5 min read
Peranakan cooking is rooted in its commitment to balance and harmony, where every dish is a symphony of contrasting flavours and textures—spicy, tangy, sweet, and savoury. A typical Nonya meal often includes:
- Kuah Putih (white gravy dish)
- Kuah Pedas (spicy red gravy dish)
- Lauk Piring (individual side dishes)
- Soup
- Rice
- Sambal Belacan (chili paste)
- Achar (pickled vegetables)
These dishes come together to create a multi-dimensional dining experience, one that highlights the diversity and complexity of the Peranakan palate. Beyond the flavours, however, it's the tools and ingredients that truly bring these dishes to life.
8 Essential Tools of a Peranakan Kitchen
In the Peranakan kitchen, each tool is carefully selected to play a specific role in creating balanced and harmonious dishes. These tools are not just functional, but also symbolic of the patience and precision at the heart of Peranakan cooking. Here are 8 key tools:
🥄 Perforated Ladle
Simple yet indispensable, the perforated ladle gently lifts tender meats from simmering gravies. Its precise design ensures delicate ingredients are handled with care, preserving the broth’s clarity and maintaining the balance of flavours in every dish.
🥄 Rounded Ladle
The rounded ladle is an ideal tool for serving and scooping generous portions of soups, gravies, and broths. In the hands of a seasoned cook, it also works as an informal measuring tool, with one ladleful typically equivalent to about five tablespoons. Its deep bowl and simple shape provide control and ease, especially when working with hot liquids or large pots.
🔥 Wok & Wok Ladle
More than just a cooking vessel, the wok is the heart of the kitchen. With its sloped sides and seasoned surface, it’s perfect for searing sambals and stir-frying vegetables. The wok ladle, designed to fit these curves, ensures that ingredients are moved effortlessly, allowing flavours to meld together and creating the deep, layered tastes that are characteristic of Nonya cuisine.
🪨 Mortar and Pestle (Batu Lesung)
A timeless tool, the batu lesung is used to grind spices by hand. This slow, deliberate process releases the true essence of each ingredient, creating a depth of flavour that pre-ground spices can’t replicate. It reflects the care and attention at the heart of Peranakan cooking.
🔪 Chinese Cleaver
The Chinese cleaver is an essential tool for chopping ingredients with precision. Whether slicing vegetables for Achar or cutting pork belly for Babi Pongteh, its weight and balance ensure every slice is clean and accurate, elevating both the texture and presentation of classic dishes.
🧺 Steamer
The steamer, with its gentle, low-heat technique, preserves the integrity of ingredients like chicken in Nasi Lemak, keeping them tender and fragrant. It allows the natural sweetness of the meat and the delicate aroma of the spices to shine through, resulting in dishes that are both nourishing and rich in authentic flavour.
🥢 'Cooking' Chopsticks
Longer and thicker than regular dining chopsticks, 'cooking' chopsticks have a variety of uses. Their extended length keeps hands safely away from hot oil during deep-frying, while their sturdy grip makes them perfect for tossing noodles, turning ingredients, or fishing out delicate pieces from a bubbling wok.
🥣 Noodle Strainer
The noodle strainer is designed for quick, efficient draining. Its wide, open basket allows water or oil to run off easily, making it perfect for lifting noodles, blanching vegetables, or retrieving fried items from the wok. With a long handle that keeps hands safely away from steam and splatter, it’s a practical tool that brings speed and control to fast-moving tasks in the kitchen.
8 Key Ingredients in Peranakan Cooking
Having explored the tools, let's turn to the ingredients that form the soul of Peranakan cuisine. These ingredients are the building blocks of Nonya dishes, carrying centuries of tradition while contributing to the distinctive flavours we recognise today.
🌰 Candlenuts (Buah Keras)
Often overlooked, candlenuts are essential in many Nonya gravies. Their rich, buttery texture thickens sauces without overpowering other flavours. When toasted and ground, they create a creamy base, balancing bold ingredients in dishes like Ayam Buah Keluak.
🦐 Prawn Paste (Belacan)
At the heart of many Peranakan sambals, belacan’s pungent, bold flavour adds depth to dishes. With just a small amount, it can provide a savoury base for sambals, stir-fries, and stews. The scent of toasting belacan is a comforting, familiar aroma, evoking the warmth of home.
🍬 Palm Sugar (Gula Melaka)
More than a simple sweetener, Gula Melaka is a flavour enhancer that adds a complex, earthy sweetness to both savoury dishes and desserts. Whether melting into the rich syrup of a chendol or balancing the heat of sambal, this natural sugar brings smoky-sweet depth to the Peranakan palate.
🍋 Tamarind (Asam)
Tamarind brings a gentle, tangy brightness to dishes like Asam Pedas, balancing the richness of meats and seafood. Its subtle sourness lifts the flavours of stews and gravies, adding a refreshing layer of complexity that makes each bite more vibrant and satisfying.
🌶 Chilies
The backbone of Peranakan cuisine, chilies add heat and depth to dishes. Whether fresh, dried, or ground, chilies create complex layers of taste. Their heat isn’t just fiery; it builds depth and contributes to the intricate flavours of sambals, curries, and stir-fries.
🌿 Turmeric (Kunyit)
A cornerstone of Peranakan spice pastes, turmeric is often pounded into rempah to deepen the flavours of curries and stews. Its gentle bitterness balances the richness of coconut milk and the heat of chillies, adding depth and complexity to dishes like Ayam Tempra and Ayam Kleo.
🍃 Kangkung (Water Spinach)
Kangkung is a leafy green often used in Peranakan stir-fries, soups, and salads. Its tender-crisp texture and mild bitterness pair beautifully with bold flavours. In dishes like Kangkung Belacan, it soaks up the spicy belacan while offering a fresh contrast to rich sambals and gravies.
🍌 Banana Leaves
Banana leaves are a staple in Peranakan cuisine, used to wrap fish, rice, or curries for moisture retention and a delicate fragrance. They can also be used as natural serving trays, enhancing the presentation of dishes like grilled fish and Nasi Lemak.
The Heart of Peranakan Cooking
All in all, at the core of Peranakan cooking lies a profound connection to tradition, where every ingredient, tool, and technique carries its own story. Passed down through generations, these practices embody the patience, care, and passion that define the Nonya kitchen. By embracing these time-honoured methods, we continue to celebrate and share the vibrant, evolving flavours that shape Peranakan cuisine today, ensuring that its rich heritage thrives for generations to come.
Discover more about key Peranakan tools and ingredients, and explore authentic Peranakan recipes in our New Mrs Lee's Cookbook Vol. 1. If you're keen to broaden your culinary repertoire, our New Mrs Lee's Cookbook Vol. 2 also offers a variety of Straits Heritage recipes. Both cookbooks are available here too if you wish to explore further.
