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Nyonya or Peranakan Recipes are
combination of food that are usually sour, sweet, salty, hot and spicy
tasting. The best, most famous and popular nyonya recipes or peranakan
recipes which are tasty and delicious
are their
spicy or mild curry, soups, vegetables, nyonya
kerabu (salad), fruits or vegetable
pickles, rice and congee or porridge recipes. Besides
the nyonya food and pickles or relish, they are also known for their all-time favorite nyonya desserts recipes and nyonya kuih recipes
which are easy and simple to cook or prepare. Nyonya food is
influenced by the
combination of many cultures. Nyonya cuisine is now acknowledged as
one of the earliest examples of Asian exotic and fusion food. Unlike modern
fusion dishes, the melting pot for Nyonya food or Peranakan food existed in the world
where cultures meet and taste buds were awakened by the dominant
nyonya cooking
tastes and flavors of the day. The secrets to Nyonya method of
cooking is by the infamous agak-agak or rough estimates method in our
grandmother's recipes.
As a result, a number of nyonya recipes have been lost, and the true
essence of the nyonya cuisine has been confined only to Straits
Chinese homes today. Influenced by its Chinese, Malay, Indian,
Thai and to a lesser extent, colonial, the nyonya food and desserts recipes of the
Penang Peranakan food is unique and exotic. The Straits Chinese were
among the first to adopt Western ways and methods of cooking, some of the nyonya dishes they
prepare has an unmistakable western taste and flavor. While the
Straits Chinese everyday food breakfast, lunch, dinner or supper betrays a distinct local taste and
flavor, the Chinese influence is most apparent during festivals where
you will find the best and most tasty, delicious, famous and popular nyonya soups, the
clear soup - 'Kiam Chai Ark' (salted vegetable and duck soup), the
'Chap Chai T'ng (mixed vegetables soup), 'Too Thor T'ng' (pig's
stomach soup) or the 'Hu Pioh T'ng (fish maw soup). Besides the
nyonya soups, there are also nyonya food recipes like the Jiu Hu Char, Hu
Chih Char, Chap Chai, Nyonya Curry Chicken, Tau Ewe Bak, Hong Bak, Loh
Bak, Nyonya pickles or nyonya acars are usually a medley of pickled
fruits or vegetables, with the more elaborate ones made in combination
with a spice paste and ingredients. The secret on how to make
good nyonya acars and pickles lies in the salting and sun-drying of
the fruits and vegetables. The sharp tang of sour taste,
however, must be tempered with the sweet, salty and spicy taste as well,
to create a balance of flavors that those outside the community often
find hard to replicate. Some of these sour, sweet, salty and
spicy Nyonya acars or fruit, vegetable pickles - the famous Acar Awak;
Papaya Pickle or Bokwa Sui; Lime Acar or Acar Keat Lah; Leek Pickle or
Logiou; Radish Pickle or Chai Tow Sui; Pickled Cucumber or Acar Timun,
just to name a few.
In the nyonya family, after lunch or dinner, the family will serve a
varieties of nyonya desserts or nyonya kuih. Traditional or local favorites,
authentic, most famous and popular nyonya desserts recipes or nyonya kuih
recipes are the Kuih Talam, Huat Kuih, Pengat, Kuih Ee (glutinous rice
flour balls in syrup), Chiu Chu Kuih, Pulut Tai Tai, Kuih Koci, Kow
Chan Kuih, Radish Kuih, Bee Koh and Rempah Udang. There are also
traditionally popular nyonya dishes found in
recipes such as the Nasi Kunyit (yellow turmeric rice),
Lam Mee (nyonya birthday noodles), ultra-rich Nasi Lemak (coconut
fragrant rice) consisting of Assam Prawns, Assam Fish, cucumber
slices, a wedge of hard-boiled egg and sambal belachan - a ground
paste of fresh red chilies and toasted dried shrimp paste, in which
Kerabus or Asian Nyonya Salads can be tossed up in no time at all
since freshly-made sambal belachan is always at hand in a respectable
Nonya family kitchen. We also have the Rice Recipes such as
the Nasi Kembuli Recipe or Spiced Rice Recipe - an elaborate feast
cooked on auspicious occasions like weddings, birthdays and the
Chinese New Year. There are normally eight or nine accompanying
dishes. Besides the traditional
methods, techniques
and ways of
cooking Chinese Nyonya dishes, now there are also new methods which are easy
and simply to follow on how to cook nyonya food, soups, curry and how
to make nyonya desserts and kuih. The Nyonya and Peranakan recipes provided below are a
combination of traditional, local and modern or new improved methods of cooking Nyonya food.
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