I grew up eating the most popular Malaysian dishes. So I was so excited to go to Malaysia (Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur, and Sandakan) for my cousin’s wedding. The food was truly amazing! One of the simplest dishes to make is the rice dish, nasi lemak. It comes with some side dishes with the signature hot sauce, sambal with anchovies.
My ex’s mother introduced me to beef and kimchi fried rice years ago. It doesn’t look like much, but it is addictively good. It’s also easy and cost-effective to make, which is why I was outraged when I saw it being priced at $14 in a Korean restaurant recently. It inspired me to finally get around to sharing my recipe. You could also top it off with a fried up (sunny side up) and/or add other vegetables. Want to try a fusion version of this? Top it with cheese and melt it under the broiler in the oven.
Note: If you prefer more red colour, you can add Korean red pepper paste (gochujang).
Ramen is a Japanese noodle dish in broth. In restaurants, the ramen broth is often overloaded with MSG and/or sodium, so naturally, I make this at home. It is very easy to make and you can freeze portions of the broth for future meals. My favourite ramen broth is tonkotsu, which is made with pork bones (see my recipe here). But not everyone likes such a heavy broth, so the last time I had fresh chicken carcasses, I made chicken ramen. I also made the ramen noodles from scratch (see recipe here). (See my ramen eating tour through Toronto, ON, and New York City here.)
My family and I LOVE Japanese sushi. In fact, sushi is my all-time favourite food. California rolls are, by no means, our favourite roll, but they are the ones that we make at home the most often, because the ingredients are affordable and easy to prep. The first time I made California maki for my family, I couldn’t make the rolls quickly enough to keep up with the rate at which they were eating them. I finished that dinner feeling rushed, exhausted, and hungry! So I stopped making sushi for a long time after that. Luckily, one life-altering day, my then-boyfriend’s mom made us dinner by serving all of the ingredients for California rolls and allowing us to assemble our own hand rolls at the dinner table. It was genius! It had never occurred to me to make hand rolls before, because my family Never orders them from the restaurants! The best part is that the cook only has to prepare the individual components, which requires minimal cooking – perfect for weeknight and summer-time dinners. The guests have fun assembling their own hand rolls to their own taste. I’ve since done this countless times for myself, my family, and guests. It’s also makes for a great and easy food station at larger parties. If you don’t like artificial crab meat, I’ve done this using smoked salmon instead.
Note that the noodles should be a bit darker in colour. I didn’t have dark soy sauce at the time.
Char kway teow is a stir fried, flat rice noodle dish. I’ve now had delicious char kway teow in Brunei and Malaysia. My favourite is Penang style. This recipe is a recreation of my preferred version of Penang style char kway teow.
fiBowls of Chinese noodle soup are comforting, warming, easy to make, and are often one pot meals. They’re also a great way to use up leftovers, because you can use any combination of protein and/or vegetables that you like or happen to have on hand. I’ve provided guidelines for making Chinese noodle soup and suggested some popular topping combinations below.
This recipe is a recreation of my family’s favourite fish broth. We surprisingly found the best fish broth at one of the food court vendors in First Markham Place in Markham, ON. My family and I have never had such a delicious and strongly flavoured fish soup. The best part is that they don’t use MSG! Our cousin took us out in Malaysia for the “best” fish noodle soup, and we didn’t have the heart to tell him that our local food court vendor does it much much better. This fish broth will fill your house with a fishy smell, but if you can get over that, you’ll love the broth. I like to use this fish broth when I’m making seafood paella and Chinese noodle soups (see recipe here).
Different versions of savoury pancakes are popular in Asian cuisine, including Korean pancakes, Japanese pancakes, and Chinese pancakes. My favourite is the Chinese scallion pancake that is believed to have originated in Shanghai. Considering these pancakes are made with flour and green onions, I have always found them to be overpriced in restaurants. Luckily, they are very easy to make. Although they are slightly time consuming to make, you can make a large batch and freeze them for quick and easy future meals. These make a great accompaniment to all sorts of dishes, but especially to stir fried Shanghai noodles (see recipe here) and sticky rice rolls with pork floss (see recipe here).
When white daikon radish went on sale for only 9 cents per pound, I did what I had to do – I bought pounds and pounds and pounds of it, found different ways to cook it, and ate nothing but daikon radish for two weeks. It was awesome! 🙂 So here is a list of dishes that you can make using white daikon radish. Let me know if you can think of more items!
If you’ve never cooked daikon radish before, I should warn you that the cooking process releases an unpleasant odour. But once the radish is fully cooked, the smell goes away, and the radish has a mild flavour.
As you can tell from my ramen eating tour through Toronto, ON, and New York City (see my reviews here), I was kind of obsessed with ramen for a little while. It’s been a longer while since I’ve last eaten some, haha. Ramen is a Japanese noodle dish in broth. Traditionally, you are supposed to finish the entire bowl of noodles, including the soup, but I would never drink more than a few spoonfuls of the soup served in a restaurant (unless they specifically claimed that they do not use MSG). Although I was loving the restaurant served MSG-laden bowls of ramen, I still wanted to be able to enjoy ramen with controlled sodium and fat levels, so naturally, I made my own. I happily drink every drop of my home-made ramen broth. It is very easy to make and you could make a large batch and freeze some for quick and easy future meals. My favourite ramen broth is tonkotsu, which is made with pork bones. For those that prefer a lighter broth, see my chicken ramen broth recipe here. Once you’ve made the base stock, you can tailor individual bowls of ramen broth with seasonings such as shio (salt), shoyu (soy sauce), miso, mayu (burnt garlic oil), etc.
This is a great dish to make during the summer months, because it’s easy to make, it’s light, and it can be served cold. This is also a great way to use up leftovers. Feel free to substitute with any vegetables and/or cooked meat that you like or happen to have on hand. I served this Thai inspired noodle salad alongside a Thai mango salad for lunch (recipe here).
Shanghai noodles are thick and chewy. At Chinese restaurants, they are usually darkly coloured and stir fried with thin strips of pork and cabbage. Since the noodles are so thick, they don’t tend to be as flavourful as they appear. That’s why I like eating this dish with Chinese red vinegar. I don’t know if anyone else does this, but I find that the red vinegar adds flavour, helps to cut the oil, and makes the dish feel less heavy. Try serving these noodles alongside sticky rice rolls (recipe here).
Cooking with Alison 
