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The essence of Peranakan dishes
A word meaning ‘native born’, Peranakan refers to the descendants of Chinese immigrants who married locals in the Malay Peninsula during the 16th-18th centuries. Living mainly in cities such as Melaka, Penang and Singapore, they created their own distinctive grub that fuses Chinese cuisine with the incendiary power of local Malay ingredients such as galangal, tamarind, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, pandan leaves and turmeric. When blended together, these piquant ingredients form the rempah, the potent brew that gives zest to the food served in Singapore’s fine Peranakan restaurants.