Ninth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

Peranakan generally refers to people of mixed Chinese, Malay and Indonesian heritages, and most of them trace their origin to 15th century Malacca. Today, most of their cultural identities become blurred along with global migration and interracial marriages, yet leaving culinary taste distinguishable. A key condiment from Malacca, Belacan (a kind of fermented shrimp paste), is considered the key enhancer of the Peranakan taste, in which, I argue, the sensory taste of umami dominates over others. Despite the fact that Peranakan studies have attracted remarkable academic interests, foci on its unique taste are few. This study thus seeks to draw on scholarships of senses of taste by analyzing Peranakan cookbooks and interviewing Peranakan chefs to decipher the unique taste of Peranakan identities.