The way we cook, the ingredients we use, the food we eat, the cutlery we eat them with reveals a little about who we are and where we come from - we are not just what we eat, we eat what we are! So who needs the Peranakan museum?
I think we can learn a lot more about Peranakan culture by eating our way through it! haha!
Alright, that was just a really bad excuse for gluts like Jamie and myself!
Last Sunday, some of us jalan jalan-ed Joo Chiat for some really good food. It was pouring at first and Jamie and I obviously had no wet weather plans for the group! Fortunately, lady luck shone down on us and as soon as our party arrived at Kim Choo Kueh Chang, the heavy downpour slowed to a trickle and before long, it was sunny again. How blessed we are!
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| Our First Stop: second floor of Kim Choo Kueh Chang. This lovely shophouse has a tiny weeny museum upstairs with a large collection of Peranakan handiwork. |
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| Nonya Delicacies: nonya chang, kueh salat, fish otah. |
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| Dumpling Demonstration: the all-knowing Raymond teaches us how to make dumplings. |
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| The large array of spices one needs to make yummy nonya chang. Mix this with chopped pieces of pork, melon and layer with rice. Then warp it with bamboo and pandan leaves before steaming it for 3 hours. |
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| Raymond's assistant is a miracle worker! Her fingers worked so quickly she had completed wrapping more than four dumplings in less than three minutes. |
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| Peranakan Porcelain - Raymond mentioned that one would never ever find a dragon motif on Peranakan Procelain. The dragon stood for the emperor and Chinese Peranakans revered him! |
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| Beaded Slippers (male version): this is the prettiest pair of male slippers I've ever seen! The smaller the glass bead, the more expensive it is. This pair has one of the tiniest glass beads imported from the Czech Republic. A pair of beaded slippers takes more than 4 months to make. |
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| Vivian prepares to try on a Kebaya: Raymond was so lovely! He specially picked a fuchsia blouse and a dark red batik skirt for Vivian. I thought his choice suited Vivian really well. And I think Vivian is herself in love with the blouse! haha! :) |
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| Doesn't she look absolutely gorgeous? |
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| Okay, we just decided to act like Peranakan people while Jamie paid the bill! haha! |
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| Chin Mee Chin Coffeehouse: the oldest traditional coffeeshop in Singapore. It's famous for their sugar rolls and Kaya. Alas, it was close by the time we got there. But once again our lucky stars were shinning brightly and Arash finally got to try Kaya! |
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| Kaya for the First Time: Yinsheng tries Kaya for the first time! This guy has been in Singapore for three years and intends to stay here and W-HAT he hasn't tried KAYA!!!!!! HE LOVES IT THOUGH! <3 |
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| Arash tries Kaya for the first time: After catching Arash's expression when he first tried durian for the first time, I knew I had to get my camera ready for this moment. haha! He doesn't look like he enjoyed it, does it? But he was literally scooping kaya out of it's container the whole time. |
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| The "Original" Katong Laksa: the nonya version of course! |
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| 150 East Coast Road: Easily my favourite stretch of residential houses in Singapore. These single storey terrace houses use to stand beside a sea wall as it was right next to a beach! They were built on raised ground to protect against the rising tides. |
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| Don't you just love the colours! |
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Awfully Chocolate: Not Peranakan, but who cares! It's a Singaporean brand and it's delicious!
Click here to find out how this lovely chocolate place came to be! |
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| Arash and Yinsheng are please with their choice of a mint poached chocolate! Arash declares it the best after trying everybody's! Yinsheng however finds himself town between the decadent chooclate cupcake and the cold poached chooclate! Nevermind, Yinsheng, you can always come back for more! :) |
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| Koon Seng Road: More restored shophouses. I was surprised to see real people living in these houses! |
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The highlight (for me and probably Jamie too!): Dinner!!!! Guan Hoe Soon has been in the Joo Chiat area since 1953! And boy did it live up to our expectations. The food was delicious albeit slightly expensive. Jamie and I especially picked their Peranakan specialities - Ayam Buah Keluak, Nonya Chap Chye, Ikan Assam Goreng and Babi Bon Tay.
Well, what else can I say?
Burp! |
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