For Malcolm Lee, chef-patron of Candlenut in Singapore, describing his culinary philosophy is simple.
A Candlenut classic, the Yeye Chicken Curry. (Photos: Candlenut Singapore)
"I come from a Peranakan family, which is a fusion of Chinese and Malay flavours and culture. The most important thing is to represent it and not change it. I always say that my philosophy is using good produce, cooking dishes how they are intended and serving them properly. It is just cooking curry, chilli paste, rice, noodles and traditional desserts but presented in a more relevant manner," he explains.
Peranakans are ingrained into the history of Singapore as this sub-ethnic group was born when early Chinese immigrants married into the local Malay community. This marriage of two cultures has its own culture and cuisine.
"A typical Peranakan meal resembles a Chinese meal but at the same time there are Malay and Indonesian aspects and there are a few fusion dishes. So you have all your curries, Chinese braised vegetable dishes and braised pork, which is definitely not Malay. We [Peranakans] have a lot of pork dishes, which is very interesting. Our soups are Malay-style. Peranakan is a very interesting and different style of cuisine," says Lee, who was in Bangkok for the 137 Pillars Organic Gourmet Festival in February, which was cancelled.
The different nuanced flavours and tastes of Peranakan cuisine in the 'Ah-ma-kase' menu.
"A few easy terms for Peranakans is 'born of the land' or 'descendants of the land', and this is the general race. Nyonya refers to the male and Baba refers to the female, however, it [Peranakan] is called Nyonya cuisine because the females are typically the ones doing all the cooking."
Lee says the cuisine takes a lot of work.
"It is very laborious and has a rich history. But over the years, the food has become modernised and commercialised and anything that takes a long time to prepare is hardly found on menus. However, Peranakan families still cook this way and there are more restaurants heading in this direction. The younger generation doesn't cook anymore; definitely not tedious cuisines. As a business, who wants to spend time in the kitchen when money can be made by selling French fries, especially in Singapore. We do see there is a void in terms of doing good Peranakan cuisine but that is starting to come back slowly," he adds.
At the world's only Michelin-starred Peranakan restaurant, which Lee has run for a decade, the menu started out family-style but has been modernised, though it is still traditional but just made relevant for the times.
"Eating at Candlenut is a bit like going to grandma's house," the chef explains. "You eat what she makes, which is like an omakase. This is why our tasting menu is called 'Ah-ma-kase', Ah meaning grandma.
Kueh Selat is a two-tiered sweet concoction.
"My mum's chicken curry and her attention to detail is what first made me want to become a chef. Even today, it invokes a certain nostalgia and it is one of a few recipes on the Candlenut menu that remains untouched. Mostly because I have memories of those dishes and would like to serve them as is."
The menu at Candlenut is small, having changed from an a la carte menu to a tasting menu, and mostly because the chef wants to maintain quality.
"This small menu allows us to focus on certain dishes. When you can focus on a small menu, then you are able to do really do well."
However, this isn't your everyday Peranakan restaurant where the fish or meats section will have no less than 10 dishes.
"We have just one fish or meat dish done in a certain way and we don't repeat the fish or meat for other dishes. Everything is cooked the traditional way; meaning if the dish is supposed to be cooked over charcoal it will be. Things like the turmeric pancake is made fresh daily. The main course is served family-style and everything is eaten with rice, like how we do at home. Our desserts usually revolve around shaved ice, because that is what Singapore is known for," says Lee.
It is interesting to note that there are many styles of Peranakan and many variations of the cuisine because of the regions they are in.
"Dishes could have origins from Penang in Malaysia, Indonesia or even Phuket, which has traces of Peranakan. The idea of our menu is to showcase anything Peranakan. In Malacca and Singapore, Peranakan has some British influence and in other places Portuguese influences, too. In some dishes, the menu takes on stories and is no longer just a recipe. It has history and family stories."
On average, a single dish at Candlenut takes a month to make it to the menu.
"Because our menu is small, there is nowhere to hide and everything has to be right. Our menu changes every three months and we plan to launch a special menu soon. Sometimes we could also serve a tasting menu, where I may have only two or four portions per day. I don't want Candlenut to be a typical restaurant," asserts Lee.
"Over a span of 10 years, we have had classic dishes that cannot be removed from the menu because they have a fan following. It is a good and bad problem for us. We have a super classic menu of 10-12 dishes and then we have new dishes, as well. Though each dish always begins with visiting different places to try and research different recipes. Sometimes the dish that is on the menu is a combined recipe that we've made our own. Candlenut dishes are a bit more unique to our own restaurant," says Lee.
"Cooking food for me is to make people happy, from your staff to the diners," he says, though he documents every recipe, ingredient, memory and story behind each dish.
"I still need 10 more years to collect not just recipes but stories too for a book on Peranakans. I am still far from done. Perhaps this will be my retirement project," he laughs.
Mao Shan Wang Kueh Kapit is an elevated version of a durian ice cream cone.
