a Peranakan tea session

I was privileged to be invited - along with other Singapore bloggers - to The Intan, Singapore's first private Peranakan home museum, by Alvin Yapp and ContactSingapore.



Part of the visit to The Intan was for us to experience the true Peranakan hospitality that included a tea session. The table setting alone was worth seeing:

The history of Peranakan cuisine and culture can be traced back to the 15th century when Chinese traders entered the port of Malacca to sell the silk and porcelain they brought from their country to traders from India and Arab countries.

Nonya (Peranakan) desserts are typified by kueh (colourful rice cakes often flavoured with coconut and palm sugar) and sweet, sticky delicacies such as miniature pineapple tarts, and also made from a variety of flavourful ingredients such as coconut milk, sweet potatoes, tapioca, palm sugar and pandan leaves.

Traditionally Peranakan girls or Straits Chinese were trained to perfect the art of making nonya kueh — skill in the culinary arts could, along with other skills, lead to a better marriage.

Many Nonya or Peranakan still spend time making kueh for their families, as they believe the more effort you put into preparing food for your family, the happier everyone will be.

Thank you Alvin and ContactSingapore for showing us another side of Singapore!

next blog posting (see below) will be on the beautiful collection inside The Intan,

Singapore's first private Peranakan home museum.


read my next two blog posts for more about The Intan:


click here for a Peranakan Treasure


and click here for The Intan - for all things Peranakan




..