For the next few days or weeks, I am going to introduce all the key ingredients for Nyonya cuisine. As Nyonya food is the marriage between Malay and Chinese cuisines, a lot of ingredients are used in its preparation. The key ingredients range from everyday basic items to hard-to-find and exotic produce, spices, herbs, and more. The ingredients list is long and not-to-taken lightly as Nyonya cuisine is about taking the time, attention (and affection!) to concoct dishes that are not only superior in taste, but also sublime in its presentation.

Assam Gelugor/Assam Keping are commonly used in Nyonya food. These dried slices of a type of sour fruit are great as they add tartness to dishes such as Assam Laksa. While tamarind is also another common ingredient in Nyonya cooking, Assam Gelugor is the Crème de la Crème medium when it comes to adding that extra sourness and kick to the food. This a must-have in any Nyonya kitchen.

Assam Gelugor is very easy to store and last for a long time if they are treated properly. For me, I usually wrapped them with aluminum foil and then pack them into a ziplock bag and store them in the refrigerator. The double protection of aluminum foil and ziplock bag ensures that they remain dry.

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Nyonya food, as the name suggested, is the food of Baba-Nyonya. Known also as Peranakan or Straits Chinese, these groups of people are descendants of the very early Chinese immigrants to the Nanyang region. The origins of 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. Nanyang refers to the the Malay peninsula and the islands of Java.

Nyonya cuisine is the result of inter-marriages between Chinese immigrants and local Malays, which produced a unique culture. To assimilate to the local culture, these early days Chinese immigrants started to adopt Malay traditions--the men were called Babas and the women were called Nyonyas.

Making Nyonya food is no simple affair as this unique and highly flavorful cuisine requires abundant amount of time, patience, and skills. A true Nyonya would spend hours and hours pounding her rempah (spices) with Batu Giling to cook up authenthic Nyonya dishes such as Perut Ikan and Salted Fish Pineapple Curry (Gulai Kiam Hu Kut in Hokkien).

In recent years, there has been an increased interest and urgency to preserve the unique Nyonya culture and Nyonya cuisine. Hence, I intend to use this blog to educate the world about this slowly but surely disappearing cuisine. I would also like to dedicate this blog to my late grandmother who was a Nyonya, with whom I spent my childhood and early adulthood with until I left for college.

Enjoy your stay here at Nyonya Food.

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