Chef Philip Chia guides you in the ways of the enduring culinary legacy of the Peranakans.

If you think that most Peranakans live to eat, you may be correct. After all, good Peranakan cousine isn't a matter of tossing just anything edible into the cooking pot. It is a carefully nurtured craft, perfected through decades and possibly centuries of trial and error. Yet, Peranakan cuisine is more than just about good food. It encompasses the customs and traditions of the Peranakans, their culture and history. This book showcases the various aspects of their cuisine, and illustrates how food has become an essential part of Peranakan life.

Growing Up in a Nonya Kitchen provides a rare and insightful view into the daily life of a Peranakan family harking back to the early 20th century. With comprehensive chapters dedicated to documenting cooking utensils, essential ingredients, the Nonya’s agak agak (estimating) philosophy, as well as Chinese New Year and other festive dishes, baked goods and Nonya kuehs, Growing Up in a Nonya Kitchen is a volume to read and treasure for anyone looking for an in-depth understanding of the Peranakan (and Singapore) food heritage. Note to readers: This is a newly uploaded ebook file for 2021, that corrects formatting issues

There is more to the culture than what's cooking in the peroh rumah, or kitchen. For instance, have you ever wondered why they speak the way they do? And what is the big deal about cherki games? Why are they always singing the dondang sayang? And, more importantly, what does it mean to be a Peranakan?

Long before fusion cuisine captured the imagination of the world, the Peranakans were blending Chinese ingredients and cooking techniques with the spices and native ingredients used by the indigenous Malays, over time establishing a repertoire of recipes avidly followed to this day. Peranakan food is typically aromatic and spicy and features ingredients that include cocnut milk, galangal, turmeric, candlenuts, laksa leaves, pandan leaves, tamarind pulp, lemongrass, chillies, shallots, basil and coriander.

Growing Up in a Nonya Kitchen provides a rare and insightful view into the daily life of a Peranakan family harking back to the early 20th century. With comprehensive chapters dedicated to documenting cooking utensils, essential ingredients, the Nonya's agak agak (estimating) philosophy, as well as Chinese New Year and other festive dishes, baked goods and Nonya kuehs, Growing Up in a Nonya Kitchen is a volume to read and treasure for anyone looking for an in-depth understanding of the Peranakan (and Singapore) food heritage.