WHEN T’NG TOK is mentioned in Penang, it is in reference to the sumptuous feasts[1] prepared to celebrate occasions like weddings, significant birthdays and funerals. The food is served on a long but narrow table, hence the name t’ng tok (Penang) or tok panjang (Singapore and Melaka). For the uninitiated, the Hokkien dialects spoken in the North and South of Peninsular Malaysia are slightly different from each other, as can be seen in the different pronunciations/spellings used for many of the same dishes—e.g. fish is hu in the North and he in the South.

In my mother-in-law’s Kee family ancestral home in Sungei Bakap in Penang, there is a Kee ancestral hall. When a male descendant passes away, a tablet (sin chew) would be placed behind the altar in the ancestral hall. I happened to be there on a particular day in the Chinese calendar, when food offerings were laid on the usual rectangular tables for the departed forebears. There was also a long table with a setting for each of the other descendants; each setting consisted of a bowl of rice, a bowl of kuih ee, a glass of wine, a cup of tea plus a spoon and a pair of chopsticks. This was the first time I had seen the long table used for ancestral offerings.

After reading Arthur Lim’s book, Tok Panjang: The Evolution of a Peranakan Heritage Feast,[3] I am convinced that the t’ng tok panjang evolved from the long table used for ancestral worship.

There is a suggestion that the rich Babas and Nyonyas adopted the long dining table from the British. Another says that it could have evolved from the Malay communal custom of sitting on the floor, sharing food around a dulang. Since the move from eating on the floor to sitting at the table is relatively recent, these suggestions are not very credible.

Table Arrangements for Thng Tok Panjang

Since well-off Nyonya families usually lived in terraced houses, there would not have been space for storing long tables. Therefore, these tables were assembled by joining several square or rectangular tables together, and then covered with table cloths. Those who weren’t so wealthy settled for whatever was available in the house—a large rectangular table that could accommodate the guests, for example.

When my family moved from the annex in my grandmother’s house in Macalister Road to our own house, a large wide rectangular table was the prominent feature of our dining room. When we moved to a newly built house in the early 1950s, this large rectangular table came with us. Whenever we had a celebratory meal at home, that was the table we used.

The traditional t’ng tok panjang is rather narrow, with chairs arranged on both sides of the table. The two ends of the table are traditionally left unoccupied. According to Norman Cho, unlike Western-style dining, the “tok panjang is devoid of accessories like flowers and epergnes”.[4] Epergnes is a three-dimensional form of lazy susan used to hold food or flowers; the name is derived from the French epargne meaning saving, built on the idea that guests were saved the trouble of passing the dish along—very appropriate when talking about the t’ng tok panjang.

The dishes are usually arranged in three rows on the table. The main dishes like soups and curries are served in large bowls in the middle. Dishes like achar, lor bak, jiu hu char and liver rolls are served on small plates or bowls on the outer rows. Condiments like sambal belacan, lettuce leaves to accompany the jiu hu char and pickles for liver rolls are also placed on the outer rows.

It is not polite, especially for Nyonyas, to stretch out their hands for food on the table. Hence, several sets of the same dishes are laid out at regular intervals on the table, so that all the dishes are within reach of anyone seated anywhere along the table. Guests eat in a continuous “shift”, starting with the elders, followed by the married relatives, unmarried relatives and then, the young unmarried, including the ladies waiting on the guests. Any seat that is vacated is filled immediately. Therefore, dishes have to be replenished regularly by relatives and helpers.[5]

The number of dishes served can range from five to seven, sometimes 12 or 24, and even 40 has been mentioned. With three rows of dishes and 20 dishes served in a cluster, each row will have about seven dishes that will stretch over approximately five feet. If 40 dishes were served along three rows, with 13 dishes per row, that would be stretching it a bit far. My wife’s jee chim (second aunt) said that the very rich could serve five rows of dishes.

Who Cooks the Dishes?

The preparation of the many dishes is usually done by extended family members, close friends and neighbours. In wealthier families, it is a common practice to book the services of a champhor (a Hainanese chef) who would come to their homes to prepare multi-courses of festive Nyonya dishes. In those days (early 1950s in Penang) there were no known restaurants that could cater for large groups.

After the host and the champhor agree on the menu, the champhor would arrange for the ingredients. If there is a long guest list, the champhor would enlist the help of an assistant or apprentice. The chef would bring all the cooking utensils he needs with him to the house, and the host would make arrangements for the t’ng tok panjang with the help of other members of her family and sometimes, with the help of neighbours. The champhor arrives the night before the meal or early in the morning.

Expensive ingredients like crab, prawns and fish maw were the order of the day, and inexpensive ingredients like beansprouts, water spinach, tau kwa or sweet potato leaves were not served. Dark colours were considered inauspicious, hence dark-coloured dishes were also not traditionally served. For happy occasions, very sour dishes are not traditionally served. Black, blue and sometimes green are associated with mourning. Traditionally, dishes that use dark-coloured rempahs (like buah keluak) are not acceptable, compared with curries or dishes that use red chillies because of the auspicious colours. Roast meat like roast chicken or roast pork is always a good choice.

Penang vs. Singapore & Melaka

The main dishes served for weddings and other significant events—the eve of Chinese New Year and ancestral worship (semayang) like Cheng Beng (Tomb Sweeping Day)—are very similar. Some of the family Nyonya dishes that I can remember, together with those mentioned by Lily Yew[6] and others[7][8][9], are gulai kay (chicken curry); soups such as kiam chai ark (also known as itek tim in the South), tu tor th’ng (pork tripe soup), chap chai th’ng (braised mixed vegetable stew) and hu peow th’ng (fish maw soup). These dishes were served in large bowls in the middle row of t’ng tok panjang .

Jiu hu char, pnee hu char, hu chee char, lor bak, tu kua kian (liver roll or babi hati bungkus), chim choe, heh kian (prawn fritters), timun char kay pak lai, kerabu kay bok nee, and achar awak and achar hu are served in small plates and small bowls on the outer rows on the t’ng tok panjang. Included in the list of dishes served are the favourite dishes of the deceased.

Unlike the Southern Peranakans, chap chai, nasi lemak, nasi ulam are not traditionally served on the t’ng tok in Penang. In The Patriarch, Khoo Sian Ewe’s grand-daughter Yeap Joo Kim mentioned that birth - day noodles were not traditionally served as a dish on the t’ng tok. The birthday noodle served in Penang is different because it includes several ingredients which are considered auspicious and fruitful, unlike the mee orang tidur that is served in funerals in the South. I have been assured that Penang Lam Mee is also served in funerals as it marks the last birthday of the deceased.

In Singapore and Melaka, there is a clearer distinction between dishes traditionally offered in ancestral worship (semayang lauk) and dishes served during happy occasions like weddings and significant birthdays. Over the years, many semayang dishes have been served on the tok panjang for happy occasions. Other articles, like from Tan Kuning in “Ancestral Feasts”[10], on semayang luaks reinforce the concept that the tok panjang originated from offerings to the departed.

Each family has its own list of dishes, so it is appropriate to start to work out a list from as many sources as possible that represent the semayang dishes prepared by Chinese Peranakans in the South.

Lim has four separate lists of dishes— for birthdays, weddings, luak semayang and Cheng Beng. The following could be classified as semayang dishes: bakwan kepiting (flower crab meatballs soup), sambal udang (sambal prawns), hati babi bungkus, ayam buah keluak, babi/ayam pong teh (some similarity to Penang’s hong bak), chap chai, pong tauhu (pork and beancurd balls in bamboo shoot soup), tee hee (stir fried pig’s lungs), itek tim and udang goreng assam (tamarind fried prawns).

Gwee[11] and Tan both provided their lists of wedding dishes, with Gwee’s list being more extensive, and including semayang items like ayam buah keluak, babi pong teh, mee orang tidur and itek tim. Here, I list a combined representative list of wedding and birthday dishes from Singapore and Melaka on top of the several items served for semayang: kari ayam, he pio soup (fish maw soup), ter toh soup/perut kambing soup (pig or goat tripe soup), nasi lemak, nasi ulam, chap chai, sayur char (stir fried vegetables with carrots, snow peas and cabbage), otak otak (spicy fish mousse), shark’s fin scrambled with egg, achar, sek bak and ngoh hiang (similar to Penang’s lor bak).[12]

There is a suggestion that over time, the inauspicious dishes appeared with other festive dishes due to family preference or ignorance of traditional practices.

Holding on to Tradition

It is important that the dishes served in t’ng tok panjang as well as the associated traditions and practices be recorded for the benefit of future generations of Nyonyas and Babas. Sylvia Tan, in an article “One Table 11 Dishes & 50 Guests”[13] in the Straits Times, recalled the issues faced when she held a tok panjang for her son’s wedding, mainly because her guest did not understand protocol for the seating of guests. They behaved as though they were at a buffet!

These traditions and practices need to be highlighted so that when changes are made now or in the future, they would be gradual and done without the loss of its essence. F&B organisations that wish to adopt and commercialise the t’ng tok panjang concept should also bear this in mind.

Footnotes

[1] The term t’ng tok will be used in this article for Penang; tok panjang for Singapore & Melaka, but when referring terms used in the three states, t’ng tok panjang will be used.

[2] The main offerings are in the foreground and in the middle of the photo. The sin chew on the chair at the far end of the photo is for the patriarch. There are three tablets on the right and left for the six sons.

[3] Arthur SK Lim, Tok Panjang: The Evolution of a Peranakan Heritage Feast, Landmark Books, 2023

[4] Norman Cho, At the Tok Panjang: What Exactly is the Tok Panjang, first published in The Peranakan, Issue 1, 2010 [Reprinted in “Being Baba - Selected Articles from the Peranakan Magazine”, edited by Linda Chee, Cavendish Press, 2015]

[5] Yeap Joo Kim, The Patriarch, 2nd Revised Printing May, 1976, about KSE Birthday [pp145-150]

[6] Lily Yew, “Being Penang Straits Chinese: You Say Nyanya, I Say Mama - Mrs. Lily Yew” on YouTube, https://www. youtube.com/watch?ap - p=desktop&v=T51N - 0PYryIU

[7] Cedric Tan (Editor), Our Mamas’ RECIPES - Traditional Peranakan Dishes for Special Occasions”, MPH Group Publishing Sdn Bhd, 2020

[8] Yeap Joo Kim, “The Penang Palate”, The Phoenix Press Sdn Bhd, 1990

[9] Julie Wong (Editor), “Nonya Flavours - A Complete Guide to Penang Straits Chinese Cuisine”, Star Publications (M) Bhd, 2003

[10] Tan Kuning, Ancestral Feasts, The Peranakan, Issue 2, 2014, pp18-19. [Reprinted in “Being Baba - selected Articles from the Peranakan Magazine”, Edited by Linda Chee, Cavendish Press, 2015]

[11] Gwee Thiam Hock, A Nonya Mosaic: Memoirs of a Peranakan Childhood, Marshall Cavendish Edi - tions, 2013. [Re-issue of book published in 1985]

[12] Cedric Tan (Editor), Our Mamas’ RECIPES - Traditional Peranakan Dishes for Special Occasions”, MPH Group Publishing Sdn Bhd, 2020

[13] Sylvia Tan, “One Table 11 Dishes & 50 Guests”, Straits Times, 26th August 2012.