Nyonya cuisine is a beautiful fusion of Malay and Chinese flavours and it’s a culinary legacy of the Straits Chinese communities of Malaysia. The dishes use many Malay ingredients such as galangal, turmeric and lemon grass and mix them with Chinese influences like pork and the Chinese styles of cooking. A key ingredient is belacan – a dried shrimp paste Nyonya food originating from the North of Malaysia – Penang, and Nyonya food originating from the South – Malacca and Singapore, have distinct differences. Nyonya cooking in the South has an Indonesian influence. The food is generally sweeter, richer with liberal use of coconut milk and more traditional Malay spices. In Malacca especially, Nyonya cooking is heavily influenced by Portuguese-Eurasian style of cooking.