The celebrated custodian of Peranakan fare says innovation is the key to ensuring its future
Though his restaurant Candlenut is often described as one that serves modern Peranakan food, chef Malcolm Lee is keen to point out that the definition isn’t quite accurate. “It’s not really modern,” he said. “It’s just Peranakan food brought into the now. It’s how we eat today.”
Modern though they may seem, the dishes are firmly rooted in their traditional essence; for example, ikan chuan chuan—a rustic dish of a whole fish, fried and served in a light ginger and tau cheo (fermented soybean paste) sauce. At Candlenut, Malcolm uses meaty fillets of threadfin, which he swathes in a smooth, rich sauce made with ginger paste and tau cheo. The resulting rendition is refined and elegant, yet unmistakably ikan chuan chuan.
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“Our ideas are simple,” Malcolm explained, “What’s important is that we understand the original dish and decide how we want to present it to our guests. Traditional can be modern when you start at the beginning and ask yourself why this cuisine is unique.”
Using good ingredients and going back to the basics also help with innovating his dishes. For cincalok pork, his team makes cincalok (fermented baby shrimps) from scratch, an ingredient home cooks typically buy bottled. Being in control of the fermentation process means they can control the resulting, often pungent flavour that is so integral to the dish.
“Cincalok pork is usually made with pork belly, but we wanted to lighten it, so we made tau kwa (firm tofu) the main protein and add sliced Iberico pork secreto, which we stir-fry then braise quickly in the gravy before serving,” he said.
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