1. Do you have a restaurant somewhere?
2. Do you do other markets?

If you’re one of those people who’ve asked me these questions and thought you caught a glimpse of an eyeroll from me in response, I want to reassure you that you’re not paranoid. I have been known, in my hubris, to assume everyone’s followed my lifestory intently over the past two decades.

Anyhow I’ve gradually come to the realisation that thirteen years is a long enough time that I should probably revisit this so that I can, if nothing else, just point to this blog post next time someone brings this up (and save him/her from copping one of my unwarranted eyerolls).

So, here we go –

Question 1 – Do I have a restaurant?

I used to – on Majors Bay Road, Concord. It was one of just two restaurants on that strip that were included in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Under $30 Guide back in its day.

I closed it to look after Noah – who was born with Down Syndrome, duodenal atresia, AVSD, and hydrops fetalis – and who spent the first 217 days of his life in hospital, in both the NICU and the PICU. Three times in seven months, I got called in the middle of the night from the hospital to prepare for the worst.

I was told Noah’s condition was not survivable; I was encouraged/coerced to withhold treatment by the medical staff on the basis that –

• even if he did survive surgery he would be a vegetable for the rest of his life,
• I would have to give up everything to look after him, and
• he was never going to be a productive member of society anyway

Nobody believes me when I tell them this, or they brush it off as a non-systemic issue despite my evidence to the contrary.

Anyway, I chose to give up my restaurant to look after him full-time, though ironically, his need for ongoing therapy and medical follow-ups aside, all the doom and gloom from the so-called experts never came to fruition.

Miraculously one day after I posted publicly about my struggle as a single parent of a severely-disabled child, two guys, oblivious to my life drama, walked into my restaurant and asked if I wanted to sell it (the lease, not the business).

I played it cool, picked a figure off the top of my head, they negotiated it down but not by much, and thirteen years later they’re still going strong, operating as a cafe, and I couldn’t be more happy for them.

Question 2 – Do I do other markets?

Short answer, currently no, I only do Concord Hospital Market, and that’s only once a month, 11 months a year.

Long answer – my market life actually preceded my restaurant – and when I quit the latter, I confidently figured I’d just go back to doing a couple of markets a week instead of being tied down to a restaurant around the clock, and I could just bring Noah along with me in a portable cot.

Then the drama started – first, some anonymous campaigner at Orange Grove Farmers’ Market decided to go around collecting signatures for a petition to prevent me from bringing Noah along.

Rather than regurgitate the details, here’s a previous blog post I published – Why I’m Quitting 

That left me with one weekly market ie. Concord Hospital – and the drama carried on over there as well –

Not once –  Déjà Vu All Over Again (yes, it’s a deliberate tautology – eyeroll – I did French at uni)

But twice – Enough Is Enough

Just when you thought it was all sorted, Covid lockdowns hit, which meant I had ZERO markets for 3 years (being a hospital, they were extra careful to shut down everything even before the official mandates, and they didn’t reopen until way after the lockdowns were removed).

When Concord Hospital Market resumed, the organisers said they would start off with monthly events and gradually ease back into weekly ones.

It’s been three years and the markets are still running only once a month, and in fact when I checked a couple of  months ago, the new staff members had no idea there were any plans to go back to weekly markets.

Question 3 (Bonus Round) – Would I consider doing other markets?

If you know a good event that takes place on weekdays that can allow me to make it back to Kogarah before 4.00pm, let me know – reason being, among other things, that I got rid of my van during the lockdowns and I now have to hire a vehicle each market day, and it needs to be returned before 5pm.

So, what do I do now? Well, two main things – 

Handcrafted Dry Curry Pastes
I now produce small-batch dry curry paste kits — the same recipes I used in my restaurant — that ship worldwide. They let people cook real Malaysian food at home without the need for perishable fresh pastes or specialist ingredients.

Get yours here – Shop.JackieM.com.au

Malaysian Hawker Pro
I also run an online training programme called Malaysian Hawker Pro, designed to teach Malaysians and Singaporeans abroad how to recreate proper hawker dishes that are good enough to sell — not watered-down versions you find on TikTok and in lifestyle magazines.

Details here – MalaysianHawkerPro.com

Oh yeah, and I published an award-winning cookbook called The Durian Cookbook, and founded a group called Masters of Malaysian Cuisine where we partner with Tourism Malaysia and the Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, and I ran a culinary tour to Malaysia blah-blah-blah.

The post What Happened to Jackie M’s Restaurant? first appeared on Jackie M..

Laksa Sarang by Chef Amin at Mu Hotel, Ipoh

Laksa Sarang (literally, bird’s nest laksa) refers to the egg that’s beaten, then poured in a thin stream into hot oil to create a nest-like effect. It’s served on top of the laksa, which adds a beautiful crispy texture and rich flavour to what would be recognised as a sour fish-based (asam) laksa. Chef Amin, the head chef of Mu Hotel in Ipoh, Perak, demonstrated how to make Laksa Sarang in this episode of Street Food Journeys: Laksas of Malaysia, and provided his insights into how to produce a rich and flavoursome broth.

 Chef Amin from Mu Hotel in Ipoh, Perak, with his Laksa Sarang from our web series, Laksas of Malaysia

Laksa Sarang ingredients

Also in this episode, Malaysia’s most well-known vegan chef, MOMC’s very own Dave Murugaya, showed me how to make a vegan version of Laksam, which is an East Coast Malaysian variation on laksa, served with rice noodle rolls. Laksam is usually made with fish, but if you didn’t know, you would not have guessed that the Laksam served by Dave was in fact vegan.

Vegan Chef Dave’s Vegan Laksam from Street Food Journeys: Laksas of Malaysia 

Masters of Malaysian Cuisine (MOMC) chef Dave Murugaya with his Vegan Laksam

Also in this episode was yours truly’s segment on how to make an easy version of Curry Mee, based on a more elevated version that our MOMC chef Debbie Teoh once made in a different series.

All these recipes were included in our Masters of Malaysian Cuisine eMagazine which was published shortly after the series.

To get all our future eMagazines and recipes, make sure you join our email list here >> MalaysianChefs.com/JoinToday

Street Food Journeys: Malaysia is a web series produced in partnership with the Tourism Malaysia Australia Sydney Office.

Watch the replay here >> https://youtu.be/_9auvw1-4-k

The post Laksas of Malaysia: Episode 4 (Street Food Journeys 4) first appeared on Jackie M..

In this episode of Street Food Journeys, we travelled to Terengganu Cultural Village courtesy of Tourism Terengganu, to learn how to make Laksa Terengganu (two versions – white and red).

The beautiful backdrop of the Terengganu Cultural Village (photo courtesy of Rosita Heilek)

We saw how the laksa noodles were made using a traditional giant mould suspended over a cauldron of boiling water. 

Yours truly having a go at making laksa noodles the traditional way

Then, we were joined by local expert Gayah Bt Yusoff, who taught me how to make both types of laksa sauces. The white sauce is more popular, according to Gayah – it tastes similar to the white laksa sauce in Laksa Kelantan and in Laksam – and it’s very easy to make.

The red sauce, to me, was one of the standout recipes of this series; it contained kerisik (browned coconut butter) and small amounts of two different prepared spice mixes I’ve yet to come across outside of Terengganu (let alone here in Australia). 

I would personally replace them with Malaysian curry powder if I were to make it back home in Sydney – at least until I have a chance to stock up on local ingredients next time I’m in Malaysia.

Laksa Terengganu with red sauce (top) and white sauce (bottom); both versions are served with the same noodles and garnishes

This leg of our Masters of Malaysian Cuisine (MOMC) July tour was joined by The JetLag Warriors and their fellow full-time YouTube travel vloggers, The Dodo Explorers, who, as it turned out, had more in common with me than I realised – they were both former IT engineers, AND Lenovo fans. I first picked that up when I saw Michal editing their videos on a Lenovo Yoga on the bus throughout our travels – prior to that, he used to use a Lenovo ThinkPad, but that got stolen when they were in Pakistan. 

Michal (left), one half of The Dodo Explorers, The JetLag Warriors in the background, Paul Gray and Baby Noah in the foreground, and Rosita Heilek on the right

But, I digress, except to point out that I have a Lenovo tablet, a P11 Plus, on offer as a Giveaway to coincide with this series, along with a number of other fabulous prizes including That Rendang Lady Zaleha Olpin’s cookbook, My Rendang Isn’t Crispy, some aprons from our show, some of Maznah’s products from her segments, and more.

More details about the Giveaway can be found at the bottom of this article on our MOMC website – https://malaysianchefs.com/lenovo-tablet-giveaway-street-food-journeys-45/

Our Masters of Malaysian Cuisine Chefs clockwise from left to right – Zaleha Olpin, Dave Murugaya, Jackie M (moi), Rene Juefri, Bob Adnin and Johari Edrus

(Left to Right) En. Yad from the Terengganu Cultural Village, Paul Gray, Mazna Merten, Rosita Heilek, and Ivana from The JetLag Warriors, helping themselves to the Laksa at lunch

This episode also features –

• a segment hosted by Debbie Teoh at The Bendahari, on the famous Laksa Nyonya Melaka by Jennifer Tan of Donald & Lily Melaka
• how to make Laksam by our Michelin-trained chef Rene Juefri with Zaleha Olpin
• MasterChef Malaysia judge Johari Edrus on camera with his son Rene for the first time, demonstrating his Laksa Lipat Gulung (laksa rolls)

Zaleha Olpin and Rene Juefri (Johari) with Laksam

MasterChef Malaysia judge Johari Edrus and Michelin-trained executive chef Rene Juefri with Laksa Lipat Gulung

All the Laksa recipes from this series will be compiled and published in our next MOMC eMagazine; don’t forget to sign up to our mailing list if you want a free copy in your inbox when it’s ready. Join our email list here >> MalaysianChefs.com/JoinToday

Street Food Journeys: Malaysia is a web series produced in partnership with the Tourism Malaysia Australia Sydney Office.

Watch the replay here >>

The post Laksas of Malaysia: Episode 2 (Street Food Journeys 4) first appeared on Jackie M..

What many don’t realise is that among Malaysians, laksa means something completely different depending on which part of the country you grew up in. The most obvious example is Penang Asam Laksa, the sour broth made using fish and served with fresh herbs such as daun kesum (Vietnamese mint), shredded cucumber, torch ginger bud and pineapple, and topped with a gooey dark prawn paste which we Malaysians recognise as hei ko (Chinese) or petis udang (Malay). 

So, to a Penangite, a laksa by default refers to Penang Asam Laksa; to someone in Kuala Lumpur or Seremban, a laksa is associated with a coconut milk-based spicy soup with vermicelli (bee hoon) and/or wheat noodles (mee), tofu puffs, blood cockles (though not in Australia), etc. 

Then there’s Laksa Johor, famously served with spaghetti instead of rice noodles (aka laksa noodles) and which can easily be mistaken for spaghetti bolognese because it looks more like a sauce than a soup.

In this first episode of Street Food Journeys 4: Laksas of Malaysia, we feature these three types of laksas as follows – 

Cookbook author Datin Kalsom Taib, an authority on Johor cuisine, is joined by her Johorean caterer friend Katie from Katie Kitchen, to show how Laksa Johor is made. Keep your ears peeled for their explanation for why spaghetti is used in this dish.

Laksa Johor (photo courtesy of Datin Kalsom Taib)

Katie from Katie Kitchen with Datin Kalsom Taib, from our Laksa Johor segment in Street Food Journeys 4 Episode 1: Laksas of Malaysia

Bisu (Mute) Asam Laksa is a well-known hawker stall in Penang’s Ayer Itam. We filmed the owner, Mr. Choo Heng Fook, who is mute (hence the name), as he prepared the broth for Asam Laksa from scratch early in the morning, supported by his siblings. Thank you very much to Dr. Mecherl, a Penang local, who helped line the shoot up for us.

Penang Asam Laksa from Bisu Laksa, Ayer Itam, Penang

A family affair…the team behind Bisu (Mute) Asam Laksa, photographed here with DrMecherl (in yellow), and Jackie M.

Our MOMC@Heart cook and food entrepreneur Mazna Merten shows us how to make an Easy Asam Laksa at home, using the Asam Laksa Dry Paste from her Sudee range of products.

Easy Asam Laksa as cooked by Mazna Merten in our segment in Street Food Journeys 4 Episode 1. Featured in this photo are other products from Mazna’s Maznah Premium and Sudee ranges of dry pastes.

And finally, MOMC founder Jackie M (ie. yours truly) demonstrates how to make an Easy Curry Laksa in under 20 minutes, which you would be proud to serve to your family and friends.

Jackie M’s Easy Curry Laksa in under 20 minutes, from Street Food Journeys Series 4: Laksas of Malaysia[

Don’t forget all the recipes in this series will be published in our Street Food Journeys Series 4 Magazine.

If you’re a member of our Jackie M or Masters of Malaysian Cuisine mailing list community, it will land in your inbox sometime in October 2022. If you’re not a member, make sure you sign up to get it >> MalaysianChefs.com/JoinToday

The post Laksas of Malaysia Episode 1 (Street Food Journeys 4) first appeared on Jackie M..

When I had my restaurant, I used to sell a similarly decked out version of Nasi Lemak, which I called “Nasi Lemak Deluxe”.

In this third episode of Street Food Journeys: Malaysia Plant-Based Edition I demonstrated how to make a vegan version of this Nasi Lemak Deluxe, which included separate instructions for each of the components – a quick and easy way to make the coconut rice, plus vegan sambal, my method for making a simple but delicious vegan ikan bilis (fried dried anchovies), vegan omelette, vegan rendang and vegan ayam goreng (fried “chicken”).

My recipes for all except the vegan rendang and vegan ayam goreng are republished here; there’s a link at the bottom of this article to the eMagazine you can download, which covers the other dishes along with every other vegan recipe featured in the series.

Watch the replay of Street Food Journeys: Malaysia Plant-Based Edition (Kuala Lumpur) here; my Vegan Nasi Lemak cooking segment starts at about 1:15 >> https://youtu.be/QArGpy0sn6Q

Vegan Nasi Lemak

INGREDIENTS:

Garnishes:
Cucumber, cut into chunks
Peanuts, skin on, fried or roasted

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

b) SAMBAL
1⁄2 onion, sliced
1⁄2 onion, minced
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 large red chillies or 2 TBSP chilli powder,
mixed into a paste with onion
1 TBSP minced lemongrass (optional)
2 TBSP tamarind concentrate
2 TBSP mushroom seasoning
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground bean paste (optional)
4 TBSP sugar (or to taste)
1⁄2 cup coconut cream (optional)
1 tsp soya sauce
4 TBSP oil

c) VEGAN IKAN BILIS
2 sheets pliable beancurd skin
1 sheet seaweed
3 TBSP plain flour
1 TBSP rice flour
5 TBSP boiling water
1 tsp salt
2 tsp mushroom seasoning
1 tsp wakame powder (optional)
1 tsp pepper
Oil for deep-frying

d) VEGAN EGG OMELETTE
1⁄4 cup besan or chickpea flour
1⁄2 piece white tofu, mashed
1 tsp tapioca starch
1⁄3 cup water
1⁄2 tsp Himalayan black salt (optional)
1 tsp mushroom seasoning
Dash of pepper
A few thin slices of onion (optional)
1⁄2 TBSP oil for frying

METHOD:

1. To cook the coconut rice, combine all ingredients except the coconut milk powder in a pot or rice cooker and cook per normal
   rice. When rice is ready and still hot, stir in the coconut milk powder and mix well.
2. Cover and rest a further 5 minutes to allow the flavours to absorb before serving.
3. To make the sambal, fry minced onion and garlic with oil until lightly browned and oil separates.
4. Add all other ingredients and simmer. Adjust seasoning, then remove from heat and serve.
5. To make vegan ikan bilis, combine flours and seasoning with boiling water. Mix into a paste.
6. Spread out beancurd skin and smear with paste. Place seaweed on it, then spread some paste on the
   seaweed layer.
7. Fold in the sides of the beancurd sheet so they completely cover the seaweed.
8. Spread the paste on the second beancurd sheet; place the first sheet on it and fold again so you end up with two sheets of beancurd sheet wrapped around one sheet of seaweed.
9. Cut into strips about 1cm x 3cm.
10. Heat oil lto 160-170C; fry strips in batches until crispy.
11. Remove from oil, drain and allow to cool before serving or storing in airtight containers.
12. To make vegan omelette, combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well.
13. Heat oil in a pan, then add omelette mixture.
14. Fry on low to medium heat until set, then flip and cook on the other side until lightly browned.
15. Remove and cut into wedges before serving.

This episode of Street Food Journeys: Malaysia Plant-Based Edition (Kuala Lumpur) also features:

• Vegan Nasi Lemak accompaniments including vegan ayam goreng and vegan rendang by yours truly
• Vegan Pecel (vegetable and tofu salad with peanut sauce) by Leeza Yeo
• The JetLag Warriors’ first impressions of Kuala Lumpur

The recipes for the entire series, produced in partnership with Tourism Malaysia Australia, can be found in the special edition MOMC eMagazine which you can download here >> Click to View or Download

Sign up to our email list so you don’t miss a single issue of our MOMC free recipe eMagazines >> MalaysianChefs.com/JoinToday

The post How To Cook Vegan Nasi Lemak first appeared on Jackie M..

Nasi Kebuli is a fragrant rice and crispy chicken royal dish that’s famous the Malaysian state of Pahang. The word “Kebuli” is an abbreviation of the royal honorific “ke bawah duli (yang maha mulia)” (kind of like “his Majesty” etc.). I didn’t grow up in Pahang so this backgrounder on Nasi Kebuli is courtesy of our Masters of Malaysian Cuisine (MOMC) chef Zaleha Olpin who IS from Pahang, and from my own reading at the Aku Anak Pahang Malay-language blog. Nasi Kebuli is said to be a middle eastern-Arabic dish which became popular in India, and then Indonesia and Malaysia. In Malaysia itself, it was a favourite in kampungs (rural villages) in Pahang, and especially in the Kuala Lipis region.

Sultan Mahmud Shah of Pahang (1914-1917) visited Kuala Lipis with some 60 of his followers, and when he requested for a meal with chicken, a local gentleman by the name of Hussin served him Nasi Kebuli, and the rest is history.

In this episode of Street Food Journeys: Malaysia featuring the state of Pahang, I had a go at making Nasi Kebuli, with the recipe tweaked to be accessible to Australian cooks.

Watch the replay of Street Food Journeys: Malaysia Series 1 Episode 3 on Pahang here (my cooking segment kicks in at about the 15:30 mark) >> https://youtu.be/KL7QWoBanfc

Nasi Kebuli

INGREDIENTS:

1 brown onion
1-inch piece ginger
4 cloves garlic
2 stalks lemongrass
1 tsp crushed pepper
1 TBSP coriander seeds, crushed
1 tsp galangal powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
4 TBSP oil
2 cups water
2 chicken Maryland pieces (thigh plus
drumstick)
2 tsp salt
1 TBSP chicken powder (optional)
2 TBSP spice mix
2 TBSP oil
2 cups Basmati rice, rinsed
1 tsp salt
2 tsp chicken powder
Water
Oil for deep-frying
1 cucumber, sliced

METHOD:

1. Blend spice ingredients in a food processor;transfer into a saucepan and fry until oil separates.
2. Remove two TBSP spice mix and set aside. Add water to the saucepan along with salt and/or
   chicken powder and chicken, and bring to a simmer.
3. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the chicken is just done. Remove chicken pieces and allow to drain on a rack.
4. In a separate saucepan, mix the rinsed rice with the remaining 2 TBSP spice mix and toss well on low heat.
5. Transfer into a rice cooker or saucepan, add water and some of the sauce from the spice marinade that was used to simmer the chicken;
   cook until done.
6. Heat oil to 180C; fry the chicken pieces until skin is crispy (about 5 minutes).
7. Mould rice in a bowl, transfer onto serving plate, add chicken and serve garnished with cucumber slices and optional tomato sambal.

Other guests in this episode include Zaleha Olpin, who made a Pahang version of Pulut Panggang (grilled sticky rice rolls wrapped in banana leaf), our resident award-winning tour guide Shaukani Abbas, Masters of Malaysian Cuisine co-founder Paul Gray, and TV host and TikTok star Mark O’Dea.

Our MOMC group publishes a free recipe eMagazine which we send to our email subscribers. Here’s the issue which accompanied Street Food Journeys: Malaysia Series 1 >> Click to View or Download

Sign up to our email list so you don’t miss a single issue >> MalaysianChefs.com/JoinToday

The post How To Cook Nasi Kebuli (Crispy Chicken & Rice) first appeared on Jackie M..

My Masters of Malaysian Cuisine (MOMC) chef and Melaka native Debbie Teoh on the other hand, has a special fondness for this dish, as she explains in our first episode of Street Food Journeys: Malaysia, before giving us a lesson on how to make it.

Click here to watch the 26-minute episode: Street Food Journeys: Melaka

Klebang Coconut Shake, like Satay Celup, is synonymous with Melaka; I was introduced to this refreshing drink on a separate trip by my tour guide, Shaukani Abbas. In my segment, I demonstrate how to make a simplified coconut shake to our Masters of Malaysian cuisine co-founder, South African Paul Gray.

We also get to talk to Jennifer Tan whose parents Donald and Lily started out as hawkers in Melaka before eventually establishing their own internationally-acclaimed eatery that specialises in Nyonya food. We hope to share more hawker stories throughout the rest of the series, because I believe they are an important part of the culinary history of Malaysia (my own parents were hawkers in Seremban back in the day).

Multi award-winning tour guide Shaukani Abbas (whom we have to thank for the video footage of Melaka) gives us a glimpse of the sights in Melaka town, and we get to check out the interior of a Peranakan house courtesy of the Baba and Nyonya Heritage Museum.

Our good friends The JetLag Warriors, who spent a year in Malaysia last year thanks to Covid-19, give us their take on Satay Celup from when they travelled to Malaysia’s birthplace. Finally, our MOMC chefs Bob Adnin and Debbie Teoh answer the question: “What dishes do you think of when you think of Melaka?”

If you’d like to get Debbie’s Satay Celup and my Coconut Shake recipes in your inbox, make sure you sign up at MalaysianChefs.com/StreetFoodJourneys . Along with recipes, we have a ton of extras in the form of video clips and other fun content which we’ll make available for our community.

Putting together a series like this without being able to travel to Malaysia thanks to Australia’s borders being closed, is a challenge I relish – I’m hustling everyone I know for content and footage, and making Paul burn the midnight oil to stitch it all together. I hope in the process we get to entertain and educate our audience in equal measures, and get everyone to start making plans for when we can travel again.

Jackie M.

The post Melaka: Satay Celup, Klebang Coconut Shake, Nyonya Food And More first appeared on Jackie M..