Nonya School Days

I am sitting in the second row of the teaching kitchen of the newly opened Raffles Hotel Cooking School, surrounded by gleaming copper, black marble, colorful tiles and state-of-the-art kitchen equipment.

Chef Chong Pek Sai, an older, meticulously organized teacher in spotless whites, is demonstrating pulot hitam (black glutinous rice pudding), a typical Peranakan dish.

First he takes a fragrant pandanus leaf, ties it in a knot and drops it into a pot of water that he sets to boil on one of the flat halogen burners. Chong then dumps some glutinous black rice into the pot.

The chef all business, but his vivacious young Singaporean sidekick, Jenny Tan, bubbles over with amusing anecdotes and relevant cooking information. (Sometimes chefs need such interpreters because they assume their audience knows almost as much as they do.) It is Tan who opens each class with a lively show-and-tell introduction to the cuisine.

Peranakan is but one of the cuisines taught at the school, which also offers classes in Chinese, Malay and Indian cooking; wine appreciation; pastry and desserts; and the hotel’s signature dishes. The hotel, built in 1887 and considered an architectural landmark in part for its sweeping turn-of-the-century balconies, is famous for the Singapore Sling, created there in 1915, and for the writers who drank there, including William Somerset Maugham, Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling.

On this day, Tan uses the beautiful still-life food display arranged on a turquoise tile counter to discuss the ingredients of Peranakan cooking. There are 10 students in the class with Westerners and Asians in equal numbers.

While the chef cooks the rice, Tan passes around some of the pandanus leaves, also known as screwpine leaves, and explains that they are used to impart flavor and an emerald color to Asian desserts. I hold the leaf to my nose, then scratch and sniff: It has a fresh, undefinable smell. I ask if there is a suitable substitute and if it is available in the United States. Jenny giggles, the chef smiles and my question remains unanswered. (I assume this means no.)

Once the rice is tender, the chef adds sugar, salt and coconut milk, and the pudding is finished. We taste a little, since it is best eaten hot. We will have more for dessert. It is creamy, a little sticky and sumptuous.

A soft-spoken Asian woman sitting next to me is discreetly clucking her tongue. She and her neighbor, who I discover is Peranakan, whisper furiously and compare notes.

“The gravy is too runny,” one says. “We Peranakans make it thicker with more body. It’s one of our favorite comfort foods.”

They do approve of the flavor, however, which is wonderfully sweet from the palm sugar and rich with coconut milk.

Peranakan food, the cuisine of Singapore, is a fascinating mixture of Chinese, Indian, Malaysian, Thai and Eurasian. For the Peranakan course, the chef prepares a menu of prawn-pork-and-crab-ball soup, chicken in tangy chile sauce, spicy bean curd salad, prawns in tamarind gravy, the black rice pudding and a pineapple pickle.

As the chef prepares the pineapple pickle, my neighbor whispers that the dish was influenced by the British and that it’s an adaptation of an Indian pickle. A more typical Peranakan pickle, she says, might be made with cucumber and dried shrimp.

“In my grandmother’s day, potential daughters-in-law were assessed for their cooking and sewing skills,” she confides. “My mother always complained about any rough cutting. ‘Refinement’ was the key word. And after five years of cooking, I think I’m finally getting there.”

The following recipes are adapted from ones I learned at Raffles Cooking School. For information about the cooking school, contact the Director, Raffles Culinary Academy, Raffles Hotel, 1 Beach Road, Singapore 0718. Phone: 011 (65) 337-1886. Fax: (65) 339-7650.

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SHRIMP AND PORK BALL SOUP

1 pound lean ground pork

1/2 pound peeled, deveined shrimp

2 tablespoons finely grated carrot

1 green onion, minced

1 tablespoon minced ginger root

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon cornstarch plus extra for dusting

2 teaspoons corn oil

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

8 to 9 cups chicken broth, preferably Chinese Chicken Broth

1/2 pound jicama, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)

3 to 4 tablespoons coarsely chopped cilantro

Place ground pork in mixing bowl. Cut shrimp in half along backs and cut into 1/4-inch dice. Add shrimp to pork along with carrot, green onion, ginger, salt, pepper and egg. Stir in continuous motion to combine. Add cornstarch and mix well.

Shape mixture into meatballs, 1 heaping teaspoon each, and arrange on tray lightly dusted with cornstarch.

Heat oil in soup pot or casserole and stir-fry garlic until golden. Remove garlic with slotted spoon. Add chicken broth and bring to simmer. Add jicama slices and cook 10 minutes.

Add pork-shrimp balls and cook gently 10 minutes, lightly skimming surface. Divide among serving bowls and sprinkle fried garlic and chopped cilantro generously on top.

Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

288 calories; 1,918 mg sodium; 124 mg cholesterol; 17 grams fat; 7 grams carbohydrates; 24 grams protein; 0.35 gram fiber.

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CHINESE CHICKEN BROTH

3 quarts water

3 3/4 pounds chicken backs, necks, bones or other pieces

1 1/2 cups rice wine or sake

9 quarter-sized slices ginger root, lightly smashed with flat edge of knife

Simmer water, chicken parts, rice wine and ginger in large pot 1 1/2 hours, skimming surface several times. Strain broth through fine-meshed strainer and let stand 10 minutes. Skim to remove all fat.

Makes about 9 cups.

Each cup contains about:

85 calories; 27 mg sodium; 28 mg cholesterol; 6 grams fat; 1 gram carbohydrates; 7 grams protein; 0.07 gram fiber.

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SPICY TOFU SALAD WITH PEANUT DRESSING

FRIED TOFU

1 1/2 pounds very firm tofu

1/4 cup corn oil

SPICY PEANUT SAUCE

1 tablespoon chopped ginger root

1 stalk lemongrass, ends trimmed and tough outer leaves removed

2 shallots (about 1/4 cup chopped)

2 cloves garlic (about 2 teaspoons chopped)

1 teaspoon chile powder

2 teaspoons dried tamarind pulp dissolved in 2/3 cup warm water and strained to remove seeds

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

3/4 cup finely chopped dry-roasted peanuts

SALAD

1/4 pound bean sprouts

2 pickling cucumbers, about 1/2 pound

FRIED TOFU

Wrap tofu squares in paper towels and place heavy weight, such as skillet, on top. Let stand 30 minutes to press out excess water. Cut tofu lengthwise into slabs 1 1/2 inches thick.

Heat oil in skillet or wok to 375 degrees. Fry tofu (in batches, if needed) until golden brown on 1 side. Partly cover skillet to keep hot oil from spattering. Turn tofu over and fry until golden on other side. Remove with slotted spoon and drain. Discard all but 1 tablespoon oil from pan and reheat until hot.

SPICY PEANUT DRESSING

Puree ginger, lemongrass, shallots and garlic in food processor or blender to fine paste. Stir-fry paste in skillet until very fragrant, about 1 minute. Add chile powder, tamarind liquid, granulated and brown sugars to seasonings and stir. Add chopped peanuts and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until mixture has thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove and pour into serving dish to cool.

SALAD

Put bean sprouts in colander and pour boiling water over them to remove raw flavor. Plunge in cold water and drain. Trim ends of cucumbers, slice in half lengthwise, remove seeds and cut cucumber diagonally into thin slices.

Cut Fried Tofu into slices about 1/4 inch thick. Arrange on platter and sprinkle cucumber slices and bean sprouts on top. Just before serving, pour Spicy Peanut Dressing on top.

Makes 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

403 calories; 27 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 28 grams fat; 21 grams carbohydrates; 23 grams protein; 1.74 grams fiber.

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TIFFIN PINEAPPLE PICKLE

6 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon powdered turmeric

1 1/2 pounds slightly under-ripe pineapple, skin removed, cored and cut into cubes about 1/2-inch square

1 1/2 tablespoons corn oil

4 whole cloves

2 cinnamon sticks

1 red onion, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices

1 small fresh red chile, cut lengthwise into thin strips and seeds removed

3/4 cup light brown sugar

Bring water to boil in large pot. Add salt, turmeric and pineapple cubes and cook 1 minute. Remove pineapple and drain in colander.

Heat oil in wok or skillet and add cloves, cinnamon sticks, onion and chile. Fry over medium heat until onion is slightly soft, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add pineapple and brown sugar and stir. Reduce heat slightly and simmer 10 minutes. Remove and cool. Serve room temperature or cold. Pickle will keep refrigerated up to 2 weeks.

Makes about 3 cups, or 6 servings.

Each serving contains about:

146 calories; 400 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 4 grams fat; 30 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.60 gram fiber.