Now, Let's move to the Nyoya food. Nyonya food, also referred to as Straits Chinese food or Lauk Embok Embok, is an interesting amalgamation of Chinese and Malay dishes thought to have originated from the Peranakan (Straits Chinese) of Malacca over 400 years ago. This was the result of inter-marriages between Chinese immigrants and local Malays, which produced a unique culture. Here, the ladies are called nyonyas and the men babas.
Nyonya food is also native to Penang and Singapore. However, over the years, distinct differences have evolved in nyonya cooking found in Penang and Singapore than that in Malacca. The proximity of Malacca and Singapore to Indonesia resulted in an Indonesian influence on nyonya food. Malacca Nyonyas prepare food that is generally sweeter, richer in coconut milk, and with the addition of more Malay spices like coriander and cumin. Meanwhile, the Penang Nyonyas drew inspiration from Thai cooking styles, including a preference for sour food, hot chilies, fragrant herbs, and pungent black prawn paste (belacan).
Influences aside, nyonya recipes are complicated affairs, often requiring hours upon hours of preparation. Nyonya housewives of the past would spend the better part of their lives in the kitchen, but they were fiercely proud of their unique cuisine, preferring nyonya food to any other type of food.
Nyonya cooking is also about the blending of spices, employing pungent roots like galangal, turmeric and ginger; aromatic leaves like pandan leaf, fragrant lime leaf and laksa leaf, together with other ingredients like candlenuts, shallots, shrimp paste and chilies. Lemon, tamarind, belimbing (carambola) or green mangoes are used to add a tangy taste to many dishes.
Bolow are some list of Nyonya's food:
Enchen Kabin: Chicken Bites - bite-sized pieces of chicken are marinated in soy sauce, oyster sauce, five-spice powder, black pepper, ginger and scallions, then dipped in egg and flour and deep fried. Popular as a bar snack, this dish can be served hot or cold.
Chicken Kapitan: this curry is a distinctly Nyonya flavored chicken curry using tamarind juice, candlenut, fresh turmeric root and belacan [also spelt belachan orblacan], a shrimp paste, among other ingredients. Besides the usual steamed white rice, this dish is excellent served with Roti Jala.
Kangkung Belacan: Belacan Water Spinach. Kangkung [also spelt Kangkong] is similar to spinach. It is also known as Water Convolvulus, or more commonly, Water Spinach. One of the most popular Malaysian vegetable dish - stir fried with a blend of chilies, dried shrimps and belacan.
Assam Laksa: Noodles in Tangy Fish Soup - Thick rice noodles are served in a tangy fish soup/gravy. Not at all fishy, the soupy gravy is made with mackerel and lots of aromatic herbs. Fresh garnishing of shredded cucumber, lettuce, pineapple, onion and fragrant mint leaves finishes the dish. In general the term Laksa refers to Malay style laksa, sometimes referred to as Malay Laksa. There are slight variations of laksa in different parts of the country. This version of laksa is from the 'hawker food capital' of Malaysia - Penang, famous for it's Penang Laksa or Penang Assam Laksa.
Laksa Lemak: Noodles in Spiced Coconut Soup - Laksa Lemak, usually refers to the Chinese-Malay or Nyonya style of laksa sometimes called Nyonya Laksa, or even Laksa Siam in Penang. Lots of fresh aromatic herbs goes into the making of the soupy gravy. The key ingredient that makes this version of laksa rich and robust is coconut milk.
Ayam Pongteh: Miso Soy Chicken - Chicken is cooked with preserved soy beans [Miso], dark soy sauce, sugar and other ingredients. This slightly sweet, chili-free dish is a hit with kids and made daily in some Nyonya households. This recipe is also made with pork Babi Pongteh.
Belacan Clams: Fresh clams [Lala, in Malay] harvested off the coastlines of Malaysia are stir fried Nyonya-style in spicy blend of chilies, shallots, lemongrass, galangal and belacan.
Mee Siam: Siamese Noodles - is a noodle dish influenced by neighboring Thailand, formerly known as Siam. Thin rice vermicelli [Lo Mien noodles] are stir fried in a special sauce with shrimp. A squeeze of limau kasturi [kalamansi limes] just before eating, adds to this unique tasting noodle dish.
Rojak: Exotic Malaysian Salad - also called Penang Rojak,is a fruit and vegetable salad tossed in a special sauce. Simply labeled Rojak Sauce, the sauce is made from a thick black molasses-like paste called haeko, pronounced 'hey-ko' or Prawn Paste [Otak Udang, in Malay]. This is combined with palm sugar, tamarind paste and other ingredients. Pineapple, apple, guava, green mango, jicama and cucumber are tossed in this sauce with crushed peanuts and sesame seeds. Thai Bird chilies are added to give this exotic salad a fiery kick.
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