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Making Veggies Sexy

Posted on July 17, 2020July 24, 2020 By Alexandra Wong No Comments on Making Veggies Sexy

On 29th May 2020 – right smack in the middle of MCO – Chef Ang Ling Chee found himself quarantined in a hotel after returning from a trip to Japan to see his family.

As head chef and co-owner of popular restaurant Parklife, Chef Ling was not used to sitting around doing nothing. A few days into his confinement, an idea struck him. Looking at the nasi campur delivered to his room, he thought, “Why not make it look pretty?”

With just a few tweaks and twists, Chef Ling’s humble packed meals became these:

This is what boredom can do to a chef

All his Facebook friends thought he was getting served some special fine dining meal 

This creative streak, laced with a hint of imaginative whimsy, makes Chef Ling stand out from your run-of-the-mill chef. He has the ability to transform the most humble and ordinary raw materials into a spectacular creation, both taste and looks-wise.

This talent did not go unnoticed by his boss Yotam Ottolenghi

That’s right – Chef Ling once worked for one of the world’s most beloved celebrity chefs.

Chef Ling worked with Yotam Ottolenghi for over 10 years

Chef Ling’s culinary journey reads like a movie script.

Growing up in Bukit Mertajam, at the age of ten, he worked at a curry mee stall before school to earn pocket money. The early exposure sparked an interest in the food business. However, when Ling broached his desire to join a cooking school after completing secondary education, “there was absolute silence at the family dinner table,” he recalls.

“Cooking was not seen as a proper job for a man.”

So he dutifully enrolled in an engineering course and worked as a technical engineer for a computer subcontractor. But after three years, the 25-year-old had enough. He sold “everything he could think of” and left for the United Kingdom, where he attended English classes by day and cleaned fryers and grills at McDonald’s by night.

One day, Ling answered a classifieds ad for a midnight baker. However, his nerves deserted him when he turned up at the advertiser’s premises in Notting Hill; the beautiful restaurant seemed completely out of his league. But before he could turn and flee, a tall man stepped out with a cup of coffee – meant for Ling. It was the restaurant’s owner, Yotam Ottolenghi.

Good old days in the UK

Thanks to his inexperience, Ling flunked the interview big time. “They asked me to put on an apron and tested me out in the kitchen,” he recalls. “I didn’t even know what a muffin was then.” Nevertheless, Ottolenghi’s hospitality left such a deep impression that Ling called back three days later to ask for a second chance.

Proving a quick learner, Ling did so well that when his student visa was about to expire, his employer sponsored his enrolment into a culinary arts programme at Hammersmith & West London College, enabling the Malaysian to join the team as a permanent staff. He went on to become a core member of Ottolenghi’s team.

Recalling those heady days, Ling reveals, “We never had fixed menus. We just looked at the ingredients available on hand for the day and created a dish – a salad, a sandwich, or whatever. Customers loved the concept!”

Within a year of working with Ottolenghi, Ling became head chef in the Kensington outlet. He helped the Jewish chef expand his restaurant empire in the UK, before spreading his wings to Russia and Japan.

With his babies Cocohana and Momohana, and Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Last year, he partnered with his cousin Ewen Lim to start Parklife, a casual dining restaurant in Bangsar South that promotes healthy eating.

80% of Parklife’s menu is plant-based, pretty radical by Kuala Lumpur’s meat-heavy standards.

Platters of colourful salads sit on a white counter along the floor-to-ceiling windows, grabbing your attention as you enter the breezy 2000sq space that recalls London Hyde Park’s lush greenery and relaxed vibe.

Chef Ling’s hummus is to die for

Incorporating Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and European influences, the menu emphasises Ling’s mastery of cooking methods and liberal use of spices to bring out the underrated pleasures of fresh honest produce. A bountiful cake and pastry counter with vegan-friendly and gluten-free options testifies to his early days as a pastry chef.

And in just a year, Parklife has attracted a firm following from all walks of life, including personalities Ling never dreamed of meeting in person.

With iconic Malaysian shoemaker Datuk Jimmy Choo

Since then, Parklife has opened a second outlet at Downtown Kuala Lumpur’s cultural and creative community hub, RexKL. These days, Parklife is highly sought after as a partner for collaborations and community events that advocate healthy lifestyles.

It would seem that in a short time, Chef Ling has done the impossible: make healthy eating mainstream in Malaysia. His sifu would be proud.

For now, Chef Ling has graciously shared with Cook with Ipohbunny his recipe for a voluptuous roast eggplant salad with big, bold flavours that will make even carnivores forget about meat for a while. Enjoy!

For more culinary inspiration, follow Chef Ling on Instagram.

 

Roasted Eggplant Salad

Alexandra Wong
Anchored by luscious roasted eggplant, this beautiful salad boasts a medley of flavours and colours accented by tahini, cherry tomatoes, sumac and a bounty of herbs.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Course Salad
Cuisine Mediterranean
Servings 15

Ingredients
  

To roast eggplant

  • 2 kg eggplant
  • 50 g olive oil
  • 2 g salt
  • 2 g coarse ground black pepper

To roast Garden Medley cherry tomatoes

  • 700g Garden Medley cherry tomatoes
  • 5g salt
  • 14g olive oil
  • 5g salt
  • 2g coarse ground black pepper

To make tahini sauce

  • 80g tahini paste (Jordanian or any brand is fine)
  • 25g fresh lemon juice
  • 80ml lukewarm water
  • 2g garlic, minced
  • 2g salt
  • 1g coarse ground pepper

Mixed herbs

  • 7g basil leaves
  • 7g English parsley leaves
  • 7g dill leaves

Other ingredients for finishing garnish

  • 10g pistachios
  • 5g sumac
  • 10g olive oil

Instructions
 

Roasted eggplant

  • Preheat oven to 230'c fan
  • Peel the eggplant in alternating strips and cut into 1cm thickness
  • Line baking tray with baking paper and brush with olive oil. Place sliced eggplant on the baking sheet, brush more olive oil on the top side of the eggplant and season with salt and pepper.
  • Roast eggplant in oven for 15 minutes (or longer time if required) until golden brown.

Tahini sauce

  • Assemble all ingredients in a food processor or blender until sauce is creamy and ivory-coloured. Scrape the sides of the processor periodically during processing. If using a blender, you may need to use a long-handled spoon to break up the thick part of the sauce once every 30 seconds to keep it from clogging your blender blades.
  • After a few minutes of blending, sauce will turn into a rich, smooth paste. If mixture is too thick, slowly add more water until it reaches the desired consistency. You may need quite a bit of water depending on the thickness of your tahini paste.

Roasted Garden Medley cherry tomatoes  

  • Preheat oven to 170'C
  • Toss cherry tomatoes with thyme and olive oil on a baking sheet; season with salt and pepper.
  • Roast for 10 minutes, tossing once, until tomatoes are blistered and beginning to burst.

Toasted pistachios

  • Preheat oven to 175’C
  • Spread the pistachios evenly on a rimmed cookie sheet.
  • Place in the oven for about 6 to 8 minutes. They will become very fragrant when they are done.

Plating instruction

  • Arrange roasted eggplants on the serving platter.
  • Drizzle tahini sauce over eggplant.
  • Arrange roasted Garden Medley cherry tomatoes on eggplant.
  • Add mixed herbs, chopped pistachios, sumac and drizzle with olive oil before serving.
Keyword salad
Post Views: 856
Stories Tags:chef stories, salad, vegan, vegetarian

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Who’s Ipohbunny, lah?

Welcome!

I’m Alexandra Wong, a self-taught Malaysian home cook on a mission to simplify and healthify recipes using affordable quality ingredients. I am a writer by profession, mostly known for my feelgood stories about people, travel and food.

ipohbunny

I love all sorts of cakes, but carrot cake is sacr I love all sorts of cakes, but carrot cake is sacred territory.

My mum used to make it. Her cakes were wondrously crumbly and moist, and filled with so many goodies (We Ipoh people call it "toh liu") that nothing sold outside has ever, ever come close. 

Until @grumpyoldman_bakes

I didn't plan on ordering his cake, honestly. But I'd had to rush back to Ipoh for an emergency, and after some very stressful days, I figured I deserve a cake. Cakes make everything better right?

I'd read him waxing lyrical about his carrot cake and against my better judgement, I decided to order one. Gulp, risky. But what's life without some risk?

He was so sweet and helpful in his interactions, and even tolerated my unnecessary rambling (I express to destress). 

When I popped the box lid open, I gasped at how pretty it was. The whole cake was covered in thick frosting and topped with fresh walnuts. 

And then I cut a slice for mum and was even more shocked. You could see the grated carrot and nuts - it was so generous portioned - but the proof was in the tasting. MUm's tasting, to be exact.

She took a  bite and smiled approvingly. "It's so moist inside!"

That is the HIGHEST compliment, in my opinion, one can ever pay a carrot cake. So many out there guilty of dry, pebbly abominations. 

I took a bite and immediately noticed how fresh it tasted. And, I realised, tears springing to my eyes, how close it was to Mum's version, which I last ate more than 20 years ago. 

Thank you Chris for awakening these wonderful memories. 

#carrotcake #grumpyoldmanbakes #ipohbaker #homebaker #ipohhomebaker
I made my own #salmon #gravlax!!! #achievementunlo I made my own #salmon #gravlax!!! #achievementunlocked

It was not bad, just too salty but I have an idea where I went wrong

1. I initially soaked the slab of fish in a mixture of salt, sugar, star anise, peppercorn - and pickle juice because one of the chef recipes indicated so. 

2. However, when I read some other recipes, I realised none of them recommended soaking the fish in any liquid. In fact the salt is supposed to draw the liquid out of the salmon. True enough, when I checked the salmon after 18 hours, I found the flesh was still soft and raw. I suspected the culprit was the brine, so I poured it away. 

3. Then I packed on some more salt and wrapped it tightly in cling film and poked holes to let the liquid drain. I did it this way because I feel nervous about putting a heavy slab on top of the fish - scared the weight will break the fridge shelves!

4. Anyway, I think my method worked because after 36 hours, the flesh had firmed up visibly so I knew curing had taken place. Yay!

5. I could slice it quite easily, even though I didn't have a sharp knife. However, it was definitely too salty. More Googling. Turns out that I should use coarse kosher salt, instead of regular table salt otherwise the salmon would be too salty. Ah.

All in all, a pretty decent effort for a first timer. One more notch on my culinary belt :)

Edit: Just had an idea. I can always make salmon pate. By mixing the salmon with other ingredients, I redistribute the saltiness, so the salt is less concentrated. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPUfeKMpdGB/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

#salmongravlax #homemadegravlax #homecooking #Malaysianhomecook #cookwithipohbunny #ipohbunnyrecipes #fish #easyrecipe
OK, @higherground.my is an unapologetic Instagram OK, @higherground.my is an unapologetic Instagram bait - and I'm an unapologetic Gen Xer with the heart of a #cafehopping Gen Z-er 😀

I wanted to come since spotting it on @penangfoodie So did half the Penang Gen Z population too. Though I think my hubby and I probably increased the median age by at least 20 years when we stepped in, haha! 

Flat white (RM14) and hot chocolate (RM16) were watery. Cakes looked generic, so didn't feel like trying. Hope the food will improve, cos the place is damn gorgeous.

Nice for people watching. 

#penangcafes #penangfoodie #cafehoppg #coffee #coffeegram #malaysiancafes #cafegram #cafespotting
@oowhitecoffee So did this super popular upmarket @oowhitecoffee

So did this super popular upmarket kopitiam live up to the hype?

One sentence: Come for the coffee. Which is really what made this place famous. Mum kept raving about how good her "kopi oh ping" was and my Kopi ais was excellent too. You can take away the coffee in convenient bottles too, which I found out is quite common in Penang outlets with a strong coffee brand like Stall 76 Batu Lanchang, SBK Concept etc. 

Other pros: clean, comfortable, elderly-friendly environment. When asked how his chicken hor fun was, Dad commented, "Tastier than the Ipoh version." He downed the whole bowl of soup! Both their HK and Portuguese egg tarts were well made. 

The cons: Mum was not impressed with the hokkien mee. In fact, I have yet to find one in Penang that meets her sky-high standards. As for my nasi lemak I believe I can cook better sambal and rice lah 😅 (thank you @che_nom) though the tasty fried chicken made up for it. Hubs' tan chi (softboiled egg over buttered toast) was nothing to shout about but he did say the bread was good, as it was soft and had body, like brioche. 

Be forewarned. If you arrive after 8am on a weekend, good luck to you circling around the area looking for parking. I dragged my parents out at 7.20am. We came before twice at 9+am and lunchtime, both unsuccessful because there was just no parking in the vicinity. Oh and expect higher than average Penang prices, though I think KL folks won't feel much pain paying RM10+ for a bowl of noodles 😂

#oowhitecoffee #foodblogger #Malaysianfoodblogger #kopitiam #penangfood #Penangkopitiam #Malaysianfoodie #penangcafe
After trying out so many famous #Nyonyarestaurant After trying out so many famous  #Nyonyarestaurants, Bibik's Kitchen remains my undisputed No 1 choice. Yes, it's not so well known nor does it appear on that many "best of" lists, but that's because the food here is cooked home-style. Nor are they active on socmed. 

Meaning the taste is not so commercial because there is no msg, no excessive amounts of salt or chilli - the dishes are made using generations-old family recipes.

And guess what? One of the most critical foodies I know gives it the thumbs-up. My mum :)

I was nervous about bringing her because as a terrific cook herself, her standards are damn high. But she was sold after her first bite of her favourite dish  #otak-otak, which she praised for its super smooth texture, subtle flavours with a strong but not overwhelming fragrance of daun kaduk. "Mum's otak-otak also tastes like this," she commented, referring to herself la. Translation: that's the pinnacle of praise 🤣

Otak2 aside, Bibik's chicken dishes are some of the best. This round, I haven't found Penang any chicken #karikapitan that comes close, and the #inchikabin is superb as well. 

And if you come for lunch, you must try the #Nyonyakuih here, which is actually sold in Kuih by Bibik, run by the Mum Girlie on nearby Lebuh Clarke 

Kuih by Bibik's is THE BEST Penang #nyonyakuih I've eaten - and only a few ppl know because the Nyonya Girlie makes it in very small batches. Unlike the commercially made versions, you can really taste the difference in terms of the quality of ingredients. My mum and I can both make Nyonya kuih (OK I can only make kuih bingka) so we know our stuff lah :p

#penangfood #nyonyacuisine
One of the more delicious discoveries I've made re One of the more delicious discoveries I've made recently in Ipoh, @hyggebakehouseipoh is a cosy #Ipohbakery making their own #shokupan (fluffy and soft while retaining a nice bite) #sourdough and all kinds of cakes, cookies and desserts, including one of the best #brownies I've eaten - very chocolatey and almost as fudgy as @718pizza (which also makes a killer giler-fudgy brownie). Luckily the cafe is quite far from my house, or else very dangerous for my diet haha. Proud too that the quality of bakeries in Ipoh is Comparable to KL. The inside-flowy basque cheesecake at @girliescafe
remains my all time favourite.

Glad I followed your recommendation @milockosong 🤗

#Ipoheats #Ipohcafes
No chicken? Eat duck lor :P Stumbled across @what No chicken? Eat duck lor :P

Stumbled across @whattheducksetia when it was a quirky little cafe on Nagore Road many years ago. Was so impressed by the quality of the food - its fine dining but at such humane prices.

Today, we visited its new incarnation at Setia Spice and the food is as tasty as ever. 

Hubs had the set dinner of duck confit (delectable! I actually crunched the bones!), passion fruit tea, soup and dessert while I had the spicy Indonesian bek bek pasta.

Man, I miss this ❤️

#whattheduck #duckconfit #penangfood #duck
Here's another #cheat #hack you can use if you rea Here's another #cheat #hack you can use if you really feel like eating chicken rice but can't be bothered with the whole song and dance to make proper chicken rice.

Your lifesaver? This super handy, super tasty Bentong ginger paste that I discovered in a market in Pulau Tikus market!!

What else you'll need?
1) Chicken rubbed with salt
2) Chicken stock
3) Rice

That's it!! 

Now, everybody knows that for good chicken rice, the RICE is probably more important than the chicken itself.  It's got to be a flavour bomb, literally. So how do you achieve that?

This is where the magic of the Bentong ginger paste comes in.  Aside from ginger and garlic, it's also seasoned with oyster sauce, salt, etc as well as oil which has been flavoured with all those seasonings. What I did was scoop up a few tsp of the flavoured oil, mix it with the rice and chicken stock, cook it in my rice cooker, and voila, chicken rice! Simple kan?

As for the chicken, just steam it with the ginger paste for 20 minutes and voila, the most delicious chicken rice with just three ingredients!

#3ingredientrecipes #kitchenhack #Chinesecooking #chinesecuisine #homecook #Malaysianhomecook #homechefs #weeknightdinners #easyrecipes
It's been ages since I made #samwongtan or steamed It's been ages since I made #samwongtan or steamed three eggs, the Chinese classic comfort food. I got myself a century egg and salted duck egg from the Batu Lanchang market so decided to make it again.

How do you get flawless steamed 3 eggs?

1. Use an egg: liquid ratio of 1: slightly less than 2. Yes, 2 is the gold standard but I found it just a little on the side of watery so a bit less will do the trick. For the liquid, you can use either water or stock. If you use water, just season more.

2. Whisk the egg mixture until lump free before steaming. 

3. When you are ready to steam, place the egg custard on the steaming tray only when the water is boiling already. Then reduce to medium low and steam for 10 min.

If you have any other good tips, pls leave them in the comments below :) 

#Chinesecooking #homecook #homecooking #eggs #eggdishes #healthyeating #steamedeggs #foodie #Malaysianhomecook #vegetarian #eggrecipes #vegetarianrecipes
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