Japanese cuisine has a special place in my heart. At sixteen, I went on a student exchange programme to a little town in Ishikawa called Komatsu (小松市). Then, the ignorant teenager that I was thought the Japanese only raw food like sushi and sashimi, both which I didn’t learn to love yet. But my host …
Japanese Stock (Dashi With Kombu & Bonito Flakes) – 3 ingredients Read More »
Image credit: Sammie Tan of Grey Rabbit Studio A comfort soup with ‘cooling’ properties, perfect for the hot weather. Slow cooking this soup will soften the mature melon, and extract the maximum umami flavour from the dried seafood, and the natural sweetness of the dates. The result is a concentrated and delicious soup. This Chinese …
During my growing years, sometimes I eat up to two bowls of rice for dinner. Despite my mother preparing lavish meals with at least four different dishes (excluding Chinese soup), my siblings and I will still be hungry near bedtime. We will then voice our plight to our parents. I guess it’s not easy to raise …
Easy Malaysian Fried Hokkien Mee Noodles – 10 ingredients Read More »
Crispy pork lard has a bad reputation of clogging arteries hence shortening one’s life. But I am raised in a family which has a good relationship with food – no matter how ‘unhealthy’ some food are claimed to be. We happily eat everything moderately. In my family, we consume crispy pork lard cautiously and in …
I created this super easy recipe while playing with McCormick herbs and spices. I was invited by The Malaysian Women’s Weekly and McCormick to give a talk about the health benefit of herbs and spices, their convenience and how to use them. So I simplified one of my favourite recipe Jamu Drink For Health & …
Claypot chicken rice is one of Malaysian’s favourite dish and can be easily made at home. There are many variation of it. My favourite version is in my ‘One Pot Wonders’ cookbook which includes flavourful ingredients like salted fish, sesame oil, pepper and belacan chili. Instead of a rice cooker, I made it in Philips All-in-one …
Easy Claypot Chicken Rice In Rice Cooker – 6 Ingredients Read More »
Like a typical Malaysian, I love dipping almost everything edible into chili. One of my absolute favourite is the spicy belacan dip that my mother often keeps in her fridge. She serves it with all kind of dishes such as claypot chicken rice and bihun (fried rice noodles). This condiment is a must-have at our …
Every Reunion Dinner, my family will either make Buddha Jump Over The Wall (佛跳墙) or Fish Maw Soup. Since I strongly oppose to eating Shark’s fin, now that I take over from my mother in preparing Chinese New Year feast for my family, I will always boil the latter. Recently, I went to my mother’s …
I know that not everyone like vegetables, but it’s news to me that some people dislike fruits. How can it be? Fruits are so sweet and delicious! When I try to cajole these fruits-hater from taking a bite, they casually said “I don’t need fruits, I’m not constipated!” But fruits is not good only for …
Thai Chilli Salt (Prik-kab-klua) – 3 ingredients Read More »
Lunar New Year to Orientals is like Christmas to Westerners. It is the most beloved and anticipated festival of the year. When I was a kid, I looked forward to buying and wearing new clothes, playing with my cousins, visiting relatives, receiving angpao (red envelopes/ 紅包) and eating all sorts of cookies. Now, I most look forward …
Hakka Yam Abacus Seeds With Vegetables (Suen Poon Chi/ 算盘子) Read More »
My late grandmother used to always make a huge plate of deep-fried oyster balls during Chinese New Year. I remember she would wrap it in caul fat, something that looked like a see-through net which the kid in me found incredibly fascinating. I truly enjoy the taste and texture of this dish – it’s out …
Hakka Deep-Fried Stuffed Dried Oyster (Yong Hou Si/ 酿蚝豉) – 5 Ingredients Read More »
Instead of just shopping at Bangkok, I did something far more exciting: joining a cooking class at Le Cordon Bleu. I’ve learned to make many dishes such as delicious pork skewers. We made many curry and pastes, such as the complicated massaman curry. Despite all of them being mouth-watering, most are incredibly difficult to make …