Peranakan-Nyonya Malaysian

Peranakan-Nyonya are descendants of Chinese immigrants who settled in Penang, Melaka, and Singapore from the 15th century, intermarried with local Malays, and created a unique syncretic culture. The kitchen — known as Nyonya cooking — is one of the most-complex fusion cuisines in the world: Chinese techniques (stir-fry, steaming) applied to Malay ingredients (coconut milk, lemongrass, sambal). Assam laksa (Penang) is the sour-fish noodle soup with tamarind broth, mackerel, mint, pineapple, and shrimp paste. Curry laksa is the coconut-spice noodle soup. Otak-otak is grilled-fish paste wrapped in banana leaves. Kueh (layered rice-flour cakes) come in dozens of colors. Babi pongteh, ayam buah keluak, itik tim — the Nyonya banquet dishes — take hours to prepare. The cuisine is the most-laborious Malaysian regional kitchen, eaten at family celebrations and increasingly endangered as the population ages.