At the very beginning of July, on the 3rd, FoodBuzz honorably took part in a cookbook launching ceremony of “Penang Nyonya Cuisine with Elegance” by Nyonya Bee Lee Tan which was held in the hotel of Himawari. The event was also participated by a lot of other locals, foreigners, and especially, Malaysians who are living in Cambodia.

 

“Penang Nyonya Cuisine by Elegance” is written by Nyonya Bee Lee Tan who was born in the land of Penang. As a matter of fact, “Penang Nyonya Cuisine with Elegance” is not the first book of Nyonya Bee Lee Tan, but is already a third published internationally. Each book of the trio has its own unique and interesting intention. The first book was all about her homesickness while she was away from home and family. She then decided to come back home and noted down all the recipes of Penang food in her very first book! 

Her second book was no other than the recipes of her deceased mother’s dessert recipes - the original recipes straight from the mother herself. Last but not least, this very third book is a big collection of the recipes of all Baba Nyonya tastes. It is even more special because “Penang Nyonya Cuisine with Elegance” contains every recipe for Nyonya dishes - it is a one-stop book to read up on any Nyonya recipe! 

But what is Baba Nyonya cuisine? Baba Nyonya cuisine is a fusion of a wide range of different Chinese and Malaysian spices, creating its own dishes and recipes that were later named ‘Baba Nyonya’. Almost every recipe of Baba Nyonya is very technical and requires tons of spices to make. Out of all the recipes, Nyonya Bee Lee Tan recommended everyone to try to make Otak Otak due to its similarity to Amok Fish, a Khmer classic. The ingredients used to cook these two masterpieces are very similar but they are very different in taste due to the different processes of cooking required. 

Nyonya Bee Lee Tan added that the very true signature of Penang is Pengat which is a dessert only made to celebrate Chinese New Year’s. Pengat requires a very challenging effort to follow one recipe specifically in order to achieve the right flavors! Moreover, in this very event, Mrs. Bee Lee Tan had prepared 4 types of Nyonya desserts and snacks including Wewek, Cassava Cake, Kueh Lapis, Lepat Pisang, and Chicken Springroll for the guests to have a taste. The 5 had a mild taste, most suitable for those who do not like heavy tastes but are still full of flavors.

 

Nyonya Bee Lee Tan is a citizen of Penang and also a daughter of a family who owned a restaurant. Despite not being allowed in the kitchen, she would always sneak in to watch the chefs’ cooking. Later in life, when she moved to Australia, she found it very difficult to adjust to the different lifestyle there so she decided to move back home and focus on learning to cook from her auntie. And that makes the very beginning of her career in Baba Nyonya cooking.