New Asian flavours in Aotearoa

Typical Nyonya cuisine ingredients - ginger, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, 

chilli peppers

I am still digesting all the many, many things I learned at the Food Bloggers conference in Wellington on August 24 and 25. It is taking a while to get them on to the blog because while I was away spring went 'sprong!' in the Eco-Garden, and I came back to profusion of spring colours and scents - and seedlings popping up in the glasshouse from the seeds I sowed in pots before I left for Wellington. (Except for the pumpkin and zucchini seeds, which had been eaten by a rogue mouse which sneaked into the glasshouse.) There were also lots of weeds to pull out, carrot seeds to sow, and many other spring tasks to get on with.

But as I worked away at growing food, I kept remembering the delicious flavours of the lunch served to the conference participants on August 25. It was prepared by staff from the Little Penang restaurant, which serves authentic Malaysian Nyonya food. Less than a year old, Little Penang is already a big hit with Wellington diners, to judge by the reviews at MenuMania. Nyonya cuisine is a delicious mixture of Malay and Chinese ingredients and techniques, developed over several centuries by Chinese immigrants to the Malay peninsula, and their Chinese-Malay descendants.

Chinese food traditions and base ingredients have been retained, but many new flavours and combinations have been added. Before lunch we were shown our dessert being prepared. It was a special little cake called Ang Ku Kueh or Red Tortoise Cake. Some of us were able to try our hands at moulding a ball of soft rice flour dough with a hole poked in it around a small lump of sweet bean paste, pinching it shut, flattening it a little, then pressing it in a traditional wooden mould, which makes the distinctive pattern on the cake. Read more about the cakes on the Nyonya Food website.)

Mary from the Little Penang restaurant shows a finished cake.

Then we sat down to three delicious savoury courses. First came pieces of chicken on a bowl of rice made fragrant (and golden) with coconut milk and spices, then a salad of cabbage and other blanched green veges with tofu and hard-boiled egg, dressed with a delicious 11 ingredient satay-style sauce. This was made using properly roasted and ground fresh peanuts – peanut butter is a big no-no! After comparing this sauce with the peanut butter versions I have had I can certainly see why, as the flavours and texture are so much better. Finally we had thick noodles served in a soupy sour sauce in which the flavours of tamarind and anchovies predominated. This was like no other dish I have ever eaten in New Zealand, and a real revelation.

A Nyonya style salad with spicy peanut sauce

I will be experimenting with making Nyonya dishes in my own kitchen from now on, and growing some of the ingredients in my glasshouse - but most of all I am looking forward to my next trip to Wellington, and dining at Little Penang.