Musang King durian is considered by many Malaysians as the king of durian varieties, with a flavour that's more potent and flesh that's firmer and richer than the frozen Thai durians that Australians might have encountered in the freezer section of their Asian supermarket. Nowadays, at least here in Sydney, we're pretty lucky that we can find » Read More
How To Make Deep-Fried Sesame Balls (Vegan)
October 2, 2019 by
Deep-fried sesame balls are one of those snacks that are accidentally vegan as well as gluten-free, with the added bonus that they're pretty easy to make. The batch in this picture (not the prettiest, I know) actually contains mung bean paste filling, but let's pretend it doesn't, because I don't have time to cover the mung bean paste recipe in » Read More
How To Make Yee Mein (Fried Wheat Noodles)
September 3, 2019 by
Yee Mein (Cantonese) aka fried wheat noodles come in two varieties that I'm aware of - there's the thinner, darker version that some Malaysians know and love, and there's the more famous thicker, lighter-coloured version that's used in premium Chinese restaurant dishes like crab with ginger and shallots. This recipe is for the latter. I've » Read More
How To Make Vegan Spicy Sweet Potato Dumplings (Cucur Badak)
July 31, 2019 by
Cucur Badak is a fried sweet potato dumpling typically filled with a spicy minced dried shrimp and coconut filling. I recently created a vegan version of it using crushed soy beans left over from making tofu pudding and soy milk. If you don't have any crushed soy beans sitting around that would otherwise be thrown out, you could easily use diced or » Read More
How To Make Tofu Pudding (Taufu Fah)
July 24, 2019 by
Taufu Fah (ie. Tofu Pudding) is a simple Chinese dessert (usually served warm) that's a favourite of many Malaysians. It wasn't until fairly recently though, that I started making it from scratch at home, and I've found it to be pretty easy and quick to do. It's also "accidentally vegan" - in other words, without needing any tweaking or compromises » Read More
How To Make Vegan Fried Spicy Cashew Nuts
June 8, 2019 by
I first heard about spicy fried cashew nuts from the People With Disability advocate who helped me file Noah’s NDIS review (I’ll write all about the failings of the NDIS on a separate platform - if you have your own NDIS horror story to tell, get in touch!). Anyhow she mentioned that the highlight of her visit to Thailand had been these » Read More
How To Make Vegan Kaya II
May 22, 2019 by
This was my second attempt at a vegan version of Kaya; the first time around, I used mashed taro (=> https://jackiem.com.au/2017/02/23/make-vegan-kaya-onde-onde/ ), which basically tasted like sweetened mashed taro. Nice, but you're not fooling anyone who has any inkling of what kaya is like. This new recipe is adapted from one I found at » Read More
How to Make Vegan Durian-Filled Puffs
May 9, 2019 by
I’ve probably said this before but we Malaysians tend to be durian snobs - those of us living overseas buy frozen Thai Mornthong durian out of necessity and desperation because they’re cheap and readily available - and then moan about how tasteless and soggy they are compared to fresh Musang King or XO and all the other varieties of durian that the » Read More
How To Make Vegan Acar (Spicy Pickles)
May 1, 2019 by
This is the same acar recipe (mixed vegetable pickle with crushed roasted peanuts and sesame seeds) that I used for my restaurant except for the omission of shrimp paste (belacan) in order to make it vegan. Please note my philosophy of "agak-agak" ie. guesstimating is in full force here, especially where the sugar is concerned, so take the amounts » Read More
How to Cook Szechuan Crispy Eggplant With Yu Xiang Sauce
March 12, 2019 by
Iteration 1 - battered eggplant with simmered sauce Yu Xiang means “fish-fragrant” in Mandarin, but I’ve avoided using the direct translation in this title to avoid confusion - there’s no fish in this vegan dish, much like there’s no seafood in hoisin (Cantonese for “seafood”) sauce. “Fish-fragrant” references the fact that the sweet, sour » Read More