Peranakan | Ziggy

Nyonya is the term used to address a Peranakan lady, males are called Babas. Peranakans are Straits Chinese, or early Chinese immigrants to South East Asia during the Ming Dynasty a few hundred years ago, who assimilated into the local culture. They have their unique cuisine and apparels, all of which are fabulous.

Nyonya food is the old fusion, fusion of Chinese food with local spices as marinade and cooking style.

The Joo Chiat area at the East Coast of Singapore has a few such shops and buildings that still retains these heritages. We have a Peranakan Musuem in Singapore: https://www.nhb.gov.sg/peranakanmuseum and a mini private one along East Coast Road: https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/shops-museums-katong-seek-preserve-peranakan-culture; https://www.kimchoo.com/

Charlie's Peranakan

Nyonya Taste

Chilli Padi

Peranakan food

Apr 2022

Wonderful food, honest hardworking couple, and probably the best beef rendang I’ve ever had!

Uncle and Aunty Charlie runs this stall, preferring to be a hawker after a stint at running a restaurant, they “love money” (her words, not mine, said jokingly though) so they’re open every day! Be sure to give this place a try, when they retire, some lovely items will be missed forever as their children will not be carrying on this wonderful tradition.

First, the *ayam buah keluak. Tasty dish with nicely cooked chicken. It was thoroughly enjoyable. The buah keluak sauce was also delicious and easy to eat, with the buah keluak taste more subtle, it would be a good introduction to this dish. The kicker for this dish was that the buah keluak powder was packed tightly and full in the de-shelled seeds, usually, the powder fills only about 60-75%, the ones here, it’s about 103%...!

Next, we asked Aunty Charlie (not her real name, of course…Amy) what was their best dish, the immediate answer was the beef rendang. The beef rendang is a common dish, there are many good ones around and even the better ones seldom stand out too much, more a first amongst equal type of thing. So when I thought to try this, I didn’t expect much, but whoa… I was struck, and these were times I wish I was Ziggy and could gleefully lick up the entire plate’s gravy without embarrassment…

The beef was wonderfully tender. As I put the beef into my mouth, it practically melted!! The texture of the rendang was also amazing, usually it is a dry curry, Uncle Charlie’s was more like a nice thick soup, like a nicely blended pumpkin soup, with the same amount of creamy taste and texture. I couldn’t resist and tried to finish every last drop…

After several visits, I notice that Uncle Charlie’s food usually have a very fine creamy taste, which is brilliant. Opor Ayam, which was described as a curry-less curry chicken, was quite a decent offering. As well the Babi Ponteh, a typical Nyonya dish. Comes served with either chicken or pork (babi), there were mushroom pieces in this, and mushroom cooked in ponteh gravy is very delicious! They absorbed a lot of the gravy's taste, and in turn providing it with a lovely flavour. This is another very goo good dish!

Braised beef was quite normal taste wise, had the same very tender beef, it is served with some beef skin which is lovely. Otherwise pretty ordinary, the skin spruced up this dish, proving that Uncle Charlie is an excellent chef that knows how to make sure every dish is special.

Opor Ayam

Babi Ponteh

Braised Beef

Assam Pedas Chicken was spicy, sweet, sourish and appetising, slightly different from the usual creamy gravy here at Charlie's Peranakan, as the name says, it is quite spicy (pedas)....

The Beblimbing (star fruit) pork had the same smooth creamy gravy with a sweet bias, and lots of star fruits in it. Good contrasting texture for the pork, as well a nice fruity taste and sensation.

They also have a chicken rendang, it is decent, not as awesome as the beef rendang.

Assam Pedas Chicken

(Nyonya) Charlie 22 (Belimbing Pork).jpg

Beblimbing Pork

Chicken Rendang

The pricing seems to be high for each individual dish, but the portions are slightly larger. The first dish I tried was the unbeatable Beef Rendang, which I finished with ease more due to its excellent taste which made me greedy. Subsequent items there would always be remnants to bring home...

I'd recommend the beef rendang, ayam buah keluak, babi pongteh and belimbing pork as the excellent dishes here. The assam pedas chicken and braised beef not are decent offerings too. What I'd really recommend would be to come here every other week and go through Uncle Charlie's entire menu! 😎🤣

Buah Keluak

*Buah Keluak is a poisonous seed from the local Pangium tree, it has to be washed and go through fermentation to be eaten. The washing process is not easy and requires a bit of patience. Washing it numerous times over running water. It has a unique taste, slightly sharp and we can call it an acquired taste, it’s not pungent like the durian, much more amicable and generally likeable. The seed is powdered, fermented and marinated. Traditionally the powdered seed is shoved back into the shell (about the size of a HUGE clam), just for us to scrape it out again from the seed (a process that usually involves the tongue sticking out as you scrape…), now most are served as a powdered gravy with the chicken.

Charlie’s Peranakan Food

505 Beach Road, B1-30 Golden Mile Food Centre, s199583

Daily 11am – 730pm

https://www.facebook.com/charliesperanakanfood/

Nyoya Tase

Nyonya/Peranaken

Oct 2020

There are a few nice eateries resting in this short row of shop houses just off Upper Changi Road. Started 2 years ago, and intended to be a bar/café, then a good Nyonya Chef came along, they started selling Nyonya dishes as bites, turned out to be quite popular and they changed their plans, thankfully! (for an explanation of the term Nyonya, please see note 2 below)

Run by a young couple, the décor of this place is nice and homely, with lots of retro items. If I’m honest, it is like my home, which is why I like it so much. Haha. They are one better with some nice Nyonya articles and vases.

Ok, let’s dwell into the food! First, the rice. Cooked with butterfly pea flower, it had a blue stain, and it was nice and fragrant! We had a few dishes on our first visit (I was sure I’ll visit and sample other dishes, soon!), beef rendang, assam fish, hae cho or crab roll, babi pongteh (a typical Nyonya pork dish, recommended by Violet, the owner’s mother) and the nyonya chap chye (cabbage mix).

The chap chye was pretty standard, nice and a safe choice… why did I go for that? Haha… the beef rendang nice and tender but taste wise it was just good and decent. The assam fish was steamed and grows on you, more sour than sweet, it was tasty and a good portion, steamed just right with lady fingers, brinjal (eggplant, aubergine, the vegetable with the most names!), tomatoes, all of which we slurped up. The crab roll was nice and solid, not a bad choice.

The butterfly pea rice

Nyonya chap chye

Assam fish

Beef rendang

Now… the babi pongteh…. This was one worth coming for. This is a pork dish served in gravy made from fermented soy beans, it’s brownish from other marinades. Served with potatoes that soak up the gravy, and nice tender pork pieces, this is delicious! Despite a unanimous agreement that this was the best dish, my friends are too kind to leave the last 2-3 mouthfuls lying around for me to “reluctantly” finish it up without much fanfare.

Babi pongteh

Back within the week, had otak, babi pongteh (pork), ikan bakar (grilled fish), brinjal and ayam buak keluak (a local nut that’s poisonous from a swamp tree, but edible after soaking and fermentation).

The Babi Pongteh still came out as the top choice, but the Otak wasn’t far behind, reminded me a lot of the famous Muar Otak, this was scrumptious! The brinjal was a decent mush for those who like a mash for roughage.

The grilled fish was a disappointment to everyone else at the table but I loved it, suitably tasty and the chilli that came with it blended well with the gravy and fish. We did have some higher expectations for this dish though.

Otah

Brinjal

The Chicken Buah Keluak was quite well done too, definitely above average. Buah Keluak is a poisonous seed from the local Pangium tree, it has to be washed and go through fermentation to be eaten. The washing process is not easy and requires a bit of patience. It has a unique taste, slightly sharp and we can call it an acquired taste, it’s not pungent like the durian, much more amicable and generally likeable. The seed is powdered, fermented and marinated. Traditionally the powdered seed is shoved back into the shell (about the size of a HUGE clam), just for us to scrape it out again from the seed (a process that usually involves the tongue sticking out as you scrape…), now most are served as a powdered gravy with the chicken.

Ayam buah keluak

Overall, I’d recommend the Babi Pongteh, Ayam Buah Keluak and the Otak as must try dishes here. The first 2 are typical and unique Nyonya dishes that one has to try at a Nyonya restaurant, and they have to be good, and they do these well, so it’s a proper Peranakan place by my standard.

Note: we were advised to call in advance for lunch to make sure it’s open, and to make reservations on weekends

Prawn roll

Sambal chilli

Note 2: Nyonya is the term used to address a Peranakan lady, males are called Babas. Peranakans are Straits Chinese, or early Chinese immigrants to South East Asia during the Ming Dynasty a few hundred years ago, who assimilated into the local culture. They have their unique cuisine and apparels, all of which are fabulous. The Joo Chiat area at the East Coast of Singapore has a few such shops and buildings that still retains these heritages. We have a Peranakan Musuem in Singapore: https://www.nhb.gov.sg/peranakanmuseum and a mini private one along East Coast Road: https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/shops-museums-katong-seek-preserve-peranakan-culture; https://www.kimchoo.com/

Nyonya Taste by Brew & Bar

6 Jalan Pari Burong, s488672

12-230pm, 6-11pm, closed on Sun

https://www.facebook.com/brewandbar/

Chilli Padi

Nyonya/Peranaken

Dec 2023

Excellent Peranakan/Nyonya food, my top 3 pick

Finally I got to try Chilli Padi, when my uncle from Australia wanted Peranakan food, I promptly suggested them.

Chilli Padi used to the caterer that supplied my bank’s canteen when I was a stockbroker, and I loved their dry mee siam, constantly craving it, so I ordered the fried mee siam here before my bum hit the chair!

The fried mee siam was slightly different, it was wetter and looked pale, but had the same fantastic tangy sweet and delicious savoury taste. It was just as brilliant, cravings sated!

We also ordered the buah keluak fried rice. Buah keluak is an acquired taste, I couldn’t decide if I liked it, I’m still deciding… there is a slight bias towards good, for now.

Ayam Buah Keluak is chicken flavoured with the same buah keluak, a lot more pleasant flavouring the chicken. Either that or I have acquired the taste, at least when paired when chicken, this being a very common and unique Nyonya dish. Sprinkled with lots of buak keluak powder in a bowl of thick gravy, delicious stuff.

Curry chicken here was creamy and delicious, with the curry more savoury than spicy. Nice big chicken pieces, 3 for the small portion and 4 the medium that was enough to feed 6-7, with other dishes in mind.

Nyonya chap chye here wasn’t different from most others, they all have pretty much the same taste. The honey pork, though, was fantastic. Essentially sticks of sweet and sour pork, taste wise it was brilliant with a wonderful sweet and tangy mix that was perfect. Texture wise it was remarkable, a nice soft batter that gave a puffy crisp. I loved it for giving something common a unique twist as well exceptional taste.

The assam fish here was also slightly different from the usual soury sweet and watery clear soup variety. It was creamy and thick like a curry or cream soup, with a mild tangy sweet flavour to remind you that it was an assam curry. A whole piece of baramundi section was given, it had a strong fish taste but that is more a unique assam fish requirement, blended very well with the curry and thoroughly enjoyable. I don’t really like assam curry but will definitely make exception for those at Chilli Padi.

The curry fish was also different, it was a fried fish with dry curry. Very different style but it was pretty good, giving us a headache on which to order next time. I am pretty sure that if we tried something else, it would just add to the headache too!

Beef rendang, tender beef with a mildly spicy rendang sauce, again, this is slightly different from the usual drier rendang gravy curry, the one here was more liquified, but I’m more than happy. Love the taste of the rendang and I could douse my rice with the rendang gravy.

Babi pongteh, another traditional Nyonya dish, came with big pieces of pork belly meat. The Pongteh sauce was delicious, filled with garlic fragrance, as expected of this dish. It was very good, but if we had to choose only one pork dish, we have to defer to the honey pork, which I think is better than most while this one is at best “amongst the better ones”.

For fibre we also tried the curry jackfruit, jack fruits are used more as a vegetable in local Malay cooking, it is sweet and has a strong smell but nothing like the usual durian like “fragrance” or “stench”, depending on each’s lean. After cooking this became less sweet and totally without any fragrance or stench, this was quite interesting as a curry. I quite like it but I think I would prefer the more traditional vegetables…. Others might love it, but looking around, I think most agree with my stance. 😎

I was so eager to jump into the fried mee siam I forgot about the appetizers! Had ngo hiang and kueh pie tee, both exceptional, the pie tee was especially yummy with crispy shell, delicious boiled turnips and solid juicy shrimps to go along with.

With the intention of having ice cream nearby for dessert, 5 of us shared a small bowl of chendol, we were suitably impressed. Strong and thick gula melake, which I fortunately or unfortunately had the most as I was the scum that had the bottom feed. This meant I didn’t have any chendol, the rest said it was good, while the coconut milk used was thick and top notch. Very good dessert too.

Have since tried the bulut hitam as well, darkened glutinous rice in a coconut milk base. Pretty good stuff, but my personal preference would still be for the nearby ice cream shop....

Quality Nyonya food, there hasn't been any disappointing dish so far, if I were to come here with first time visitors, I would gladly ask them to order whatever they feel like with no worries of their choices.

Very tough to pick the best items, but I would go for the Kueh Pie Tee, Honey Pork, Curry Chicken, Beef Rendang and the Jack Fruit (for a difference), and regret not having the Babi Pongteh, Assam Fish and Chicken Buah Keluak... 😆😆😆

Chilli Padi Restaurant

11 Joo Chiat Place, #01-03, s427744. Daily 1130am – 230pm, 530pm – 1030pm

29 Heng Mui Keng Terrace, #06-21, s119620. Daily 1130 – 230pm, 530pm – 930pm

1 Hospital Drive (General Hospital), #01-00, s169608. Daily 7am – 7pm

https://chillipadi.com.sg/

https://www.instagram.com/chillipadinonyarestaurant/?hl=en