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About Nonya Indulgence

I am Anna, daughter, wife and mother of 3. I love cooking. Now for those who knew me back in my younger days, who surely disagree. Well, to tell you the truth, when I was younger, I hated doing housework, that includes sweeping the floors, cooking and cleaning. My mother would have to threatened me to chuck out my things before I would tidy up.

Today, I love to cook, baking is my no.1 hobby and yes, I admit it, I am a neat freak. 

I am currently living in Auckland, New Zealand. 

I have 1 handsome boy and 2 beautiful girls and one very understanding hubby who share my passion for cooking. He is the Italian Chef in the house and would cook up dishes after dishes of any pasta you can think off while I baked.

I have never been a baker, I am the type of person who would jump into a patisserie to buy a birthday cake. My passion for baking came to me when I had kids. I wanted my children to remember me as a mum who can concoct any cakes they desire. Today I have made 12 birthday cakes for my 3 kids ranging from strawberry shortcake, cupcakes, barbie cakes, hi-5 cakes and super hero cakes.

During my recent trip home to Penang, I re-discovered the nonya in me. I am a descendent of a nonya and well, I wanted to ensure my heritage is kept alive through me and my kids. So, I decided to learn to prepare nonya dishes and sharing them with my children so that they will learn to love and appreciate and remember their heritage and honour their ancestors. 

Anyway, that's the story of how and why I created Nonya Indulgence. It is to share with all of you my journey of discovering the Nonya in me. I hope you will allow me to share my wonderful nonya dishes with you....I hope this will also inspire you to track down your heritage and remember your ancestors.

Otak Otak

All of you know that my husband loves fishing. Every fortnight in the summer, my husband and his man friends would go on a charter and bring home a lot of snappers. We have so many snappers in the freezer and there is only so much fried, steam, curry, fish one can take. So, what am I to do with all the excess fish. I can't stop the guy from going fishing so I have to find alternative recipes in which I can use the fish.

During my recent trip to Penang, my cousin Ah Bee, made some otak otak. Otak otak literary means brains as well, it sort of resembled brains as it is soft and squishy. No, one does not get any brainier from eating otak otak. It can be eaten plain, with bread or as part of a meal.

Otak otak is made by mixing fish paste with a mixture of spices. The mixture is then wrapped in a banana leaf that has been softened by steaming, then grilled or steamed. 

Let me share with you my creation.  

Pulut Inti

Pulut inti is another famous nonya dessert. Pulut means glutinous rice and inti means the insides. The glutinous rice is infused with coconut milk and steamed until it is soft while the inti is made from grated coconut cooked in palm sugar and lightly toasted until golden brown.

To finish it off, the kuih is wrapped delicately in banana leaves with the inti slightly exposed as if to say come and eat me.

I love eating this kuih, it is sooooo.....fragrant and so beautiful to look at.

This kuih can be found anywhere in most of the markets in Penang. When I was growing up, there was this ah pek who would ride on his bicycle around our housing estate selling his nonya kuihs. My ah ma always bought pulut inti from him.

Recently I have been researching kuih recipes on the internet and stumbled on pages after pages of beautiful pictures of the pulut inti. It dawned on me that I haven't eated this yummy dessert for the longest time so, I decided to make this beautiful dessert for my family and guess what, they loved it as much I am do.

My Origins

My grandfather (also known as Ah Kong) was born in the Fuxian Province of China; his family migrated over to Malaya (now known as Malaysia) and resided in the state of Penang. Grandma (we call her Ah Ma) on the other hand was born and bred in Penang. She was a Nonya.

What is a Nonya you ask? Well, let’s take a step back. Peranakan Chinese and Baba and Nonya are terms used for the descendants of late 15^th and 16^th century Chinese immigrants to South East Asia during the Colonial era. Members of this community address themselves as “Nonya Baba”. Nonya is the term for ladies and Baba for the gentleman. They were the elites of Singapore and Malaya, more loyal to the British than to China  Most have lived for generations along the straits of Malacca and are intermarried with the local native Malays. Most of the “Nonya Babas” are English educated; they are usually traders and act as the middleman of the British and the Chinese or Malays. Most of them are able to speak two of more languages e.g. English, Malay and Chinese.

So, enough of this technical gibberish about what Peranakan Chinese are, let’s go back to the story of my grandparents. Ah Ma was raised a Nonya and hence she was expected to master the skill of preparing Nonya dishes and making beaded slippers. Beaded slippers are called “Kasut Manek”. They are hand-made with much skill and patience, stringing beads and sewn onto canvas.

Now, the love story, Ah Kong was a trader and he was delivering glass beads to Ah Ma’s house. There, he caught a glimpse of my beautiful Ah Ma. He fell instantly in love and returned to ask for her hand in marriage. 8 children and 11 grandchildren later, I was added to the Lim clan.

Today, I have immigrated to New Zealand with my husband and his family. We have 3 beautiful kids (1 boy and 2 girls), our own little Baba and little Nonyas.

From here.......our own story begins in a new world.... the land of the long white cloud....

From here...

 To here....

And finally here...

Nonya Chang (Phua Kiam Ti Chang)

Chang, also known as Zongzi (or simply zong). is a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves. They are coked by steaming or boiling. In Japan, zong is called chimaki and in Laos, Thailand and Cambodia, nom asom. In Indonesia and Malaysia, they are simply known as Chang.

There are many types of Chang, some are sweet, some are savoury, some filled with meat, others beans. There are also just plain Chang which is called Kee Chang.

Chang is traditionally eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calender (approximately late May to mid June). It commemorates the death of Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet from the kingdom of Chu who lived during the Warring States period. Known for his patriotism, Qu Yuan tried unsuccessfully to warn his king and countrymen against the expansionism of their Qin neighbours. When the Qin general Bai Qi took Yingdu, the Chu capital, in 278 BC, Qu Yuan's grief was so intense that he drowned himself in the Miluo river after penning the Lament for Ying. According to legend, packets of rice were thrown into the river to prevent the fish from eating the poet's body.

My favourite Chang is the Nonya Chang. It is my grandmother's favourite and every time she visited Singapore she would make sure she ate her favourite Katong Nonya Chang.

To remember her, I learnt to make one of her favourite dish. 

See here a really cool video of how to make Nonya Chang. The song "Siow Bak Chang" is truly something else....an acquired taste....

Kuih Seri Muka

Kuih Seri Muka, also known as Kuih Salat means beautiful face in Malay. It is one of my favourite nonya kuihs as it has 2 very different taste and texture which together makes a truly mouth watering dessert. 

The Seri Muka is made up of 2 layers. The bottom layer is made with steamed glutinous rice and the top layer is made from a green silken yummy custard.

The green colour is obtained from the juice of pandan leaves. Pandan is a plant that grows in tropical parts of Asia. The leaves are long and bright green, and when pounded or ground, lend a sweet taste, colour and aroma to many desserts and some dishes. Unfortunately here in New Zealand, we can only get frozen pandan leaves but hey, beggars can't be chooses and it still serves it's job.


I recently made the Seri Muka for my mother in law after hearing it is also one of her favourite, check out the results.

Also, check out this u-tube video of how to make the Seri Muka.