Baba Nyonya cuisine in the land of the hornbills

KUCHING - ‘Ang ku kuih’, ‘acar hu’, ‘ayam buah keluak’ and ‘ikan gerang asam’ are some of the many Baba Nyonya traditional main dishes and desserts that are popular and easily found in Peninsula Malaysia, especially in Penang and Melaka, which have sizeable communities there.

But across the South China Sea, in the Land of the Hornbills, it is hard to savour these delicacies, as the Baba Nyonya communities did not venture into the island of Borneo in large numbers.

Many Baba Nyonyas who actually do call Sarawak home usually end up trying to bury their craving for such cuisine due to its scarcity, which is a very sad thing, Shannen Lee, manager of Nyonya Kitchen By Sonia shared with Bernama recently.

Nyonya Kitchen By Sonia, a restaurant along Jalan Datuk Tawi Sli near the Kuching International Airport, unsurprisingly offers a lovely sampling of Baba Nyonya cuisine and earned itself ardent fans among Sarawakians since opening its doors in June last year.

The locals not only fell in love with the food, but also took the opportunity to get a deeper understanding into Baba Nyonya traditions and heritage.

Examples of Baba Nyonya culture takes centre stage in the restaurant, with murals of women dressed in kebaya, an outfit that marries the best of Malay and Chinese culture, along with Malaysian batik prints and traditional Baba Nyonya kitchenware, including plates and bowls with intricate designs and motifs.

"We want to showcase authentic Baba Nyonya cuisine without using pork or lard so that everyone can experience it. The recipes come from my grandmother, Sonia Yong, which she picked up after marrying my grandfather, who is from a Baba Nyonya family.

"We got the idea of opening the restaurant after my grandmother’s cooking was praised repeatedly at family gatherings, so someone suggested she open a restaurant as there aren’t many Baba Nyonya restaurants in Kuching,” Shannen said.

Sonia, 83, who is called Ahma (a Baba Nyonya term for grandmother), shared that the popular dishes at the restaurant were ‘nasi ulam’, ‘ayam buah keluak’ and ‘sambal bendi’, but according to Shannen, what really sets the restaurant apart is the traditional kuih they offer, including popular local delicacies like bingka ubi, kuih salat and onde-onde.

"All these kuih are homemade. Initially we had 15 types of kuih but we picked what customers loved, and we have customers from Sibu and Miri who come here just to buy our kuih.

"A lot of people ask us to supply kuih outside of the restaurant but we don’t want that because we want people to come here to eat our kuih, so this is why this restaurant is unique as we also sell our own kuih,” said Shannen, who took about four months to master her grandmother’s recipes.

The restaurant does continuously conduct research and development to create more dishes for customers in the future.

"Since opening, we have over 20 menus and we also will introduce additional dishes that are still in the process of development, like beef rendang and beef curry... those aren’t my grandmother’s recipes,” she said, adding that she hoped to be able to open a branch one day. - BERNAMA