[Narrator] At Big Nyonya in Melacca, Malaysia,
Chef Kenny Chan, and Asian food guru KF Seetoh
introduce us to the lesser known flavors of the Peranakan pantry.
Combining Chinese cooking techniques, such as wok cooking,
with Malay ingredients and spices,
Peranakan food is noted for its tropical blend of tangy and spicy flavors.
We join Asian food guru, KF Seetoh, and Chef Chan
to learn about a few of the chef's favorite dishes.
[KF Seetoh] This is The Big Nyonya Restaurant. And this is The Big Nyonya himself! [Chef Kenny Chan laughs]
[KF Seetoh] So, Dr. Kenny who was accorded and knighted with doctor-hood...
....for his culinary contributions to this great state of Malacca.
Yeah, that's another wonderful dish.
[KF Seetoh] Now, Malacca is the birthplace of the Peranakan and Nyonya culture.
[Chef Kenny Chan] Right. [KF Seetoh] Its history goes way over....
[KF Seetoh] ....half a millennium ago.... Six, five—six hundred years ago.
You know, I think it burgeoned after cooks like the Admiral Cheng Ho came here.
They started this Chinese community,
and the Chinese folks stayed on and then they inter-dated and they inter-married.
The best part out of this union was that nobody adopted each other's culture, right?
And so this Nonya is a little bit of Chinese, a little bit of Malayan,
a little bit of everything else.
[KF Seetoh joking] And you wind up with people like him. [Chef Kenny Chan laughs]
[KF Seetoh] So, and their dishes, you know....
Just simply speaking, I think their dishes takes the best ingredients
of the local lands here,
and they introduce some Chinese cooking techniques to it,
and over the centuries, it evolved to date.
Peranakan and Nyonya food culture is very, very iconic.
So, what are the dishes we are having here? Uh....
We have this Chili Garam fish. A fried fish.
Fried until it's uber crispy.
The Asian Sea Bass. Or the Australians call it barramundi, oh!
But, uh, but, you know — you could, if you can use nicer fish
like a Grouper. Sweeter, takes frying very well.
And there's this. In so many ways, it's like Chinese, isn't it?
[KF Seetoh] Pongteh. [Chef Kenny Chan] Pongteh, yeah. It's a stew stew.
[KF Seetoh] It's with miso or taucheo. [Chef Kenny Chan] Taucheo.
[KF Seetoh] Taucheo, which is — you know — a Japanese miso is like a Japanese version of Taucheo. [Chef Kenny Chan] Taucheo.
[KF Seetoh] A bit of spice in there. He's got, in this case, chicken. [Chef Kenny Chan] Garlic.
[Chef Kenny Chan] Garlic, shallots and miso. [KF Seetoh] And Miso.
[KF Seetoh] I'm sure he missed out a few ingredients, which he won't tell you because it's a secret. [Chef Kenny Chan] No, no, no, no, no, no....
[KF Seetoh laughs] No, huh? [Chef Kenny Chan] He keeps on accusing me of keeping secrets!
[KF Seetoh] So, this Sambal used for the okra is different — it's more watery,
because it's used to mix with, uh.... It tosses more easily with a salad.
And the first notes that came through when I tasted it was the lime leaf.
[Chef Kenny Chan] Lime leaf. [KF Seetoh] It was —It is so fragrant and I think it goes so well.
The accent of lime leaf with vinegar and chili,
and a bit of salt and Blatjang.
[Chef Kenny Chan] Blatjang, yes. [KF Seetoh] It just brings out the thing.
[KF Seetoh] And you know, you dusted the whole thing with dried shrimp powder, it is....
Oooooo. The umami. It just lent an umami to the entire dish.
Just — whoooooo! It comes out!
And this is....
This is murder.
[KF Seetoh] This is a weapon of mass destruction. [Chef Kenny Chan laughs]
[KF Seetoh] Ooooo, mmm.
It is sour, salty, spicy, there's garlic. There's shallots in there.
Um, um....
But I channeled shrimp paste, it is riding on it at the back....
And when you match that with sweetness of a fried fish....
Mmmm....mmmm.....
You get this.
[Chef Kenny Chan laughs]
[KF Seetoh] Not all Peranakan dishes are spicy, you've got Pongteh....
...which is uh.... I mean, the base is really, uh....
Taucheo. Bean paste. Fermented bean paste.
[Chef Kenny Chan] Again, when we were children, we used to take this.
[Chef Kenny Chan] It's meant for children. [KF Seetoh] Yep.
[Chef Kenny Chan] And one of the signature dishes in the Peranakan cuisine.
[KF Seetoh] Yeah, except some Nyonya children don't grow out of this.
[KF Seetoh] And when they grow up, they don't like spicy stuff. [Chef Kenny Chan] Ah, yes.
[KF Seetoh] They forgot to graduate into spicy. [Chef Kenny Chan laughs]
[chewing sounds]
[KF Seetoh] Mmmm, mmmm.
Very comforting.
I need some of that.
[Chef Steve Jilleba] The texture of that was actually wonderful.
Because it was still really crisp.
[KF Seetoh] Crunchy, yeah. [Chef Steve Jilleba] And then you have that freshness of the lime.
[Chef Steve Jilleba] A little bit of the spice against it. [Chef Kenny Chan] You want some more?
[Chef Steve Jilleba] Huh? Sure!
[KF Seetoh chuckling] He took one just to test it. [Chef Steve Jilleba] I just had to make sure. [Chef Kenny Chan] Because.... Because....
[Chef Kenny Chan] You cannot have it too soft. That's why it's very crunchy.
That's the secret of it. Just soften.
[KF Seetoh] You wanna know how crunchy it is? Listen to that.
[chewing sounds]
That's how crunchy it is.
Okay, okay! A dish of the Peranakans. The, uh....
[KF Seetoh] This is called Buah Keluak. [Chef Kenny Chan] Buah Keluak.
Or the Keluak Nut.
Native to Indonesia.
Uh....
It's rather complex to make this. You have to crack the nut open....
Well, you got to soak the nut for a couple of days at least.
And then crack it open.
And then it reveals its black mess inside.
[KF Seetoh] If I could describe the taste, it would be like mud. [Chef Kenny Chan] Bitter.
[KF Seetoh] Bitter-ish edible mud.
Uh....
If I may attempt, it also tastes a little bit like bitter cocoa beans....
Mashed em. It's got that same earthiness.
Here ya go.
Yum yum. Yum yum. Oh.
Looks like some gunk to people.
To us, to the The Peranakans and The Nyonya.... this is love!
Love.
So, what they do, is they mash it in rice, you know?
Paella, there you go! Black ink paella!
Yeah? Mmmm.
There's the sweetness from the starchiness of the rice,
with a bit of a sambal, the bitterness of the....
The bitterness/earthiness of the Buah Keluak.
Mix the combination....
[KF Seetoh] Heavenly. [Chef Kenny Chan] Mmm.
[KF Seetoh] You don't have Heaven, at least — celestial! [Chef Kenny Chan laughs]