued items. There are often special cupboards and cabinets to store all the Nyonyaware and utensils. Different tableware is also marked for different festivity, and one can’t mix them up in everyday use. For example: in my family, we have a separate set of tableware, kitchen utensils, pots and pans just for the vegetarian month, during the 9th month of the lunar calendar. Suffice it to say, those tableware and utensils are strictly vegetarian, meaning, they have never been used to cook or serve non-vegetarian foods. As soon as the vegetarian festival is over, all “vegan” tableware and kitchen tools will then return to the storage area, covered, and waiting to be uncovered again the following year…
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Nyonya Assam Laksa pictures (1 of 10)
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Assam laksa, also spelled as Asam laksa, the piquant, pungent, sour, and fiery hot noodle dish with fresh vegetables bathed in a fish broth is a Penang Nyonya creation. Known simply as Laksa in Penang, it’s found almost everywhere in Penang–kopitiam (coffee shops), roadside stalls, mobile push carts, and hawker centers. With perfect balance of tartness and spicy flavor, Assam laksa is uniquely Malaysian as there is nothing quite like it in the Southeast Asia region.
Assam laksa, arguably the staple street hawker food in Penang also puts Penang on the culinary map. Mention the words “Assam Laksa” to any Malaysians or foreigners who had tasted it would probably set their mouth watering. Assam laksa is one of the most–if not the most–successful, explosively delicious, addictive, and appetizing Nyonya concoctions…
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Tamarind pictures (1 of 2)
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Tamarind is a very common ingredient in Southeast Asian and Indian cuisines, but an exotic and foreign ingredient to many in the west. I often receive emails from readers asking me about tamarind; I hope this post about tamarind would help you understand this core ingredient.
Tamarind–or “assam” in local Malay language–is the fruit of tamarind trees. Tamarind (pictured above) usually comes in a block and sealed tight in a plastic packaging and must be soaked in water and then squeezed to extract the juice. The pulp and residue will then be discarded…
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