Sylvia Tan’s The Modern Nonya Table is a compendium of her beloved Peranakan recipes for the modern kitchen. Herself a modern Nonya, Sylvia draws from family heritage recipes and updates them, dispensing with tedious techniques but never compromising on the flavours. She helps readers navigate their way through the Peranakan kitchen, explaining the food culture of the Peranakans (or Straits Chinese) and its influences. Spice pastes, so essential to Peranakan cooking, are broken down into their fundamental elements. With Sylvia’s guide, mouthwatering favourites like ayam buah keluak, babi pongteh and laksa lemak, to lesser-known dishes such as loh kai yik, charbeck and hati babi bungkus, can be easily prepared by the modern home cook.

Sylvia Tan is an award-winning food columnist and a sought-after speaker on Singapore’s food heritage, Peranakan cuisine and healthy eating. Prior to her focus on food writing, she was an editor for business and national news with established newspapers, including The Singapore Herald, The New Nation, The New Paper and The Straits Times. Sylvia is the author of nine cookbooks, including the Mad About Food cookbook series and Eat To Live: Healthy Asian Recipes. Connect with Sylvia @SylviaTanMadAboutFood on Facebook.