Silver Entrepreneur Interview with Dr Ong of Penang Heritage Food

Penang Heritage Food is an award winning historical cookbook written by Singaporean Silver Entrepreneur Dr Ong Jin Teong – Over 4,000 copies has been sold to date.

Dr Ong has published two award winning books, Penang Heritage Food – Yesterday’s Recipes for Today’s Cook, and Nyonya Heritage Kitchen – Origins, Utensils and Recipes. Penang Heritage Food has been re-printed several times, with the first edition was sold out within a year. This cookbook provides the recipes for the classic and forgotten dishes of Penang, and also reveals the rich influences that create the unique culinary heritage.

Dr Ong was born in Penang into a Nonya family and he was exposed to cooking at home at an early age by his mother. He later went on to London to study Electrical Engineering in 1963, where he extended his range of cooking. He is a retired professor from the Nanyang Technological University’s College of Engineering.

People do not understand how complicated it is to write a book – It took me five years to create this book with 50 recipes. To prepare each dish for the photoshoot, it took 10 days to source all the ingredients. My book is culinary biography; it is more than a cookbook. It is also an important aspect of Penang’s culture and food heritage.

Dr Ong Jin Teong, 76 years old, Author, Penang Heritage Food, Singapore

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As published in the forward of the book by Chief Minister of Penang, Mr Lim Guan Eng, the book gives a new dimension to Penang heritage – “It is well-researched with insights to the historical background of the dishes and the personal perspective on how many of the dishes were prepared by [Dr Ong’s] mother, grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins in their younger days.”

If there is one thing you would like to change about Ageism, what would it be?

There are a lot of people who work and then retire. You can’t retire and do nothing. When you retire, you have to do something. You have keep active, health is the most important thing. I have just had treatment for prostrate cancer with 37 sessions of radiotherapy. I am already thinking of my next project – easy to cook family food.

On June 15th, we are very pleased to have invited Dr Ong for a LIVE Cooking Demonstration showcasing “Aw Bak”.

Aw bak (in Hokkien) or Black Pork (in English) is a popular family heirloom dish cooked by my father’s side of the family and also by many other families in Penang. Also known as aw bak chien (Fried Black Pork), it stems from Hokkien origins. Aw is the description for the black shiny meat slices when ready to serve.

If you would like to learn the special recipe from Dr Ong, you can view the video below: