Previously we’ve shared about the Peranakan culture and its origin story. And we all know that food forms a large portion (pun intended) of any culture. However, in that story, we only made a passing remark on pongteh. And today, we’re gonna explore another signature Peranakan dish, the mouth watering Asam Seafood from Kento Cafe.
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Getting To Know The Peranakan Asam Dish
Asam forms the cornerstone of the many signature Peranakan cuisine. Cook any kind of protein with asam, and you’ll get the tangy and spicy, mouth watering dish. And Kento Cafe’s recommended dish of the day just so happened to be Asam Seafood. I could browse through their extensive menu, which will be a feat all on its own. But instead, I threw caution to the wind, and went with the recommended dish of the day. Fresh and succulent prawns, squid and mussel, all cooked to perfection in the signature Peranakan asam. What more could I have asked for?…
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Did you notice something’s amiss with the menu?… Asam Seafood isn’t actually available on the menu… I guess they’re trying out a new recipe, and tweaking out some improvements, before adding it to their menu. If other customers like it as much as I did, I’m sure it’ll find its way into the menu soon.
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In case you’re wondering, all of Kento Cafe’s signature dishes come with a plate of white rice and fried egg. Nothing like soaking the white rice with tangy and spicy asam sauce to whet the appetite… Yummy!…
Kento Cafe’s Signature Peranakan Dessert
Most people are familiar with Peranakan cuisine’s many savoury dishes. But did you also know about the unique Peranakan desserts too? So how can I forgive myself for trying a Peranakan main dish without a Peranakan dessert in accompaniment? So once again, I threw caution to the wind, and simply went with their recommendation – Yam Shaved Ice.
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It looks unassumingly like any local street food dessert, doesn’t it?… But once you start digging in, you’ll notice the difference straight away. Kento Cafe’s Yam Shaved Ice is no ordinary street food dessert. The shaved ice is akin to fine snow… I mean, seriously homogenous… For most street food vendors, or even restaurants, their shaved ice dessert’s shaved ice, well, isn’t quite as homogenous. It’s not uncommon to find larger ice crystals among the smooth shaved ice. But this one… It’s really smooth…
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Of course, the mashed yam is just as silky smooth too. We expected that much… But the ice?… That’s a whole different level altogether…
The People Behind Kento Cafe
To nobody’s surprise, it’s the usual husband and wife team behind Kento Cafe. Ken Wong, a Hakka from Malacca, isn’t even a Baba (Peranakan man). But his wife, Vivian Chea, is a full-fledged Nyonya (Peranakan woman). And the restaurant’s name?… Well, Ken spent many years as a consultant in a Japanese health equipment company. And we all know how the Japanese can’t say a name without a hard vowel at the end, right? So that’s how “Ken” became “Kento”. And upon retiring, what’s there to do but to set up a small restaurant business with his wife?…
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Vivian is a great chef in her own right. She personally test cooks the traditional Peranakan dishes, before deciding what’s good enough to offer and what’s not. And before you ask, no, there’s no hand-me-down, heirloom family recipes… Believe me, I asked… Every dish they offer is Vivian’s contemporary version of traditional Peranakan dishes. Do you know what else makes Kento Cafe’s food different from other Peranakan restaurants? They cook all the dishes from scratch right there in the restaurant’s kitchen. There’s no central kitchen delivering frozen pre-cooked meals every morning, like most chain restaurants do.
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What’s The Secret To Silky Smooth Shaved Ice Dessert?
What investigative journalist worth his/her salt won’t be curious enough to ask that controversial question?… Well, I asked Ken, and he openly shared his secret with me… Well, almost all his secrets… First up, regularly delivered, freshly harvested pandan leaves, and local coconut milk. Ken insists that factory-packed coconut milk simply wouldn’t cut it. And also to source the coconut milk from local plantations only. Cheaper Indonesian imports doesn’t quite meet Ken’s stringent expectation. The operative keywords here being regular and fresh. To maintain optimum freshness, both pandan leaves and coconut milk used must be fresh. No more than two- or three-days-old at the most, even when chilled.
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Insisting on using only the freshest ingredients, I can understand. But that still doesn’t answer the lingering question – Why is their shaved ice dessert so… smooth?… In Ken’s own words – they only use self-made ice blocks as feedstock for the ice-shaver. Commercially available, factory made ice, simply wouldn’t cut it. It’ll only result in mediocre shaved ice dessert that we’re so familiar with. By that, I mean various sizes of ice crystals, mixed in together with the silky smooth shaved ice. Definitely not the homogenous shaved ice that I just tasted.
But what’s the secret to making that ice feedstock in the first place?… I can tell you that, but I’ll have to kill you afterwards… Errr… I mean, Ken will have to… Never mind… I promised Ken that I’ll keep my mouth shut…
Meet Ken Wong: The Face Of Kento Cafe
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Kento Cafe is located right at the northwest edge of the Kuala Lumpur city limits, in Sri Damansara. Use the Google map below to find your way there. The address, contact number, opening hours, etc. are all available in the map too.
Fun fact: did you realise that nowhere on Kento Cafe’s menu or banner mentions anything about specialising in Peranakan cuisine?… It’s true… Go look it up if you don’t believe me…
Anyway, if you enjoyed this deviation away from my usual stories about watches, then consider buying me a coffee. Whether I’m writing about watches, classic menswear, or anything else for that matter, it still takes a lot of research. And as mentioned previously, caffeine fuels all the research that we do here.
Update: 10 May 2025
Image by Florence Kha
