Favourite Malaysian and Asian recipes with time-saving hacks
How can a banana cake recipe be brave? Well, the baker has to be brave … when she declares that you don’t need weighing scales to make it. … say what? Yup, you heard right. You can make this moist, tender, amazingly delicious banana cake using just measuring cups and eyeballing. Now, I’ve been told…
Pengat pisang is one of the simplest and most comforting Malaysian desserts you can make — a warm pot of bananas simmered gently in coconut milk, sugar, and pandan. I fell in love with it back in my USM days, when Desa Cahaya’s canteen would rotate different types of pengat every day: gandum, kacang hijau,…
Dear roasted red pepper sauce, where have you been, all of my life? I’m scrambling for words to describe its awesomeness. To give you an idea, after taking one bite of this dish, hubby’s first comment was, “This one can serve to guests”. To give credit where it’s due, I actually got the idea from…
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…
As hubby reached for his third slice of my veggie pizza, he grunted, “Make sure you write down the recipe.” Woah, write it down? That was how I knew I had a winner on my hands. Hubby has never explicitly requested me to write down a recipe before. Who thought a VEGETARIAN PIZZA made using…
Chicken nanban: this dish was born of an accident really. My hubby was experimenting with a newfangled method to make soft-boiled eggs and ended up making hard-boiled eggs instead. What to do? Why, make chicken nanban of course! Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of it. In Malaysia where I live, chicken dishes in…
Sometimes called noodle salad, kerabu beehoon is a Nyonya dish of rice vermicelli and lots of fresh herbs and aromatics, tossed with a spicy sauce and zesty lime juice. Colourful and refreshing, it’s a delicious representation of Malaysia’s diverse culinary culture. While I’ve eaten this many times before, it took a weekend getaway at EQ…
I never, ever thought I would cook lamb, let alone lamb pilaf. For a long time, I was under the impression that lamb/mutton needs hours of pre-boiling to soften the tough meat, until recently. Using my Le Creuset Dutch Oven and Made-in-Malaysia mixed spice brand Opah Herbs, I attempted to cook lamb shoulder. To my…
When it comes to egg breakfast recipes, the Middle East is truly a gift that keeps on giving. The region has blessed us with wonderful egg-centric creations like shakshuka, menemen and cirbil. And I’ve just recently discovered another stunning dish called Afghani omelette. No, despite its name, this doesn’t look like the omelette that we…
Is there a more beautiful sight than perfectly poached eggs? Until now, I get a little thrill whenever I make poached eggs successfully. Not only is poaching one of the healthiest methods to cook eggs, they are darn delicious and look so beautiful! They’re also tricky to make. Until a few weeks ago, getting them…
Does this braised fish head with dried beancurd (fuchuk) look appetising or gruesome to you? 🙂 It definitely makes my mouth water. This dish is my father’s invention – well sort of. Years ago, while he was buying groceries at the local market, he saw a particularly fresh looking piece of fish head. Being a…
Becoming rich and famous was not on KP Kwan’s mind when he set up his Youtube channel Taste of Asian food in 2016. He merely wanted to create an archive for recipes that he developed for Bakeroni, a neighbourhood café he runs in Taman Desa, Kuala Lumpur, with his wife Moi Ching. But fate had…
What my first catering job taught me about organizational efficiency A few weeks ago, I uploaded a recipe post for a roasted peppers potato salad. The first comment was from Rachel Ang, who declared she loves potato salad. Our banter went on for a bit, until she posted this jaw-dropper: “That looks delicious! I was…
Four Malaysian men who cook actively share their formative experiences and kitchen tips they’ve picked up along the way. Cook for passion? It didn’t quite start out that way for my friends Vemanna Appannah, Kenny Fong, Rahmat Shazi and Choen Lee. One was conscripted as “free labour” in his sister’s home science experiments. Another was…
Who loves salted egg dishes? Salted egg chicken, salted egg prawns, salted egg crabs … drool! Savoury, sweet and creamy, it lends an instant moreish luxe to anything it’s added to. But I’ve not thought about cooking it with pumpkin until I watched Cooking Ah Pa’s Youtube video. It all started when I had a…
