A Report By Jennifer Ng on Nyonya Cooking Heritage - Talk by Dato' Lim Bian Yam, Living Heritage Treasure of Penang 6 September 2007
It was an educational morning for many as Dato’ Lim Bian Yam shared his momorie growing up in a baba and nyonya family in Penang. Dato’ Lim was born in Penang in 1933. His talent in cookery and floral art has earned him international fame in both fields.
In March 2005, Dato’ Lim was awarded the Living Heritage Treasure of Penang award and recently he was conferred a datukship by the Penang state.
Dato’ Lim’s great great grandfather, Lim Mah Chye, a tycoon of the early 20th century commissioned architect James Stark of the firm Stark & McNeill to designed Homestead in Penang. It is said that Lim Mah Chye deliberately built his mansion to block the view enjoyed by his rival, Quah Beng Kee, who owned a mansion called Columbia Lodge right across the road (and is today the Maple Gold restaurant).
In the 1920's, Quan Beng Kee suffered financial ruins when his ship crashed into the port in Deli, Medan, and he had to pay for the damages. His shipping company was taken over by Lim Chin Guan, the son of Lim Mah Chye. But before long, Lim Chin Guan's fortune also took a nose-dive, hit by the great depression, which destroyed many millionaires but created new ones. Lim Chin Guan had to sell Homestead* to Yeap Chor Ee, the founder of Ban Hin Lee Bank. Today the Homestead has been turned into the campus of the Wawasan Open University.
Dato’ Lim is very passionate about cooking and perfection is his ultimate goal. When his was younger his spent many hours in the kitchen observing his grandmother and aunts and learning the secrets of nyonya cooking. His grandmother would say to him “boleh masuk medan” when testing his dishes. Nowadays he would remind his students to cook with love and eat with gratitude. The nyonya are very proud of their food and it is really a fusion between Chinese and Malay food. Some of the popular dishes include kiam chai ark, chap chai tng, loh bak, jiu hu char, tou eu kay and acar awak.
One of the antique pieces that Dato’ Lim brought to show us was a vessel with movable legs called ‘Bee Chian’ in Hokkien (refer to the photograph). This piece is used as part of the thanksgiving offering to Tee Kong (God of Heaven) on the eighth night of the Chinese New Year.
The other interesting piece was kamcheng, a roundish pot with cover. This pot is usually used to serve soups such as bird’s nest. In the olden days it was considered a priviledge for the groom to be married into the bride’s family. For the next one month the groom can only return to the in-law’s house at 9pm and be the first to leave the house in the morning. He will be served with tonic/soup in kamcheng as a night cap.
At the end of this talk, Dato’ said the secret for good health is to start the day with two half boiled eggs and to eat with gratitude.
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