Cooking the Peranakan Way

Growing up in a Peranakan household, I've always been fascinated with cooking and the activities that went on in the kitchen. As children my brother and I spent our school vacations with our maternal grandmother in Malacca. She lived in a typical Malaccan house made of brick and wood and surrounded by a Malay kampong. It was also located by the sea. The kitchen was a shed built next to the main house. I guess in today's context it would be called a wet kitchen. All the cooking was done on a brick stove kindled by a wood fire. I can still see the blackened pot of water on the stove and remember fondly all the wonderful dishes that were turned out from that rustic kitchen. There was duck in chilli sauce that was hot and sweet at the same time ; soy sauce chicken with the soy sauce that was dark and thick and delicious; dishes that made meal times an experience you remembered the rest of your life.
My mum brought those recipes to Singapore after she married my dad over 50 years ago and today at age 87 she still cooks them with the same passion her mother used to. I have time and again tried to get her to write those recipes down but if you know what Peranakan cooks are like you will understand how difficult it is to get the exact recipe on paper. A pinch of this and a dash of that; how much is a pinch or how many grams is that? Well, its a near impossible task and the only advice my mother gave me was that cooking skills come with practice. It is something you develop yourself. Every Peranakan cook has his or her version of a particular dish. It is like "personalizing" every dish. I have yet to hear one Perankan cook praise another's cooking. Each nyonya thinks her version is the best. Every buah keluak or babi pongteh dish is different. The basic taste is there but each person adds something that makes it his or her own. Peranakan cooking is very communal and best cooked in large portions. It involves many ingredients, most of which are not easy to find especially when you don;t know what you're looking for.
My father was an avid cook too and when he got the chance ( when my mum was not in the kitchen) he would whip up dishes of his own. The greatest lesson I learned from my mum is that a good cook is able to improvise and to make do with ingredients at hand to whip up dishes that are in everyway as tasty as the original. Using canned and bottled spices and mixes helps cut down a lot of the preparation time. Ok so it's "cheating" but it sure helps when you;re like me , someone who just wants a meal that's easy to prepare and looks and tastes great. Today you can get ready to use Peranakan mixes in almost every supermarket which makes it a breeze to cook your favourite Peranakan dishes. Don't be afraid to try cooking whatever tickles your taste buds; who knows, maybe you'll come up with your own special version of a timeless Peranakan dish.
Happy Cooking !