An Introduction to Peranakan Cuisine Cooking Classes
Singapore is more than just a shopping destination!
Brimming with its rich multi-cultural cuisine, Singapore is a well-known gastronomic destination to the world.
From Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian, and even French as well as English cuisine, Singapore is bursting with exciting international flavours.
Amidst all of these global dishes, there’s one must-try cuisine that is uniquely found in Singapore which you should never miss out – Peranakan Cuisine.
Get to know how you can cook an enticing Peranakan dish through our extensive selection of Nonya / Peranakan Cooking Classes!
What You Should Know About Peranakan Cooking Class
Before you get yourself into a Peranakan cooking class, get to know peranakan cuisine first.
Developed by Chinese immigrants, Peranakan cuisine is part of the Peranakan culture, which brewed in Singapore after the formation of early British Straits Settlements in the country.
Anchored in its Chinese roots, Peranakan cuisine is a mixture of Chinese and non-Chinese cooking and culinary techniques.
In a nutshell, Peranakan cuisine is Singapore’s original fusion of Chinese and Malay cuisine.
It’s originally prepared by Chinese immigrants called Nonyas or Penarakans from Malacca utilizing not only cooking principles and ingredients native to the Chinese culture but also those which belongs to Malay culture.
In a Peranakan Cooking class, you’ll learn to cook delicious dishes which are spicy and zesty.
Type of Ingredients to be used in a Peranakan Cooking Class
Peranakan Cuisine is known for its spicy dishes, hence in a Peranakan cooking class, you’ll be using zesty, and pungent ingredients such as roots like turmeric and ginger; aromatic leaves such as a fragrant lime leaf, lemongrass leaf, screwpine leaf, and polygonum leaf; shallots, chili, shrimp paste, garlic, and candlenuts.
Other than that, tangy ingredients such as lemon, tamarind, and green mangoes are also utilised in Peranakan cooking.
Cooking Techniques You’ll Learn in a Peranakan Cooking Class
Peranakan cuisine uses the agak-agak method, a method wherein the number of ingredients to be used in the preparation or cooking of the dish is estimated.
In a Peranakan cooking class, you’ll be doing a lot of cutting, chopping, skinning, pounding as well as grinding of local ingredients.
You’ll also be acquainted with Malay Cooking methods such as goreng (fried), persiang (removal of fish scales)rebus (boiled, panggang (smoke) and tumis (lightly fried).
Must-try Dishes in a Peranakan Cooking Class
There is a myriad of flavorful, truly Peranakan Cuisine dishes out there that you should try making in your Peranakan Cooking Class.
Below are some of the suggested traditional Peranakan dishes which you can try out in your Peranakan Cooking Class soon!
– BabiPongteh – A dish which is composed of stewed pork belly with fermented soya bean.
– UdangSambal – A very delicious dish made of prawns drenched in Sambal, a chilli-based sauce mixed with shallot, garlic, and shrimp paste.
– Kari Kapitan – Otherwise known as Nonya Chicken Curry is a spicy and pungent take of the usual chicken curry.
– ItekSio – This is also known as Nonya Braised Duck with tamarind and coriander, a dish bursting with very zesty and aromatic flavours.
– SayurLodeh – A creamy dish made out of vegetables, chicken or beef stock and tofu in a coconut milk soup.
– Ayam Tempera – Stewed chicken in ginger, soy sauce and lime sauce.
– BakwanKepiting – A refreshing soup of pork and crab meatballs with bamboo shoots.