Peranakan Heritage Cooking

Philip Chia

Description

The Singapore Heritage Cookbook series documents and preserves the cultural and culinary heritage of the different ethnic groups in Singapore through recipes passed down from generation to generation.Each book is made up of two parts: An introduction that provides an overview of the history and culture of the community in Singapore and a selection of 55-65 recipes. This section will include traditional dishes, dishes that boast a distinct regional variation that makes them uniquely Singaporean as well dishes that have been adapted over time with lifestyle changes. A brief but informative headnote introduces each recipe and explains the history/significance of the dish and/or other interesting facts related to the dish or ingredients used.With its focus on the cultural and culinary heritage of the Chinese, Malays, Indians, Eurasians and Peranakans in Singapore, the Singapore Heritage Cookbook series will be the definitive reference for anyone looking to learn and understand more about the different ethnic groups in Singapore.

Informations

• Publié par: MarshallCavendishM
• Date de parution: 01 novembre 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789814435093
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 9 Mo

Extrait

SINGAPORE HERITAGE COOKBOOKS
PERANAKAN
HERITAGE
Cooking

SINGAPORE HERITAGE COOKBOOKS
PERANAKAN
HERITAGE
Cooking
PHILIP CHIA Foreword by LEE KIP LEE
The Publisher wishes to thank NUS Baba House for their support in the production of this book.
Editor: Lydia Leong Designer: Bernard Go Photographer: Hongde Photography
Copyright 2012 Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited Reprinted 2013
This book is supported under the National Heritage Board s Heritage Industry Incentive Programme (Hi 2 P)
Published by Marshall Cavendish Cuisine An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Request for permission should be addressed to the Publisher, Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited, 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196 Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] E-mail: [e-mail] Online bookstore: http://www.marshallcavendish.com
Limits of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The Author and Publisher of this book have used their best efforts in preparing this book. The Publisher makes no representation or warranties with respect to the contents of this book and is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe in this book. While the Publisher has reviewed each recipe carefully, the reader may not always achieve the results desired due to variations in ingredients, cooking temperatures and individual cooking abilities. The Publisher shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
Other Marshall Cavendish Offices:
Marshall Cavendish Corporation. 99 White Plains Road, Tarrytown NY 10591-9001, USA Marshall Cavendish International (Thailand) Co Ltd. 253 Asoke, 12th Flr, Sukhumvit 21 Road, Klongtoey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand Marshall Cavendish (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Times Subang, Lot 46, Subang Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Batu Tiga, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Marshall Cavendish is a trademark of Times Publishing Limited
National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Chia, Philip, 1960- Peranakan heritage cooking / Philip Chia. - Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Cuisine, c2012. p. cm. - (Singapore heritage cookbooks) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN : 978 981 4435 09 3
1. Cooking, Peranakan. 2. Cooking, Singaporean. I. Title. Series: Singapore heritage cookbooks.
TX724.5.S55 641.595957 - dc22
OCN753307013
Printed in Singapore by KWF Printing Pte Ltd
DEDICATION
To my late nanny and adoptive mother, Lim Lian Neo, who doted on me and taught me how to prepare the essential rempahs of Peranakan cooking.
To my dearest late Auntie Alice, my mak-ko, who taught me how to cook. I will always remember those lessons.
To my most treasured friends, late Baba Lee Eng Liang who shared with me many old and forgotten recipes; Baba Tan Kim Guan and Auntie Rosie Gwee for sharing their treasured recipes and cooking tips, especially babi tohay.
It is a great privilege to have had them in my life to share their skills and impart their knowledge, which I now share with you. May this book be a reference point and a source of inspiration for you.
Philip Chia

CONTENTS
8 10 12
24 28 44 80 112 126 142
168 177 178 179 180 183 184
Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction
Basic Recipes Vegetables Salads Meat Poultry Fish Seafood Soups Rice Noodles Snacks Desserts
Glossary of Ingredients Menu Suggestions Weights Measures Resources Index Photo Credits About the Author
FOREWORD
Perhaps nothing expresses better the soul of a community than its cooking. For the Peranakans, it is also perhaps one of the most expressive and engaging aspects of the living heritage. Many things may have been relegated to the past, but the cooking has been kept alive and continues to evolve, mainly because of the passion and dynamism of a younger generation of chefs and food writers, and naturally also because of the interest of the community and of the general public in the flavours of Peranakan food.
Peranakan cooking expresses and celebrates the exuberant hybridity that is central to Peranakan identity. Ever since the Portuguese colonial era, the southern Chinese communities in the port towns have been exposed to the lifestyles of Malays from all over the archipelago, as well as of Europeans, Indians and Arabs, and over the centuries, it was impossible for these communities not to learn about, or be influenced by, the different cooking styles and ingredients. From China came sauces, bean curds, noodles, dumplings and certain types of vegetables; from the islands came the wide range of fragrant herbs, spices and roots. From India, there was the wide range of aromatic spice blends and methods of cooking, and from Europe, there was baking and a whole range of cakes and desserts, quaint colonial and Eurasian fusion recipes and dashes of Worcester sauce too. Not surprisingly, the Baba Malay vocabulary of ingredients is peppered with words that have Arab, Portuguese, English, Dutch, Malay and Hokkien origins.
Perhaps the one characteristic of Peranakan cooking that may be called unique is the refinement of the cooking process and the almost ridiculous number of steps required to put together a dish. Some have speculated that this was a way for a manipulative household matriarch
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PERANAKAN HERITAGE
Cooking
to control her daughters and daughters-in-law. In this day and age, shortcuts have been taken by many modern chefs who claim there is little effect on the final product, although conservative cooks would disagree.
When I was young, the menus for different occasions were very specific. There were so many kinds of celebrations, from birthdays to funerals, which required different foods to be served in order to avoid any ill omens or inappropriate etiquette. For example, in the past, the mixed vegetable dish known as chap chye was used as an offering during ceremonies to commemorate the death anniversaries of ancestors. Therefore, traditionally it was never served at birthdays. Nowadays, such customs are no longer observed. However, to be honest, I never paid much attention to these things when I was young. Food for me was solely focused on my favourite meal: a fried egg on steaming hot rice with generous lashings of dark soy sauce and sliced fresh green chilli.
The author Philip Chia is a nephew of mine who grew up in a typical Peranakan household where cooking was an important part of daily life. During my term as president of the Peranakan Association, he voluntarily contributed his expertise and advice towards many successful events and has been active in promoting Peranakan cooking to the public. I am heartened that he is both armed with the knowledge of traditional methods and yet engaged with contemporary tastes and demands, which allow him to bridge the past with the present. This book, comprising so many family recipes, is a wonderful addition to the large corpus of books on this unique and living aspect of Peranakan heritage.
Lee Kip Lee
9
FOREWORD
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Firstly, I would like to thank Lydia Leong, Bernard Go and Liu Hongde for their wonderful support in the production of this Peranakan cookbook. Thank you for helping me preserve the amazing recipes of the Peranakan heritage.
A big thank you also to Uncle Lee Kip Lee, past president of the Peranakan Association, Singapore, who gave me a deeper understanding of the Peranakan culture; my cousin, Peter Lee, vice-president of the Peranakan Association, Singapore, who provided me with invaluable advice and guidance as I worked on this book; and Tachi Laureen Tam for helping out during the photo shoot at the NUS Baba House.
And of course, to a true friend, Adrian Koh, for contributing the insightful introduction to this book-thank you.
I would also like to express my appreciation to Braun Singapore for sponsoring the hand mixer I used to blend all the rempahs in this book.
Philip Chia
10
PERANAKAN HERITAGE
Cooking
11
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
The Peranakans are a Southeast Asian community that established itself in the colonial settlements of the 16th and 17th centuries. Purists are divided as to whether the term Peranakan denotes a race or a culture, but it refers generally to the descendants of the early Chinese immigrants who settled in the Malay archipelago, invariably taking native women as wives or concubines (as Chinese women were restricted from leaving the mainland until the late 19th century) and embracing local customs, all the while retaining much of their ancestral culture.
Peranakans themselves later on migrated within Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, which resulted in a high degree of cultural similarity of the people of those countries, as well as other farther-flung outposts of the Asia-Pacific region. As the main communities lived and engaged in trade primarily within the Straits Settlements (a British colonial construct of Singapore, Malacca, and Penang constituted in 1826), the Peranakans also came to be known as the Straits Chinese.
A portrait of the Lee family, a typical Straits Chinese family, circa 1900. Philip Chia s maternal grandfather is standing, third from right and his grandmother is seated, second from right.
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A group photograph of the first committee of the Straits Chinese British Association (SCBA) taken in 1880. The SCBA was the forerunner to the Peranakan Association in Singapore.
History
The rich history of the Peranakans began when the countries of Southeast Asia became a focus for trade and commerce to the merchants of mainland China, many of whom chose to put down roots in the region. Their offspring, prod