Makan Story
The true flavour of malay cuisine
Malay cuisine is often synonymous with exotic spices, rich flavours from all over the Malay Archipelago. As we delve deeper into the origins of the cuisine, its correlation to Malay cultural values starts to become obvious. Malay culture has shaped and influenced Malay cuisine to have a strong emphasis on familial bonding, kinship and community.
2 CHEFS,
1 CUISINE
Jumrin Bin Isrin
Located in North Bridge Road, Warong Nasi Pariaman is the oldest Nasi Padang store in Singapore! Learn how Mr Jumrin Bin Isrin keeps the store authentic throughout the years and what Malay cuisine truly means to him.
siti aminah
Malay Cuisine is all about coming together as a community. Mdm Siti Aminah loves to cook for her friends and family! Her Malay food is the element that brings her family together on a regular basis to bond.
a cultivated craft
As we spoke to Siti Aminah, a housewife who is passionate about Malay cuisine, we learnt that her love for preparing and eating Malay food began when she was in her 20s. She learned most of the dishes from her mother and continued to learn cooking Malay food even after getting married and moving out.
​
Siti Aminah and Sharafah
Similarly, Sharafah, daughter of Siti Aminah, started cooking because of her mother. It all began with curious glances at her mother cooking dinner. Eventually, Mdm Siti Aminah saw her interest in the cuisine and began teaching her daughter to help out in the kitchen.
​
“When I was much younger, most of the time, as a kid, I like to disturb. So, what mum would do is set aside the dough for the kuih. Whatever that was set aside, I would play with it however I wanted. Then we would make the kuih...there was once I disturbed till the kuih was scorched, and we couldn’t eat it. Mum got angry, we had to throw it away.”
Siti Aminah's Kuihs
As Sharafah recounted her story, the mother and daughter laughed fondly at their shared memory. It is evident that preparing Malay food has provided Malay families with an avenue for bonding.
​
the significance of family bonding
1. Communal Dishes
Many Malay dishes, such as Nasi Ambeng are meant for sharing. According to Malaysia’s newspaper, The Star, Nasi Ambeng is a fragrant rice dish paired with many things: steamed white rice, chicken curry or soy sauce chicken, beef or chicken rendang, sambal goreng urap, bergedel, and serunding. It may consist of more side dishes. This particular dish was meant and is made for sharing between people, a feature that further suggests how community is important in Malay culture and food.
2. sacred skill
“For my family, now my children are all grown-up. I teach my children, like my second child - my daughter, now I’m teaching her how to bake kuih...she likes to cook, like me. We’re the same. And by teaching, we will get even more intimate and bring the family even closer...from my experience, whatever it is we are cooking, we cannot give up. Like myself, I didn’t know how to cook. I still learnt how to cook no matter how hard it is...we must try again and again...That is what I teach all my children.”
​
While Siti Aminah uses cooking as a way to bond with her family by teaching her children different recipes, there are also life lessons she wishes to impart to her children through food, such as resilience and a never-give-up attitude. For her, cooking is how the family gets to bond and connect.
​
Jumrin, finds the culture of cooking Malay cuisine together to be essential for improving relationships. Back in the past, Mr Ishrin’s late mother used to conduct cooking classes and accept “students” under her, all in the name of sharing their culture and cuisine. He also believes the skill is sacred. “If we give people our skill it’s like they prayed for us.”
​
​
Jumrin hard at work in the kitchen
Jumrin serving food to his customers
This shows how much Malay families value cooking and food. It is a way for them to bond and bring people together, especially since food preparation in Malay culture can often be a lively communal affair. It is also a way for them to pass down other important life lessons and values.
3. hari raya
Large celebrations, especially Hari Raya, is the time where many Malay families practice communal cooking and dining.
​
“Malay cuisine is certainly special for me. Especially so when nearing Hari Raya, I cook something different than normal dishes like Rendang, Ketupat and Lontong. Lots of families will be coming over for gathering, together. And in this household, it is a custom to do that. I love to cook and I love to feed people. And that is why I feel for me, the Malay cuisine is very special for us, the Malays.”
​
As Mdm Siti Aminah reveals how she celebrates holidays by having family over and cooking unique dishes, it is evident that the Malays greatly value family connection. Her understanding of Malay culture is a reminder that kinship is an integral and valued part of Malay culture that marries into their food culture.
Siti Aminah serving her family her food
Lastly, according to Expat Living Singapore, Ramadan also sees many Malays in added unity. Ramadan requires Muslims to abstain from immoral behaviour, food, and water, from dawn till dusk. It is a challenging task, but the Malay Muslims of Singapore do it jointly and break-fast together at the same time. Their second meal of the day is usually shared between friends and extended family and traditionally hosted either at mosques or at their homes.
​
It is clear that Malays value their family. For the Malays, food is a very important part of building that family. From young, parents cook for their children so they can grow. As children grow older, they learn the skill from their parents so that they may one day do the same for their own children. Hence, the true flavour of Malay cuisine is the culture and people that have shaped the cuisine to be the way it is; centred and built around the vital Malay values of community, family and kinship.