3 recipes from 'Nonya Heritage Kitchen'

Apong Balik

“Nonya cuisine is an early example of fusion food, one that evolved from this integration of Malay and Hokkien food with the colonial cuisines of Portugal, the Netherlands and England,” Dr Ong Jin Teong writes in his book, Nonya Heritage Kitchen – Origins, Utensils And Recipes.

In it, Ong has tried to find out if popular food, cooking techniques, ingredients and utensils interacted to create nonya or Peranakan cuisine. The Peranakan culture is the result of the intermarriage between Chinese – predominantly Hokkien – men and Malay women from the 15th century onwards.