Nyonya kueh are bite size cakes, sweets and snacks which are a big part
of Peranakan cuisine. Nyonya kueh are often colourful and always
addictively delicious. There are over a hundred varieties - this post trace
their origins and highlight a selection of the most popular ones.
Origins of Peranakans and their Cuisine
The earliest Chinese in the Malay peninsula and archipelago (today's
Malaysia, Indonesia and southern Thailand) arrived as early as the Han
dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD). They were
sojourners and traders
who came in junks with the Northeast Monsoon during the winter. Among them
were pilgrim monks on their way to India in search of Buddhist scriptures
and traders who came for spices, aromatic wood, and
hornbill casques (ivory)
in the fabled spice islands.
In the days of sail, traders had to wait for the next Southwest Monsoon
(summer) to take them and their goods back to China. During the interim
six months, traders intermingled with and also married locals. The local
wives took care of the family and business while their Chinese husbands
returned to Guangdong and Fujian province to sell spices and come back
with silk and porcelain.
(The spices would take the overland
Silk Road from southern China to Europe where they fetch astronomic prices. The Silk Road of legend operated from around
100 BC till around 1500 when the Europeans found the sea route to the
spice islands.)
Peranakan communities sprouted in sea ports around the Malay peninsula and
archipelago (Java & Sumatra). The best known and perhaps largest was
in Malacca which expanded rapidly early in the Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)
when imperial China and the Malacca sultanate enjoyed warm trade and
political ties.
The Peranakans created a cuisine that reflected the marriage of Chinese
and Malay cultures, hence Peranakan cuisine is an eclectic mix of Chinese
and Malay culinary traditions.
In Peranakan cuisine, you will see blending of Chinese and Malay
ingredients as well as Chinese and Malay cooking techniques. Hence, you
will see in Peranakan cuisine, dishes that have its roots in China's
Guangdong and Fujian province, as well as from the Malay peninsula and
archipelago.
Peranakan cuisine is sometimes referred to as Nyonya cuisine. On the
other hand, kueh is always called Nyonya kueh, never Peranakan
kueh. Nyonya kueh refers to the kueh of Chinese Peranakan.
Traders from India also came to the spice islands and some married locals. The offsprings of Indian Muslim and Malay marriages are known as Jawi Peranakan. The descendants of Hindu Indian and Malay marriages are known as Chetti Melaka as the traders were from Chettinadu.
In 2023, Peranakan Indian (Chitty Melaka) Association Singapore and Allspice Institute launched the world's first Peranakan Indian cook book. Heritage Food of the Peranakan Indians: In the Chitty Melaka Kitchen which showcased 100 of the community's favourite recipes from everyday staples to festive specials.
The same inclusive kaleidoscopic mishmash of Chinese and Malay
origin dishes in Peranakan cuisine is well reflected in Nyonya kueh (which is part of Peranakan cuisine).
The word kueh is derived from the Chinese word 粿 which is a generic term
that refers to small bites like sweets, cakes and snacks as well as fruits
which are known as 水果. 粿 is pronounced as "kway" in Hokkien and Teochew Chinese. In Singapore,
the word is spelt "kueh". In Indonesia, it is "kue" and in Malaysia it is
"kuih". In this post, I shall use "kueh".
Kueh, kuih or kue, the art of Nyonya kueh heritage is passed down through the generations and binds people together across time and place. Today, Nyonya kueh is enjoyed by all communities and throughout the world from Singapore, Beijing, London to San Francisco.
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Ang Ku Kueh
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Ang Ku Kueh, commonly listed among Nyonya kueh originates from China's
Fujian province where the Chinese side of many Peranakan households came
from. 红龟糕 or ang ku kueh literally means "red tortoise cake". The skin of
the cake is made with glutinous rice flour and it is traditionally filled
with a paste of mashed boiled mung beans. The cake is pressed into a
tortoise shaped mould and cooked by steaming. The traditional bright red
colour come from food colouring.
The glutinous rice skin is tender, spongy chewy while the sweet mung bean
paste filling is soft. The snack tastes sweet in layers. Ang ku kueh also
come filled with different fillings like yam paste, crushed peanut,
etc. There are also other colour skin besides the traditional red.
Ang ku kueh is an everyday snack but also used on special occasions like
birthday celebrations as well as food offerings in religious rituals.
The tortoise is an auspicious animal in Chinese culture symbolising
longevity.
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Kueh Bingka Ambon
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Kueh Bingka Ambon batter is made with tapioca flour, eggs, coconut milk
and yeast. When baked, the yeast leavens, forming the signature tunnels
and honeycomb of kueh bingka Ambon.
The sweet Bingka Ambon is one of my favourite Nyonya kueh as I like its
unique soft spongy chewy texture.
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Kueh Bingka Ubi
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Kueh Bingka Ubi is baked tapioca cake. It is made by mixing finely
shredded tapioca (cassava) with coconut milk, eggs and pandan leaf (no flour is
used). The batter is poured into a tray lined with banana leaf and baked
in an oven.
Kueh Bingka Ubi has a tender, slightly chewy browned crust on the surface
while soft and moist underneath. It is sweet and fragrant from coconut
milk, eggs, pandan leaf and banana leaf.
Simple yet wonderful sweet snack!
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Kueh Dadar
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Kueh Dadar originally from Indonesia where it is known as dadar gulung.
Dadar means pancake and gulung means rolled, so it is literally "rolled
pancake" which is an apt description.
The pancake / crepe is made with rice flour, egg, sugar and pandan leaf
which gives it its green colour. The batter is lightly pan fried with
margarine on a flat griddle to make the pancake / crepe. The filling of
grated coconut pulp, gula Melaka palm sugar and cinnamon is cooked
separately. The browned grated coconut is rolled into the pancake to make
kueh dadar.
Soft outside, oozing with juice inside, sweet and fragrant, a wonderful
snack!
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Kueh Kosui
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Kueh Kosui also known as kue lumpang is made of glutinous rice flour,
tapioca flour and sugar. There are green and brown versions blended with
either green pandan leaf or brown gula Melaka. The blend is put in little
cups and the contents are cooked by steaming. The bouncy jiggly mini sweet
cake is eaten with lightly salted grated fresh coconut pulp.
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Kueh Lapis
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Kueh Lapis also known as "九层糕 nine layer cake" in Chinese is made with
a blend of glutinous rice flour, sago flour, sugar and food colouring. It
is made layer by layer - the bottom layer is cooked by steaming, then the
next layer and so forth till all nine layers are done.
Most people eat kueh lapis in chunky bites but the prescribed way to enjoy
this kueh is to peel off the layers one by one and eat the kueh layer by
layer. It is funny how I ate kueh lapis layer by layer as a child but as an
adult I gulped it down in chunks 🤔🤷 Anyway, the nine layers all taste the
same - only the colour is different 😄
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Kueh Lopes
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Kueh Lopes are glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in triangular bundles with
banana leaf. They are cooked by boiling in water (sometimes with pandan leaf
added for fragrance). The tender, slightly gummy-chewy rice dumpling is
served unwrapped and eaten with gula Melaka syrup and grated fresh coconut
pulp. Kueh lopes is a very popular tea time snack.
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Kueh Pie Tee
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Kueh Pie Tee is very interesting and tasty. It is quintessentially
Peranakan and cannot be found in any other cuisines. It is a small crispy
pastry cup filled with stewed turnip, bang kuang (jicama), bean sprout,
egg, shrimp etc similar to the filling of Hokkien popiah.
Its origins are a mystery unknown and found mainly in
Singapore, Malacca and Penang, the Peranakan strongholds of former British
Straits Settlements.
I personally love kueh pie tee for the contrasts in texture and savoury
sweet flavours. Eating it with savoury spicy hot sambal makes it
irresistible for me.
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Kueh Salat
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Kueh Salat also known as kue seri muka originates from Indonesia. It is a
two layer cake. At the bottom, there is glutinous rice cooked with coconut
milk. The top layer is a soft custard of coconut milk and pandan leaf. When cut into cubes, it reminds me of mahjong tiles 😄
It
is a sweet and fragrant cake with sweetness and perfume from glutinous
rice, coconut milk and pandan leaf. Nice mix of soft and tender-chewy
textures.
The firmer glutinous rice layer is often tinted blue with butterfly pea
flower. The blue blotches make the kueh look prettier but doesn't add any
flavour or aroma.
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Kueh Talam
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Kueh Talam in Indonesian language means "tray cake". Kueh talam has two
layers, both made with rice flour. The bottom layer is either green, brown
or other colours depending on what the rice flour is blended with. Pandan
leaf gives it green colour, palm sugar give brown colour and so forth.
This coloured layer is laid in an aluminium tray first and it is cooked by
steaming. When partially cooked, a second white layer is added. This white
layer is rice flour blended with coconut milk. The tray is returned to the
steamer till the kueh talam is fully cooked.
Again, this kueh is addictive to its fans due to its blend of different
sweet and soft-tender layers. The green / brown bottom layer is firmer
than the white layer on top.
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Lemper Udang
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Lemper Undang is glutinous rice with savoury spicy dried prawn (hae bee hiam) filling. It is made by cooking glutinous rice in coconut milk. The
cooked rice is rolled and filled with spicy dried prawn, then wrapped in
banana leaf. Cooking is completed by either steaming or grilling over
charcoal fire which impart an additional smokey and sweet aroma.
There are other versions of lemper with seasoned chicken, dried fish floss
or toasted grated coconut pulp filling. All have lovely nicely balanced
savoury sweet taste.
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Ondeh Ondeh
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Ondeh Ondeh is like a mochi ball (tang yuan) made of glutinous rice flour. It is coloured green by blending the
glutinous rice with pandan leaf juice (there are yellow or purple
versions with sweet potato). The core is filled with palm sugar known
as gula Melaka. The sticky ball is rolled in grated coconut pulp.
Ondeh ondeh is cooked by steaming.
In Chinese, ondeh ondeh is called 椰糖椰丝球 which means "coconut sugar
and coconut shred ball" - a very descriptive name.
Ondeh ondeh tastes sweet in layers from the soft-spongy glutinous rice
ball, molten palm sugar and squeaky grated coconut.
Ondeh ondeh originates from Java, Indonesia where it is known as
klepon.
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Putu Ayu
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Putu Ayu is a wheat flour sponge cake. The bottom layer is blended with
pandan leaf, hence the cheery green colour. The top layer is lightly
pressed grated coconut pulp.
Putu ayu mini cakes are made in small flower shaped moulds. The grated
coconut goes in first, and then the wheat flour, egg, pandan leaf etc batter
follow over it. The filled moulds are steamed. When done, the fluffy cakes
are released from the mould. The white now appears on top and the spongy
green at the bottom.
Soft, bouncy, spongy, sweet and fragrant, putu ayu is the perfect
accompaniment for tea or coffee.
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Pulut Inti
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Pulut Inti is glutinous rice cooked with coconut milk, crowned with
grated fresh coconut pulp boiled with gula Melaka and served wrapped with
banana leaf in a cone shaped bundle. The glutinous rice is sometimes
coloured with butterfly pea flower for their attractive blue hue but it
doesn't add flavour or aroma to the sweet snack.
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Pulut Tai Tai
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Pulut Tai Tai has a very interesting moniker as its name is literally
"rich aunt's glutinous rice" 😄
But, it is actually a relatively humble kueh. It is simply glutinous rice
boiled with butterfly pea flower which gives it an attractive blue tint.
The cooked glutinous rice is compacted, cut and served in bite size cubes
(hence it is also called pulut tekan which means "pressed glutinous
rice").
The sweet tender-chewy glutinous rice cakes are eaten with
kaya or coconut jam
which is slathered or piped on top of the kueh. Pulut tai tai is enjoyed
by everyone, not only rich aunts 😄
Discussion
When is a kueh Peranakan and when is it not?
I need more research and study to answer this question but the
current convention is somewhat vague. For example, ang ku kueh is
often listed among Nyonya kueh but it is the same kueh made since
time immemorial and still made by Hokkien in China with no family
ties with Peranakan. Another example, ondeh ondeh is considered
quintessentially Peranakan by some but the same snack known as
klepon is made in Java by locals who have no family ties with
Peranakan.
I would love to hear your take on this.
I missed out your favourite Nyonya kueh?
Give me a shout out in the comments and I shall go look for it.
Promise that I will include it in this list after trying it.
Thank you for helping me make this list better 🙏
Here are more kueh sketched by renowned Singapore mural artist and illustrator Lee Xin Lin. You can purchase these beautiful posters at Zazzle.
Image of ondeh ondeh courtesy of Wikipedia. Image of kueh talam courtesy of Wikipedia. Image of assorted Nyonya kueh courtesy of
Wikipedia. Image of Chinese junk courtesy of
Wikipedia. Image of Peranakan ladies courtesy of
Wikipedia. Image of Peranakan family courtesy of
Wikipedia. Image of Peranakan wedding courtesy of
Wikipedia. Image of Nyonya kueh courtesy of
Wikipedia. Image of ang ku kueh courtesy of
Wikipedia. Image of kue seri muka courtesy of
Wikipedia. Image of kueh kosui courtesy of
Wikipedia. Image of kueh Bugis courtesy of
Wikipedia. Image of putu ayu courtesy of
Wikipedia. Image pulut inti courtesy of
flickr. Image of bingka ubi courtesy of
flickr. Image of kueh lopes courtesy of
flickr. Image of pulut tai tai courtesy of
flickr. Image of kueh pie tee courtesy of
Wikipedia. Image of kueh bingka Ambon courtesy of
Wikipedia.
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