I’ve had an aversion to pork since I was a kid, so I have no recollection of ever having eaten Bak Kut Teh (BKT), which is traditionally made using pork spare ribs. The smell of BKT is quite unmistakable however, and hard to avoid if you grew up in Malaysia or Singapore. Since I knew how it’s meant to smell, I felt vaguely confident going into this » Read More
How to Make Penang Hokkien Mee Paste & Crispy Fried Shallots
February 16, 2017 by
Twitch livestream #4 was a case of 2 steps forward, one step back. I introduced an overlay which helped clean up my screen layout, and also decided to zoom in the camera so my work area is cropped out and it doesn’t look like I’m broadcasting from the middle of a warzone. I also decided to switch back to my original microphone - remember the one » Read More
Penang Food Adventure with Fay Khoo
March 16, 2016 by
I’ve been to Penang a number of times over the last couple of years but on this particular trip I had the rare opportunity to check out the island’s famous hawker fare with not only a Penang native but food writer and radio host Fay Khoo herself. We wanted to do side-by-side comparisons of some of Penang’s famous dishes - Kway Teow Th’ng (fish » Read More
Street Food Recommendations For Your Next Trip to Malaysia
March 1, 2016 by
I regularly get asked about eating recommendations in Malaysia and last week was no exception. My journalist friend Steph emailed me to say she was planning to travel through Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, Ipoh and Penang (among other places) in May and asked if I could suggest people and food she should look up. She will be travelling alone and is » Read More
The Great Penang Char Kway Teow Debate
January 29, 2016 by
Every time the topic of Penang’s most famous dish comes up, I get a whole host of conjectures about what makes a good CKT - charcoal fire, wok breath, indispensable ingredients like pork fat, pork crisps, Chinese sausage - the list goes on. Awhile back I posted a video of a chef IN Penang cooking Penang Char Kway Teow - - and it created a » Read More
How to Cook Penang Asam Laksa
September 24, 2015 by
Asam (aka Assam) Laksa Also known as Penang Laksa, this dish hails from its namesake island and has been listed among the 'Top 10 world’s most delicious foods' by CNN. I held off on attempting it for many years as one of the main ingredients in the paste, bunga kantan or torch ginger flower, is almost impossible to find in Australia. However, » Read More
How to Cook Ayam Pongteh
July 15, 2015 by
I’d never had Ayam Pongteh - a Nyonya dish that originated not in Penang but in Malaysia’s other Nyonya hub of Melaka. It was one of those recipes I’d come across many times over the years of learning my craft but frankly I think the reason I never attempted it was because it looked almost too easy to be worth trying. Golden Sands Resort by » Read More
How to Make Nasi Ulam Penang
May 4, 2015 by
Print PDF Recipe by Hotel Jen, Penang One of the Hotel Jen recipes that didn't make it into our video series during my recent trip there was Nasi Ulam, a herbed rice salad dish. Nasi Ulam wasn't something I was familiar with growing up in the southern part of the Malaysian peninsula, but it is popular in a variety of forms in Indonesia, » Read More
How to Make Laksa Nyonya in 15 Minutes
April 4, 2015 by
Print PDF There's a lot of confusion about what Laksa Nyonya is - and this is actually quite understandable in view of the fact that Penang's famous laksa - the sour, non-coconut milk version aka Asam (Assam) laksa is also Nyonya-influenced. For the record, my Laksa Nyonya refers to the laksa inspired by Melaka's nyonya culture. There are, » Read More
How to Cook Penang Mee Mamak
January 29, 2015 by
Print PDF Penang Mee Mamak, aka Mee Goreng, has its own nuances compared to the Mee Goreng I grew up with down in the southern part of Malaysia. Click here to watch on YouTube >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-WS9fGdSLA Subscribe for more Malaysian cooking videos - Youtube.com/JackieM Penang Mee Mamak typically uses thin » Read More