Done! New Course: Chinese Dining Etiquette & Healthy Asian Cuisine Cooking

Done! New Course: Chinese Dining Etiquette & Healthy Asian Cuisine Cooking

Start: 03-06-2026
Finish: 06-06-2026

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Title: Ballerup Museum
Credit:  @Melinda Erika Dothan



 

Learning about the beautiful traditions of Baba-Nyonya culture has truly inspired me. I can’t wait to bring these rich, aromatic flavors into my own kitchen and try a recipe or two!



Intro to the course from me:

When we think about cousin and diversity, you need to be open, and lower any preferences and judgments.
Why do I say it?
When I lived in Poland in 2012, and worked for Infosys in Lodz, we had a big diversity event, where everybody could talk about the country, they came from.

For me, it was super exciting, as I come from a very diverse family, where we have a lot of different cultural and nationality background. 
I was raised to be open.  Then, when I travelled in different countries, I had to realize, that not everybody is so mix or open. 
Some places they even require you to be very similar, not unique or divers... 
You can do it of course, but their is a point in life, when the body and the soul will say: STOP.
You have two choices there, deny it, than usually some very bad sickness follows it... or you accept, that life wants you to learn.. and then you learn.
When you learn more, than it is the next challenge, which part of your life or history is more valuable, why, than you have to arrive to the final conclusion, that this kind of hierarchies are not working for your benefit. So it is then next stage for a new let it go. Just accept it, without comparing and ranking your past or your diversity.

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Back to the course:

The course instructor explains her Malays and Chinese background, Nyonya-Baba.


Google AI:

The unique cultural group born from the historical mixing of Chinese immigrants and local Malays is known as the Peranakan or Baba-Nyonya community. The terminology you are referring to is Nyonya (the women) and Baba (the men). In some regional variations of the dialect, Nona is also used to address young, unmarried women. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Cultural Origin

  • The Union: Began in the 15th century when Chinese traders settled in Malacca and married local Malay women.
  • The Synthesis: They created a hybrid identity, blending Han Chinese customs with Malay lifestyles.
  • Core Regions: Most visible in historical Straits Settlements like Malacca, Penang, and Singapore. [2, 5, 6, 7]

Key Terminology

  • Baba: Refers strictly to Peranakan men.
  • Nyonya / Nonya: Refers to Peranakan women.
  • Nona: A Malay-Indonesian loanword often used to address young, unmarried ladies. [1, 2, 4, 8]

Distinct Cultural Traits

  • Language: They speak Baba Malay, a patois combining a Malay grammatical structure with Hokkien vocabulary.
  • Cuisine: Nyonya food blends Chinese ingredients (like pork) with rich Malay spices, lemongrass, and coconut milk.
  • Clothing: Women traditionally wear the Baju Kebaya, an intricately embroidered blouse paired with a batik sarong.
  • Beliefs: They largely retained Chinese religious practices, ancestor worship, and names while adopting Malay etiquette. [4, 5, 7, 9, 10]
If you are looking for specific details, please let me know if you want to explore traditional recipes, customary clothing designs, or historical family structures.


Baba-Nyonya (Peranakan) cuisine is an aromatic fusion of Chinese ingredients and cooking techniques with regional Malay spices, herbs, and ingredients like coconut milk, lemongrass, and tamarind. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Signature Dishes

Ayam Pongteh: A savory, comforting chicken and potato stew braised in a rich paste of fermented salted soybeans (tauchu) and palm sugar. [6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
Asam Pedas Fish: A sour and fiery fish stew cooked with tamarind paste, chili, lady's fingers, and fragrant torch ginger flower bud. [11]
Laksa Nyonya: A rich, coconut-milk-based noodle soup packed with seafood, bean curd puffs, and flavored with a heavy spice paste and laksa leaves. [12, 13, 14, 15]
Babi Pongteh: A iconic, slow-cooked pork belly variation of Pongteh that melts in your mouth and is deeply savory. [16, 17, 18, 19, 20]
Otak-Otak: A spiced fish cake mousse mixed with coconut milk and kaffir lime leaves, wrapped in banana leaves and grilled or steamed. [21, 22]

Essential Ingredients

  • Rempah: The foundational spice paste made by pounding fresh shallots, garlic, chilis, lemongrass, and galangal together.
  • Belacan: A pungent, toasted shrimp paste used to add deep umami complexity to various dishes and sambals.
  • Asam Jawa: Tamarind pulp used to impart the characteristic tangy, sour flavor profile found in many Peranakan stews.
  • Bunga Kantan: Torch ginger flower buds, sliced thinly to add a distinct, highly aromatic floral and citrusy note. [23, 24, 25, 26, 27]

Traditional Desserts (Kuih)

Kuih Seri Muka: A double-layered steamed cake featuring a salted glutinous rice bottom and a sweet, pandan-flavored green custard top.
Onde-Onde: Chewy infused pandan rice balls coated in freshly grated coconut, bursting with liquid palm sugar (gula melaka) when bitten into.
Kuih Pie Tee: Crispy pastry tart shells filled with a savory, sweet mixture of thinly shredded turnip, carrots, and shrimp. [28, 29, 30]
Are you looking to make these dishes yourself at home? Let me know if you want a step-by-step recipe, a list of essential cooking equipment, or recommendations for the best authentic restaurants to try.



Source:  https://www.pa-food.com/blog/guide-to-nyonya-cooking/



Source: https://radii.co/article/7-essential-nyonya-spots-in-malaysia


Title: Lazy Susan turning table
Source: https://www.thechinesequest.com/2014/07/chinese-meal/#google_vignette


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Some story from me:

It takes a long time to learn a new culture, and there is always something new to learn.

In some of myblogs, I wrote about my trips through Asia, and how I learn more about Asia in Europe as well.

In one of the posts this week, I listed a lot of cities from Asia, where I changed my flight, I missed to list: Hong Kong. 

In Hong Kong airport, that is huge! Once I got lost, and I had to run for 20 mins non stop to get from one side to another side to catch my gate or flight.

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Source: Picture is from the course


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This is a very good course, I learned a lot!
And I will try one or two recipes definitely!

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Understand Chinese dining customs & learn to cook healthy Asian cuisine.

Description

I am passionate about cooking and eating healthy plant-based food. I created this fun mini-course with 2 sections, A & B. In Section A, you’ll learn about Chinese dining etiquette. In section B, you’ll gain hands-on experience in making delicious healthy Asian food.


In Chinese custom, table manners play an important part in making a favourable impression. At the end of this course, you will gain crucial knowledge on Chinese dining etiquette which could help you to develop relationships and cement new business deals with your Chinese counterpart. Also, you will be able to make tasty Asian meals as good as takeaway food in your kitchen.


In section A, you will learn about the formal dinner seating arrangement, eating with a "Lazy Susan" (round turntable), followed by chopsticks etiquette, Chinese tea and alcohol drinking customs. In section B, the course will teach you how to make an easy one-pot soup and a refreshing salad that are high in fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Then you will learn how to make quick stir-fry vegetable dishes that are a great addition to weight-loss and heart-healthy diets. It doesn’t stop there, to satisfy your sweet tooth, you are going to make a remarkably tasty simple three ingredients dessert.

What you’ll learn

  • Learn some crucial tips & important rules in Chinese drinking etiquette which might help you to land a profitable business deal over a Chinese business dinner.
  • Understand the seating arrangement during a business or a formal banquet and the manner in eating with Lazy Suzi (Round Turn Table).
  • Learn about Chinese tea drinking etiquette and know the dos & don’ts when handling chopsticks.
  • Learn how to make some tasty stir-fry dishes that cook in 15 minutes so you can get through with your busy lifestyle and still be able to feed your family.
  • Learn to cook & eat some hearty, healthy and mouth-watering dishes like the Malaysian fruits & vegetables salad, stir-fry rice noodles, caramel walnuts.

Are there any course requirements or prerequisites?

  • While there are no specific requirements to take this course the ability to keep an open mind along with a healthy dose of curiosity to learn something new for example the Chinese dining culture and etiquette always helps.
  • Students do not need to have any prior experience in cooking.
  • Students can make use of their existing cooking equipment and utensil to learn and practice how to cook Asian food.

Who this course is for:

  • This course is suitable for anyone who simply loves to learn about Chinese Dining Etiquette.
  • This course is important for businessman or company who need to secure business deals over a Chinese business banquet.
  • This course is for anyone interested in improving their health, weight, or energy by eating whole-food, plant-based food. • This course will also benefit anyone who is looking for inspiration to start eating and cooking healthy food no matter they are pesco-vegetarian, semi-vegetarian, omnivores or carnivores.
  • This course is suitable for beginners who would like to learn to cook Asian food.
  • If you are having a busy family life, not having a lot of time to cook, this course is for you.

Instructor
Linda Clucas

Culinary Instructor, Founder of Healthy Asian Cuisine

Healthy Asian Cuisine is an online cooking school teaching and helping you to eat healthier and live a happier life. She is bringing all the plant-based healthy and authentic Asian flavours to you. It is a “modern” Asian cooking style to support a healthy lifestyle. Linda lightly tweaked the Asian cooking process by recreating a low-fat version of Asian cuisine.

She is putting the science back into cooking and eating. Linda earned a “Plant-based nutrition Certificate” from Cornell University and Forks Over Knives Ultimate Cooking Course.

She is also putting the truth back in Eating. The concept of dieting has become so confusing, they come and go. Living in a Whole Food, Plant-Based life is different. It is very simple, you just eat whole, unrefined, plant-based foods. Why do we eat whole and unprocessed food? The benefits of a healthy lifestyle are huge. When you adopt this lifestyle you can increase the odds that you will:

· Lower risk of prostate, breast & other cancers

· Lose weight & have more energy

· Prevent, and even reverse heart disease

· Prevent & treat diabetes

· Live longer and happier

· ...and much more

I'd love to hear your story about health, food and cooking.



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