Nyonya cooking: laksa, kuih and a pantry of two worlds

A cook in Penang pounds a paste of chilli and galangal. A cook in Melaka stirs a pot of coconut milk. Both call the dish laksa. Both are right.

The story

Nyonya cooking (the food of the Peranakan Chinese women) is a blend of two worlds. Researchers describe it as Chinese ingredients and cooking ideas joined with the herbs and spices of the Malay world. The migrants who came from China could not always find their old ingredients, so they changed their recipes to suit the new place and the local taste.

From the Chinese pantry came black mushrooms, wood-ear fungus (a dark, crunchy mushroom), tang hoon (glass noodles), bee hoon (rice vermicelli), and fermented soybean paste called taucheo (豆醬).

From the Malay pantry came coconut milk (santan), chilli, belachan (shrimp paste), lemongrass, galangal (a root like ginger) and tamarind (a sour fruit).

Two laksas, one name. Penang's assam laksa has a fresh fish broth, made sour with tamarind and lime, with galangal and herbs, and no coconut. Melaka's curry laksa uses cumin, belachan, chilli and coconut milk, and tastes sweeter and creamier. Melaka food is richer in coconut. Penang food has a sweet and sour twist from Thai neighbours; kerabu, a spicy salad, came from Thailand.

Snacks. Otak-otak is a custard of fish, egg, belachan and coconut milk wrapped in a leaf and grilled. Nyonya kuih (small cakes and sweets) are famous too, and one kind is steamed in little Chinese teacups.

A food that needs new cooks. Researchers note that many young people today are not very aware of Nyonya food, even though restaurants and ready-made laksa pastes keep it alive. Peranakan families and the public are working to bring it back, with cookbooks, restaurants and food products.

At festivals, families set the tok panjang (long table) and serve many dishes together as a sign of welcome and family unity.

Where you can still see it today

Nyonya restaurants in Melaka and Penang.
Laksa paste sold in shops, which has made Nyonya food popular all over Malaysia.
Festive tables, such as Chinese New Year in Melaka.
Kuih stalls and Nyonya cake shops.

A note for Muslim readers: Nyonya dishes are made by Chinese Peranakan cooks, and some are not halal. Please ask about each dish.

What DNA can tell, and what it cannot

Food does not travel in DNA, and DNA does not carry recipes. A region estimate may show East and Southeast Asian ancestry, which fits a food that blends the two. But the dishes live in kitchens and memories, not in genes. DNA cannot say whether a family is Peranakan or what they cook.

DNA does not decide race, religion or bumiputera status.