Nyonya food

"Nonya cooking is an amalgamation of Chinese with Malay and Indonesian cuisines, resulting in an exhilarating combination of all things tangy, spicy, herbal and aromatic." Michelin Guide

I'm cooking for family tonight - well what family is still here. One lot are still in the USA. So I decided to cook a chicken recipe from Beverley Sutherland Smith, which I cook every now and then because it's quick, easy and delicious. She calls it Nonya lemon chicken and claims it comes from the mother of a prime minister of Malaysia. So I thought I would write about nonya food.

BUT. It has been done so thoroughly and so well elsewhere that I have abandoned that idea other than to say that the Chinese element in the mix came from 12th century Chinese sailors who settled in Malaysia and married the inhabitants. Their descendants are called the Peranakans. For a really good account read Siobhan Hegarty on the SBS food website. It would be presumptuous and somewhat dishonest for me to basically repeat everything she says there. Culture trip also has a pretty good resumé of what nonya cuisine is although it's not quite as detailed as the SBS one.

I would however note that because my knowledge of nonya food is based on this one recipe I had always thought it was sort of street food and quick and easy. But apparently not so. Most of the dishes are long and complicated - partly because:

“food is not merely for daily consumption, but as a method to nurture family bondage during auspicious celebrations, ceremonies and ancestral worship” Journal of ethnic food" Journal of Ethnic Food

Laksa is one of the signature dishes of nonya cuisine and once again I was wrong because I must admit I had always thought that this was Sri Lankan, though I don't know why although now that I think about it maybe I actually thought it was Malaysian, which, of course, is an element of nonya cuisine.

Nonya cuisine is increasingly popular - there's probably a nonya restaurant in Melbourne for all I know.

Importantly no two dishes are the same, as each creation is an interpretation based on the preferred flavours and ingredients of the chef." Culture trip

So I think it is difficult to list classic nonya dishes though others have tried. They don't seem to include the same things other than laksa, so I am assuming that Culture Trip's assertion that it depends on the individual chef is correct.

And here is Beverley Sutherland Smith's recipe - it is quick and easy. No picture I'm afraid, though if I remember I will take a picture of my version, which won't be the same because there will be little or no chilli (David that's for you), and I am planning to use strips of chicken cut from breasts and a thigh, rather than using drumsticks.

NONYA LEMON CHICKEN

12 chicken drumsticks, skin left on

4 tablespoons oil

3 onions, halved and very thinly sliced

1-2 chillies, deseeded and finely chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 cup/8 fl oz chicken stock

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Pat the chicken dry. Heat the oil in a wide-based saucepan and gently fry the onions and chilli for about 5 minutes until soft, then turn up the heat and fry until golden. Remove. Cook the chicken drumsticks in the same pan, turning them over until they have changed colour. You may have to do these in two batches. Put the onions back in the pan. Mix sugar, soy and stock and pour over the op. Cover and cook for about 10-15 minutes or until partly cooked. Then remove the lid and continue cooking, stirring every so often, until the chicken is cooked through. There will only be a little bit of such around them but it should be quite rich and concentrated. Add the lemon juice and shake through and then serve immediately with some additional lemon wedges on the table.