Nyonya (or Nonya) food is the food of the Baba-Nyonya that popular in Malaysia, Singapore, and some parts of Indonesia. Also known as ‘Peranakan’ cuisine. These groups of people are descendants of the very early Chinese immigrants to the Nanyang region (refers to the the Malay Peninsula and the islands of Java). The long-established community, the Peranakan, given for the early Chinese migrants to Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia were overwhelmingly male; understandably most of the peranakan had at least some indigenous antecedents. The more recently-arrived community was called totok, meaning ‘pure’ or ‘genuine’ (in the racial sense). This community had a more even gender balance, and it members tended to marry almost exclusively within it. The social and cultural members of the Peranakan community had developed a distinctive local culture characterized, for instance, by the use of Malay or another local language in everyday speech rather than a Chinese dialect and their food habits more characterized by indigenous foodstuff.
The history of Peranakan cuisine and culture can be traced back to the 15th century when Chinese traders entered the port of Malacca to sell silk and porcelain they brought from their country to traders from India and Arab countries. The origins of the Baba and Nyonya also could be traced all the way back to the Chinese Admiral explorer Cheng Ho and the followers, who sailed across the Indian Ocean more than 400 years ago. They in turn came seeking the famed spices of the region. Most of these spices were grown in Indonesia but Melaka (Malacca) was an important port and was the center of the spice trade. While waiting for a good wind to speed their way back to their homeland, the Chinese stayed in Malacca for several months, which led to marriages with local Malays, the women known as Nyonya and the men as Babas. The amalgamation of the two cultures is perceptible in every aspect of life, from the architectures, clothing and the cuisine in the Malaysian port cities. They are very Malay but their have Chinese ancestors. Although some aspects of the culture are disappearing as people marry outside, in Singapore, Malaysia and in some parts of Indonesia the elaborate dishes are still served in households by the wife, usually with help of other female members of the family.
Nyonya cooking in Malaysia originated among Chinese immigrants who settled in Malacca in the 15th century. Daughters of well-to-do Nyonya women were trained in household and cooking skills from early childhood. The cuisine uses chilies, shrimp paste, coconut milk, and aromatic roots and leaves as in the Malaysian and Indonesian traditions but also retains pork and noodles from its Chinese past. However, some historians argued that the inter-marriage was not necessarily the origin of the Baba-Nyonya culture, but argued that Nyonya is a basically a word used to describe a Chinese lady who has adopted the Malay dressing and cooking while maintaining the Chinese culture. As the blending of Malay and Chinese culinary influences which developed in the coastal port cities of Malaysia and Singapore, Nyonya cuisine is said to be fading in prevalence as people give in to grabbing a fast food meal on the run instead of cooking at home.
Regardless of the history and origins of Nyonya food, making Nyonya food is no simple affair; this unique and highly flavorful cuisine requires abundant amount of time, patience, skills, and does not know any exact measurements. But the ingredients are used in generous amounts. Many used agak-agak (adding each of the ingredients to taste, depending on experience and taste) to season the dishes. The key to authentic Nyonya dishes is firsthand experience in knowing how to use liberal amounts of ingredients. A true Nyonya would spend hours and hours pounding her rempah (spices) with Batu Giling (a flat slab of stone to grind the spices) to cook up authenthic Nyonya dishes such as Perut Ikan, Salted Fish Pineapple Curry (Gulai Kiam Hu Kut in Hokkien), and other scrumptious Nyonya concoctions.
The Nyonya cuisine offers dishes with unique flavors and aromas derived from the use of a wide range of aromatic Malay herbs and rempah-rempah (spices) with Chinese ingredients, like tofu and soya. Most dishes are based on mixing the spices, such as chilies, shallots, lemon grass, candlenuts, turmeric, and shrimp paste, into a paste. Most cooks still prefer to use the mortar and pestle to get the right consistency and flavor of the pounded spices. The popular ones of Nyonya dishes, including ayam buah keluak (chicken seasoned with keluak, a type of fruit), otak-otak (grilled fish cakes wrapped in banana leaves) and sambal udang (chili shrimps). Lumpia is the widely popular and variegated food roll in a thin flour wrapper contains a vegetable or pork spring. The local edition of the Malay is popiah. The noodle dishes, generically called pansit (Indonesian called it pangsit) from the Hokkien word for that which is quickly cooked, vary from region to region, indeed family to family, and cook to cook. Char kway teow is the most popular Malay-Singaporean noodle, but in the Philippines the most popular is pancit palabok, noodles shaken in water or broth and covered with a sauce of shrimp, pork, vegetables, bean curd, and sometimes squid, oysters, crumbled crackling, and flaked smoked fish. In Indonesia it may be mie jawa, which includes bakmie goreng (fried noodles) or bakmie godog (noodle soup), egg noodles with beef or pork, shrimp or prawns, carrots, bean sprouts, shallots, candlenuts, and other seasonings. The valued family tradition, the use of generations-old family recipes and the unique old way of cooking the elaborate meals are among reasons why Nyonya dishes are still served in ‘Straits Chinese’ homes in Malaysia and Singapore.
References:
Ella –Mei Wong & Indira Soetrisno. (n.d). Buku Resep Masakan Makanan Sederhana Indonesia & Malaysia. Jakarta: Intimedia.
Kong Yuanzhi. 1999. Silang Budaya Tiongkok Indonesia. Jakarta: BIP.
Sinclair, Charles. 2005. Dictionary of Food; International Food and Cooking Terms From A to Z. London: A & C Black Publisher.
Vuyk, Beb. 1987. Groot Indonesisch Kookboek (Afgewisseld met Chinesse Recepten). Utrecht: Uitgeverij Kosmos.
“Masakan Nyonya” Nomor Tahunan Majalah Femina, edisi Nikmatnya Bernostalgia, 1983, p. 29 & 112.
Picture source: kyspeaks.com/photos2/poeny_garden_1.jpg
