How to Cook Laksa Johor By Chef Dato’ Ismail (Street Food Journeys S1 E2: Johor)

Laksa Johor is famously different from the laksas found in other parts of Malaysia (as a matter of fact it was the topic of some heated online discussion among Malaysians around the time this episode first aired, about which state's laksa is superior). I remember when it was first described to me back during my restaurant days by my team member » Read More

How to Make Cucur Badak (Stuffed Sweet Potato Dumplings)

Cucur Badak, or savoury sweet potato dumplings stuffed with a spicy minced dried prawn and coconut filling, is one of those little Malay kuih (snack) recipes that we learned in our Home Science classes back in high school in Malaysia, and they’re really not that hard to make. The fact that you need to deep-fry them is probably a bit of a » Read More

How to Make Savoury Taro Cake (Wu Tao Ko)

Savoury Taro Cake (Wu Tao Ko in Cantonese) was a breakfast snack that I remember being sold alongside Chee Cheong Fun (steamed rice noodle rolls) back in my hometown of Seremban in Malaysia. My parents would typically order a small share plate of it from the hawker stall at breakfast, and it was served steamed (not pan-fried like what you get at » Read More

How to Make Jackie M’s XXO Sauce

I remember when XO sauce started popping up in Chinatown menus as an option for your stir-fried Chinese dishes a couple of decades ago, and thinking it must refer to cognac. I eventually learned that it was in fact a condiment made with dried scallops, an ingredient that’s expensive enough that it would deter me from ever entertaining the thought » Read More

How to Cook Stir-Fried Cucumber (Low-Carb)

This Live Asian Kitchen broadcast marks the beginning of my low-carb diet. For the record, I neither invented nor tweaked this recipe to fit into my current low-carb fixation; stir-fried cucumber is actually quite a common dish served up in Chinese homes back in Malaysia (and possibly other parts of the world; I don’t know).   Stir-Fried » Read More

How To Cook Eggplant & Dried Shrimp Sambal

This eggplant sambal dish is from the same broadcast as the fish with tom yum sauce (hour 2) but I thought I should split it into two posts so it’s easier for people to find the recipe.   Eggplant Sambal INGREDIENTS: 1 large eggplant, cut into chunks 4 cloves garlic, minced 4 Tbsps dried shrimp, soaked, drained and lightly » Read More

How to Prepare Dried Shrimp

Print PDF Dried shrimp is one of those ubiquitous ingredients in Malaysian and Southeast Asian cooking, but one that a lot of Westerners aren't perhaps familiar with. It's shrimp that's been sun-dried and shrunk and is readily available at wet markets in Southeast Asia, and in Asian grocery stores pretty much everywhere. It's used in many » Read More

Recipe – Sarawak Midin Salad with Dried Shrimp

Print PDF Preamble Even before we started filming the pilot of Asia: Food.Travel.Mystery, my collaborator and co-executive producer Robb Demarest and I had planned to scout out locations in Borneo - it has all the right mixes for our series  with its unique food, off-the-beaten-path travel and its intriguing and sometimes mysterious cultures. We » Read More