Malaysia
Singapore
Thailand
Being a Peranakan, I’ve been especially intrigued by the rare aspects that draw me back to my heritage and identity. One of these aspects is food, an area that involves years of family recipes passed down from generations to Peranakan chefs themselves whipping up a whole course of different Nyonya cuisines. Babas Peranakan — wildly famous for being one of our favourite places for a chap chye png fix has officially closed since 2 Dec 2022.
A Facebook post with a photo attached of Babas Peranakan closing their shutters stating “End game” in its caption was posted by a netizen on 2 Dec 2022. Zooming in, you can see a signage pasted on their storefront. It specifically states “退休”, which means retired in English.
Babas Peranakan was helmed by Mr Edwin Tan, a former hotel chef with more than 20 years of experience. He served up Peranakan-style mixed vegetables rice that differs from the typical spread that you would usually have. The Nyonya version is typically more flavourful because of the intense use of curries and spices, making all the dishes generally more fragrant.
I remember the times that I patronised this stall because of its delicious spread of Nyonya cuisines. Especially after my grandma’s passing, it wasn’t easy to find affordable options to replace and enjoy authentic Peranakan dishes.
To reminisce, one of my favourite dishes would be their curry chicken— a must order whenever I am at their store. Growing up, I used to eat home-cooked curry on a weekly basis and the spread at Babas Peranakan gave me a sense of familiarity. His version stood out especially so because of the hints of lemongrass and kaffir leaves utilised in his cooking.
Earlier in Nov, another Facebook post mentioned that they were closing nearing Christmas in Dec. This post was uploaded on 4 Nov 2022 and it stated that the “hawker uncle hadn’t decided on the exact date”.
Many netizens were already caught off guard by the sudden announcement, and even more so when Mr. Tan decided to bring forward his retirement. One of the commenters even mentioned that it’s time to “take good care of themselves at their age and enjoy things they want to do aside from long hours of preparation and cooking”.
With the recent closure of Popo and Nana’s Delights Eurasian and Peranakan Food, news of closing Peranakan hawker stalls have been rather common. It is saddening to hear more and more hawker stalls suspending their businesses because it’s rare to see Peranakan fare around.
On a lighter note, with the increasing number of closing hawker stalls, I hope that we can all patronise such stalls before it’s too late.
Other articles you might like:
Babas Peranakan, Chinatown: Ex-hotel chef turned hawker sells authentic Nyonya Chap Chye Png
