Peranakan Passion Nyonya Restaurant

Peranakan Passion, Bayan Baru, Penang (8 November 2017)


Peranakan Passion (GPS: 5.32644, 100.28237) is a now defunct pork-free Nyonya restaurant in Bayan Baru, Penang. It is located at D'Piazza Mall facing Jalan Mahsuri. The restaurant, which opened in May 2017, is a family business run by Mr Kennett Lee and his cousins, who are Malacca Peranakan.

Mr Lee is the main player at Peranakan Passion. He is the one who sources for the material, cooks the dishes and manages the restaurant. In a way, Peranakan Passion is a reflection of Mr Lee's passion for Peranakan cuisine. This devotion to the best in quality means Peranakan Passion does not cut corners, so that those who are equally passionate about Peranakan cuisine can enjoy the best experience. As for the ingredients, the restaurant does not use white sugar or MSG. Where sweetening is required, the sweetening agent is Gula Melaka, to give the dishes the age old taste.

Mr Lee (right) and I at Peranakan Passion. (8 November 2017)

Our visit to Peranakan Passion

My wife and I were invited by Mr Lee to a meal at Peranakan Passion on 8 November, 2017. This was the first time that I have met him, and I was pleased to learn that at this restaurant, I get to enjoy Malacca Peranakan dishes. There are many excellent Penang Nyonya restaurants in Penang, but I have yet to visit one that showcases Malacca Peranakan items, so I was very much looking forward to a meal here.

My wife and I are quite familiar with Malacca Peranakan dishes, having been to Malacca a number of times, including once this year, where my wife and I had the pleasure of dining with Eurasian celebrity chef Melba Nunis, and were introduced by her to various Malacca Peranakan dishes. And a month before that, I enjoyed Malacca Peranakan dishes at Charlie's in Singapore. This is however the first time that I would be enjoying Malacca Peranakan food in Penang, and I was pretty excited about it.

It is always fun to meet and to talk with people who love food. We can go into the details about the ingredients and how the person go about preparing the dish. In most cases - and Peranakan Passion is no exception to this - each household has its own version of a popular dish. Take Cili Garam for example. Mr Lee explained to me how his version is prepared, and when my wife and I tasted it a short while later, we both agreed that it was fantastic.



We went through the menu item by item. When we got to the chincalok, Mr Lee said that some people do not like it, because of the smell of the fermented prawns. But my wife and I have no problem with chincalok. I suppose that's why we are gourmands, if not gourmets!

After a lively discussion with Mr Lee, it was time to eat. Mr Lee had prepared quite a feast for us! We were surprised to see so many items arrayed on the table. There was Assam Pedas Fish, Assam Prawn, Jiu Hu Char, Pongteh, Chincalok Omelette and Cili Garam Brinjal. These were served with rice dyed with butterfly pea flower or bunga telang to a dark blue. Mr Lee believes in making the rice very blue rather than just slightly. This requires using a lot of bunga telang. For the drinks, he served Butterfly Pea Flower Tea, again with generous amount of the butterfly-pea flower dye, so that the drinks looked almost indigo.

The first dish I tried was the Assam Pedas Fish. I took a spoonful of the assam pedas gravy and drenched it on a small part of my blue rice. Oh, it was so good. Then I tried the meat of the tau1tay4 (Chinese pomfret). The flesh is white and fresh, though this being tau1tay4, it is not as soft as the paek3chniau1 (white pomfret). Assam Pedas is quite common in Penang, and this dish at Peranakan Passion tasted almost like Penang laksa (but with distinct differences). I would be satisfied with just this dish and white rice.

The next dish I tried was the Ayam Pongteh. You don't often find this dish in Penang, as it is a quintessentially Malacca Peranakan dish. Even though we do use fermented soya bean paste in Penang Nyonya cooking, we don't usually cook this dish - I can't say why not, because it is so delicious. The Ayam Pongteh at Peranakan Passion comes with chunks of potato, which absorbs some of the saltiness but tasted great with rice.

The next item I tried was the Assam Prawn. My wife tried it first. She told me that it was good, for it had the homecooked aroma from the tamarind. So I tried it myself, and yes, I confirmed the lovely aroma of the Assam Prawn which brought back happy memories of lunch at home with this dish and hot white rice. If you ever come to Peranakan Passion and order this, I recommend enjoying the aroma of the dish before you take the first bite. Food should be enjoyed not just for the taste, but also for the aroma, and I am sure you would love the aroma of the Assam Prawn.

The Jiu Hu Char is another "very Penang Nyonya" dish. The one at Peranakan Passion was similar to the Jiu Hu Char I had at home, except that the mangkuang (yambean) was coarser here. This dish was served with lettuce and a saucer of fresh sambal with lime. My wife usually eats Jiu Hu Char wrapped in lettuce, but I like having it on its own, with rice, and topped with a dash of sambal for kicks.

The next item I tried was the Chincalok Omelette. Loved it. My wife commented that the smell of the chincalok wasn't strong enough for her. To me it is good enough. I suppose they did not want to put too much chincalok in this dish, as it might be overwhelming and too strong for some diners to handle. Not everybody could accept the aroma of chincalok.

The final item, and again one which you need to smell before you taste, was the Cili Garam Brinjal. This is brinjal topped with "cili garam", a style of preparing stir-fried sambal. The result is incredibly aromatic.

As you would imagine, there was more food than we were able to consume. Whatever we were unable to finish, we asked Mr Lee to pack up, so that we could enjoy them once more at home. And I looked forward to enjoying the leftovers!

My wife and I enjoyed our meal at Peranakan Passion very much, and we thanked Mr Lee for having invited us to try his food.

Address

Peranakan Passion Nyonya Restaurant
19, D'Piazza Mall,
Jalan Mahsuri,
11950 Bayan Lepas, Penang.
Phone: 018 462 5608

Peranakan Passion is open daily except Monday. Business hours are from 11:30am to 3:00pm & 6:00pm to 9:30pm on Tuesdays to Fridays, and 5:00pm to 9:30pm on Saturdays and Sundays.


Blue Rice, Peranakan Passion. (8 November 2017)


Assam Pedas Fish at Peranakan Passion. (8 November 2017)


Assam Prawn at Peranakan Passion. (8 November 2017)


Ayam Pongteh at Peranakan Passion. (8 November 2017)


Jiu Hu Char at Peranakan Passion. (8 November 2017)


Chincalok Omelette at Peranakan Passion. (8 November 2017)


Cili Garam Brinjal at Peranakan Passion. (8 November 2017)


Butterfly Pea Flower Tea. (8 November 2017)

Peranakan Passion is at D'Piazza Mall, which is on the Map of Jalan Mahsuri, Penang

Past Promotion at Peranakan Passion

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