Ayam Tempra

When most people think of Nonya food, they think of all the usual suspects like ayam buah keluak, laksa, mee siam and nonya chicken curry. It was only a few years back that my sister Molly talked about how she missed having ayam tempra for dinner. Then only did I realise that it was indeed a low-key Nonya dish we ate often. ‘Tempra’ is a Malay word related to the Portuguese word ‘tempero’ which means ‘seasoning’ or ‘gravy’ in English.

The sauce was garnished