The word of the day for this blog is "Peranakan", a word that you probably have not come across unless you (a) have traveled or lived in SE Asia or (b) study SE Asian studies. Peranakan literally means "locally born" and today is the term used to describe the mix of Chinese and peninsular Malay culture that is found in Singapore. There is a Peranakan museum here. On their website they say "The Peranakan cultrure is a unique hybrid culture that is still part of Singapore's living heritage".
So far in this blog I have barely mentioned food..not sure why that is as the gastronomy is a huge part of the Singapore experience and, quite frankly, an instrumental part of my life. I like to consider myself somewhat of a foodie although true foodies would probably disagree. When I cook it's mostly from scratch (ingredients that have no ingredients). I will be sharing a lot about the food in Singapore and my thoughts in general. Cooking and general eating is a huge part of my family's life, and for that reason I decided that my husband and I would start exploring some of the Peranakan restaurants that offer a modern interpretation of traditional Singapore food. Tonight was our first Peranakan culinary adventure, and trust me it will not be our last.
The restaurant is called Candlenut and is located very near to Tiong Bahru, an old but supertrendy neighborhood in Singapore and, luckily, very close to my apartment. I was unable to get an 8 pm dinner reservation (always a good sign) so we headed over for our 8:30. The experience and food did not disappoint. We had 2 appetizers - one was a prawn salad served in lettuce cups; the other was a chicken broth soup with crab meatballs and bamboo (the menu said the soup simmers for 5 hours so I was intrigued. It was great). The mains were out of this world. I had local snapper in a curry sauce with french beans, tomato and eggplant. The sauce was velvety and just spicy enough. My husband had lamb rendang, servedon the bone with a spicy sauce. Service was amazing and the restaurant was small-ish but lively and everything was delicious. We will be back and it is now on my list to bring out-of-towners for a taste of Peranakan food.
Snapper curry and lamb rendang at candlenut restaurant
Snapper curry closeup
Banana cake, homemade ice cream and banana 'brulée'
Looking very forward to our next Peranakan dinner...and to sharing more about the food of Singapore.
The dinner looks awesome!
ReplyDeleteoh i want some perenang food right now!
ReplyDeleteTo be one of the most expensive cities in the World dining out in Singapore is pretty affordable. But if it tastes good it is always worthy.
ReplyDelete