China
has always traded with lands near and
far across
the globe. During the Ming Dynasty, as
a diplomatic gesture to strengthen
ties with the rich and strategic port
of Malacca on the Malayan Peninsula,
the Emperor of China betrothed his
daughter Princess Hang Li Po to the
Sultan of Malacca.
The royal princess and her entourage of about 500
formed the first permanent Chinese settlement in Malacca at Bukit China or China
Hill. These early Chinese settlers wed local Malay brides and gave rise to the first generation
of mixed Chinese-Malays known as Peranakan, the male being known as Baba and the
female as Nyonya, pronounced nyoh-nyah and sometimes spelt Nonya.
The term 'Peranakan' originated in Indonesia for the descendants
of immigrant Chinese who had married and integrated with local Indonesians. Akin
to the Peranakan in
Indonesia, these descendents of
mixed Chinese-Malay had forsaken their
Chinese mother tongue and spoke the
local Malay language,
assimilated Malay customs, culture and
dress. Descendants of this early
Peranakan community in Malaysia then married within their own community of
Babas and Nyonyas
establishing a strong hybrid culture
proud of it's heritage.
It was around this era, that the rich
and strategic trading port of Malacca,
had attracted the
attention of the Portuguese. The strong
naval armada of the Portuguese soon captured Malacca, making it a Portuguese colony for the next 130
years. After Malacca
fell to the Dutch, who took over from the Portuguese as the main European trading power
in the region, the British started exerting their control in the area. In
1786 Sir Francis Light, representing the British East India Company, established
British control of the island of Pinang, now called Penang, and opened the port to trade. The 1824
Anglo-Dutch Treaty with the British ended the Dutch presence on the Malay
Peninsula. Two years later, in 1826, the British East India Company united Penang, Malacca and
Singapore into a British colony, calling it the 'Straits Settlements'. The
rest of the Malayan Peninsula
remained under the control
and rule of the Malay Sultans. Although the first
Peranakan communities first proliferated in Malacca, many Babas and
Nyonyas settled in Penang and Singapore - and therefore - were also called
Straits Chinese.
While many ancestral customs and traditions of their
Chinese forefathers are still practiced, Babas and Nyonyas
assimilated the local Malay way of life. The Malay language is spoken at home,
though curiously interspersed with
some Chinese dialect. The local Malay attire
sarong kebaya is worn and many ceremonial traditions,
such as weddings, are celebrated in traditional Malay custom. This unique marriage of cultures resulted in
a novel marriage of cuisines, both Chinese and Malay, and is what is now known
in Malaysia as Nyonya food.
While Nyonya [often spelt Nonya] food contains many of the
traditional ingredients of Chinese
food and Malay spices and herbs,
Nyonya cuisine is eclectically
seasoned and different than either
Chinese or Malay food. It is
fusion cuisine at it's best! As
in Malay cooking, a key ingredient in Nyonya cuisine is belacan
[also spelt belachan or blacan]
pronounced blah-chan - a dried shrimp paste.
It's commonly in the form of a pressed
brick or cake. Not overly 'fishy', a
tiny amount of this paste adds
sweetness to meats, intensity to fish
& seafood and a 'kick' to vegetables
like Kangkung Belacan.
It makes a flavorful base for
sauces and gravies, adding depth and an intriguing taste that you can't quite
decipher. When uncooked, the pressed cake has a powerful scent,
like "stinky cheese", but
don't be put off - it mellows out and harmonizes in the cooking, leaving behind
an understated richness that cannot be reproduced. Best
described as a natural flavor enhancer, belacan is what gives many of the
foods from Southeast Asia - Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam
- that
authentic zest and flavor underlying the dense fabric of spice and herbs!
Nyonya food originating from the North of Malaysia - Penang,
and Nyonya food originating from the South - Malacca and Singapore, have distinct differences.
Nyonya
cooking in the South has an
Indonesian influence. The food is generally sweeter, richer with liberal use of coconut milk
and more traditional Malay spices. In Malacca especially, Nyonya cooking is
heavily influenced by Portuguese-Eurasian style of cooking. Many Nyonya dishes are indistinguishable from Portuguese-Eurasian dishes, with both
kitchens using similar ingredients and methods of cooking.
Nyonya food in the North drew inspiration from
neighboring Thailand. Nyonya food in the North, Penang, has a preference for
tangy or sour food such as the famous
Penang Assam Laksa. Tamarind paste is used as a souring agent as well as green mangoes and Belimbing or Belimbi
[Averrhoa
Bilimbi], a close but sourer relative of Carambola also called Starfruit. Similar
to belacan but slightly sweet tasting - a black color molasses-like paste
- locally called haeko [pronounced 'hey-ko'] or Otak Udang, in Malay
[Prawn Paste, in English] is also used
in many Nyonya gastronomic creations.
