Heritage Eats

Few would choose the demands of F&B over career stability, but for Ernest Ang, preserving his grandmother's Peranakan recipes is a risk worth taking. With no formal culinary and business training, he opened Kokoyo Nyonya Delights to honour tradition without compromise

- By Nafeesa Saini

Ernest Ang is an unlikely champion of Peranakan cuisine. The 24-year-old behind Kokoyo Nyonya Delights, a mom-and-pop eatery dedicated to home-style Peranakan food in Serangoon Central, neither followed the well-trodden path of culinary apprenticeships nor inherited a family legacy. Instead, Kokoyo, which opened in September last year, was the outcome of an unplanned career pivot; a leap of faith taken after a six-week job hunt in engineering upon completing his national service—which Ang readily admits was "more about satisfying my parents than something I actually wanted [to do]".

This decision to pivot to the F&B industry was not made lightly. After all, Ang, who started Kokoyo from scratch, had no formal culinary training, no industry experience, and no road map beyond one guiding principle: to cook the way his grandmother always did, with recipes she fiercely guarded all her life.

Nyonya cooking is deeply matriarchal—its traditions, techniques and recipes passed down through generations of women who guard the last with near-sacred devotion. Perfected over time, these dishes are rarely shared beyond the family table. "Peranakan people are quite tight-lipped," Ang explains. "To them, a recipe is like an asset. They won’t share it or disclose [the details]." This secrecy is more than just about pride; it is rooted in the belief that a dish’s soul lies in its precise execution—one that cannot be replicated simply by listing ingredients and steps. Ang’s own grandmother is no exception. It took time—and proof of his commitment—for her to yield.