Tropical Spice Garden Cooking School which is located in Teluk Bahang, Penang offers cooking classes for Nyonya cuisine as well as Chinese, Malay and Indian. The school is set in a building surrounded by a garden environment of the Tropical Spice Garden.

I recently joined the Nyonya cuisine cooking session, conducted by Pearly Kee who is is well versed in Nyonya cooking. Among the group of us are those learning to cook from scratch and those who want to polish their cooking skills.

Pearly Kee guided the group of us through two favorite Nyonya dishes – otak-otak (grilled fish paste) and stir-fried Jiew Hu Char (similar to popiah filling but with cuttlefish strips). Recipes and tips are provided. The Jiew Hu Char has a number of ingredients put together. We learned about the ingredients and their unique flavor and texture. This stir-fried dish is so fresh and light and paired nicely with lettuce and sambal belachan (malay-style chilli paste which includes toasted shrimp paste). This will make a great dish for the coming Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner with a Penang accent

Jiew Hu Char

Ingredients A

30g chopped garlic 30g chopped shallot 3 dried Shiitake mushroom, soaked, cut to strips 30g shredded dried cuttlefish (jiew hu), washed and squeezed dry before use 600g cooked chicken meat, cut to strips 4 tsp cooking oil 2 tsp soy sauce

Ingredients B

900g Bangkwang (turnips) or Jicama 90g carrots – cut to fine strips 300g cabbage – cut to fine strips 3 big onions – cut to slices 12 tsp salt 3 tsp cooking oil 70ml of stock.

Method :

Heat 4 tsp oil to sauté garlic and shallot till fragrant. Add cuttlefish and sauté for about two minutes, till pungent in flavour before adding the mushroom and chicken. Add 2 tsp soy sauce and fry till heated through. Dish out. Heat another 2 to 3 tsp oil to fry Ingredients B except onion, adding it in only when all the vegetables are well mixed together. Add enough stock to barely cover vegetable. Simmer till tender. Serve wrapped with lettuce and a small dollop of sambal belachan.

We went on to enjoy making the otak-otak which has many spices all blended together into a paste with a sharp distinctive aroma. Each of us makes up the otak-otak by spreading spoonfuls amount of the mixture and prawn on the banana leaf laid with pieces of daun kado which is another great flavor. The ends are tucked in and the package is wrap up in banana leaf, seal and steam.

Prawn Otak-otak

600 g prawns 2 limau purut (Kaffir Leaf) cut to fine strips 20 daun kadok (Betel Leaf) washed and dry 1 egg 500 gm pati santan (thick coconut milk) 1 whole banana leaf

Grind these spices 8 dried chillies 1 tsp lemongrass or serai 20gm shallots 2 cloves garlic 10g lengkuas (galangal) ½ inch of fresh turmeric Half a tsp of belachan 1 tsp glutinous rice flour 1/4 tsp white peppercorn

Seasonings: 1 tsp salt 1/3 tsp sugar

Method: Beat egg, add pati santan followed by grounded spices. Blend in prawns, add seasonings and keep beating the mixture till it becomes thick. Add limau purut strips. Scoop the mixture on the daun kadok which is laid on the piece of banana leaf. Wrap the banana leaf into a packet and steam in hot water for 20 minutes

Besides learning new recipes, we also dined on the two dishes that we prepared at the airy pavilion which is just steps away from the cooking school.

If you are in Penang, it is worth scheduling some time to learn the flavors of Nyonya cuisine at the Tropical Spice Garden Cooking School. The cooking school is open daily except Mondays. Bookings must be made 24 hours in advance of class. All resident chef morning classes [Malaysian cuisine] will include a guided tour of the spice terraces, a welcome coffee/ tea, hands-on cooking class and lunch with a specially brewed drink of the day.

Tropical Spice Garden Cooking School
Lone Grag Villa Lot 595 Mkm 2 Teluk Bahang 11100 Penang
Tel: 04 8811797