Which brings me to The Takoyaki Bakery, a Japanese baked goods stall that started operating a few months ago at the same monthly market I’m at ie. Concord Hospital Market.

The first time we saw The Takoyaki Bakery stall signage, I assumed their signature menu item would be takoyaki (squid-stuffed savoury balls cooked in moulds), but in fact, they don’t sell takoyaki at all.

What they do sell is even better – handcrafted Japanese baked treats that are delicate, light and airy, with just the right (Asian) level of sweetness.

The person behind the business is Ayano, who, as it turns out, has more in common with me than I realised when she first came by our stall and introduced herself – I quit my career as an IT engineer to cook Malaysian food; Ayano quit her career as a doctor (I know, right?) to bake Japanese treats.

Ever since our first encounter, Paul and I have been obsessed with Ayano’s products – I remember we shared her Matcha Almond Croissant between us in the van on our way home after Concord Hospital Market day, and right afterwards we decided we couldn’t wait a whole month before we got to eat it again, so we started googling The Takoyaki Bakery’s social media accounts for her market schedule.

Don’t tell her, but I even started looking up “Japanese baked recipes” to see if I could attempt making these treats myself, without any luck. (The closest I could find was a recipe for regular Almond Croissants, which I tweaked by reducing the sugar and adding matcha/pandan powder – but it was a very poor dupe of The Takoyaki Bakery’s version and a cold reminder for me to stay in my Malaysian cooking lane.)

Apart from The Takoyaki Bakery, Ayano has also recently launched her own podcast on Spotify called From Dough to Dreams, which…

“…is a podcast exploring the stories behind people in the food industry — from market stall owners to purpose-driven food businesses.
Hosted by Ayano from The Takoyaki Bakery, each episode dives into how people turn what they love into a sustainable, meaningful, and abundant life.
We talk about the real journey — the struggles, the money, the wins, and what it truly means to build a life through food.”

It just so happens that yours truly was the first guest on From Dough to Dreams; you can catch our conversation here –

The Takoyaki Bakery’s calendar is getting very packed lately, with some big annual events along with regular monthly markets, which is great news for those of us looking to get our fix of Japanese baked goods in Sydney; Ayano regularly posts her schedule on Instagram, so it’s definitely an account I would recommend you follow.

When you drop in at her stall, make sure you also say hello to Ayano’s mom, who is her biggest supporter and helper, with her own inspiring backstory as a first-generation Japanese immigrant to Australia.

Follow The Takoyaki Bakery on Instagram –Instagram.com/the_takoyaki_bakery/
Follow the podcast on Spotify – From Dough to Dreams

Concord Hospital Market runs once a month from 9am-2pm, usually on the last Thursday, at The Green (entry via Gate 2, Hospital Road, Concord).

Check Ayano’s calendar on Instagram to make sure she’s attending before you show up, since she’s very busy with all her events.

The post From Dough to Dreams – Podcast Interview first appeared on Jackie M..

On occasion, she would also cook chicken hearts as a standalone dish, and it was always done the same way – with sautéed garlic and ginger and lots of thick soya sauce (an Asian grocery ingredient that’s labelled nowadays as cooking caramel, and no, it’s not the same as kicap manis).

I’ve used this agak-agak (guesstimated) recipe my whole life, especially since chicken hearts (when you can find them) are generally pretty cheap here in Australia. I was convinced I’d shared the recipe here on my website in the past until someone hit me up for it earlier this week and I realised I couldn’t find it among the hundreds of posts I’ve published over the last 15 years or so.

So here it is at last – keep in mind that cooking this dish is so innately instinctual (truthfully that’s how I approach almost all of my cooking) that I don’t really measure anything – it’s kind of like a dash of this, a pinch of that etc. – so don’t take the amounts in the recipe below as gospel.

I don’t always use oyster sauce, only when it’s within reach (just adjust the flavours as needed). You could also add a dash of Chinese cooking wine after you’ve sizzled the ginger/garlic, and maybe even a pinch or two of five spice powder, if that’s your thing.

You could sauté some diced fresh onion alongside the garlic & ginger to give the dish more texture, or you could just fold in some store-bought fried onion towards the end to help thicken up the sauce while also giving it some texture (if you do use fried onion from a packet, it might naturally thicken up the sauce to the point you can skip the cornstarch/tapioca starch step since they almost invariably contain cornstarch already).

You’ll see in the two photos of braised chicken hearts I managed to dig up and share here, that one has a thinner sauce while the other has more texture and is drier. Either works – it’s all up to you.

If you can’t get your hands on cooking caramel (ie. thick soya sauce), you can replace it with dark soya sauce but you’d want to then omit the regular (light) soya sauce because dark soya sauce is a lot saltier than cooking caramel.

Recipe: Chinese-Style Braised Chicken Hearts 

INGREDIENTS:

1kg chicken hearts
1 TBSP cooking oil
5 slices ginger
1.5 TBSP minced garlic
1 TBSP cooking caramel (aka thick soya sauce)
2 tsp oyster sauce
2 tsp soya sauce
½ tsp chicken powder (optional)
½ tsp white pepper
2 tsp cornstarch/tapioca starch + 1 TBSP water OR 2 TBSP store-bought fried onion
1 stalk spring onion, sliced, for garnish

METHOD

1. Heat oil in a (preferably) heavy-based pan; add ginger slices and garlic, and sizzle for 15-30 seconds or until aromatic but not burnt.
2. Add chicken hearts and sauté briefly.
3. Add cooking caramel, oyster sauce, soya sauce, chicken powder (if using) and white pepper. Cover and simmer on medium heat, stirring occasionally – the chicken hearts should produce some juices as they cook, but if you feel it needs it, you can add a little water to the pan.
4. Braise until the chicken hearts are cooked through – about 10 minutes; if it’s too saucy or if the sauce is too thin, thicken it with a cornstarch or tapioca starch + water mix, or alternatively add a couple of tablespoons of fried onion and simmer a little further until it’s the preferred consistency. Adjust seasoning if required; remove from heat, top with spring onion, and serve.

The post How to Cook Chinese Home-Style Chicken Hearts first appeared on Jackie M..

Since she was incidentally coming over to my place for a meal the following week, I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone – film some content around different ways to use my Handcrafted Dry Cooking Kits (something I’d been meaning to do), and simultaneously serve her and the rest of our lunch guests the food from this filming session to prove first hand that my kits work when used correctly.

While I was at it, I decided to also make some Onde-Onde (glutinous rice flour dumplings stuffed with gula melaka and rolled in shredded coconut), the kit for which you will soon be able to buy from my online store – Shop.JackieM.com.au (along with others).

My aim was to demo different cooking methods using the Handcrafted Cooking Kits – rendang in the oven, lamb curry in the ThermoCook, sambal ikan bilis (tweaked from my Sambal Belacan kit by adding garlic, sliced onion, sugar and coconut cream) in a stainless steel wok.

Here’s the 40-minute Live broadcast demo-ing each of these, plus the Nasi Lemak rice and the Onde-Onde, with my narration that explains all the Malaysian restaurant shortcuts I have developed and used over the last 30+ years –

1. Oven Method (also works in a Slow Cooker but increase the cooking time to 5-6 hours)

Easy Beef Rendang 

1.2 kg beef, cut into 2.5cm cubes (chuck or chuck crest, brisket, etc.)
1 Family-Size pack of Jackie M’s Handcrafted Dry Rendang Kit
1 cup water
4-5 TBSP oil
1 cup coconut cream

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 160’C.
2. Place beef cubes in an oven-proof dish.
3. Add all other ingredients and mix well.
4. Cover with foil or lid and cook in oven for 3 hours or until meat is tender.

I would suggest checking halfway through to see if it’s too saucy or too dry; if the former, remove the lid so it reduces, and if the latter, just add more liquid (water and/or coconut cream).

2. ThermoCook/Thermomix Method

Easy Malaysian Lamb Curry

1.2kg lamb, cut into 2cm cubes
1 Family-Size pack of Jackie M’s Handcrafted Dry Meat Curry Kit
1/2 cup water
4-5 TBSP oil
1 cup coconut cream

METHOD

1. If using a ThermoCook, insert the stirrer in the mixing bowl.
2. Combine all ingredients in bowl, then cook (for ThermoCook – 130’C for 50 mins; for Thermomix – 120’C for 45 mins on Reverse Stir) until meat is tender.

I would suggest checking after about 30 minutes to see if it needs more liquid (water and/or coconut cream) and adjust as necessary.

If you’re in the market for a ThermoCook, you can buy one through my affiliate link here – JackieM.com.au/ThermoCookBuy – drop me a message with a copy of your receipt when you do, and I’d be happy to give you one year’s membership to my online Malaysian Cooking Club, where you get access to my twice-weekly cook-alongs on Zoom.

3. Stovetop Method

Sambal Ikan Bilis with Coconut Cream

100g ikan bilis (dried anchovies), rinsed, then fried until crispy (substitute – prawns or squid, which you can precook or cook in the sauce below)

Sauce –
1 Mini-Pack of Jackie M’s Handcrafted Sambal Belacan 5-Minute Version
1/4 cup water
3 TBSP cooking oil
2 tsp minced garlic (optional)
1/2 onion, sliced (optional)
1/2 cup coconut cream/coconut milk (optional)
2 TBSP sugar (or to taste)
Dash of lemon juice/lime juice/tamarind extract
Dash of soya sauce (optional)

METHOD

1. Mix contents of pack with water.
2. Heat oil in a pan, then add the Sambal Belacan paste and sauté for a couple of minutes, until oil separates.
3. Add all other ingredients, simmer, adjust seasoning (it should have a sweet-sour vibe), and serve with ikan bilis tossed in or on the side.

Note that I’ve listed the garlic, sliced onions and coconut cream/coconut milk as optional since the version I made at my restaurant back in the day didn’t contain them anyway. This recipe shared here is what we grew up eating at home as cooked by my stepmom.

Nasi Lemak (Coconut Rice)

4 cups jasmine rice
5 cups water
1/3 cup coconut milk powder
1 tsp salt
2 pandan leaves, tied in a knot (optional)

METHOD:

1. Combine all ingredients except coconut milk powder in a saucepan or rice cooker; cover and cook until done – about 20 mins.
2. If using a saucepan + lid, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to the lowest setting and continue cooking until all the water is absorbed and rice is fluffy. Do NOT remove lid or stir the rice at any point until it’s fully cooked.
3. Transfer rice into a large mixing bowl, add coconut milk powder and stir well. Remove pandan leaves (if using) and serve.

Onde-Onde Recipe

INGREDIENTS

2 cups glutinous rice flour
Water to make a soft, non-tacky dough
Several drops pandan concentrate OR 1 TBSP pandan powder OR enough pandan leaf extract to produce a green dough
1 cup desiccated coconut
100g gula aren/gula jawa/gula melaka, grated
Water for boiling the dumplings

METHOD:

1. Place glutinous rice flour into a mixing bowl.
2. Optionally remove 1/4 cup of the flour and to that, add some boiling water and mix into a starchy paste. Note that this is an extra step that I occasionally take, to help prevent the dumplings from splitting too easily when they’re being boiled. It seems to help but it’s not that big a deal. Set aside.
3. Add pandan colouring/extract/powder (whichever you’re using) to the mixing bowl.
4. Gradually add water while mixing the glutinous rice flour by hand, then knead until you get a soft, non-tacky mixture. Return the starchy paste from Step 2 into the mixing bowl, and knead further until well blended.
5. Start heating up some water in a pot.
6. Roll up the grated palm sugar into marble-sized balls.
7. Pinch the dough and roll into balls about 2cm in diameter.
8. Stuff the dough with the palm sugar, seal, then drop into boiling pot of water.
9. Repeat, making sure the onde-onde balls don’t get stuck on the bottom of the pot.
10. Remove with slotted spoon when balls float to the top and remain there for 20 seconds.
11. Transfer into bowl with desiccated coconut and toss.
12. Remove and allow to cool slightly before serving.

Did you already grab my PDF collection of recipe ideas for my Handcrafted Dry Cooking Kits? If not, you can do so here – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RyIGtoIwWkwDoPbXJ811aa8T15Olt2HA/view?usp=sharing

The post Restaurant Hacks for a Malaysian Feast: Nasi Lemak, Rendang, Lamb Curry & Onde-Onde first appeared on Jackie M..

This was what they looked like –

These packs were popular enough that when Costco opened up in Sydney, someone from their management dropped in at my restaurant and expressed interest in stocking my meals at their store. The catch was that I had to build my own factory with not just HACCP but also Costco certification; making them at my restaurant wasn’t going to cut it. 

When I said no, I thought that would be the end of the matter, but then they came back and referred me to a couple of factories which did contract manufacturing for some of your household name celebrity chefs – chefs whose meals you might pick up in the ready-made meals section of your local Woolies etc.

I went and checked them out, and I remember one of the manufacturers was very keen, showing off a Neil Perry product made at their facility. I read the list of ingredients on the label and it consisted of – olive oil, salt and pepper. 

Obviously not all dishes need much more than just a dash of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste spectacular. But my food is very ingredient-heavy and has stuff in it that is not in your typical Aussie pantry. No worries, said the factory, we will source it all for you. 

So right after the meeting, I sent them my 20-ingredient Malaysian lamb curry recipe for them to test. And they ghosted me. Either they took my recipe and ran off with it before we signed a confidentiality agreement – or, more likely, they decided it’s too complicated and were just too embarrassed to admit failure.

So that was that. When I closed my restaurant I got rid of my frozen meal range altogether but I continued to ponder how to get my dishes into your home kitchen. 

The fact is, I don’t actually think there’s anything particularly difficult about cooking most Malaysian dishes once you have all the ingredients. The difficulty is getting the right ingredients in the first place, knowing what to do with them, and then having to buy a jar or pack of this and that and a handful of something else that you might use once before it sits in the back of your pantry/fridge until it goes off (been there, done that).

And of course, there’s a level of assumed knowledge in Malaysian recipes or cookbooks that require you to figure out the difference between shrimp paste (belacan) and prawn paste (petis udang/heiko) especially when one of the more well-known brands of the latter is often also sold as “shrimp paste”. Or palm sugar from Thailand vs palm sugar from Malaysia. Or confusing dark soya sauce with thick soya sauce/cooking caramel/kicap manis etc. etc.

And that’s where my Handcrafted by Jackie M. Dry Cooking Kits come in. I’m not cooking a meal for you – you still need to cook it (which means you can rightfully and proudly claim you cooked the dish yourself). 

But I’ve done all the hard work in translating my original recipes into dry formats, so they contain everything you need to recreate my dishes – you just need to add the fresh ingredients – basically your choice of protein plus coconut cream/coconut milk (depending on the dish). 

The kit takes care of the part that involves sourcing and measuring all those ingredients that make up the flavour. And depending on where you live, you may not even be able to find the ingredients in your neck of the woods, or you have to settle for a brand that we Malaysians roll our eyes at.

When I first launched this range in 2024, I called them Dry Curry Pastes (I’ve never claimed to be a branding genius). The fact is, though, these are not one-dish recipes – you can actually use the kits in ways other than what they were originally translated from. Eg. you could use the Laksa Nyonya kit for a vegetable curry or as fried rice seasoning, and the Sambal Belacan for chilli prawns, eggplant sambal, and much more. 

Here’s a collection of recipes and recipe ideas I’ve put together, to give you some inspiration for how to use these them (click on image to view or download the PDF) – 

The other thing I’ve been thinking about is what happens after someone has bought one kit – if you like cooking with them, you probably don’t want to have to remember to order another one when you’ve run out. 

If you’re going to cook Malaysian food regularly, I would propose that you keep a few of these kits sitting in your pantry – they have an inordinately long shelf life (I’ve tested some packs from when I started working on the range two years ago, and they’re still as fresh as the day I vacuum-sealed them).

Anyway, that’s the thinking behind the new Handcrafted Pantry Subscription.

Each month, I’ll send out two Family Pack-sized cooking kits, along with recipe cards showing different ways to use them, plus a small Malaysian pantry extra. The idea is to keep the pantry stocked while giving you a reason to use what’s already there in a different way.

You can subscribe to the Handcrafted Pantry Subscription here – https://shop.jackiem.com.au/products/monthly-pantry-subscription?utm_source=copyToPasteBoard&utm_medium=product-links&utm_content=web

To shop for the entire range, just visit Shop.JackieM.com.au 

Finally, I get asked all the time exactly how much water/coconut cream/protein to use and how long to cook it for. It’s not an exact science because it all depends on what cut of meat you use, what you cook it in etc. 

By way of an example, the end result of a beef rendang should be dry-ish, so you work backwards from there. Use enough water/coconut cream to simmer it down and if the meat is still tough, add more liquid and continue to simmer until done.  If you prefer a more saucy beef rendang, go ahead and use more liquid – just don’t turn it into a soup and you’ll be right. If you accidentally add too much liquid and the meat is already very soft, just take out the meat and reduce the sauce, then add it back in. 

Most of my other curries are rich and creamy with some sauce – think of a goulash if you like. So work backwards from that. I plan to do more videos on how to use these kits so subscribe to my YouTube.com/@jackiem channel and turn on the notifications so you don’t miss my upcoming content.

The post Why I Turned My Restaurant Recipes Into Cooking Kits first appeared on Jackie M..

For the longest time, I avoided Hakka Lei Cha (aka Lui Cha in Hakka) because I thought it was something you’d eat if you’d lost a bet, or if you were on a diet – it just looked too healthy and vegan to be enjoyable.

So despite being 100% Hakka, I’d never had Hakka Lei Cha until I had a go at making it myself a couple of weeks ago. In other words, when I finally tested it out, absent any past personal experience to compare it against, I could only rely on Paul’s memory for how it should taste. 

That’s because, unlike this Hakka moi, our South African Paul did in fact eat Hakka Lei Cha when we visited a Hakka settlement in Machap (Melaka) courtesy of Tourism Malaysia a few years back. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t just more game about eating it than me, he even had a go at making it during the Hakka Lei Cha workshop conducted by our hosts.

This video includes footage filmed during the Machap Hakka Village workshop –

By the way, Hakka Lei Cha is also known as Thunder Tea, BUT the common opinion that the term comes from the thunderous sound of the paste being pounded is wrong – the written Chinese character for “Lei/Lui” is the word “to grind”, not “thunder” (both words share the same pronunciation in the three Chinese dialects I know). 

Also, during our Machap Hakka Village visit, our Hakka hosts demonstrated how the tea paste was made, and it involved rolling and grinding (not pounding) the wooden pestle against the ridged walls of the purpose-built bowl in a circular motion. 

This means the correct process of making Lei Cha does not in fact produce thunderous sounds, contrary to the made-up claim of those trying to explain why it’s called “Thunder Tea”. Having said that, the Michelin Guide website says “Thunder Tea” is a fun & accepted nameplay for the dish, so who knows (definitely not this particular Hakka).

So what is Hakka Lei Cha anyway? It’s a rice bowl that comes with different toppings such as peanuts, salted radish, tofu, cooked shredded vegetables eg. snake beans and leafy greens, and it’s served with a bowl of green soup poured over it, which is made from ground Chinese tea, herbs, peanuts and sesame seeds.

While it’s true that it’s predominantly vegan, it can optionally come with non-veg toppings like dried shrimp and ikan bilis (fried dried anchovies).

In my research, I came to realise that no two recipes for Hakka Lei Cha are the same; this fact is widely acknowledged, with the explanation that the dish is one borne from necessity and pragmatism, in line with my Hakka ancestors’ nomadic upbringing in hostile environments – you basically adapt the ingredients to what’s available in your neck of the woods. 

This is great news to diaspora Malaysians & Singaporeans whose biggest complaint when it comes to Malaysian cooking is usually that they can’t find the right ingredients in their part of the world.

I’m going to break down the recipe and its variations, and give my adaptation at the end (based on my own flavour preferences). 

If you were to make everything from scratch, you could expect to spend a couple of hours in the kitchen (even with my ninja skills and help from my kitchen appliances), so this is how I approach it –  

Hakka Lei Cha can essentially be split into three components – 

1. Tea Paste
2. Toppings
3. Rice & Vegetables

The tea paste and the toppings can be prepared in advance; this is what I do – 

1. Freeze the tea paste in silicone moulds, then keep the blocks in the freezer until I need to use them.
2. Cook up the toppings with long shelf lives, and store them in my pantry.
3. Cook the rice and vegetables either just before serving, or keep them in the fridge – they’ll last a few days.

Doing it this way will cut down your Hakka Lei Cha prep time on the day to 20 minutes, give or take.

When I first shared about my Hakka Lei Cha experiments, one of my fellow overseas Malaysian friends, Ivan Choy, mentioned that he treats Part 3 – ie. the rice and veggies – as a weekly fridge clear-out exercise, which is a brilliant idea because I’ve always been loathe to buy too much leafy greens since they don’t keep long in the fridge, but now I can.

If You Can’t Find Everything

Lei Cha’s biggest hurdle for most home cooks is sourcing the herbs. Here’s a breakdown of what’s essential, what’s optional, and what you can swap.

Tea paste herbs

The base herbs are Asian basil, Asian mint and coriander. One of my Malaysian Hawker Pro students in England used Western basil and Western mint as substitutes during our Zoom workshop, though I would suggest to add a touch of fresh ginger and some black peppercorns next time, to give it a bit more punch.

My recipe includes Vietnamese mint (daun kesum, also called laksa leaves or polygonum) because I had a lot left over from an event that was begging to be used up, and doing so accidentally helped enhance the flavour, at least according to Paul.

Sawtooth coriander was used in the version made at the Machap Hakka Village – I didn’t realise that until I went back through our photo archives. I’ll add it in my next batch since this is another ingredient that’s readily available in Cabramatta (we have so much to thank Vietnamese immigrants for all these herbs, really).

Mugwort is also widely available at Asian grocery stores in Sydney (I can even get it at my local Tong Li) but otherwise, substitute with rocket, or leave it out altogether.

Nuts and seeds

Roasted peanuts are standard for the paste, but I’m sure some other types of nuts would work. I’m thinking out loud but peanut butter might be a good substitute if you’re big on shortcuts (like me).

Roasted sesame seeds (white or black) are the other base ingredient in the paste. I’m guessing tahini or Chinese sesame paste could be viable replacements, though again, I haven’t tried it myself.

Toppings

The essential toppings are roasted peanuts (skin off) and preserved radish (chai poh, sometimes called salted turnip). For decades, I’ve been using Thai minced preserved radish in lieu of finger-sized salted radish for my business (specifically for my Chai Tow Kueh), but whatever you can find should work – just make sure you check how salty it is and rinse it as much as is necessary to temper the saltiness.

Various types of salted radish pictured below; they will all work but you may have to mince them if they come in big chunks –

Beyond that, you can add any combination of:

Dried anchovies (ikan bilis), dried shrimp, salted fish, crispy fried onions (I add that just because I almost always have some sitting around), crispy fried garlic.

Rice and vegetables

Jasmine rice is the usual base, though at the Hakka Village we visited, they actually served it with puffed rice out of a packet. Most other recipes I’ve seen use either uncooked rice stir-fried with oil and garlic, then transferred into a rice cooker to cook, OR they simply use freshly-cooked white rice. I had some leftover cold rice to use up the first time I made this, so I turned it into a garlic fried rice.

For the leafy greens, almost anything goes, including cabbage; I’ve even used English spinach.

Hard tofu is in the base recipe but can be left out entirely or substituted with tofu puffs.

Seasoning

For all three components, you have the flexibility of using just salt, or if you’re not a hardcore health purist, you can add or replace with some of the following – MSG, chicken powder, mushroom seasoning, oyster sauce, and soya sauce.

Likewise with garlic and sauteing with oil; this is optional but I mean, who doesn’t like garlic? If omitting, you can just poach all the ingredients.

Now that I’ve gotten my longest preamble ever out of the way, this is roughly how I make Hakka Lei Cha – all the amounts are estimates; adjust as you see fit.

Jackie M’s Hakka Lei Cha

(adapted from various sources, including The Hakka Cookbook)

Part 1 – Hakka Tea Paste

2-3 TBSP dried Chinese tea leaves
50g Thai Basil, roots removed, stems intact, roughly chopped
50g Asian Mint, roots removed, roughly chopped
50g Vietnamese Coriander (aka daun kesum aka polygonum), roots removed, stems intact, roughly chopped
50g Coriander, roots removed, stems intact, roughly chopped 

200g Mugwort, cut into 4-inch lengths
⅔ cup peanuts, roasted
2-3 TBSP sesame seeds (black, white, or a mixture), roasted
Enough water to turn it into a smoothie-like consistency (2-3 cups?)

1 TBSP minced garlic
1 TBSP oil

½ tsp pepper
1 TBSP salt +1 tsp MSG (optional)
OR 1 ½ TBSP chicken powder
OR 2 TBSP mushroom seasoning

METHOD:

1. Heat oil in a large wok. Add minced garlic and saute until lightly aromatic.
2. Add all the herbs and mugwort; mix well.
3. Add water and cover wok until vegetables are wilted – about 30 seconds.
4. Transfer into a powerful blender (ThermoCook or Thermomix).
5. Add tea leaves, peanuts, sesame seeds, pepper, and seasoning.
6. Blend into a smooth paste – approximately 2 minutes on high speed if using a ThermoCook.

Part 2 – Toppings

200g ikan bilis (dried anchovies), rinsed and drained
100g dried shrimp, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes, drained
100g salted radish, rinsed & chopped (substitute – sweet Thai minced preserved radish)

⅓ cup oil

½ cup crispy onions (recipe here – https://jackiem.com.au/2016/12/16/how-to-make-crispy-fried-onions/)
½ cup crispy garlic

METHOD:

1. Heat oil in pan; add dried anchovies and fry until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels.
2. Reheat the oil and add dried shrimp; fry for about 30 seconds; remove and place on paper towels.
3. Add salted radish into the pan and fry briefly – about 30 seconds; remove and place on paper towels.
4. Once cooled, transfer ingredients into jars and store until use.

Part 3 – Rice & Vegetables

2 cups leftover rice
100g hard tofu, finely diced
100g snake beans, thinly sliced (I use the slicing function on my food processor)
400g vegetables eg. cabbage and/or different Asian leafy greens, all thinly sliced (I use a food processor)

3 TBSP minced garlic
3 TBSP oil

Seasoning (any, or any combination of, the following):
Salt, pepper, MSG, chicken powder, mushroom seasoning

METHOD:

1. Heat 1 TBSP oil in a wok; add 1 TBSP garlic and saute until aromatic.
2. Add rice and stir-fry, sprinkling with a light amount of seasoning (optional). Remove and set aside.
3. Heat ½ TBSP oil and add 1 tsp garlic and saute until aromatic. Add tofu and fry until heated through. Season lightly; remove and set aside.
4. Heat ½ TBSP oil and add 1 tsp garlic and saute until aromatic. Add snake beans and fry until just done. Season lightly; remove and set aside.
5. Heat 1 TBSP oil and add 1 TBSP garlic; saute until aromatic. Add vegetables and fry until just done. Season lightly; remove and set aside.
6. To serve, add about 1 cup of boiling water to ½ cup tea paste, mix well. By the way, the amount of water is up to you; I prefer my Lei Cha soup rich and creamy but it’s more common for it to be of a thinner consistency.
   Place rice in bowl, top with vegetables; pour tea soup over it.
   Add other toppings and serve.

Quick message to wrap things up –

1. if you want to learn how to cook Malaysian food properly, you know you need more than recipes; you need mentorship from someone who’s been running a Malaysian food business outside Malaysia for over 30 years. Drop me a line if you want to find out more about my online MalaysianHawkerPro.com coaching programme, or my twice-weekly Zoom cook-alongs which I run for my Malaysian Cooking Club on Skool.
2. Right below is the most recent issue of our Masters of Malaysian Cuisine (MOMC) digital magazine, which you can download completely free; it contains more recipes, a dining directory for Ipoh/Perak, and a number of articles. This issue comes with two different covers, though the content are the same –

Click to View or Download Truly Malaysian by MOMC, featuring Ipoh White Coffee Cover – 

Click to View or Download Truly Malaysian by MOMC, featuring Ipoh Kai Si Hor Fun Cover – 

The post How to Make Hakka Lei Cha first appeared on Jackie M..

On our most recent trip to Malaysia for a Tourism Perak x Masters of Malaysian Cuisine (MOMC) collaboration, our team had the opportunity to visit a number of coffee-serving establishments. 

This included Niang Republic and Chang Jiang Kopitiam (organised by Roselyn Lim of the Perak Tourist Guide Association) and Cascada by Magical Beans and Kong Fu Kopitiam (organised by Ben Yap of IpohTreats.com).

So what’s the difference between regular Malaysian kopi and Ipoh white coffee? It’s to do with the roast, actually – Ipoh coffee beans are a less dark roast compared to what you would find elsewhere – hence the “white”. 

This makes the coffee taste smoother and less bitter – which, as a non-coffee snob I’ve not paid much attention to in the past, but have now come to notice and appreciate every time I order kopi in Ipoh. 

Also, the beans used in Ipoh are typically a blend of Liberica (Malaysian), Arabica, and Robusta, slow-roasted in palm oil/butter/margarine.

In this demo, Michael Tan, the owner of Cascada by Magical Beans, explains the process of making Ipoh White Coffee – 

It’s clearly a better option to drink Ipoh White Coffee in Ipoh itself, but if you can’t wait, here’s the recipe extracted from Michael Tan’s explanation and re-jigged for a 2-cup serve at home – 

IPOH WHITE COFFEE HOME RECIPE

Adapted from Michael Tan, Cascada by Magical Beans, Ipoh

INGREDIENTS:

70g coarse-ground Ipoh White Coffee Powder

270ml boiling water

190ml evaporated milk

65g condensed milk (iced) or 35g (hot)

METHOD:

1. Bring water to a full rolling boil.
2. Place coffee powder into a coffee sock (or cloth filter bag) set over a heatproof jug.
3. Pour the boiling water over the grounds. Cover and steep for 15 minutes.
4. Lift the sock and let it drain. 
5. For hot coffee, warm it gently before adding milk – don’t reboil. For iced coffee, proceed straight to the next step.
6. Add evaporated milk and condensed milk. Stir well, or pour back and forth between two jugs tarik-style to blend and aerate.
7. For iced coffee – pour over ice. For hot coffee – pour and serve.

Condensed milk quantities are a starting point. Adjust to taste, and if you’re making iced coffee, remember the ice will dilute as it melts – lean slightly sweeter than you think you need.

Next time you visit an Asian grocery store, see if you can track down Malaysian coffee powder to get the best results. Here’s an example, from the factory we visited – they come in different varieties eg. 3-in-1 (coffee plus sugar plus creamer), 2-in-1 (coffee plus sugar), or just straight up coffee (which is what you want if you’re using the recipe above) –

To make kopi O (black coffee, Malaysian style) from the same base: dilute 50/50 with hot water, add sugar to taste, or leave it unsweetened as kopi O kosong.

By the way, at almost every place we visited, we were offered Ipoh White Coffee served with a piece of butter – which looked very cool and added a silky, slightly savoury hint to the coffee. 

I was told this was a throwback to the early years of Chinese migration to Southeast Asia, which has made a comeback in recent years (and nothing to do with the Bulletproof Coffee craze).

Next time you visit Ipoh, here are the places you should absolutely check out, not just for their Ipoh White Coffee but also for their food – 

Cascada by Magical Beans PT8299, Jalan Johan 2/6, Kawasan Perindustrian Pengkalan 2, 31550 Pusing, Perak Tel: +60 13-580 8825 Hours: Daily 9am – 6pm

Chang Jiang White Coffee 7, Jalan Windsor, 30250 Ipoh, Perak Tel: 05-253 8896 Hours: Daily 8am – 6pm

Kong Fu Kopitiam 39, Jalan Panglima, 30000 Ipoh, Perak Tel: +60 17-733 1928 Hours: 9am – 5pm, closed Wednesdays

Niang Republic 14, Jalan Bijeh Timah, 30000 Ipoh, Perak Hours: 11am – 5.30pm, closed Tuesdays

Want more recipes, eating guides and articles? Grab your copy of our latest Truly Malaysian by MOMC digital magazine here – it’s completely free –  (click here to download or view the magazine) – 

The post How to Make Ipoh White Coffee At Home (And Where to Drink It In Ipoh) first appeared on Jackie M..

At the time, I assumed that my customers would already know how to use curry pastes and it would be just one extra step to educate them on using the dry variety. Turns out that was incorrect. Every now and then I’d hear back from people who had no idea.

In fact, a couple of months ago a Malaysian customer reported back raving about my Laksa, made using the Laksa Nyonya Paste – she didn’t buy it; she was gifted it by someone who did buy a pack but didn’t know how to use it.

You can read more reviews about my Handcrafted Dry Curry Paste Kits here (they’re just screenshots I saved to Google Photos; nothing fancy); most are by Malaysians, even Malaysians in Malaysia; all are unsolicited – Honest Reviews of Jackie M’s Curry Paste Kits

So I finally buckled down yesterday (yes I can be very productive when I put my mind to it) and compiled this recipe collection/guide – it contains not just the typical dishes you would use these Dry Curry Paste Kits for, but also creative ways to tweak them for other dishes.

You can download the eBook/Recipe Collection here – Click to View or Download

I actually have a few more recipes/recipe ideas I’ve not yet added to this compilation for various reasons, some as petty as that I don’t have good photos for them yet. So make sure you save the Google Drive link to this eBook because I’ll continue to update it, or if you want an easier-to-remember url, you can bookmark this page from my website, where the “Download Cookbook” lives – JackieM.com.au/CurryPastes

My curry pastes are only available online (unless you can make it to my Concord Hospital Market stall which runs once a month, usually on the last Thursday). You can buy them here – Shop.JackieM.com.au

The post A Collection of Recipes And Ideas for My Handcrafted Dry Curry Paste Kits first appeared on Jackie M..

During this visit, organised by Ben Yap of IpohTreats.com, Mama Sheerah prepared an extensive array of dishes, but they were not the usual rendang, chicken curry, ayam goreng, nasi lemak, etc. that you would expect at a typical Malay eatery but rather offerings that were familiar and delicious but also a little less widely available.

I was so impressed I decided (once we were back in Sydney) to run a couple of Zoom sessions with my private Malaysian Cooking Club community covering some of the Nasi Minyak ensemble we ate at Mama Sheerah’s.

Here’s the recipe for Pajeri Nenas, based on what I found at ResipiCheNom.com, but adapted with my own tweaks etc. It’s a little different from Mama Sheerah’s but it’s very good – just ask Annie, who tried making it – not once but twice in two consecutive weeks – after my initial Zoom sessions.

PAJERI NENAS

INGREDIENTS:

1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into thick slices
½ cup cooking oil
½ onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1-inch ginger, thinly sliced
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
4 cloves, optional
4 cardamom pods, optional
1 sprig curry leaves
3 TBSP meat curry powder, mixed with a little water
50 g ikan bilis, optional
1 TBSP dried shrimp, soaked in warm water, strained
½ cup coconut cream
2–3 TBSP kerisik (toasted shredded coconut)
2 TBSP sugar
Salt, to taste

METHOD:

1. Cut pineapple into thick pieces.
2. Pound ikan bilis (if using) and dried shrimp.
3. Heat oil. Add sliced aromatics, cinnamon, star anise, curry leaves (and optional spices). Cook until lightly golden and fragrant.
4. Add curry paste, pounded ikan bilis + dried shrimp, plus a little water. Cook until oil separates.
5. Add pineapple. Mix through.
6. Add sugar and cook 10–15 mins until pineapple absorbs the spices. Add a little water if you want more gravy.
7. Add coconut cream and kerisik. Season with salt and adjust sugar.
8. Cook until everything is well-combined. Remove and serve.

1. By the way, I’ve previously written about Mama Sheerah; you can check it out in this article here – Malay Food In Perak – 4 Must-Try Places
2. As mentioned above, this was part of an ensemble I made during the Zoom sessions; I collated the recipes in this PDF which you can download here – Jackie M’s Cooking Club Nasi Minyak Collection
3. Finally, more about these eateries along with Perak food stories and recipes can be found in our FREE Truly Malaysian by MOMC digital magazine.
   You can download the Perak issue by clicking on the magazine covers below (we published this issue with two different covers, but the same content) –

The post How to Cook Pajeri Nenas (Pineapple Curry) first appeared on Jackie M..

During my twice-weekly Zoom cooking sessions, my Malaysian Hawker Pro and Skool Malaysian Cooking Club students are always engaging with each other on the latest and greatest kitchen utensils and gadgets – most recently, silicone wok-stirring spatulas.

What triggered the silicone spatula conversation was my experience using a spatula that snapped in half after only a couple of weeks, because it had a wooden handle that was separate to the scoop.

Like this – 

So down the rabbit hole we went, until one of our members came across a Kickstarter project spatula called the Turnula – details here – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/turnula/turnula-smarter-and-easier-way-to-cook?ref=cmcu5u

I approached the people behind the Kickstarter about doing a review, and they sent me two Turnulas – a right-handed and a left-handed one (Paul is left-handed).

Quick heads-up that I’m not getting paid for this review nor do I get any commission on sales etc. I’m just giving my honest opinion about the Turnula based on my experience of using it for different cooking functions over the last two weeks.

Truthfully, when we first started using the Turnula, I was using it the way I would normally use a traditional wok spatula – sometimes it worked well, other times, I was confused about the point of its side-scoop design.

Meanwhile, Paul was happily using it for his scrambled eggs and pancakes every morning – I even shared a clip of him doing so on social media – only to have the Turnula people contact me to point out he’s actually not using it the way it’s meant to be used. Either way, Paul remains very happy with his left-handed Turnula, so we’ll leave him at it.

What the company clarified with me was that the Turnula is designed for lateral sweeping; for example, when it comes to sautéing, you’re meant to –

(1) Let the head glide along the surface of the pan so it slides fully underneath the ingredients before lifting.
(2) Sweep the ingredients sideways across the pan, allowing them to roll gently off the side of the Turnula.

Based on this previously overlooked functionality, I tested out the Turnula on a number of dishes/pans. Here are my thoughts on where it stood out, and where it struggled –

Everything clicked once I stopped trying to use the Turnula like a typical wok spatula (ie. scooping it forwards).

I started using a combination of the lateral sweep movement it was designed for (as demonstrated in the first clip), and also just turning it with my wrist (in clips 2-4).

Cooking sambal and rempah (spice pastes) in a wok, which requires a long, patient process of frying spice paste until the oil separates, is perfect with the Turnula.

The wrist-driven motion means the effort is noticeably less than with a traditional wok spatula (anyone who’s cooked a long rempah fry-off knows how much that can take out of your arm and shoulder).

The Turnula, by contrast, is so light and fluid and low-effort it feels therapeutic instead of stressful, and the continuous stirring motion suited the task perfectly.

Same story with congee (I tested it on Bubur Lambuk which is basically Malay-style congee). The Turnula handled the low, gentle, rhythmic stirring of the congee beautifully.

If your cooking life involves a lot of wok work, particularly the kind of low-and-slow paste frying that Malaysian cooking demands, this tool is what you need in your kitchen.

Low-walled frying pans are where the Turnula’s design works somewhat against it – scooping sideways didn’t feel like it gave me enough control to prevent my spice pastes from spilling over the sides, and it didn’t get enough leverage to lift up my crepes cleanly – so I still prefer using a regular spatula for these tasks.

The Verdict –

Ultimately I think you need to see the Turnula as a specialist utensil, rather than something that will replace all your cooking spatulas. Its lateral design fits in perfectly with tasks that require long, patient stirring – apart from rempahs, sambals and porridge/congee, think of tasks like roasting sesame seeds and shelled peanuts.

You’ll find that the effort is noticeably less than if you were using a wok spatula, where a lot of elbow and shoulder exertion is required.

Key Features of the Turnula, as listed in the Kickstarter:

• Innovative lateral-sweep design
  Enables smooth rolling motion for more even, efficient cooking.
• Designed for all users
  Available in both right-handed and left-handed versions.
• Precision-Tapered Edge
  0.03mm tip that slides under food without resistance.
• Flexible stainless steel core
  Firm support with enough flexibility to bend to different pan shapes.
• High-wall design:
  Allows quick, controlled scooping of ingredients and sauces in one quick sweep.
• Special Arch
  Creates a built-in safety clearance between hand and heat source to reduce burn risk.
• One-Piece Design
  The seamless finish prevents trapped grease for easy cleaning, and is dishwasher-safe.

Check out the Turnula page for more details (shortened link so it’s easy to remember): JackieM.com.au/Turnula

The post Review: Turnula for Malaysian Cooking first appeared on Jackie M..

I remember back in the 90s my family (and especially my then-husband Nick) was so enamoured with Hong Kong movie culture that we thought when we finally got the chance to travel there, we would be able to soak in the atmosphere of eating Taufu Fah and Dim Sum in places that looked like they were lifted out of a Chow Yun Fat movie.

Anyway we finally had the opportunity to visit Hong Kong either enroute to the UK or on the way back, I forget now, (yes we moved to the UK for a couple of years; it didn’t take) and oops, were we in for a letdown.

We spent our three nights in Kowloon basically stumbling around like lost kids (to be fair, this was before the days of smartphones, Google Reviews, and Google Translate).

We went on a hunt for Taufu Fah and couldn’t find any. We asked at promising-looking eateries and they turned us away, yet when prompted, they refused to give suggestions on where we could go instead. 

Maybe we asked the wrong people, or maybe it is a cultural thing among Hong Kongers (ie. if we can’t make money from you, nobody can). 

Either way, it irked us.

So no joy with Taufu Fah. 

But we did find a yum cha place for our Dim Sum fix. 

And that was another disappointment – no trolleys of steaming hot Dim Sum for us to order with our eyes; instead, we had to order off a photo-less menu. When the food arrived, it didn’t taste any different to what you could find in a standard yum cha restaurant in Sydney. I’m pretty sure it was a touch more expensive too.

Maybe we went to the wrong restaurant. In any case, after that experience, we figured there was no point travelling all the way to Hong Kong for Dim Sum that we could get here at home. 

Besides, most of the restaurants in Sydney’s Chinatown back then were run by Hong Kong immigrants (I even worked in one during my high school gap year) so all the Dim Sum chefs were trained in Hong Kong.

Over the decades though, I’ve found yum cha in Sydney to be more and more of a luxury experience so eating Dim Sum for breakfast has turned into a special occasion thing (we’ve been maybe two or three times in the four years that Paul’s been in Sydney).

Our Hong Kong dream has never really died (hope springs eternal) but it’s never been fully realised – I’m guessing with the fast pace of change in the 25+ years since I was there, the nostalgic element of 90s Hong Kong cinema would be even further out of reach today.

But not in Ipoh, Malaysia’s Cantonese cuisine capital founded by Hakka miners. 

Ipoh, somehow, has been largely shielded from all the modern stuff we see in many other cities – character-free chain restaurants, QR code-ordering systems, food served in disposable ecoware and useless utensils (try stabbing your noodles with a wooden spork, where half the food is stuck on the bottom of a leaky cardboard container, or eating your laksa from a corrugated cardboard cup – it’s stupid).  

None of that nonsense. 

By the grace of God, Ipoh is still old-school cool.

Which those of us living outside of Malaysia can appreciate maybe a little bit more sometimes than those who never left. 

Case in point – 

Our latest Truly Malaysian by MOMC digital magazine’s original cover was of a kopitiam coffee cup – (click to download or view the magazine) – 

When I first shared it, waves of nostalgia swept through the overseas Malaysian and Singaporean diaspora.

But to Malaysia-based Ipohites? Well, let’s just say the nostalgia didn’t quite hit the same way (they were presumably wondering – “What nostalgia? These cups are a dime a dozen in Ipoh!”).

So I released the same Truly Malaysian magazine, but with a second cover – (Click to View or Download)

 – and this appeased the Malaysians in Malaysia.

But I digress.

Back to Taufu Fah – what’s so special about Ipoh Taufu Fah anyway? We can get Taufu Fah quite easily here in Sydney, and I can make my own at home (recipe is in our Truly Malaysian Magazine) – but the texture of the Taufu Fah in Ipoh is next-level silky smooth. 

They say it’s because of the limestone in the water – Ipoh is surrounded by limestone hills. 

Actually, that’s the go-to reason for everything from why Ipoh Kai Si Hor Fun noodles and Dim Sum skins and Taufu Fah are so silky smooth, to why their Beansprouts are so chubby, to why Ipoh girls have such beautiful skin. 

Honestly, I don’t know if that’s the reason, or if it’s because of their secret recipes or skill. I just know that the best Taufu Fah I’ve ever eaten is in Ipoh. 

Here are some of the more famous places you can get your Taufu Fah fix from –

• Ding Feng – the Taufu Fah here comes with different sauce variations including ginger syrup and palm sugar (gula melaka) syrup, gingko nuts, and their signature Teochew Taufu Fah with layers of brown sugar. Plus it’s in an airconditioned shop, so you get to enjoy it in comfort after a hot morning/afternoon of exploring.

  Address: 11, Jalan Bijeh Timah, 30000 Ipoh, Perak
  Hours: 9:30am – 5:30pm (Mon-Sun)

• Funny Mountain – serves their Taufu Fah with just one sauce option – white sugar syrup. You get to enjoy it in its simplest form, sitting on stools on either side of their stall.

  Address: 49, Jalan Theatre, 30300 Ipoh, Perak
  Hours: Opens daily (except Tuesdays) from 10:30am until sold out

• Woong Kee – comes with optional delicious mochi with different fillings – you’ll also be eating it sitting on stools outside their stall.

  Address: 32-38A (Bawah), Jalan Ali Pitchay, off Jalan Yang Kalsom, Taman Jubilee, Ipoh
  Hours: Opens daily (except Wednesdays) from 1pm – 5pm

• Lai Kee Soya Bean – we’ve walked past this place a few times but never managed to try it – it’s highly-regarded for its strong ginger syrup. Definitely on our list for next time.

  Address: 38, Jalan Theatre, Ipoh Town, 30300
  Hours: Opens daily 10am – 7pm

Now on to Dim Sum – truthfully, we avoided the Dim Sum bandwagon on our first few trips to Ipoh – because, we figured, Sydney’s Dim Sum restaurants already employ Hong Kong-trained chefs, so how could anyone top that?

The answer – well, Ipoh can, for the following reasons –

• The magical/mythical Ipoh water (again) – producing delicate Dim Sum wrappers that you won’t find in your pack of frozen Aldi Har Gows. 
• The variety – we all know steamed Cheong Fun (rice noodle rolls filled with prawns/beef/char siew) but I bet most people this side of Ipoh have never had steamed red-coloured Cheong Fun with batter made from fermented red beancurd, filled with exquisitely crispy fried prawn, served with sambal udang kering (I know, right?).
• The price – I mentioned it in a separate write-up at MalaysianChefs.com (read here – 7 Reasons Why You Need At Least 3 Nights in Ipoh) – for what you pay for one person at yum cha in Sydney, you could easily feed a family in Ipoh. It’s not a luxury feast; it’s an affordable breakfast, even among the locals. 

I have to admit I’m a bit of a creature of habit; that plus the fact that we were late converts to Ipoh Dim Sum, means that our go-to place is Zhen Hi Hao – (literally, in Mandarin, “really good”), which we visit every time we’re in Ipoh. 

I like it because of the red Chee Cheong Fun mentioned above, but also for its abundance of non-pork Dim Sums (I don’t eat pork). In fact, they go so far as to label their menu items to point out which ones do contain pork, so I can avoid them rather than get all paranoid and have to second-guess (which is what happens when we go for yum cha in Sydney). This is a small-ish place and the owner is always very friendly and personable, which we like.

Zhen Hi Hao Restaurant
Address: 28, Jalan Veerasamy, Kampung Jawa, 30300 Ipoh, Perak
Hours: 7am to 2:30pm (closed Wednesdays)

If you are looking specifically for halal Dim Sum, you’re in luck – Canning Dim Sum has an extensive range, is halal-certified, and has great reviews.

Canning Dim Sum
Address: 1, Lebuh Cecil Rae, Taman Canning, 31400 Ipoh, Perak
Hours: 7:30am – 3:30pm (closed Wednesdays)

Note: They also have a second, larger venue called Dim Sum Discovery by Canning at 26, Hala Rapat Baru 21, Kawasan Industri Ringan Kinta Jaya, open 8am – 4pm 

Of course, food is a very subjective matter, which is all the more reason why you need at least 3 nights in Ipoh – so you can eat and compare and bookmark your favourites for your next trip.

For more Ipoh and Perak food recommendations, recipes (including for Taufu Fah and Sambal Udang Kering) and articles, don’t forget to get your hands on our free Truly Malaysian by MOMC digital magazine Issue #25 

The post Calling Taufu Fah & Dim Sum Lovers – Why Ipoh Is The Destination You’re Missing first appeared on Jackie M..