Once, a guest in their sixties told me,

"Thanks for bringing back the flavors of my mom's cooking. She's no longer with us, and no one at home knows how to cook like her." 

 

Those words motivate me every day when I step into the kitchen.

Traditional Nyonya recipes are all about intuition—relying on mom's taste buds to gauge the spice ratios, heat levels, and cooking times. I guess that's what they mean by "secret recipes"!

I'm Derson, and I love food, but even more, I love the stories behind it. Growing up, I helped my mom with Nyonya dishes, from shopping for fresh ingredients to grinding spices, sautéing sauces, and seasoning to perfection. We'd then enjoy our creations together.

Preparing Nyonya dishes requires strict techniques and tests a chef's instincts. Traditional recipes are all about feel—using mom's taste and intuition to decide on spice proportions, heat, and cooking times. Those days cooking with my mom helped me develop my own culinary instincts and rapport, which might just be the secret to those recipes!

I spent years studying and living in Taiwan, China, and Japan. When I returned to Malaysia, I combined modern cooking techniques with traditional Nyonya cuisine to recreate "mom's flavors."

Did you know that Nyonya culture originated during Zheng He's voyages? Nyonya cuisine was essentially Malaysia's first fusion food. My mission is to keep Nyonya cuisine alive and thriving.

Let us re-connect via food. 

I'm Derson, your peranakan chef. 

View our restaurant's Menu here