Stories and recipes from a Malaysian home kitchen
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…
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…
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…
Shallot prawns – this wonderfully simple, yet astonishingly delicious recipe comes courtesy of Auntie Choong, matriarch of the family that lived across the road. The Choong family played a big part in my formative years. Dear Auntie Choong had ten children, out of whom I was close to a few, particularly her youngest son Mark….
Every Chinese family has their version of the classic soya sauce chicken, but when I saw a photo of Alfred Lam’s rendition, I immediately wanted his recipe. Look at that glistening honey-brown skin! I bet that got you drooling. Now, scroll down and check out this cross-section of the meat. . . . . ….
Next to kai si hor fun, wat tan hor must be the most popular noodle dish in Ipoh. I’ve never received so many responses to my Instastories until I posted a picture of the wat tan hor I made last Friday! A rich eggy sauce poured over wok-charred rice noodles loaded with vegetables and…
What could be so luxurious about chicken porridge? If you make them the way my Aunt Wong Kim Yeng does, then it is SUPER luxurious. In fact, better than any dim sum restaurant out there! I found out about her special porridge way back in 2006. I had just moved to Kuala Lumpur permanently to…
Sang har meen brings back wonderful memories. Growing up, I would visit my relatives in Bukit Bintang whenever I came to Kuala Lumpur. The neighbourhood was a hotspot for sang har meen, a popular Chinese restaurant dish featuring giant river prawns atop a bed of crispy noodles swimming in a rich briny sauce. Yum!! The…
Growing up in Ipoh, I got to know claypot chicken rice at a very young age. I still remember where I ate it: a roadside stall in Hugh Low Street. The uncle and aunty would monitor multiple claypots on stoves like hawks, holding fans to control the flame and lifting the lids occasionally to check…
Every Chinese family has its own style of preparing steamed fish. This recipe is simple but has a special technique that my dad came up with himself. Growing up, I ate steamed fish almost every other day. My parents always worry I cannot get quality fish in KL. So whenever they know I’m coming back…
A savoury cake that Malaysians eat as a traditional snack, yam cake or woo thau koh is the ultimate flavour bomb. We’re right smack into the 2nd phase of the COVID19 MCO as I write this. Last week, I was getting bored of the usual Chinese dishes and pastas, and started fantasizing about some kopitiam…
Ooof, how I love loh mai fan or fried glutinous rice! Not to be confused with loh mai kai, although they share common ingredients, this traditional Chinese dish is stir-fried with sausage, dried shrimps, shitake mushroom, and flavoured with aromatics. In other words, an umami bomb! In case you’re wondering about the difference between loh…
Bittergourd, dried shrimp and fried beehoon? Sounds strange? Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it, though. When this dish appeared at a table in a Chinese restaurant in Kuching a few years ago, I was skeptical as well. Seeing the look on my face, my Kuching host merely smiled and told me that it’s a…
Who doesn’t love pak cham kai? You know, the poached chicken used in Hainanese chicken rice. Gently cooked in water that’s been flavoured with aromatics, the meat turns out mouth meltingly tender while retaining its moist juiciness. Even fried chicken cannot compare. But I’ve never thought about making it. Looking at videos of making Hainanese…
Angel hair pasta tossed in scallion oil, dark and light soya sauce, boiled broccoli and prawn gyoza. Super simple, super yummy, and quite healthy 😊 What’s scallion oil, you ask? It’s the main star in cong yau meen or scallion oil noodles, which I first heard of when I watched The Wandering Earth, a Chinese…
