In all the years I’ve cooked Live On Air, I’ve elicited more comments about the Thermomix TM5 behind me than all my other kitchen gadgets and utensils put together. I usually brush these off by telling my audience that it’s really just a multi-function kitchen unit and that I mostly use it as a glorified food processor.
I do that partly because I don’t want the conversation distracted from the dish at hand that I happen to be showcasing, and partly because frankly, the novelty factor of owning a Thermomix wore off a long time ago. So I generally space off on any questions or comments about my Thermomix.
Unless, of course, you happen to be the Queen of Malaysia. Her Majesty Queen Azizah was Live on Air with my Masters of Malaysian Cuisine group for 90 minutes during our New Year’s Eve special, and she noticed my Thermomix and expressed interest in how I use it, not for anything special, but for everyday cooking.
This perfectly aligns with how I treat the Thermomix – I don’t subscribe to Thermomix recipe portals or use it because of wanting to follow any special diet; I don’t time everything to the second or stress out over what speed I should be using for what ingredients.
And I’ve been known to get irked when asked how one should adapt my TM5 recipes for their TM6/TM31 etc. because, to me, everything is “agak-agak” (ie. guesstimated) anyway.
I decided to make this video in response to the Queen’s question; part of it covers the fundamentals of a Thermomix and its functions, then I go into some detail regarding the kind of stuff for which I find it helpful.
Watch here >> https://youtu.be/29gvcUYD2dc
Here’s a non-exhaustive list of tasks in my kitchen, where the Thermomix is my appliance of choice –
- Fish paste for Yong Tau Foo (stuffed tofu & vegetables)
- Hainanese Bread dough making
- Roti canai dough
- Tough Asian herbs like galangal and lemongrass
- Kaya
- Soy milk and tofu pudding
- Malaysian soft-boiled eggs
- Dried chilli paste
- Prawn noodle paste
- Ikan bilis powder
In broad strokes, the Thermomix performs functions in a time and energy-efficient way; some jobs could just as easily be done by your regular food processor/blender/steamer/etc. so you may struggle to parse its usefulness especially considering the cost investment. Where it stands out is when you need the extra processing power to handle tough ingredients, and in tasks where you need to stir something for long periods at a set temperature.
When I get the chance I’ll collate the recipes that are mentioned in the video, so if you want to be first in line to get them, make sure you sign up to my email list via the form on this page.