00:00Peeling this gelatinous kueh lapis, layer by layer, is the correct way to eat it.
00:07If you chew it without peeling, it means that you are actually shortening your lifespan.
00:12For almost 80 years, Edmond Wong's family has been making these bite-sized treats in Singapore.
00:19Crafting them is part of a culture that goes back about 500 years.
00:24Nonya kueh is historically significant to the Peranakan people.
00:29A cultural group prominent between the 15th and early 20th centuries that's working to be remembered today.
00:36Their varied and colorful snacks are a staple of Southeast Asian cuisine.
00:42But as the popularity of nonya kueh increases, some shopkeepers like Edmond fear its Peranakan roots will be forgotten.
00:51For our business, we see us being not just only a food business, but a heritage business.
00:57People may enjoy to eat them, but they may not know the meaning behind it, and they may lose touch with the heritage.
01:03We went to Singapore to see how Peranakan culture and the art of making nonya kueh is still standing.
01:13Kueh is a broad term for bite-sized snacks or desserts commonly found in Southeast Asia, including cakes, dumplings, and pastries.
01:22Kueh are prepared differently by multiple cultures in the region.
01:26The ones made by Singapore's Peranakan community are called nonya kueh.
01:33The neighborhood of Joo Chiat has long been a center of Peranakan culture.
01:38It's where the shop Kim Joo Kueh Cheong has been located since 1945.
01:43This business started off from my grandma.
01:45She started selling rice dumplings under a banyan tree, and that's how we started.
01:51Edmond still uses her recipes to make all the shop's kueh.
01:56Today, the team is making a batch of one of their most popular items, kueh lapis.
02:02It's a nine-layer steamed cake made with a base of tapioca flour, coconut milk, and sugar.
02:09In Chinese, we also call it jiu cheng gao, which means nine-layer kuehs.
02:14When our forefathers came here, they couldn't use ingredients from China,
02:19so they used local ingredients like coconut, coconut shred, palm sugar,
02:25and then we create something that looks Chinese, but it's not Chinese.
02:30Workers mix the ingredients into a paste and strain it.
02:39Kueh lapis is known for its colorful layers.
02:43In the past, makers would use plants for natural coloring,
02:46like butterfly pea flowers for blue shades or pandan leaves for green.
02:52But today, Edmond uses store-bought dyes to get each layer to the perfect shade of red or green.
03:06Each layer must be steamed one by one.
03:10Then, workers repeat the process of pouring and steaming eight times.
03:19With this step, timing is everything.
03:22Pour in a layer too early, and the colors could mix together, ruining the entire batch.
03:29So workers carefully steam each layer for exactly five minutes at 100 degrees Celsius.
03:35Because it's made without preservatives, the shop only makes about 320 kueh lapis a day.
03:41We try not to sell too much because all these items cannot be kept long.
03:46It's best eaten on the day when it's being produced and best eaten fresh.
03:54There's also a specific way to eat kueh lapis.
03:58You peel it layer by layer.
04:00I've been eating kueh since four years ago.
04:03At first, I would just take it manually and just put it in my mouth.
04:08But after the staff here told me that I'm so good at it,
04:13I started to love it.
04:15I've always loved kueh.
04:17And I'm so happy that I can have this opportunity to try kueh lapis.
04:22There are so many different ways to eat kueh lapis.
04:25put it in my mouth, but after the staff here told me that I'm supposed to peel one by one
04:32and taste the flavour, that's when I realised that I have been eating kueh lapis wrongly
04:38ever since four years ago.
04:42My grandma, before she passed on, she would say that, live your life like the kueh lapis.
04:46You know, even if you're met with difficult times, continue to peel through that layer,
04:51you'll eventually see a bright colour.
04:54Traders believe kueh originated in southern Fujian, China, and were first introduced to
05:00Southeast Asia by Chinese traders who migrated to Malaysia during the 15th century.
05:06These traders married local Malay women, and their descendants, known as Straits Chinese
05:11or Peranakan, preserved their traditions, including making nonya kueh for celebrations
05:16like Chinese New Year.
05:18When the British established a port in Singapore in 1819, many Peranakans migrated there for
05:24trade opportunities.
05:26Their fluency in Chinese, Malay, and English helped them become middlemen between British
05:31and locals during the colonial era.
05:34By the early 20th century, they were among Southeast Asia's most influential people,
05:40contributing their own distinct art, fashion, architecture, and food throughout the region.
05:49But Japan's occupation of Singapore during World War II devastated the community.
05:56Many Peranakans, including Edmund's grandmother, lost their fortunes and had to sell their
06:01belongings to survive.
06:03During the time of war, she had to try and make a living for herself, and the only skills
06:07set she had back then were the culinary skills passed down to her from her maternal grandmother.
06:13It's not meant to be a business, it's really for survival.
06:18The decades following World War II also marked a shift to modernization in Singapore.
06:23Many Peranakans left their traditions behind.
06:27By the 1970s, the community was on the verge of extinction.
06:33For Edmund's grandmother and other Peranakans, selling their nonya kueh was a way to make
06:37a living while keeping their culture alive.
06:40And Edmund is working to do the same in her honor.
06:44My grandma is not educated, but she teach us through the things that she knew, like
06:49kueh-kuehs and the cookies and rice dumplings.
06:54These rice dumplings, or kueh cheong, have been prepared the same way since the shop
06:58opened.
06:59Workers start by filling pandan leaves with rice and meat and wrapping them into a pyramid
07:04shape.
07:07Then the dumplings are tied with a small rope and boiled for one and a half hours.
07:12These days, kueh cheong is the shop's best seller.
07:16During non-festive season, we produce about 1,000 plus a day.
07:20During the festive season, you see us producing more than 1,000, maybe 10, 20, 30 thousand
07:26pieces a day.
07:30Over several decades, nonya kueh has gone from a Peranakan delicacy to a staple for
07:36all Southeast Asians throughout Singapore.
07:39We are a brand that's been around since 1945.
07:42So basically, you will see us as a brand that grew with Singapore.
07:47We are really fortunate that throughout the generations, we have a lot of Singaporeans
07:51and foreigners supporting us.
07:55But because kueh has become more popular, some see it as a Singaporean delicacy instead
08:00of a Peranakan one.
08:02And Edmund worries its Peranakan roots could be forgotten over time.
08:06Some of these Peranakan stories, it tells us how to live our lives.
08:10One of these days, if the stories are not being shared, then my fear is, yes, people
08:15may enjoy to eat them, but they may not know the meaning behind it, and they may lose touch
08:19with the heritage.
08:22That's why he believes it's so important to share Peranakan history with others while
08:26he can.
08:28Kim Chew Kueh Cheong partnered with the Singaporean government to convert a portion of its restaurant
08:32into a boutique shop and museum.
08:37Visitors can attend guided tours to learn about the different aspects of Peranakan heritage.
08:42The collection includes family heirlooms, art, and traditional clothing.
08:47A lot of these items were either from my grandmother, or of which late, you know, a lot of families
08:53who do not wish to keep them anymore, we actually do purchase directly from them if they no
08:57longer want to keep them.
08:59We share stories here.
09:00We teach people how to consume the food.
09:03We teach them about the history, about why we eat certain things a certain way, and it's
09:07really important.
09:08More than the food, you know, we want to be custodians.
09:11We want to promote the Peranakan heritage.
09:14Edmund isn't the only one working to preserve this unique culture.
09:18Since the 1980s, preservationists and the Singaporean government have worked to promote
09:23Peranakan culture.
09:25Today, Singapore is home to multiple government-backed Peranakan museums and exhibits like the one
09:30at Kim Chu Kwe Chong, as well as programs meant to preserve Peranakan architecture.
09:37The Peranakan community, or the culture, is not about the marriage of races.
09:42It is largely about the marriage of cultures.
09:45And if we can embrace this concept and help more of us understand it, basically all of
09:49us in Singapore, even in Southeast Asia, can embrace and share this culture also.
09:54Ever since I found out much about my heritage, it gives me identity.
09:59I know my heritage.
10:00I know my culture.
10:02I will always remember that this is my home, and I always have to come back here.
10:07His hope is that the next generation will get to understand the history behind the kwe
10:11they know and love.
10:14Passing down his grandmother's legacy is the best way to do that.
10:18In the same way stories being passed down to her, she also passed down to us, to this
10:22generation, and we hope that we can continue to share this story with many more generations
10:27to come.
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