A Southern Peranakan Wedding Affair… Timeless Heritage and Cuisine! (Part 2)

Passing on a Timeless Heritage and its Cuisine with Peranakan Culture Consultant Cedric Tan and Peranakan Chef Debbie Teoh !

…Continued from Part 1

Arrival of the Groom and Chim Pang (Unveiling Ceremony)

The arrival of the groom is a noisy affair. He is led by a procession of musicians, men carrying lanterns, best man Puah Kiah and young boys making loud noise on gongs. The groom is also dressed in a fully embroidered two piece suit and a grand gold embroidered cap with a glittery brooch. He carries a fan and wears heavily embroidered shoes with thick soles. He is greeted by the relatives of the bride and proceeds to move on to the Chim Pang ceremony.

The groom has to walk with his hands paying respect like this throughout his journey to meet his wife!

His best man called Puah Kiah will usually follow him everywhere likewise for the bride!

Waiting with a grin for his bride!

This will be the first time he meets his new wife. As they face each other and he unveils her, all eyes are focus on both their reaction.

Here comes the unveiling ceremony where he sees his wife for the first time!

They will then sit on the prepared wedding altar or in the confinements of the wedding bedroom. To denote a sweet and long beginning for the new couple, they will both savor Kueh Ee, glutinous rice balls soaked in sweet syrup, and a cup of tea.

She must remain lady like and shy...

Sohjah 3 Hari (Third Day Ceremony)

This ritual is all about paying respect to the elders. The ceremony requires both bride and groom to kneel and pay respect to all elders in accordance to their ranking in the family hierarchy.

Respecting all elders and guest by serving sweet tea while in return, the bride and groom is blessed with a monetary red packet.

After the 12 days of the wedding ceremony, the Bride & Groom is now officially married!

Nasi Kemuli Tok Panjang Luncheon

Guests that day were treated to a special Nasi Kemuli Tok Panjang luncheon as what a Peranakan wedding would showcase. The lunch is served on long tables and everyone would gather to savor a feast that usually takes days to prepare in a typical Nyonya household. In olden days, all relatives would chip in to help as there is so much preparation to be done for this feast alone.

Chef Debbie Teoh has been busy preparing a sumptuous list of the menu for the feast. Everything is prepared from scratch and no expense is spare in using the best quality ingredients to produce authentic flavors. A lot of effort goes into this luncheon and I can definitely feel it through the taste of the feast!

Menu of the day:

Nasi Kemuli

Deemed the Malacca Nyonya spiced wedding rice, Nasi Kemuli is gorgeously fragrant and spiced up. The fluffy rice is cooked with a spiced stock and crowned with lots of fried shallots. It is so flavorful, one can even enjoy this on its own.

Kuah Hee Peoh

Hee Peoh or Fish Maw is a much sorted ingredient in many household. Chef Debbie uses high quality fish maw in this special soup. I spied prawns balls, carrot, jicama, cabbage being placed in the bowl before hot stock with fish maw is ladled into the bowls. Served piping hot with a dash of fried garlic oil, this is soothing, sweet and delicious!

Paceri Terung

A robust vegetable dish, eggplant is cooked in a thick spicy robust curry till soft. The eggplant acts as a sponge, soaking up the flavorful curry. Savoring this with the rice is satisfying as it has an abundance of flavors.

Lobak Puteh Masak Lemak

Radish cooked in coconut milk, this one is creamy and renders a distinctive white radish aroma.

Kari Ayam

Nyonya are famous for their curries. Chef Debbie’s version is perfectly flavored to my taste. I adored the creamy and well balanced of spices in the rich luscious curry filled with soft braised chicken and potatoes. It has a good note of heat while one gets a lovely savory spicy note overall. I was very pleased with this curry and heap on lots of curry gravy to my rice.

Sambal Timun

Crunchy sliced cucumber is laced with a spicy pungent sambal sauce. This one has a lot of kick in flavors and provides a nice crunch factor to the meal.

Ayam Goreng

Using spices again, chicken pieces are marinated and fried to golden brown. It’s a dish that really hard to say no too…

Udang Goreng Asam

Big prawns are seasoned with tamarind and fried till cooked. A bite of this lends tangy savory sweet flavors to the senses. One gets to suck all the sweet juices of the prawns with shells and it was clearly a favorite among the guests that day.

Telor Rebus

Telor Rebus is simply hard boiled eggs to accompany the Sambal and rice.

Sambal Belachan

The southern sambal belachan has a lighter hue compared to the northern one simply because the south belachan or shrimp paste is lighted in color due to a different processing method. Bright red, the pungent sambal has an instant kick to the taste bud with its fiery chilies, toasted shrimp paste and lime juice. A little goes a long way and it is simply a must-have in every Nyonya household… including mine!

Nyonya Kueh

Nyonyas are also well-known for their kuehs and cookies. There was a lovely array of Nyonya Kueh like Onde-Onde, Pulut Tekan with homemade Kaya, Apom Bakwa, Kueh Lapis and Tat Nenas.

Ang Choe Teh

The feast was washed down with warm sweet red date tea.

After the feast, the bride and groom walked around to present the tea drinking ceremony to guests and guests would present the newlyweds with a prosperous red packet. Guests were also entertained with singing of local folks, Dondang Sayang and some fun joget dancing.

It is with much salute to both Cedric and Debbie for their effort in sharing the knowledge and experience of a Peranakan wedding and feast. Though the event had ended few weeks ago, I am pretty sure I will always remember this awesome experience for the rest of my life!

For anyone who is interested, there is a Peranakan Convention in Kuala Lumpur

from Nov 29 to Dec 1. Do contact Cedric or Debbie for more information.

*More photos of the event at my Facebook: Chasing Food Dreams

**All information on the Peranakan Wedding is obtained from the event and some research from various websites.

A Southern Peranakan Wedding Affair… Timeless Heritage and Cuisine! (Part 1)

Passing on a Timeless Heritage and its Cuisine with Peranakan Culture Consultant Cedric Tan and Peranakan Chef Debbie Teoh !

As time goes by and the world continues to modernize, we are definitely pleased with the continuous evolving of our futures. With every moment in life as it changes, there seems to be a part that we all tend to take for granted and that is our heritage. Our legacy, our pride, our hope… these are priceless virtue that can never be forgotten as it will lead us to be who we are one day. Yes, traditions are hard to keep and yes, there are just so many dos and don’ts in many cultures but that is what it is all about, isn’t it? That is what makes our heritage unique and shape us to who were are today.

No, this is not a lecture to all but it leads me to share with everyone a timeless experience I had recently. Truth be told, I was ignorant of my own heritage till I reach my early twenties. Then I became really curious and found out that my dad is a baba while mom is not. I proceeded to literally interrogate my mom about our heritage and soon, I was hooked. Proud to be part of the Nyonya and Baba heritage from the northern part of the country, I make sure to learn up all the aspects of the cuisine and also some of its dos and don’ts. After all, it is where I came from and my parents came from and also, it builds me to who I am today.

When a recent invitation came to experience a true blue traditional Peranakan mock wedding and Nasi Kemuli Tok Panjang Luncheon, I jump on this happily. These days, it’s almost non-existence to attend a traditional Peranakan wedding. I was super thrilled. I knew this was going to be once-in-a-lifetime experience. In conjunction with a year affair if Majlis Kahwin 2013, this year, a Southern Peranakan Wedding affair was hosted by six-generation Peranakan, Cedric Tan who hails from Malacca and a Nyonya Chef Debbie Teoh, whose repertoire of Northern and Southern Peranakan cuisine is vast and much admired by many.

Both Cedric and Debbie believe that it is essential to share the knowledge and heritage of an almost dying tradition, to ensure that many more years will be passed on to the new generations. With this said, I would like to share the experience through my lens and through my words of what a Southern Peranakan Wedding and its cuisine is. The event was held in Kuala Lumpur Craft Complex late June this year.

The Ceremony

Tradition dictates that a Peranakan wedding be held for 12 days. There is quite a list of rituals that is essential to the ceremony and we were treated to a condensed version with a few crucial rituals. A Peranakan wedding is always elaborate and grand, it is also very colorful and is filled with many details. Someone even quoted that one often tells how rich a family is by their Peranakan wedding ceremony. The wedding ceremony is expensive and there is no limit to what one can show off in the ceremony as you can certainly buy the very best and go for more elaborate wedding costumes, jewelry, physical things and so forth.

A summary of the Peranakan Wedding Ceremony:

·         Sang Jit and Lap Chai (Exchange of Gifts Day)

·         Cheo Thau (Hair Combing Ceremony)

·         Pai Chew (Wine Libation Ceremony)

·         Arrival of the Groom and Chim Pang (Unveiling Ceremony)

·         Sohjah 3 Hari (Third Day Ceremony)

·         Interactive programme featuring Hari Kupas Bawang, Hari Tumbok   Tepong, Hari Ann Chng

·         Nasi Kemuli Tok Panjang Luncheon

Sang Jit and Lap Chai

The ritual began with presentation of both birth certifications Sang Jit. Then it was Lap Chai, the ceremony of exchange of gifts between the families of the bride and groom takes place a few days before the actual wedding ceremony. The groom would arrive at the bride’s family to present to them a list of specific items to be considered as gifts. To some, this day also often said to be the engagement day for the couple.

List of gifts for the bride:

·         2 bottles of liquor

·         1 set of jewelry

·         1 set of clothes

·         1 belt

·         1 pair of shoes

·         1 pair each of dragon  & phoenix candles

·         Peng Kim or dowry (agreed monetary gesture for the bride’s family)

·         Wang Tetek (literally translated as breast money… money gesture for the bride’s mother  for her breast milk)

·         Wedding biscuits/cakes

·         Fruits

·         Raw pork trotter (exchange of this as a symbol of a virginal bride… which is almost non-existence as this would be difficult in today’s generation…wink!!)

List of gifts for the groom:

·         1 pair of red candles

·         2 bottles of concentrated juice

·         1 set of clothes

·         1 belt

·         Pairs of can food stuff

The bride’s family would also return of the items or replace them with similar items to the groom. Even a portion of the dowry may be return depending on the families. It’s a long ceremony and starts from morning till evening.

After the Lap Chai ceremony, there is the Ann Chng ceremony where both families would gather at the bride & groom’s new house. It is the day to setup the bridal bedroom chamber and a whole long list of items and procedures follow.

Interactive programme featuring Hari Kupas Bawang, Hari Tumbok Tepong, Hari Ann Chng

Cedric was present the whole time with a special emcee to present the whole ceremony and its rituals. In between the various ceremonies, we had a special break to participate in an interactive programme featuring Hari Kupas Bawang, Hari Tumbok Tepong and Hari Ann Chng. These rituals are performed after the Lap Chai ceremony where everyone from the village would gather to help out with the wedding rituals and feast.

We saw how fine the knife skills of a Nyonya is and how everything is clearly done by hand from peeling shallots to all the fine slicing. There is even a part of a Nyonya selecting every grain of rice for perfection!

Cedric also demonstrated the art of Chinese Paper Cutting where red paper is cleverly cut to shape intricate beautiful designs to decorate the bowls for prayers and as decoration for the ceremony.

Cheo Thau

Cheo Thau is known as the hair combing ceremony. This is a crucial ceremony where the bride goes through a ritual to symbolize her transitioning from childhood to adulthood. The ceremony is fairly long and the bride goes through a beautiful long process from the very beginning to the changing of the wedding costume and all other rituals. She is assisted by her parents and a Sang Kek Em (a female wedding consultant or mistress of ceremony who is very familiar with all the rituals).

Before bride ritual starts, the family of the bride starts with prayer rituals by lighting up the candles placed on a special altar known as Sam Kai. This is called Pasang Lilin. The Sam Kai is dressed with an embroidered cloth and has quite a few items placed on it. Bowls of fresh fruits, sugarcane, dried fruits, red dates, rock sugar and more all nicely dressed with intricately cut red paper.

The centerpiece of the table is a special wooden box called Chanab that has skewers of flowers and fruits as offering for the ritual. Tea is poured and everyone proceeds to light up joss sticks and send prayers to the God of Heaven and their ancestors. Once the prayers are done, the bride will kneel and Sohjah to her parents as respect.

The bride prepares for the Cheo Thau ceremony by wearing white and some simple jewelry. She is then asked to sit on a Gantang (a rice funnel) covered with cloth and placed on a Nyiru (large rattan tray).

Here is where her transformation starts! She must sit in an orderly manner with her hands placed daintily. Her hair is also donned up in a simple high bun and dressed with flowers.

A Koo Yah (young boy) starts the ceremony by running through some rituals with some items. After paying respect to the bride, he will hand her a Tong Shu (Chinese Almanac) filled with a pair of scissors, comb, ruler, razor, scale and red thread. A mirror and a basin of water with sprigs of ixora tied to long spring onions for blessing are also present.

The Koo Yah walks around the brides few times to bless her with the items before placing a red thread on her head. By now, her hair has been cleared of pins and flowers to make way for her wedding headgear.

The headgear is a sight to behold. Constructed of gold and silver intricate flowers, the crown is tightly secured to her hair while a belted head gear designed to match the crown and set with The Eight Immortal Chinese deities is placed around her forehead before a pair of fine flower pins are neatly placed and secured on her head.

The Koo Yah finishes off the ceremony and the bride now gets to change into her wedding attire.

First, a net like clothing is put on her and her necklace is removed to make way for another masterpiece. Her wedding dress, known as a Kuah, is a two piece costume, one with a long dress coat with long sleeves and a long A-line skirt. Both the wedding pieces are extremely intricate with loads of fine embroidery usually hand stitched with gold or silver thread. The colors are usually red and contrasted with other colors to give a vibrant color theme. A shelled overlay is then placed on the dress coat to add on further effect to the grandeur of the wedding pieces.

The final touch would have to be the magnificent chandelier necklace set in gold! I can certainly imagine how expensive and elaborate this will be and one can certainly go all out with this jewelry…

Once the dressing is completed, the parents of the bride will place the veil over the bride. This is my first time seeing a black veil on a bride. I can’t seem to find out why the veil is black for this matter.

After this ceremony, all she has to do is to wait for the groom. I did notice the way the bride walks. She walks really slowly and sways side to side in a lady like manner. It’s pretty adorable and very feminine.

I am not too sure but I saw some sites that also states that the groom also goes through this hair combing ceremony. Anyone care to confirm this?

The next ceremony is the Arrival of the Groom. Stay Tune for Part 2…

For anyone who is interested, there is a Peranakan Convention in Kuala Lumpur

from Nov 29 to Dec 1. Do contact Cedric or Debbie for more information.

*More photos of the event at my Facebook: Chasing Food Dreams

**All information on the Peranakan Wedding is obtained from the event and some research from various websites.