>> When early Chinese immigrants married local women, their descendants gave rise to a brand-new culture known as Baba Nyonya, or Peranakan Chinese.

Baba referred to the men, and nyonya the women.

Preserving their Chinese heritage is a crucial part of their culture in language, fashion, customs, and, of course, food.

Baba Nyonya, the legacy of cultural confluence, next on "Taste of Malaysia with Martin Yan."

♪ ♪ ♪ >> "Taste of Malaysia with Martin Yan" is brought to you by... >> ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ >> Circulon Cookware -- Circles for life.

>> Monogram -- a full line of professional appliances designed for food and entertaining enthusiasts.

♪ ♪ >> By Melissa's.

♪ The freshest ideas in produce.

>> By Granite Expo -- offering a wide selection of cabinet and countertop solutions.

And by B&G Group of Malaysia.

♪ Building Malaysia's tomorrow.

♪ >> This museum in Old Town, Melaka, is a treasure trove for anyone interested in learning about Baba Nyonya culture in Malaysia.

Chinese came to Melaka as early as the 15th century.

Many of these pioneers were traders and merchants.

Their descendants, men and women of mixed Chinese and Malay heritage.

>> Hello.

Welcome to The Straits Chinese Jewellery Museum.

>> My pleasure to be here.

Ms. Tong, I'm very curious, what makes the Nyonya culture so unique, so different?

>> Well, I think it's the people.

The people that came together from China, from Arabic countries, and from Indonesia, Thai, Burmese.

So it's the people that came together.

And not only that.

We were so fortunate that, at that time, it was a layering of history.

Everything from all over the world came together to build a house because we were ports.

Our jewelry was influenced by Europe, the excavations of the Etruscan tombs, the Hellenistic tombs, and so it actually influenced the jewels, and even the clothes.

>> Yeah, the fashion is so unique.

>> So, the Dutch ladies -- The Dutch ladies came to Indonesia, and they actually took on these kebayas.

They were the ones who actually started this fashion.

And then we had beads for our slippers, beads from Bohemia, and then, eventually, also food.

>> Oh, of course.

My favorite item.

My favorite topic is food.

>> The way, the method of cooking is Chinese.

And yet, because they don't have those China ingredients, so they actually used local ingredients.

>> The melting of flavor is truly fascinating.

>> Yeah.

So, it really came up together so beautifully.

>> This is a culture that values refinement, and attention to every single detail.

This goes into arts, fashion, and the complex use of spices in the cuisine.

Baba Charlie!

According to my GPS, it should be somewhere around here.

Baba Charlie?

My long lost friend Baba Charlie.

Charlie, long time, no see!

It took me a long time to find you, because from the back, everybody looks the same.

>> Oh, yeah.

>> Now, a lot of people don't realize... >> Yes.

>> ...Baba Charlie is not only a real person, it's also a brand.

They sell all kinds of Nyonya cake here.

This is the famous Baba Charlie Melaka, and altogether, they make up 38 different Nyonya cakes.

They are absolutely necessity for special occasions such as weddings, birthdays.

And they're also perfect treats for everyday.

Charlie, I have never seen such colorful cake before.

You got purple, green, red, and yellow.

What are all of these?

>> Daily kuih.

I made special for order, local kuih.

>> How many variety of cake that you make here?

>> Oh, one day, we make about 26 kuih a day.

>> 26 variety a day?

>> This is my mom.

My mom, here.

>> Your mother?

Your mother.

[ Speaking foreign language ] How are you?

>> Yeah.

This is my wife.

And my grandson, my grandchildren.

>> Grandchildren.

They all help out, huh?

Oh, good.

So it's a family business.

That's the reason why Charlie's business is so successful.

Everybody get together, everybody help out.

This is what you call unity.

Family unity.

Congratulations.

So, how many of these pieces do you probably sell a day?

>> Oh, every day depends on the size of the crowd.

Like, weekends we make about a few hundred pieces.

>> Whoa.

Some few hundred pieces.

>> All by hand, make.

>> I am gonna try a few pieces and check it out and see how unique this Nyonya.

Put it in my mouth.

Savor it.

And chew on it.

It's nice and mushy.

Very, very strong.

Very aromatic because of the coconut milk.

>> [ Speaking native language ] >> [ Speaking foreign language ] [ Chuckles ] This has got to translate, okay?

This is actually from sago.

This is its natural color, a tea morning glory.

>> How are the tastes?

Okay?

>> I love it.

It's not too sweet.

It's sweet, but has a little saltiness to it.

So it's got a nice balance.

I'm so excited to have two special guests, Maggie, Peranakan, and also Chef Nader, who have been friends for many, many years.

We are very lucky today because we have our dear friend, Chef Julie Tan.

[ Applause ] Peranakan.

And, also, we spent a lot of time in Malaysia, anyway.

>> Yes, we did.

>> So tell us, what is the essence of Peranakan tradition and culture?

>> Well, during the 17th century, the Chinese sailed down to Malaysia, and they brought with them noodles and tofu, and married their cuisines with the local spices and herbs.

And, also, the marriage of people, the Malays and the Chinese together.

Hence, we have a different cuisine that is nyonya and baba, using the Malay and local herbs with our Chinese ingredients.

>> What is this particular dish we're doing?

>> We're making a Melaka laksa.

In Malaysia, we have different states.

Every state has their own different types of laksa, and every household has their different versions.

So today we're gonna make my own aunty's secret recipe.

>> That's great.

So, step number one to this Peranakan laksa, what are we gonna do first?

>> We're gonna make the sambal, which is the condiment that goes with the soup.

You don't have to have -- It's on the side, so anybody who wants a little bit more spice can add to that.

So, it has chilies.

Dry chilies, fresh chilies.

>> Okay, let me give you a hand to cut some chili.

I'm your assistant today.

>> All right.

While you're doing that, I'm gonna show you.

You have some shrimp paste that we're toasting.

>> Okay.

>> You have to toast this, otherwise it has a raw flavor.

>> Okay.

This is a little shrimp-paste cake.

This is fermented shrimp.

Now, this is toasted.

I have some... Cut up some fresh chilies.

Fresh chili, and I put it right over here.

>> A little bit dry chilies.

>> And, also, some dry chili.

And then we will -- >> We got to pound it.

>> I will give you a hand to pound it... >> You're gonna give a hand?

>> ...because it takes patience to do that.

Pound this.

>> And once you've done that and it's nice and smooth, you're gonna cook it in some oil in the little pot.

And it takes a little while, so let it cook.

And we're gonna make the paste for the soup.

>> Okay.

>> Let's put a little bit of... >> Now, this is... >> ...Belacan in there.

>> ...very, very good.

Crush, crush, crush.

Okay.

Now, this, I'm gonna take it over there and let it cook.

A little bit of oil.

Put all of this.

Nice and smooth.

This is good.

>> [ Chuckles ] Yes.

>> And let it cook.

And the next thing we want to do is...?

>> We're gonna make the spice paste.

>> The spice paste.

This is lemongrass.

>> Chop some of that.

We'll put it in.

>> All right.

And... And this is shallot.

And this galangal.

Cut up the galangal.

Very, very fibrous, so when you chop, make sure you go like this.

You see?

You just go... chop it, and put it all together right here.

What else?

>> Some fresh turmeric.

>> Oh!

This is turmeric.

Fresh turmeric.

And put it right here.

>> And then we have candlenuts.

>> Candlenut.

Now, this basically is a thickener, right?

>> Thickener.

Exactly.

>> So let's put it in.

>> It gives a nutty flavor.

>> Chop it up.

Just add some flavor.

>> So, I'm going to... [ Blender whirs ] >> Tiny bit of oil.

>> Add a little bit.

>> And then add it in.

And in the meantime, this is also cooking.

>> So, we're gonna blanch some bean sprouts.

>> Very, very quick.

Basically you just get rid of some of the raw taste of bean sprouts.

This is it.

Good.

That's it.

One minute.

That's all.

Okay?

You see there's a lot of oil from the candlenut, a lot of oil from the chili.

So when you cook, you see oil separate, that means it's ready.

So, how much broth are you gonna add?

>> We're gonna add about 4 cups of chicken broth.

>> 4 cups of chicken broth.

Let me stir.

This is the soup stock.

>> Yes.

Now we're gonna add the tofu puffs.

>> Tofu puff.

Right inside?

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Now, these, you can buy the tofu puff in Asian markets.

>> Yeah.

This is about 1/2 cup.

Now, the next thing is, you got to have some protein.

>> Shredded chicken.

>> And this is chicken breast.

What I'm gonna do is, I press it.

Then you're doing two things.

One is, you hand-shred it, like this.

Hand-shred it.

You see this?

Hand-shred.

>> Right.

>> It looks much nicer when you hand-shred.

But if you don't have time, all you have to do is -- look at this.

I butterfly this, open it up.

I butterfly.

I literally open it up like this.

Then I stack them all up, and then I go... All hand-shredded.

[ Laughter ] >> That's good.

>> It's so fast.

So much, much faster.

This is hand-shredded.

Put it right here.

>> I'm gonna put some coconut milk in there.

>> Okay.

Now, coconut milk is very widely used in Peranakan and Malaysian cooking.

>> And this is about 1 1/2 cups.

>> Okay.

1 1/2 cups.

Good.

This is what gives that richness.

>> We're gonna add the fish cake in next.

>> Yeah, let's add the fish cake right here.

>> So it will have time to cook.

>> Very, very thin slices.

Very thin slices, okay?

This is gonna be so good.

I guarantee you, everybody gonna love this.

Chef Nader, you're gonna love this.

This is amazing.

This is a lot of spices, a lot of flavor.

>> A little bit of salt.

>> Just flavor with a tiny bit of salt.

Everything is basically ready.

Now let's put the dish together.

>> That's the condiment.

>> We have all the things right here.

>> Get some tongs.

>> Tongs.

Now, this is -- This is interesting.

And then we will get this.

We always start with the bean sprouts on the bottom.

>> Yeah.

>> Then a little bit of the rice noodle.

>> This is very unique.

Normally, a typical dish in Cantonese or Chinese food, Either noodle or rice noodle.

This is a combination of two noodles -- one made with starch, one made with rice flour.

>> Yeah, Malaysians have this tendency to like the two noodles together.

>> Yeah.

>> So, now we can add the soup, and then the garnishes on the top.

>> Okay.

Let's see how you put the whole dish together.

This is gonna be very interesting.

>> We have -- Let's put some soup first, with a little bit of tofu puffs, a little fish cake.

>> Tofu puffs right in the middle.

And some soup.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> This is very, very popular throughout Malaysia.

Very, very popular.

>> Very popular.

>> Everywhere you go, you can find this.

We have daun kesum, which is the polygonum, or Vietnamese mint.

>> Yeah.

Put it right -- >> It's very fragrant.

>> Yeah, a lot of good spices.

>> And some kaffir lime leaves that's minced up.

>> Yeah, kaffir lime.

It's already shredded.

This is amazing.

>> And some egg.

>> And then, for color, maybe I can cut up some... >> Oh, yes.

Cucumber.

>> ...of this cucumber.

>> Little shredded chicken.

>> Okay.

>> And we have a nice shrimp on the top.

>> Very thin slices of cucumber.

Very, very thin slices of cucumber.

I learned from Chef Nader, cut it very thin slices like this.

>> Extra spice.

>> Nice and thinly sliced.

>> Yeah.

Then some condiment on the side, cucumber.

Put it here.

>> And then... >> Fish cake.

>> Fish cake.

And then... Look at that.

Look at how beautiful this is.

This is the famous Peranakan laksa.

Chef Julie Tan.

Sometimes one plus one equals more than two.

One plus one equal more than -- So, that is what you get when you add one part of Chinese and one part of Malay.

What you get is a whole lot of graceful living and delicious food.

♪ Look at her concentration.

Totally silent and totally focused.

>> Mrs. Lim... >> Yeah.

>> ...what are you doing?

Can you tell us?

>> Oh, I'm sewing a beaded shoe.

We need to complete these first before making shoe.

>> So, how long would it take me to make one of these?

>> This takes me at least three weeks to make a pattern.

>> Three.

And how many beads of this size in one of these?

>> Well, this open-toe is more than 12,000.

For a closed toe, at least 18,000 beads.

>> Whew!

>> And you have to sew individually, one bead by one bead.

>> This is called patience, focus, attention to detail, and sweat.

A lot of sweat and a lot of patience.

A shoemaker will apply one bead at a time, and it will take a whole month to make a pair of shoes.

Not surprisingly, the best-quality shoes can cost a bundle.

Look at this.

Almost 60 years old.

>> Yes, more than 60 years.

>> More than 60 years old.

I've never seen anything like this.

And it looks like new.

If you don't look at this part, you look at this, it's just like brand-new.

Look at this.

[ Scratching ] And which one is right, and which one is left?

>> You have to see the sewing, the directions of the beads.

>> Okay.

>> They go to the right side and the left side.

>> Okay.

Let me guess.

This... is the right.

This is the left.

>> No.

>> This is the difference between a novice and an expert.

An expert.

Look at this.

This is so beautiful.

60 years old, and it still looks like brand-new.

Amazing.

>> Another thing is that this is the only shoes that can pass to the next generation.

As long as it's still good, it can be re-soled.

You can change the base.

>> Wow.

Look at this.

First you got to have a sharp eye.

Secondly, you got to have patience and sweat.

And not only that, when you get a little bit older, you no longer can see really well and your back hurts, that's the time you no longer can do it.

So the art of shoemaking passes from one generation to the next.

Beauty, to me and to her, is priceless.

It is absolutely timeless.

>> You can only find these in Melaka.

And this is a dying trade.

This pair of shoes, I'm keeping as an antique.

I don't want to change the sole.

I keep it.

It's priceless.

I won't sell.

Because once, if I sell it all, I couldn't get it anymore.

>> Right.

Because nobody can find a shoe that has been wear for 60 years and still in such good condition.

>> That's right.

>> So it's a museum piece.

And one day, this will be in the national museum.

♪ This may not be New York, Milan, or Paris, but for those who appreciate classic Nyonya design, this is pure fashion heaven.

>> I was totally impressed and amazed at all this beautiful and colorful fashion.

I just came back from New York.

Never seen anything like this.

So, tell us a little bit about this particular type of design, fashion.

>> The clothes that you are seeing up here are kebayas -- traditional clothes, where the baba and nyonyas, especially the nyonyas, they wear these clothes.

Those days, a lot of nyonyas, they will wear this kebaya daily.

But today, they wear it usually during occasions.

And at the same time, we are also educating the younger generations to wear kebayas with more fashionable way.

>> In terms of size, can anybody put on one of these?

>> I'm proud to say that, actually, kebayas looks good in any sizes.

>> A traditional Nyonya outfit is made up of a silk kebaya and a sarong, both heavily embroidered.

It is usually worn on formal occasions and celebrations.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> If you think Baba Nyonya is only about history, hey, think again.

I will introduce you to a friend.

He is a risk-taker.

Speedboat designer.

Also a fearless chef.

And this is my good friend.

[ Greeting in native language ] Baba Mike.

What are you gonna show us today?

>> Today we're gonna cook a very special dish called Lemak Nenas Udang.

>> Udang!

That means creamy coconut-pineapple prawn.

>> Yes.

First this, and that, then you go... >> Be careful.

Don't chop your finger off.

>> Right here.

Lemongrass.

This how you... >> Yes.

This is how I chop.

>> I see that.

>> Put it all together.

Now, do me a favor.

Pound it.

>> Pound, pound.

But sometimes -- you got to be careful.

You close your eyes like that.

Be careful.

But never mind.

Pound, pound, pound, pound.

Ready?

Put a little bit chili.

Everything's in.

Hey, pound, pound, pound.

All ready.

Then we take it out.

Become... >> Hey!

And then we cook this.

Yes.

>> Okay.

>> Once you cook this, you can use this for fish, for beef, for lamb.

>> Anything.

>> For anything, yeah.

>> This is pretty cooked.

>> Sauté the pineapple.

>> Right.

>> Okay.

>> Extract the coconut milk.

>> Yes.

>> Put it over here.

>> Maybe is this enough?

>> You know why I like Baba Mike?

I understand that this is the only dish he knows how to cook.

And he said he'd teach me how to cook Nyonya food.

>> Only one.

[ Laughter ] >> I am impressed.

People have such courage.

This is really good.

And now we'll put it in.

>> That's right.

>> Sugar.

>> Yes.

>> I think this is hot.

A tiny bit of salt.

>> Yes.

>> The good thing about shrimp is, you should not cook it too long.

>> Yes.

Always cook fast.

>> And, also, if you want to make it more tangy, Chef Baba Mike says you put the pineapple first.

But if you don't want to make it too tangy, you put it in later.

>> Yes.

>> That's the key.

Now, tell me a little bit about -- you are the speedboat designer.

You are risk-taker.

You are fearless jet-skier.

Why the heck you open a restaurant?

This is a long hour.

>> You want it a bit more extra income.

The whole truth is, I like fishing.

I go back, I said to other restaurant, "Why don't I cook and make my own?

I can introduce all to my friends."

Then I save a lot of money and make extra money.

>> That is a great idea.

Listen, not only that, he is a good businessman.

Now the whole dish is done.

Let us serve.

Now, right now, it's high tide.

Look at how beautiful this is.

What do you call it in Malay?

>> Lemak Nenas Udang.

>> Creamy coconut-pineapple prawns.

>> Yes.

>> Success!

I want to thank Baba Mike of Restaurant Seafarer.

He showed me how to do this wonderful dish.

It's delicious.

The Thein family celebrated a new year by honoring its past, rich heritage.

Here's to old family home.

Generations of Thein grew up in this very humble little house near the river.

Most of them have since moved away and started families of their own.

But on Chinese New Year, the entire Thein clan will return to their roots.

It is party time at the old homestead, and a good time is had by multi-generation of Theins.

Naturally, food is a big part of the feast.

Everybody pitches to what amounts to be one big Baba Nyonya food festival.

[ Fireworks exploding ] ♪ The rich Peranakan culture is not only an intricate part of Malaysia's history.

It is also a vibrant part of its future.

Join me next time for another episode of "Taste of Malaysia with Martin Yan."

Bye-bye!

>> You can visit our website to learn more about Martin and his travels, get information about upcoming events, find and print selected recipes, provide e-mail feedback, and more.

It's all at yancancook.com.

"Taste of Malaysia with Martin Yan" is brought to you by... >> ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ >> Circulon Cookware -- Circles for life.

>> Monogram -- a full line of professional appliances designed for food and entertaining enthusiasts.

♪ ♪ >> By Melissa's.

♪ The freshest ideas in produce.

>> By Granite Expo -- offering a wide selection of cabinet and countertop solutions.

And by B&G Group of Malaysia.

♪ Building Malaysia's tomorrow.

♪ ♪ ♪