Google wanted to set up a meeting with me about their soon-to-be-launched new platform, Hangouts-on-Air — they wanted to pitch the idea of using it to do live cooking videos, so I hopped on a video call with them from the neonatal ICU waiting room a few days later.

(At this point you might question what would drive someone to say yes, who had just been hit with the news that their baby was likely not going survive — but that’s another story for another day.)

When Google decided to shut down Hangouts-on-Air in 2016, I explored other livestreaming platforms — you name it, I’ve probably used it — before I found a new home on Twitch.

So what are the big takeaways from my 7 years of doing live cooking videos?

Here’s my list (in no particular order) –

1. The Compelling Character Theory (yes, I made that up)

I know the buzzword is to stay “authentic” or to keep it “real”, but the truth is, live video is as much a performance as any other visual medium. I’ve been guilty of showing up bored, unprepared, grumpy, frumpy — you name it (hey, I’ve got a lot going on behind the scenes, alright?) — and I can promise you, it will hurt your audience engagement and viewership numbers in the long run.

So yes, stay authentic, but give people a reason to tune in. If you’re low energy and boring all the time, don’t expect your audience to stick around; nobody owes you their eyeballs.

2. Aspiration vs Perspiration

As my TV producer friend keeps reminding me, cooking shows are meant to be aspirational. You want to create content that motivates and inspires people to want to make the food themselves, not make the whole cooking effort look dreary, or serve up what looks like something the cat dragged in.

I resisted this for the longest time because street food isn’t meant to be glamorous and food presentation isn’t on the radar of your average Malaysian hawker (I grew up in a family tradition of selling street food). 
The truth is though, it doesn’t matter if you literally sweat over a hot stove — if your food looks ugly, people will be turned off, or worse, you’ll attract trolls.

3. Grow A Thick Skin

I used to take it personally when I got trolled — and if you’ve been doing videos (live or otherwise) for as long as I have, it will happen. Nowadays, I ask them what it’s like living in mommy’s basement and never having kissed a girl, etc. — but in the past I’d get really worked up about it.

Just remember — if you let it get to you, they win — the whole reason why they do it is so they can watch you fall apart. In fact, I find that they disappear very quickly when they don’t get the response they expected, which is a bit disappointing since I’m usually not done trolling them back by that stage.

4. Carpe Diem

Seize the day — there’s merit in being an early adopter, especially where social media is concerned. By getting in early with Hangouts-on-Air, I was able to build my following on its parent platform, Google Plus, to 1.86 million. That, in turn, opened up opportunities for me to travel overseas and to work with brands as I became recognised as a pioneer of live cooking videos.

Similarly with Twitch, I moved there right after it was bought over by Amazon, while it was actively seeking to expand its content beyond just gaming. As a result, Twitch took the unusual step of onboarding me as a partnered streamer even before I did my first broadcast (typically, you’re meant to have a track record of consistently attracting 500+ concurrent viewers on the platform).

This meant I could start making money immediately via subscriptions, and Twitch also promoted my content so that I’ve had as many as 10,000 people tune in to watch my broadcasts.

5. One Size Does NOT Fit All

Before you start doing live videos, you need to decide who you want to reach and what you’re trying to achieve.The audiences are different on different platforms, and the style, length, “vibe” and rules (eg. with advertising) vary. That’s why I would advise that you think twice before you use tools that are out there to push out the same broadcast everywhere.

My casual, conversational, long-form (2-hour plus) videos on Twitch drive my YouTube audience nuts (in a bad way) because people looking for cooking videos on YouTube expect to learn all they need in 3 minutes, or they start wishing you would just shut up and cook and stop talking so much, your voice is annoying, etc.

On Twitch, it’s all about personal engagement and doing everything from start to finish — I’ve even given dating advice to my teenage audience while cooking, and I know other streamers who take bathroom breaks during their broadcast.

Periscope and Instagram viewers are used to portrait layouts, Twitch and YouTube are landscape, and Facebook people similarly don’t stick around for 2 hours watching you cook. When I go Live on Facebook or YouTube, I usually do it as though it’s a 20-minute public cooking demonstration like what I do onstage — it’s fairly impersonal and what you cook has to be something that can be whipped up within that short length of time.

Do you want to be found online via your videos? Then YouTube is your best bet — when do you ever see Facebook or Twitch videos show up when you do a google search for a recipe? My TV gigs have come about through producers finding clips of me on YouTube and reaching out that way, so my videos are kind of like my resume.

6. Change Is The Only Constant

Just because you’re kind of a big deal on your platform, don’t expect it to stay that way forever. Back when Google was really invested in promoting Hangouts-On-Air (which were automatically recorded and stayed on my YouTube channel) — I would get thousands of views on my live videos (the highest was nearly 30,000).

Once they lost interest, they changed the algorithms so that I would be lucky nowadays to get 200 views on them, which is why I don’t usually do live videos on YouTube anymore.

Also, when I started out, I learned all about best practices like the ideal video length and how often to post new content to get high rankings on YouTube, but that can and has changed over time.

Likewise with Facebook — right now, your buddies and followers might get notified every time you go live — but Facebook can stop doing that overnight and you could end up with nobody watching, so be prepared and plan ahead for that eventuality.

7. Own your own virtual real estate

Finally, as an extension of the last point, it’s important to own your online “real estate” — too many content creators are really just squatters on social media platforms, which leaves them vulnerable when it collapses or if they fall out of favour with the powers that be.

I’ve seen social media platforms touted as the next big thing only to die off — anyone remember Imzy, Blab, Smiletime, and yes, Google Plus, where I was the #1 ranked Australian for a number of years? I lost 1.86 million followers overnight when it shut down in early 2019.

Social media platforms come and go, but my website (along with my email list)— jackiem.com.au — is still around after more than 15 years. Some of my past broadcasts continue to exist there, where they’re repurposed as recipe posts and embedded for the viewing pleasure of anyone with the patience to sit through hour-plus long tutorials on how to make something from start to finish.

That phonecall with Google Australia 7 years ago was a lifeline for my food business and brand. Without bringing Noah into the picture (again, it’s another story for another time), doing live cooking videos has changed my career trajectory from restaurant owner to online content creator.

It helped me to gain 1.9 million followers & get listed as the #2 most influential Australian chef on social media (#1 was Matt Preston, the judge on MasterChef AU), and it opened up opportunities for me to travel and to do television.

Would I do some things differently in hindsight? Sure — but as they say — done is better than perfect.

These aren’t the only lessons I learned, of course; I could write a book on the entire topic. If you’re thinking about whether you should start doing live videos, get in touch via  . Or just give me a heads-up about your live video channel; I might drop in and say hello sometime.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — –

Jackie M is an ex-restaurateur and sole parent of Baby Noah, who was born with Down Syndrome and some very complex medical issues that saw him spend the first 217 days of his life in hospital. She is also the founder of  — which she set up to help food business owners turn their expertise into profit.

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I had never eaten kanom krok (aka Thai coconut cakes or Thai coconut custard) when I attempted to make it during a recent Live Asian Kitchen broadcast. Without a frame of reference as to how it should taste, I found both the recipe I used and the final outcome somewhat perplexing. First of all, it produced a gooey topping that had no chance of setting since it was basically just sugar and coconut cream, and secondly, it just tasted one-dimensional and overly sweet.

Since that first attempt, I’ve managed to dig deeper into this popular Thai street snack, and it’s clear that the original recipe was flawed (it fortified my belief that the internet is full of recipes that should never see the light of day). Here’s one adapted from other sources including Temple of Thai, that makes a lot more sense –

Kanom Krok – Thai Coconut Cakes

INGREDIENTS:

Bottom layer –
⅓ cup desiccated coconut
2 cups rice flour
2 tsp salt
3 ½ cups coconut milk

Top layer –
1 ¾ cups coconut cream
¼ cup sugar
2 ½ TBSP tapioca starch

Fillings (optional) –
¼ cup spring onion, sliced
¼ cup corn kernels
3 TBSP oil

Kanom krok or takoyaki pan, or similar

METHOD:

1. Combine bottom layer ingredients and mix well.
2. Combine top layer ingredients in a blender and blitz until sugar is dissolved.
3. Heat mould and grease lightly with oil.
4. When it starts smoking, fill moulds to ⅔ full with bottom batter.
5. Add the top batter immediately, then sprinkle with optional filling ingredients.
6. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes on low heat, or until crispy and browned on the bottom.
7. Remove and serve.

The post How to Make Kanom Krok – Thai Coconut Cakes first appeared on Jackie M..

These sweet potato dumplings are pretty easy to make; you can used ready-to-use red bean paste (in cans or packs at your local Asian grocery store), though in this Live Asian Kitchen, I used the homemade red bean paste I’d made a couple of weeks earlier. Other popular filling options include lotus seed paste or mung bean paste.

The recipe for this is from the Chopsticks Recipes Dim Sum cookbook by Cecilia Au-Yang that I’ve owned for decades; as usual, I’ve made some tweaks to it, albeit very minor ones.

Sweet Potato Dumplings with Red Bean Paste Filling

INGREDIENTS:

Pastry –

220g sweet potatoes, cubed and steamed until soft (about 15 minutes)

30g lard or butter

120g glutinous rice flour

Filling –

220g sweet red bean paste

Coating –

½ cup sesame seeds, rinse and strained

—————-

Oil for deep-frying

METHOD:

1. Divide sweet red bean paste into 24 portions and roll into olive-shaped balls.
2. Mash sweet potatoes, add lard and mix well.
3. Add glutinous rice flour to mix to a soft dough. Divide into 24 equal portions.
4. Flatten one portion into an oval shape, then place a piece of red bean paste in the middle. Wrap and shape into a cylindrical shape.
5. Coat with sesame seeds; press them gently into the dumplings.
6. Heat oil to 170’C, then deep-fry the dumplings until golden brown, turning to make sure they’re evenly cooked.
7. Remove and drain on paper towels.
8. Allow to cool until they’re just warm before serving.

The post How to Make Sweet Potato Dumplings with Red Bean Paste Filling first appeared on Jackie M..

I recently had some crab yee mein noodles at The Good Kitchen restaurant in Hurstville, and they were so memorable I decided to attempt making the dish during my Live Asian Kitchen broadcast (but with prawns due to budget constraints). The noodles were served up with a butter and garlic sauce, and I was told that the secret was to add a small amount of cheese in it. The result tasted rather different to what I ate, but I’ve decided to share it here nonetheless with a post-broadcast tweak to the recipe, ie. by adding evaporated milk.

Note that the restaurant version came with a very smooth-textured sauce, which suggests to me that it was passed through a sieve before being poured over the noodles; I might try that with mine next time.

Garlic Butter Yee Mein Noodles with Prawns

INGREDIENTS:

1 cake yee mein or any egg noodles, boiled until soft, then drained and arranged on a platter

300g prawns, peeled & deveined

5 cloves garlic, minced

¼ onion, peeled and diced (optional)

4 TBSP butter

1 cup creamy evaporated milk

2 cups chicken stock (or water)

1 TBSP shredded cheese (optional)

1 TBSP chicken powder or 1 tsp salt + 1 tsp sugar

½ tsp white pepper

½ tsp sugar

To garnish –

1 TBSP sliced spring onion

1 sprig coriander

METHOD:

1. Heat butter in pan, add onion and garlic and fry until lightly browned and aromatic. Add prawns and saute for about 10 seconds.
2. Add all other ingredients, bring to a simmer and cook until prawns are done.
3. Adjust seasoning, then pour sauce over noodles. Garnish with spring onion and coriander before serving.

The post How to Cook Yee Mein Noodles with Garlic Butter Sauce first appeared on Jackie M..

I remember Shanghai red bean paste-filled pancakes being a staple on the sweets trolley at yum cha back in the day, but I have to admit that I haven’t really seen them around in recent years. The good news is that they’re actually pretty easy to make, and apart from red bean paste, all you really need are flour and eggs, and oil for frying. I used my batch of homemade red bean paste from a couple of weeks prior (see recipe here >> http://jackiem.com.au/2018/10/25/how-to-make-red-bean-paste/ ) but you should be able to easily find canned versions at your local Asian grocery store (well, here in Sydney anyway)

Shanghai-Style Red Bean Paste Pancakes

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup plain flour

1 pinch salt

1 egg

approximately 1.25 cups water

1 ½ cups red bean paste

Oil for frying

METHOD:

1. Combine plain flour, salt, egg and enough water to whisk to a runny batter.
2. Brush a non-stick frying pan with oil; pour in a ladle of batter and swirl to make a thin crepe.
3. Cook until it starts to lift, flip it and cook until both sides are done.
4. Remove and repeat with rest of batter.
5. Spread the centre of each crepe with 2-3 TBSP red bean paste, press into a thin rectangular shape, then fold in the sides of the crepe to enclose.
6. Fill pan to about ½-inch deep with oil, heat, then fry the pancakes on both sides until golden brown and slightly crispy.
7. Remove, drain on paper towels and allow to cool enough until they can be handled by hand.
8. Cut into 6-8 pieces per pancake before serving.

The post How to Make Shanghai-Style Pancakes first appeared on Jackie M..

I’ve previously posted a couple of steamed fish recipes with preserved vegetables, and this is a variation on one of them; this time around, I’m using barramundi instead of silver perch (though, really, this would work with most white fish/fish fillets).

Since I get asked all the time, I’m also showing you the type of  “choy poh” ie. preserved radish that I use in this and in some of my other dishes (notably the Chai Tow Kway aka Char Kway Kak aka Fried Radish Cake that I used to sell).

It seems to me that most people who grew up in Chinese households think of one particular type of preserved radish ie. the super salty variety, when I reference the ingredient in any of my recipes.

That’s not the one I use; I get the Thai preserved radish that’s pre-minced, and which is slightly sweetened and much less salty.  These are some examples of what they look like, so keep an eye out for them next time you’re at your Asian grocery store –

The key thing is to look for the “Made in Thailand” product rather than the “Made in China” version; the latter is the uber salty choy poh (chye poh in Mandarin) your mom (and mine) uses in her Chinese home cooking, which requires rinsing and  which sometimes comes in finger-sized chunks.

Steamed Whole Fish with Choy Poh (Preserved Radish)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 x 700g whole barramundi, cleaned
• 1 stalk green onion
• 3 Tbsps minced preserved radish
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp minced ginger
• 1 Tbsp light soya sauce
• 1 tsp chicken powder
• ½ Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp oyster sauce or preserved soya beans
• 2 TBS Shaoxing rice wine (optional)
• 200ml water
• 1 Tbsp oil

METHOD:

1. Fill steamer with water and bring to a boil.
2. Place green onion on a plate in steamer basket and arrange fish on top.
3. Steam for about 8-10 minutes, then remove from heat. Transfer fish to a serving dish, minus the juices from the steamer.
4. Heat up some oil in a saucepan, then saute ginger, garlic and preserved radish until garlic is lightly browned.
5. Reduce heat and add the remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer, mix well, then remove from heat.
6. Pour sauce over fish and serve.

The post How to Cook Steamed Fish with Choy Poh (Preserved Radish) first appeared on Jackie M..

I belong to that demographic of Malaysians who turn up our noses at our Singaporean neighbours’ sad attempts to use durian in edgy ways, such as in a pizza, hot pot (ie. steamboat) or chee cheong fun (rice noodle rolls). It seems like a bit of a waste of good durian, which I prefer to eat straight and unencumbered by ingredients that effectively dilute its flavour.

Having said that, there’s Malaysian durian, which is expensive (at least here in Australia, especially the Musang King variety), and there’s Thai Mornthong durian which is readily available and affordable in frozen form. We durian snobs find frozen Mornthong durians to be pretty much inedible straight because they’re soggy when defrosted, and lack the intensity of flavour found in fresh Malaysian durians.

This makes them perfect for use in other recipes such as the durian smoothie I used to sell at my restaurant, or in ice cream, etc. Here’s another way you can use them up, ie. deep-fried à la jemput-jemput pisang/cekodok/kuih kodok (banana fritters). Original recipe is from https://www.kuali.com/recipe/durian-fritters-cekodok-durian/ with my tweaks –

(PS before you take me too seriously, I only make fun of Singaporeans because I like them, alright. Mainly because Lee Kuan Yew was a fellow Hakka :P)

Durian Fritters

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup self-raising flour
1 TBSP rice flour
½ tsp salt or to taste
100ml coconut cream
3-4 TBSP sugar
250g durian pulp

Oil for deep-frying

METHOD:

1. Combine all the ingredients except the durian pulp and mix well.
2. Mash the durian pulp, then fold into the rest of the batter.
3. Heat oil to 170’C, drop spoonfuls of the durian mix into the oil and fry until they turn a light golden brown colour, turning with a ladle to make sure they’re evenly cooked.
4. Remove and drain on paper towels before serving.

The post How to Make Durian Fritters (Jemput-Jemput Durian) first appeared on Jackie M..

Red bean paste filling is popularly used in Chinese snacks, from steamed buns to mooncakes; here are some examples of what I’ve been using my most recent batch in, with recipes to follow in my upcoming posts –

You can buy canned red bean paste filling at Asian grocery stores, but I like the idea of making my own when I can; it’s pretty easy especially if you have a pressure cooker and a food processor on hand.

This recipe is one from Cecilia J. Au-Yang’s Chopsticks Recipes Dim Sum cookbook series from 30 years ago, with tweaks.

Red Bean Paste Filling

INGREDIENTS:

500g red beans

8 cups water

500g brown sugar

2 cups vegetable oil

METHOD:

1. Combine red beans with water and cook in a pressure cooker for 20 minutes or in a saucepan for about an hour.
2. Remove and blend into a smooth paste in a food processor (I use my Thermomix).
3. Combine sugar and red bean paste in a non-stick wok and fry on low to moderate heat, adding oil gradually.
4. Cook until most of the moisture has evaporated and it’s a thick porridgy consistency. Remove and allow to cool, then refrigerate or freeze until use.

The post How to Make Red Bean Paste first appeared on Jackie M..

I’m not going to claim this stir-fried Xinjiang Cumin Lamb dish is the real deal (hence why it’s titled Xinjiang-STYLE) since I’ve yet to even visit China, plus I’ve adapted it to accommodate what I had on hand ingredients-wise along with my own flavour preferences.

I discovered that half a leg of lamb (my recent purchase – see previous post) yields a lot of meat, so I had to figure out ways to use it up, and stumbled upon a recipe for stir-fried Xinjiang Cumin Lamb at omnivorescookbook.com.

I’d always assumed that lamb required slow-cooking but this quick stir-fry dish (along with the cumin lamb skewers I wrote about a couple of weeks back) has put paid to that notion; it doesn’t even need the Chinese restaurant soda bicarbonate treatment you would expect for red meat.

Stir-fried Xinjiang-Style Cumin Lamb

INGREDIENTS:

400g lamb fillets, diced into 2cm cubes

Marinade –

1 TBSP Shaoxing rice wine (optional)

1 tsp soya sauce

2 tsps oyster sauce

————————

3 TBSP tapioca starch (or cornstarch)

Seasoning –

1½ TBSP cumin powder

2 tsps chilli flakes

⅔ tsp sugar

1 tsp chicken powder (or ½ tsp salt)

¼ tsp pounded Szechuan peppercorns (optional)

Stir-fry –

⅓ cup oil

6 large dried chillies, halved

½ onion, sliced

1 TBSP ginger, minced

1 TBSP garlic, minced

————————-

½ TBSP toasted sesame seeds (optional)

METHOD:

1. Combine lamb with marinade ingredients, set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Heat oil, drench lamb with tapioca starch, then fry for about one minute, until lightly browned.
3. Remove lamb.
4. Reheat oil, add garlic, ginger and sliced onion, and fry until aromatic.
5. Add dried chillies, lamb and seasoning ingredients.
6. Toss well, cook until lamb is done (shouldn’t take more than a minute).
7. Remove from heat, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and serve.

The post How to Cook Stir-Fried Xinjiang-Style Cumin Lamb first appeared on Jackie M..

I fillet the meat and use it in a variety of different dishes, including in stir-fried noodles à la Cantonese-style stir-fried beef with hor fun (kon chau ngau hor)

It’s worked out pretty well; the only difference between this batch made during a broadcast of my Twitch Live Asian Kitchen and when I’ve used beef in the past, is that I decided to add minced garlic to the recipe.

Stir-Fried Lamb Noodles

INGREDIENTS:

• 100g sliced lamb fillets 
• 1 tsp bicarb of soda 
• 1 tsp Chinese rice wine
• 1 tsp ginger juice
• Dash of pepper
• Dash of fish sauce
• 1 tsp tapioca flour

• 200g fresh rice noodles (wide-cut)
• 1 ½ tsps fish sauce
• 1 ½ tsps oyster sauce
• ½ tsp thick soya sauce aka cooking caramel
• Dash of chicken powder
• 1 stalk green onion, sliced into 3-inch lengths
• ¼ cup beansprouts or Chinese greens
• ½ tsp pepper
• 1 tsp garlic
• Dash of sesame oil
• 2 Tbsps cooking oil
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)

METHOD:

1. Marinate lamb with bicarb of soda + water for 5 minutes. Rinse with cold water and pat dry.
2. Add rest of marinade ingredients and mix well. Set aside for 10 minutes.
3. Heat ½ Tbsp oil in wok until it starts to smoke.
4. Add lamb and fry for about 1 minute, then remove.
5. Heat wok again without adding any oil, until it begins to smoke.
6. Toss in noodles and allow to scorch, adding a drizzle of oil.
7. Add garlic then fish sauce, and fry quickly. Add more oil as required.
8. Add lamb, oyster sauce, thick soya sauce and chicken powder.  Mix well, then add vegies, and pepper.
9. Adjust seasoning, then remove from heat. Add dash of sesame oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds (if using) before serving.

The post How to Cook Stir-Fried Lamb Noodles first appeared on Jackie M..