Hainan cuisine made its way to British Malaya in the late 1800s through cooks who ventured to this colony in search of greener pastures. Working in expatriate homes, camps and for wealthy Europeans, they soon mastered the culinary skills to make familiar European food such as roasts, soups and bread. Over time, the inevitable fusion of European and Chinese came to be known as Hainanese cuisine.
Baked Ratatouille in Dutch Oven Ingredients 2 medium yellow onions, about 2 cups chopped 3 bell peppers, preferably 1 each of yellow, green, and red
The Perfect Butter Pie Dough Ingredients 6 oz. (1-1/2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour 1 tsp. granulated sugar 3/8 tsp. table salt 4 oz. (8 Tbs.)
Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry Puffs (Makes 22 curry puffs) Ingredients: 1 cup frozen petite peas 1 pound frozen puff pastry 1 carrot, peeled and
Chicken and Fettuccini in Galangal Coconut Sauce (Malaysian Laksa) Recipe Ingredients Laksa Paste 2 stems lemon lemongrass, thinly sliced 1 medium onion or 6 shallots,
Coconut Rice with Sambal, Anchovy, Egg, Peanuts and Cucumber (Nasi Lemak ) It’s hard not to love nasi (rice) lemak (coconut), so popular that its
Pineapple Fried Rice with Cashews (Serves 4) Ingredients 4 tablespoons peanut oil 4 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced 3 cloves of garlic, minced 1 green
Eggplant Sambal Malacca Style The Eggplant Sambal Malacca style dish is my version of ‘nonya sambal terung’ the famous Malaccan eggplant dish. Sambal dishes always
Sweet Potato Doughnuts with Palm Sugar (Kuih Keria) For me, one of the most exciting culinary adventures is visiting a residential market or roadside vendor
My mother was celebrated for her roasted chicken, which was tender and flavorful right to the bone. She first made this recipe for one of our regular customers at our spice stall and soon enough could hardly keep up with the orders. I enjoyed standing beside her as she would make it, watching the palm sugar, butter, and tamarind as they caramelized. In this recipe, we never used the reserved juices from the pan as the tamarind sauce was so delicious on its own. However, you may serve the reserved sauce on the side you wish. Just before serving, she would sprinkle in a handful of fried chilies for an extra kiss of flavor.
