When I eat out, it is mostly to hang out with friends; food is secondary. We’ll try new restaurants (normally hipster-ish) and talk more than we eat. When I do go out for lunch to fill my stomach, I almost always choose Japanese food. The Japanese restaurant in Selangor Club Bukit Kiara is my go-to lunch …
Chawanmushi (Japanese Steamed Egg) – 5 ingredients Read More »
One of my constant battle in eating well is consuming enough leafy vegetables; Malaysian food is severely lacking in greens. In Vietnam, each dish comes with a huge plate of local vegetables and herbs. In Japan and Korea, where presentation of food is very important, meals are mostly accompanied with colourful vegetables. When I came …
Japanese Spinach Salad (Ohitashi) – 4 ingredients + 5 min Read More »
Japanese cuisine has a special place in my heart. At sixteen, I went on a student exchange programme to a little town in Ishikawa called Komatsu (小松市). Then, the ignorant teenager that I was thought the Japanese only raw food like sushi and sashimi, both which I didn’t learn to love yet. But my host …
Japanese Stock (Dashi With Kombu & Bonito Flakes) – 3 ingredients Read More »
Crispy pork lard has a bad reputation of clogging arteries hence shortening one’s life. But I am raised in a family which has a good relationship with food – no matter how ‘unhealthy’ some food are claimed to be. We happily eat everything moderately. In my family, we consume crispy pork lard cautiously and in …
One weekend, after hiking and intense squat exercise at a hill near where I live, I found myself in a hipster cafe. This modern cafe is furnished with wooden fittings, offers smoothie bowls, cold-pressed juice, and other superfood-laden dishes. My exercise buddies and I thought: how can we ruin hours of exercise with unhealthy food? So this …
Pink Pittaya Smoothie Bowl – 5 ingredients + 5 min Read More »
I created this super easy recipe while playing with McCormick herbs and spices. I was invited by The Malaysian Women’s Weekly and McCormick to give a talk about the health benefit of herbs and spices, their convenience and how to use them. So I simplified one of my favourite recipe Jamu Drink For Health & …
Like a typical Malaysian, I love dipping almost everything edible into chili. One of my absolute favourite is the spicy belacan dip that my mother often keeps in her fridge. She serves it with all kind of dishes such as claypot chicken rice and bihun (fried rice noodles). This condiment is a must-have at our …
I know that not everyone like vegetables, but it’s news to me that some people dislike fruits. How can it be? Fruits are so sweet and delicious! When I try to cajole these fruits-hater from taking a bite, they casually said “I don’t need fruits, I’m not constipated!” But fruits is not good only for …
Thai Chilli Salt (Prik-kab-klua) – 3 ingredients Read More »
Instead of just shopping at Bangkok, I did something far more exciting: joining a cooking class at Le Cordon Bleu. I’ve learned to make many dishes such as delicious pork skewers. We made many curry and pastes, such as the complicated massaman curry. Despite all of them being mouth-watering, most are incredibly difficult to make …
I have a confession to make: I don’t particularly like salad. Most people are surprised by this as they think a health advocate must like salad. But plate of salad for lunch will make me very unhappy. Instead, I prefer my vegetables cooked. I like them stir-fry with garlic or roasted with herbs in the …
Since investing in a slow juicer, I try to make cold-pressed juice as often as possible. Realistically, the best I can do is two to three times a week. My modus operandi is make enough to last a few days before juicing again. Having spent many hundreds on this appliance, I told myself “This will …
Easy, No-Peel Cold Pressed Juice – 3 Ingredients Read More »
There’s so many ways to cook tofu, this is one of the easiest and most delicious. The otherwise bland tofu is topped with tasty fried shrimps and shallots mixture. It is then seasoned with soy sauce and sprinkled with spring onions. When I was just a little girl, my mother would cajole me to eat …