Halal Food Guide: Singapore - Peranakan Nyonya Cuisine and Muslim Travel
Reposted from the web
Summary: This Singapore food note focuses on Peranakan Nyonya cuisine and the dishes the author tasted during the trip. It keeps the original food names, flavors, restaurant details, and travel observations while making the English direct and readable.
In Singapore, we found a halal-certified Peranakan restaurant called Old Bibik's Peranakan Kitchen on Joo Chiat Road. The owner, Adrian, is a Baba Nyonya himself, and many dishes in the shop come from his late grandmother. The name Old Bibik is in her memory.
Baba Nyonya, also known as Peranakan, are a group formed by Hokkien, Teochew, and Hakka immigrants who moved to Phuket, Penang, Malacca, and Singapore from the 15th century onwards and married local Malays and Sumatrans. The Joo Chiat area, where Old Bibik's Peranakan Kitchen is located, is an important settlement for Singapore's Baba Nyonya people. In the early 19th century, Baba Nyonya merchants like Tan Tock Seng opened nutmeg plantations in areas bordering Singapore's Chinatown and Tanjong Pagar. Many moved to the Joo Chiat area after the 1920s and 1930s. Today, it still preserves many century-old Baba Nyonya shophouses and quite a few Nyonya restaurants.
Baba Nyonya absorbed Malay language and culture, using a Baba Malay language that includes many Hokkien words. They wear batik sarongs, and Nyonya cuisine is a unique style formed by blending Chinese ingredients with Malay and Indonesian spices and cooking methods.
We ordered classic Nyonya dishes: chicken with black nuts (Ayam Buah Keluak), mixed vegetables (Chap Chye), and beef rendang (Rendang) rice. We also had bean curd pudding (Tau Huey).
Chicken with black nuts is chicken stewed with Indonesian black nuts and various spices like tamarind. Singapore's founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew loved this dish. Indonesian black nuts originally came from the mangrove swamps of Java and Sumatra. They were brought to Malacca in the 15th century and became an important spice in Nyonya cuisine.
Mixed vegetables is a Nyonya stir-fry dish originating from Fujian. Various vegetables are chopped and stir-fried, and the ingredients vary by family depending on the season and taste.
Rendang originated in the Minangkabau region of Sumatra. It was brought to Malacca by the Minangkabau people in the 16th century and has since become part of Nyonya cuisine. Rendang is made by slowly cooking meat in coconut milk and various spices until all the liquid dries up and the meat turns dark brown. Dry rendang can be stored for a month, making it perfect for travel.
Nyonya bean curd pudding is a bit like cendol, topped with pandan jelly noodles, red beans, and grass jelly, and can be drizzled with palm sugar syrup.
In Bedok North Street in eastern Singapore, there is a 60-year-old shop called Lek Lim Nonya Cake Confectionery. It has a shop in the front and a factory in the back, selling all kinds of halal Nyonya cakes (kuih). Lek Lim started making and selling Nyonya cakes at home in 1960, opened the current shop in 1972, and applied for halal certification in 2011 so that more communities could taste the delicious Nyonya cakes.
Nyonya cakes have a rich variety of flavors. They are made by steaming, frying, or baking, and come in sweet, salty, and spicy versions. The main ingredients include glutinous rice flour, rice flour, and tapioca flour, with toppings like pandan, coconut milk, mung beans, red beans, and peanuts. A soft, chewy texture and bright colors are the main features of Nyonya kuih.
We bought the famous red tortoise cake (ang ku kueh), also called red rice cake (hongban) in Hakka. The skin is made from glutinous rice flour and sweet potato flour, filled with mung beans, peanuts, and sugar, then steamed on a banana leaf. We also bought Nyonya nine-layer cake (jiucenggao). This is a layered dessert steamed with rice flour, coconut milk, sugar, and various food colorings. It has a soft, chewy texture, and you can peel off the layers one by one to eat.
Bamboo shoot dumpling (sunguo) originated in Chaozhou. Although it looks a bit like a dumpling, the skin is actually made of rice flour or tapioca flour, and the filling contains jicama, bamboo shoots, and dried shrimp. Chive dumpling (jiucaiguo) is another type of Chaozhou steamed dumpling. Like the bamboo shoot dumpling, the skin is made of rice flour or tapioca flour, and it is filled with chives and dried shrimp.
Finally, we bought white taro cake (baiyuguo), which is a taro cake made with shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimp, and other ingredients.
Summary: This Singapore food note focuses on Peranakan Nyonya cuisine and the dishes the author tasted during the trip. It keeps the original food names, flavors, restaurant details, and travel observations while making the English direct and readable.
In Singapore, we found a halal-certified Peranakan restaurant called Old Bibik's Peranakan Kitchen on Joo Chiat Road. The owner, Adrian, is a Baba Nyonya himself, and many dishes in the shop come from his late grandmother. The name Old Bibik is in her memory.
Baba Nyonya, also known as Peranakan, are a group formed by Hokkien, Teochew, and Hakka immigrants who moved to Phuket, Penang, Malacca, and Singapore from the 15th century onwards and married local Malays and Sumatrans. The Joo Chiat area, where Old Bibik's Peranakan Kitchen is located, is an important settlement for Singapore's Baba Nyonya people. In the early 19th century, Baba Nyonya merchants like Tan Tock Seng opened nutmeg plantations in areas bordering Singapore's Chinatown and Tanjong Pagar. Many moved to the Joo Chiat area after the 1920s and 1930s. Today, it still preserves many century-old Baba Nyonya shophouses and quite a few Nyonya restaurants.
Baba Nyonya absorbed Malay language and culture, using a Baba Malay language that includes many Hokkien words. They wear batik sarongs, and Nyonya cuisine is a unique style formed by blending Chinese ingredients with Malay and Indonesian spices and cooking methods.
We ordered classic Nyonya dishes: chicken with black nuts (Ayam Buah Keluak), mixed vegetables (Chap Chye), and beef rendang (Rendang) rice. We also had bean curd pudding (Tau Huey).
Chicken with black nuts is chicken stewed with Indonesian black nuts and various spices like tamarind. Singapore's founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew loved this dish. Indonesian black nuts originally came from the mangrove swamps of Java and Sumatra. They were brought to Malacca in the 15th century and became an important spice in Nyonya cuisine.
Mixed vegetables is a Nyonya stir-fry dish originating from Fujian. Various vegetables are chopped and stir-fried, and the ingredients vary by family depending on the season and taste.
Rendang originated in the Minangkabau region of Sumatra. It was brought to Malacca by the Minangkabau people in the 16th century and has since become part of Nyonya cuisine. Rendang is made by slowly cooking meat in coconut milk and various spices until all the liquid dries up and the meat turns dark brown. Dry rendang can be stored for a month, making it perfect for travel.
Nyonya bean curd pudding is a bit like cendol, topped with pandan jelly noodles, red beans, and grass jelly, and can be drizzled with palm sugar syrup.
In Bedok North Street in eastern Singapore, there is a 60-year-old shop called Lek Lim Nonya Cake Confectionery. It has a shop in the front and a factory in the back, selling all kinds of halal Nyonya cakes (kuih). Lek Lim started making and selling Nyonya cakes at home in 1960, opened the current shop in 1972, and applied for halal certification in 2011 so that more communities could taste the delicious Nyonya cakes.
Nyonya cakes have a rich variety of flavors. They are made by steaming, frying, or baking, and come in sweet, salty, and spicy versions. The main ingredients include glutinous rice flour, rice flour, and tapioca flour, with toppings like pandan, coconut milk, mung beans, red beans, and peanuts. A soft, chewy texture and bright colors are the main features of Nyonya kuih.
We bought the famous red tortoise cake (ang ku kueh), also called red rice cake (hongban) in Hakka. The skin is made from glutinous rice flour and sweet potato flour, filled with mung beans, peanuts, and sugar, then steamed on a banana leaf. We also bought Nyonya nine-layer cake (jiucenggao). This is a layered dessert steamed with rice flour, coconut milk, sugar, and various food colorings. It has a soft, chewy texture, and you can peel off the layers one by one to eat.
Bamboo shoot dumpling (sunguo) originated in Chaozhou. Although it looks a bit like a dumpling, the skin is actually made of rice flour or tapioca flour, and the filling contains jicama, bamboo shoots, and dried shrimp. Chive dumpling (jiucaiguo) is another type of Chaozhou steamed dumpling. Like the bamboo shoot dumpling, the skin is made of rice flour or tapioca flour, and it is filled with chives and dried shrimp.
Finally, we bought white taro cake (baiyuguo), which is a taro cake made with shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimp, and other ingredients.
