Rockin’ the Rempah
One chef is on a mission to expand the current range of Peranakan cuisine
One chef is on a mission to expand the current range of Peranakan cuisine with a revival of long-forgotten heirloom dishes.
Local Peranakan restaurants are often at a disadvantage because of their seemingly limited repertoire. You go to one, and you get the same showstoppers, give or take, that the others offer, invariably done in the same method to which heirloom recipes are expected to adhere.
Chef Philip Chia, however, hopes to change some of that. He is committed to resurrect lost and forgotten Peranakan recipes at The Real Peranakan restaurants and get the dining public on a journey of discovery.
The recipes he is talking about have disappeared from commercial establishments mainly because of their exacting preparation, which demands tremendous interest and dedication from anyone who wishes to reproduce them. Babi Tohay, Hati Ba bi Bun gk us( Pork Liver ), and A yam P ed as Si am — dishes we don’t often hear about or taste – are among the “long-dormant recipes” that Chef Philip intends to feature in upcoming menus. At The Real Peranakan, Chef Philip and his team operate on the belief that “great food should be savored fresh and unadulterated”. For one, this means that the rempahs are prepared by hand, along with nearly everything they serve.
Tradition Meets Reason Peranakan culture retains both the depth and variety it had acquired flourishing in different parts of Southeast Asia. This culture’s culinary expression is expectedly rich in longstanding hubs like Singapore, but this is sadly not always the case. “Singapore is moving at an accelerated pace socio-economically compared to its neighbors,” Chef Philip explains. “We are also relatively more inundated with Western influences. It is indeed quite alarming that complex heritage recipes are no longer being passed down the generations due to commercial expediency.”
Today, only in Peranakan households — with the resources, knowledge, and propensity — can one expect to be served the lesser-known heirloom
dishes. “Many younger chefs also shy away from heritage recipes due to the amount of time involved in preparing (them). It is for the very same reasons that the same repertoire of dishes is created and reproduced each time with variations that cut down the traditional slow brewing, braising, or cooking methods,” Chef Philip elaborates.
“I’m glad to be bringing back some of our heritage dishes from the Thai and Indonesian Peranakans, as well. I hope that the public will enjoy it and savor what we recreate as it is meant to be. Peranakan food is about bonding, fellowship, and bringing family together for a great meal.”
Chef Philip was raised in a Peranakan home. His paternal greatgrandmother was Thai Peranakan, and the maternal side of his family was of Indonesian Peranakan origin. This has shaped his convictions about that consists of his own native cuisine. “I have always been a great believer that good food knows no boundaries,” he says. He plans to introduce his brand of Peranakan cuisine via The Real Peranakan to emerging markets in Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines.
His recent engagement as a food consultant to the $30-million international remake of the hit Singapore TV series, The Little Nyonya, encourages him to enter the Chinese market “in due course”. “I was very surprised by the huge interest in Peranakan culture and heritage in China.”
Cross-Cultural Revival
People recognize Peranakan cuisine as an integral part of Straits culture, Chef Philip emphasizes, and “which cuts across Southeast Asia, with influences coming from Melaka to Penang in Malaysia, and from Indonesia to Phuket in Thailand. It is certainly not Singaporecentric. There is so much to learn about Peranakan cuisine and culture, and how each ethnicity across Southeast Asia played a part in its development”.
Compliance with specific food preparation methods is a pillar of traditional cuisine, but Chef Philip does not find it limiting that some dishes must be done in a certain way. There are strong reasons behind using some methods, he says, and it takes knowledge and experience to appreciate them.
“The adage that old is gold is very true to how food is handled, processed and prepared,” and the distinctions, as he demonstrated in his master classes, can be easily compared based on the outcome.
Rigid rules notwithstanding, Peranakan cuisine allows creativity and improvisation, Chef Philip admits. “Once you understand the basics, you must be able to bring tradition to life, and convey to the diner what has been done differently to make it relevant today. Many consider ‘Peranakan food’ today more of a fusion and miles away from traditional Peranakan food. That’s not to say it’s bad thing – to each his own.” He believes that people should be exposed to the fusion and the traditions that will allow them to distinguish one from the other.
For a culture to remain alive, it must resonate with the people, Chef Philip concludes. “Peranakan food has evolved over the decades, with each generation improving and improvising its taste profile. It is certainly alright to exercise poetic license in the dishes that people recreate.”