Melaka Must Eat @ Melaka Nyonya Village

Melaka is a state you don't want to miss when paying a visit to Malaysia. Renowned as UNESCO World Heritage Site, this is a place that filled with colourful history and culture. The Baba and Nyonya heritage is one of the uniqueness here.

About Baba and Nyonya:

"During the Ming Dynasty in the 15th century, traders from China sailed to this region for spices and other goods. They were forced to wait out for the monsoon by staying at 'Malaqa' as it was called at that time. During the long stay, the lonely Chinese men fell in love with the local Malay women. Many married and started a new families in Melaka. The men were called Baba and the ladies were called Nyonya. Hence, began the Baba-Nyonya heritage- a unique blends of traditional Chinese and Malay cultures, languages, food and fashion."

 

To celebrate this rich heritage, Melaka Nyonya Village is established. It is an exclusive compound (50,000 sq. ft) right in the heart of Melaka city centre where visitors can enjoy an authentic Nyonya meal while watching a kaleidoscopic Nyonya Cultural show.

That's the front entrance of the restaurant. If you been to Melaka and Penang, you will find that most of the old buildings are small from the front but elongated till you find tiring walking from the front to the end. It's bit exaggerated but you will be surprised once you visit. These old buildings built in this way as Ducth charge the land tax based on the width of the street frontage of each building in old days. To avoid the burdening land tax, most of the houses built with long typical plan but cramped frontage.

The lantern and umbrellas decorated this place beautifully.  

 

#visitmalaysiayeardance #vmy2014 #melaka #travel #babanyonya

A video posted by Emily Tang (@emilytang413) on Aug 22, 2014 at 6:08am PDT

Here’s a glimpse of the cultural performance performed that night, ranging from the Peranakan dance Dondang Sayang, fan dance, fashion show, mock wedding and many more. Isn't the baju kebaya (Nyonya's outfit) beautiful? I always want to get one but still can't find any that I like. 

 

Audiences are encouraged to participate in the singing and dancing. There are also photo opportunities with the performers in traditional clothing and artifacts at the end of the show.

The Nyonya kitchen is one that matchmake traditional Chinese ingredients with various distinct Malay spices and cooking techniques to form delectable treats that are tangy, aromatic, spicy and herbal.

Stir fried mixed veggies with foochuk

 Looks and tastes like typical Chinese dish

Salted veggie soup with chicken

 I did not drink this. Hence, no comment.

Sambal Petai with fried anchovies

This is one of my favourite. My mum always cook this at home as well. Love the stinky beans and crunchy fried anchovies blended with the spicy sambal.

Otak-Otak

Otak-otak is my another favourite. In some places, otak-otak is sold and grilled in banana leaf. It is a kind of spicy mackerel pattie mixed with secret spices and sauces.

Ikan Goreng Kerutuk.

  The deep fried fish is supposed to be saucy with kerutuk sauce drizzled onto it, but the rest at the table prefers to take it the way it is. Well, it is still crunchy and no fishy smell at all.
 

We were given a permission entering the kitchen for a visit.

Assorted Nyonya Kuih was served as dessert, and they tasted like authentically homemade. 

Tapioca chips/kerepek ubi keledek were served as an appetizer. It was sweet, slightly salt-ish and crunchy. No excessive oil whatsoever and it was quite addictive. I found myself keep reaching for more.

Sambal belacan and cincaluk was naturally served as dippings as well, but the food was tasty enough that I did not have the needs for additional sambal belacan or cincaluk to go with my rice.

Cincaluk Omelet/Telur Dadar Cincaluk is a kind of omelet where the eggs mixture was mixed with fermented shrimps before being pan fried. The omelet was fluffy, but the cincaluk taste was too mild to my liking. I would prefer it if there was more cincaluk in it. But this is a good dish to go with plain rice nevertheless.

Pajeri Nanas is a type of curry that is usually cooked with sliced pineapple as the main ingredient. The pajeri nanas was wonderful. This version of pajeri nanas was cooked with curry spices, coconut milk and juicy, fresh shrimps. It was fabulous. The curry was naturally tangy and refreshing while the shrimp was fleshy and flavourful.

Address:
Melaka Baba Nyonya Art & Cultural Group Sdn Bhd
178, Jalan Parameswara,
75000 Melaka,
Malaysia.

GPS: 2.188879, 102.257427

More information: www.babanyonyamelaka.com