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Disclaimer: I married into a Peranakan Chinese family. Many observations of the food traditions are my own interpretations of them. Please forgive me for any inaccuracies.
Singapore is such a mélange of cultures. Try to define her – and you get intersections and blends, because everything overlaps, merge and yet somehow still remains distinct. You have the main ethnic groups of Malay, Chinese and Indian… and many mixes in-between.
The Peranakan Chinese are one of the mixes in-between. Commonly known as “Baba-Nonya” or “Straits Chinese”, the Peranakan Chinese are descendents of “late 15th and 16th Century Chinese immigrants to the Nusantara region during the Colonial period.” (says Wikipedia), the “Colonial period” meaning the respective colonization phases by the Portuguese, Dutch and English. There are other smaller Peranakan communities, namely the Chitty Peranakan, the Indian Muslim Peranakan and Eurasian Peranakan. But for this essay, I will focus on the Peranakan Chinese.
I think it’s a little strange if I talk only on the food traditions of the Peranakan, because food is part of Peranakan culture which is a mix of Malay and Chinese. With the intersecting of Malay and Chinese traditions, the food becomes a mélange – in-betweens, combining the flavors of Chinese cooking with Malay spices. Then again, the Malay culture itself is so diverse: Javanese, Sumatran, Bugis and Minangkabau, each group bringing in their own distinct traditions. The Chinese aspect is mainly Hokkien (Hoklo), hailing from the southern part of China. I myself am Hokkien.
For a start, Peranakan cooking uses spices and chilli pretty heavily, drawing from its Malay heritage. Pedas, a potent mix of ground chilli, garlic and galanga, is used in many dishes. Rempah, like the many dishes, varies from each Peranakan household. My father-in-law is the one who makes the rempah. He adds in fiery-red chilli, garlic and the intensely fragrant galangal, fries the mixture until the smell fills the kitchen (and the house) and then keeps it in the fridge for later use. It can be used in assam udang pedas (prawns with chilli and tamarind) or assam fish. At the same time, it is also used in ayam buah keluak (chicken with black nuts).
Speaking of ayam buah keluak, it is the most fascinating Peranakan dish I have known and tasted. I first tasted it when I met my then-boyfriend. I can’t describe its taste – it is at once earthy, richy, minerally and everything in-between. Its preparation is time-consuming. My in-laws buy a bagful of dried nuts (in their shells) from Tekka Market, soaks them in water before cracking the hard black shell to get the dark brown-caramel brown pulp/filling. Do you know that the fruit itself is actually highly toxic? We are eating the insides of the seeds! You can read more here: http://www.nparks.gov.sg/blogs/garden_voices/index.php/2007/01/11/buah-keluak/.
Every Chinese New Year, my mother-in-law would soak the seeds in a big metal pot (for three days or more) before cracking each seed/nut with a mortar and a pair of scissors. Then she would sniff it and select the ones that smell “okay”. You see, one rotten seed would spoil the entire dish, rendering it unpalatable. Hence, the careful selecting, smelling and then removing (of brown pulp). There are the ones that smell like earth, like forest loam after rain, like the most intense of chocolate. Then, there are the ones that smell like rotten fish, like old sweat socks, like sour sweat. We throw away the spoilt nuts and keep the good ones.
You either love ayam buah keluak or hate it – some are put off by the presence of the black nuts. For our household, we normally fight over the nuts, because they are so delicious and fantastic on hot rice. The kids love it too as scooping out the contents of the nuts get their fingers all dirty.
I can write more about Peranakan food (dessert, anyone?). But I will probably save it for next time.
Singapore is such a mélange of cultures. Try to define her – and you get intersections and blends, because everything overlaps, merge and yet somehow still remains distinct. You have the main ethnic groups of Malay, Chinese and Indian… and many mixes in-between.
The Peranakan Chinese are one of the mixes in-between. Commonly known as “Baba-Nonya” or “Straits Chinese”, the Peranakan Chinese are descendents of “late 15th and 16th Century Chinese immigrants to the Nusantara region during the Colonial period.” (says Wikipedia), the “Colonial period” meaning the respective colonization phases by the Portuguese, Dutch and English. There are other smaller Peranakan communities, namely the Chitty Peranakan, the Indian Muslim Peranakan and Eurasian Peranakan. But for this essay, I will focus on the Peranakan Chinese.
I think it’s a little strange if I talk only on the food traditions of the Peranakan, because food is part of Peranakan culture which is a mix of Malay and Chinese. With the intersecting of Malay and Chinese traditions, the food becomes a mélange – in-betweens, combining the flavors of Chinese cooking with Malay spices. Then again, the Malay culture itself is so diverse: Javanese, Sumatran, Bugis and Minangkabau, each group bringing in their own distinct traditions. The Chinese aspect is mainly Hokkien (Hoklo), hailing from the southern part of China. I myself am Hokkien.
For a start, Peranakan cooking uses spices and chilli pretty heavily, drawing from its Malay heritage. Pedas, a potent mix of ground chilli, garlic and galanga, is used in many dishes. Rempah, like the many dishes, varies from each Peranakan household. My father-in-law is the one who makes the rempah. He adds in fiery-red chilli, garlic and the intensely fragrant galangal, fries the mixture until the smell fills the kitchen (and the house) and then keeps it in the fridge for later use. It can be used in assam udang pedas (prawns with chilli and tamarind) or assam fish. At the same time, it is also used in ayam buah keluak (chicken with black nuts).
Speaking of ayam buah keluak, it is the most fascinating Peranakan dish I have known and tasted. I first tasted it when I met my then-boyfriend. I can’t describe its taste – it is at once earthy, richy, minerally and everything in-between. Its preparation is time-consuming. My in-laws buy a bagful of dried nuts (in their shells) from Tekka Market, soaks them in water before cracking the hard black shell to get the dark brown-caramel brown pulp/filling. Do you know that the fruit itself is actually highly toxic? We are eating the insides of the seeds! You can read more here: http://www.nparks.gov.sg/blogs/garden_voices/index.php/2007/01/11/buah-keluak/.
Every Chinese New Year, my mother-in-law would soak the seeds in a big metal pot (for three days or more) before cracking each seed/nut with a mortar and a pair of scissors. Then she would sniff it and select the ones that smell “okay”. You see, one rotten seed would spoil the entire dish, rendering it unpalatable. Hence, the careful selecting, smelling and then removing (of brown pulp). There are the ones that smell like earth, like forest loam after rain, like the most intense of chocolate. Then, there are the ones that smell like rotten fish, like old sweat socks, like sour sweat. We throw away the spoilt nuts and keep the good ones.
You either love ayam buah keluak or hate it – some are put off by the presence of the black nuts. For our household, we normally fight over the nuts, because they are so delicious and fantastic on hot rice. The kids love it too as scooping out the contents of the nuts get their fingers all dirty.
I can write more about Peranakan food (dessert, anyone?). But I will probably save it for next time.
