Matt Tan, an active contributor in the forefront of the Peranakan revival on social media, grew up watching his parents cooking the dishes they learnt from his paternal grandmother, Khoo Quee Neo, the matriach of the historic mansion, Bonny Grass. When he expressed the interest to learn to cook, his parents said: “Masok dapor prati apa Mak sama Daddy bikin dalam dapor – just go in the kitchen and watch how Mom and Dad cook.” And Matt did just that – and learnt. When Matt’s father passed away in 2002, it hit Matt that it was not only important to learn how to cook the food which he ate regularly at home, but also to record the family recipes for future generations. The result is this book, which includes only a part of the recipes collected from his grandmother, parents and his extended family, as well as those which he recreated. Matt is the one who cooks the loak hari hari - the daily dishes for his family.
