Twelve and a half years ago* at The Grace Hotel, Sydney, I ran a series of Malaysian cooking masterclasses, each week focusing on a different theme. On the week I did Nyonya cuisine, a food brand came forward to sponsor some of the ingredients we would be using in our cooking session. Never one to…
Does this sound like you? I’m looking to work with a handful of select people who want to master Malaysian hawker cooking via online coaching. These are the attributes I’m looking for.
Truth be told, growing up in Seremban, Dosai (aka Dosa) was never on my radar. (Though, in my defence, I can’t be the only Malaysian who’s all about roti canai when eating breakfast at a mamak stall.) Times have changed however, and we now eat dosai at home practically every day (by “we”, I mean…
A Cookbook for the Durian-Curious I get it: durian is divisive. Some people can’t get enough of its pungent aroma and creamy texture, while others run for the hills at the mere mention of it. But what if I told you there’s a middle ground? A way to enjoy the unique flavour of durian without…
A few weeks ago, I launched a new range of handcrafted curry pastes online, and I now finally have a chance to actually explain what they are and how to use them. First of all though, a bit of background – As many of you would know, I use to be the owner-cook of my…
This is a post covering some troubleshooting and tips for your next batch of homemade tau fu fah. It’s not a recipe post, since I’ve already previously shared the recipe: Here (making it from scratch) – https://jackiem.com.au/2019/07/24/how-to-make-tofu-pudding-taufu-fa/ and here (using the shortcut version) – https://jackiem.com.au/2022/05/11/how-to-make-easy-taufu-fah-sweet-tofu-pudding/ and since I don’t monetise the content on this site,…
Since Covid travel restrictions ended in 2022, Paul, Noah, and I have visited Malaysia five times. During some of these trips, we teamed up with our Masters of Malaysian Cuisine (MOMC) chefs and YouTube content creators like the Dodo Explorers and the Jetlag Warriors. Other times, it was just the three of us. We even…
There’s a story behind this dish. The Malays use fermented durian (tempoyak) in a number of dishes including in a prawn sambal (it’s called Sambal Tempoyak Udang). Back when I had my restaurant here in Sydney, my Malay staff (Iza and Tawfik) taught me how to cook this dish but because we didn’t have any…
When I first came to Australia in 1984 I watched an Australian TV chef misconvey how to handle a basic Asian ingredient (rice vermicelli) on breakfast television. It made me so angry I swore off watching cooking shows, and the passage of time hasn’t really repaired my cynicism about TV chefs (I’ve never even watched…
I’d always assumed high-powered gas stoves were my only option if I wanted to – 1) use my round-bottom traditional Chinese woks 2) generate good “wok hei”. That was before I met Kenneth Lim, the owner of Omnomnom Food Truck in Perth. Kenneth convinced old-school (behind-the-times?) me that chefs in China have long ago adopted…