Dr. Ong Jin Teong

is the author of three award-winning books —Nonya Heritage Kitchen: Origins, Utensils, Recipes and Penang Heritage Food: Yesterday’s Recipes for Today’s Cook and The Tastes of Home – Easy to cook Dishes from Singapore and Malaysia.

14 posts

The Mighty Chang Variations of The Chinese Wrapped Glutinous Rice Dumpling

7 min read

From Chinese zongzi to Nyonya chang and Malay ketupat palas, leaf-wrapped rice dumplings reflect centuries of migration, adaptation and culinary creativity. This exploration traces their global roots, regional variations and the innovations keeping these festive traditions alive today.

by Dr. Ong Jin Teong

The Murtabak: Techniques, Traditions and Regional Variations

8 min read

Penang murtabak is very elaborately prepared when compared to that from other parts of Southeast Asia. My findings are based on its traditional preparation at Hameediyah and the now-defunct Merah restaurants.

by Dr. Ong Jin Teong

Realising the Morbid Overtones of Blue and Green in Chinese and Nyonya Culture

5 min read

When mourning, wearing gold or diamonds is considered inauspicious. Instead, the Nyonyas wear pearls to symbolise tears, and jewellery made of silver and jade to represent solemnity and respect.

by Dr. Ong Jin Teong

The T’ng Tok Panjang in Ancestral Worship

9 min read

The traditional t’ng tok panjang is rather narrow, with chairs arranged on both sides of the table. The two ends of the table are traditionally left unoccupied.

by Dr. Ong Jin Teong

There are Rolls and There are Rolls, in Nyonya Cooking

5 min read

The question is, how do I describe all the fine details on how to make choon piah to beginners? It all started more than a decade ago when I offered to cook for some of my old St. Xavier’s Institution classmates in KL.

by Dr. Ong Jin Teong

Recovering the Forgotten Art of Making Lem Peng

6 min read

Lem peng is traditionally baked in a large bok kang (clay pot) over a charcoal fire for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown. The clay pot is filled with sand and covered with paper, and the lem peng is placed over the paper.

by Dr. Ong Jin Teong

Getting The Next Generation Excited About Cooking

6 min read

What happens when a mother who cannot cook becomes a grandmother? What culinary heritage is there to pass down to the next generation?

by Dr. Ong Jin Teong

Penang Nyonya Recipes: Preserving Our Important Heritage

4 min read

A collection of old recipes accumulated over time will provide a record of changing tastes with regard to Penang Nyonya cuisine, and we would be able to recreate the “old and traditional taste” (what Hokkiens call kochabi) from recipes retrieved from the repository.

by Dr. Ong Jin Teong

Kuih Kapit – Love Letters to be Consumed Crisp and Fresh

5 min read

The melt-in-your-mouth kuih kapit is a huge favourite, and not just during the Chinese New Year celebrations. Legend has it that kuih kapit was once used by lovers to communicate covertly, hence its more poetic name, love letters.

by Dr. Ong Jin Teong

Some Finer Points about Nonya Delicacies

9 min read

My research led me to look into the ingredients used for lor bak, heh and chim choe, and bak and tu kua kian. These are traditional dishes that I grew up with in Penang.

by Dr. Ong Jin Teong

The Hainanese Influence in Penang’s Cuisine

9 min read

The Hainanese were among the last Chinese language groups to arrive in Malaya, when the other language groups had monopolised most of the trades. They ended up working for the British in their households and kitchens, eventually playing a major role in the local food and beverage industry.

by Dr. Ong Jin Teong

Such Succinct Differences between Kiam Chai Boey, Khong Assam and Kwa Chai Thng

7 min read

Trawling the internet and leafing through classic Malaysian and Singaporean cookbooks into the origins of kiam chai boey and khong assam led to an interesting connection to the soup dish, kwa chai thng.

by Dr. Ong Jin Teong