Favourite Malaysian and Asian recipes with time-saving hacks
For most of my life, I regarded tempeh as a sidekick ingredient: a few slices next to nasi lemak, maybe fried with sambal at economy rice stalls, or tossed into a simple home-style stir-fry. I liked it well enough, but I never craved it. Until this two-texture tempeh sambal changed my mind completely. While researching…
Chau lup lup is one of those old-school Cantonese home dishes that doesn’t look flashy, but once you start eating it, wah… very hard to stop. The name literally means “stir-fried dices”, referring to how almost everything in the dish is cut into little cubes: tofu, French beans, preserved sweet radish. It’s colourful, deeply savoury,…
When my husband came home with a 130g pack of shabu-shabu beef from AEON, my first thought was: what exactly are we supposed to do with this since we don’t have a hotpot? As I racked my brain, I suddenly remembered dry beef hor fun. Those flat rice noodles with wafer-thin slices of intensely flavourful…
Read More “Caramelised Shabu-Shabu Beef (Nonstick Pan Version)” »
If you’ve never tasted Nam Khao, imagine a salad that crunches, crackles, and bursts with limey, savoury, slightly sweet flavours in every bite. I first learned about this Laotian dish from vegan cook Maya. She made it look soooo appetizing that naturally, I had to try making it at home. Of course, with a little…
It’s been so long since Mum cooked, and honestly, I didn’t realize how much I’d missed her food until nam yue chicken appeared on the table again. There’s just something about a mother’s cooking — the way she turns the most humble ingredients into pure comfort. This Nam Yue Chicken, or fermented beancurd chicken, is…
What can I do with potatoes that’s more exciting than French fries or mash? This recipe began with that simple question. There they were — a humble bag of baby potatoes leftover from last night’s dinner party, waiting to be transformed. I wanted something that would make my weeknight dinner feel special without requiring a…
Read More “Air-fried Stuffed Potatoes with Savoury Minced Beef” »
This Chinese New Year, I had the privilege of learning how to make jiu hu char, a beloved Nyonya dish, from my mum. For those unfamiliar, it’s a stir-fry of jicama (or bangkuang) and dried cuttlefish. Typically enjoyed as a side dish with rice or wrapped in crisp lettuce leaves, it embodies the essence of…
Read More “Jiu Hu Char (Stir-Fried Jicama with Dried Cuttlefish)” »
No matter where you are in the world, chances are there’s a version of the curry chicken. From the rich, slow-cooked curries of India to the mildly sweet Japanese kare, every culture has its own spin. Here in Malaysia, curry chicken isn’t just one dish — it’s a reflection of our multicultural society. With Chinese,…
Mark my words, this gingery soya sauce chicken is the ULTIMATE side dish to pair with rice. After my first bite of this dish created by Wong Zenzi @onegoodmeal.a.day I had only one thought: “Aiya, I wish I’d cooked more rice!” I also understood why the recipe went viral: such intense and complex flavours contributed…
If there’s a side dish that’s universally beloved, it must be sweet and sour chicken. Who could resist crispy battered juicy chicken pieces tossed in an appetizing sweet sticky sauce with crunchy vegetables? As my husband, nieces and nephews would say, “One plate of rice is not enough!” Chances are, you have probably eaten sweet…
This ayam geprek is officially our favourite chicken dish now. What is ayam geprek? According to the internets, ayam geprek is an Indonesian crispy battered fried chicken topped with hot and spicy sambal. Geprek is Javanese for “crushed” or “smashed”, thus ayam geprek means “crushed chicken”. It is quite similar to traditional East Javanese ayam…
Ginger scallion chicken reminds me of dad ❤️ Unlike mum and I, dad has a milder palate. He would go for dishes like this whereas Mum and I would order fiery, spicy stuff like curry fish and kung pow chicken. In fact, I used to think that ginger scallion chicken was boring! Not anymore though….
This delicious gulai labu is the combination of two brains – a friend, and my mum’s! How did that happen? Well, it all started when Madam R gifted us her gulai labu to eat for dinner a few days before Eid. Food gifting has become common during the COVID19 pandemic era, as a way of…
A lot of my friends asked me how I made dengaku nasu in an air fryer after I posted it in my Facebook and Instagram stories. Since I aim to please, I thought I’d roughly write up my experience 🙂 Some of you might be asking – what is dengaku nasu? It’s a traditional Japanese…
When I feel under the weather, I automatically think of ABC soup, the comfort food of many a Malaysian Chinese household. More so during this COVID pandemic period, when we should keep our immune systems as strong as possible. While some turn to supplements, I am focusing on using nutritious, immune system boosting ingredients that…
