Stories and recipes from a Malaysian home kitchen
Full disclosure. I did not create this recipe for Hyderabad mutton masala, but extracted it out of another recipe for biryani. Before that, a word or two about my love affair with Indian food. From young, my friends used to tease me for having an “Indian stomach” because of my penchant for curries, masalas, etc….
Here are 10 Ipoh Cafes that opened in the last 6 months – half of them are in Old Town! I have personally visited them to have a drink at least, not simply copy paste from the internet ok!! 1. Jias By GirafFood – Western & Malaysian food, including simply the best nasi lemak I’ve…
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I’ve passed D North Star ‘s unassuming frontage a million times but never bothered to check the restaurant out, because our goal is to withdraw money from Maybank Canning Garden Ipoh next door. Zip and go. A few weeks ago when I was by myself, I felt a sudden stab of curiosity and went in….
Read More “Nyonya & Hainanese Comfort Food at D North Star, Ipoh” »
I’ve been curious about Jason Nyonya House for a while. We must have passed it at least half a dozen times because it’s near my husband’s nanny’s house. However, we never really got round to trying it out as Nanny always cooks for us. Then a few weeks ago, a most serendipitous incident led us…
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Dear God, how much I adore falafel but how difficult they can be to get right! After more attempts that I can count, I finally got them perfectly crunchy, golden brown and mad delicious, WITHOUT deep frying too. It took quite a bit of experimentation (read: failed attempts). The hardest part was getting the balls…
No, this pistachio pesto pasta is not classic, but after trying this recipe, you might just prefer it to the original version with pine nuts! First, why pistachio for pesto? For this wild idea, I gotta thank my frugal inner housewife. I love a good pesto pasta, but the price of pine nuts has skyrocketed….
Our discovery of KUEH by Bibik’s Kitchen – a hidden gem serving some of Penang’s best nyonya heritage food – began with a frustrating search for old-fashioned kaya. To be exact, pleasing hubby’s craving for the kind of traditional kaya he grew up with in Penang. From famous brands to owner-operated cafes to roadside stalls,…
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I’m a latecomer to the pleasures of beef noodles. Specifically, the beef SOUP noodle type. Somehow, I just never ate a version anywhere that was good enough to impress me – they were all too watery, like reconstituted Bovril, and were measly in their helpings. I still enjoyed beef noodles though, but only the dry…
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Mum’s fried beehoon is “very simple only.” Come to think of it, that’s her standard answer whenever I ask her for the recipe of virtually any dish she cooks. She’s telling the truth. When she describes the process to me, it DOES sound simple. Ingredient lists are typically short. The steps, few. But somehow in…
Make chicken confit at home? No way in hell, man! Or at least – until yesterday. Now, I’ve seen chicken or duck confit in restaurant menus a number of times, in particular fancy restaurants. The price tag is usually hefty, which gave me the impression it must be super delicious AND super difficult to make….
Folks, meet my Chinese-style three-ingredient stir-fried cabbage that delivers loads of umami courtesy of …. miso! I know, miso is not an ingredient commonly used in Chinese kitchens. But the moment I tasted the result, I was like, why didn’t I think of that earlier?? If you make Chinese stir fries regularly, you probably rely…
This ADULT version of the traditional French toast uses a not-too-secret pantry ingredient …. parmesan! We all know how to do normal French toast. You take a slice of white bread, dip it in beaten egg, fry in hot fat, and voila. This one takes the same concept. Except I add a layer of grated…
A teriyaki chicken poke bowl is a thing of joy – and the perfect quarantine meal. First, what’s poke bowl … is it Japanese or Hawaiian? Poke is a regional American-based cuisine from Hawaii, heavily influenced by Japanese cuisine.The word “poke” means “to slice or cut” in Hawaiian. In the original version, poke bowls feature…
Folks, meet Japanese garlic fried rice. Like all simple dishes, it only looks easy to perfect. I couldn’t believe that making fried rice could be so difficult, until I tried to recreate the dish at home. The results were not bad, but somehow my garlic fried rice lacked umami, or wok hei, or something. I…
I’m no stranger to onion jam. A sweet-sticky condiment of slow-cooked onions, it’s typically served with burgers in Western restaurants. In Asia, it’s sometimes just called “caramelised onions”. Is it nice? Yes, but nothing to get excited about. Until I ate a version made by a friend in Singapore, using her personal recipe. Holy smokes….
