How to Make Steamed Char Siew Pao (Thermomix)

In episode 2 of our weekly Live broadcast, Zona and I made steamed buns. Since I don’t eat pork, I made mine with a chicken filling. Zona used BBQ pork with her batch. Recipe for the dough and the filling as follows (you can substitute the chicken mince with diced BBQ pork)  Simple Bun Recipe - 400g low gluten flour (or superfine/HK/pao » Read More

30 Days, 30 Asian Ingredients – Periscope Series

I guess I’d always known that there’s something of a learning curve involved as far as the topic of Asian ingredients is concerned. This became starkly evident to me when I was working on my Truly Malaysian Street Food at Home cookbook, when my American editor struggled to keep up with half the stuff in my recipes. “What is thick caramel sauce » Read More

How does a Thermomix Handle Asian Ingredients?

I remember as a kid back in my Templer Flat days in Seremban, one of my neighbours once brought a gigantic stone mill up to their 11th floor unit and set it up on their balcony. It was so heavy and our block of welfare units was so flimsy I wondered their balcony was going to one day break off under the weight of the mill. I think they used it » Read More

How to Make Maggi Crab Noodles – Travel Diary Kelantan – Part 9

Recipe for Maggi Ketam (Claypot Crab with Maggi Noodles) from Indra Tom Yam One trend I’ve noticed in my trips to Malaysia in recent years is the use of Maggi ie. instant noodles in some street food dishes. You might come across Maggi Goreng (ie. fried Maggi noodles) cooked Mee Goreng-style at some food courts, and I’ve had Maggi Udang ie. Mee » Read More

How to Make Squid Ketupat – Travel Diary Kelantan – Part 8

Recipes for Ketupat Sotong (Squid Stuffed with Glutinous Rice) and Kerabu Pucuk Nipah (Palm Shoots Salad) from Perdana Resort, Kota Bharu We showed up at Perdana Resort, a beachside property, for the next two cooking demonstrations - and found another extravagant banquet had been prepared for us that included Kelantan’s very unique laksa (I will » Read More

How to Make Ayam Percik – Travel Diary Kelantan – Part 7

Recipe for Ayam Percik (Grilled Chicken) from Cikgu Garden Chalet We next headed to a Kampung Stay called Cikgu Garden Chalet - a pristine village with manicured gardens in the middle of rural Kota Bharu. Cikgu Garden Chalet in Kota Bharu, KelantanFlashback: Cikgu Garden Chalet in Kota Bharu, Kelantan Posted by Jackie M. on » Read More

Seterpa Homestay – Travel Diary Kelantan – Part 5

Seterpa Homestay and other food stops We traveled about 20 minutes to our next location to Seterpa Homestay, and as you can see, you don’t have to travel very far out of the city centre to experience Kelantan in all its rural glory. Pulling up to Seterpa Homestay in KelantanFLASHBACK: Pulling up to Seterpa Homestay in Kelantan Posted » Read More

How to Prepare Tamarind Paste

A quick video to show you how I extract tamarind paste from a block. Tamarind is used quite extensively in Malaysian and Southeast Asian cooking, so this is something that's handy to make in batches and freeze. Fun facts about tamarind - 1) Tamarind is a sour fruit, the pulp of which is used in a lot of Southeast Asian recipes. 2) You can find » Read More

How to Make Nasi Tumpang – Travel Diary Kelantan – Part 4

Recipes for Nasi Tumpang, Betel Leaf Bites and Traditional Herb Drink We were served a huge banquet by Kak Yah at Min House Camp, but we also had the opportunity to learn 3 Kelantan dishes at the retreat - 1. Nasi Tumpang (Rice in Banana Leaf Cones) This is a banana leaf cone filled with alternating layers of compressed rice and different types » Read More

Min House Camp – Travel Diary Kelantan – Part 3

Min House Camp & Dikir Barat Competition Still on Day 1 of my Kelantan trip and if you thought lunch followed by dinner within the space of 4 hours would be plenty of food to last us the rest of the night, you’d be mistaken. We were headed next to a retreat in a rural setting, called Min House Camp. Baby Noah had fallen asleep after the » Read More