Sambal Shiok: The Malaysian Cookbook

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With Mandy’s evocative look at Malaysian food culture, her recipes, and the basics of a Malaysian pantry (shrimp paste, lemongrass, tamarind and coconut milk), you can easily enjoy the most delicious Malaysian meals at home.

Place the egg quarters on the plate around the salad. Gently crush the crisps with your hands and sprinkle over the salad. Eat immediately, as the vegetables will go soggy if left in the sauce for too long. The book’s introduction starts with Yin’s reminder of the manifold origins of Malaysian cuisine and her intention to celebrate the diversity of the country and its people. The recipes shared are through the lens of Yin’s own experiences and food memories, and whilst not all of them are exactly what you might traditionally find in Malaysia, all are firmly rooted in Malaysian flavours. Like the many generations before her, Yin rejoices in bringing together the flavours and foods of her land of birth with the ingredients and ideas of the UK. Like any curry, laksa is defined by the base paste that’s diluted to form the gravy. Dried chillies and salty, fermented shrimp paste feature in all the recipes I try, and fresh ginger (or galangal), garlic and onion or shallot are also very common. I find, like the dried shrimp that Sylvia Tan, the cook responsible for my first laksa, uses in her book Singapore Heritage Food, the dried chillies benefit from soaking first; it makes them easier to blend into the paste. Tan’s is also the only recipe to use candlenuts, so-named for their high oil content, which give her gravy a lovely, nutty richness. They’re hard to get hold of in this country, possibly because they’re mildly toxic when raw, but macadamias make a good substitute. Ingredients list are surprisingly approachable for a South East Asian cookbook. While some recipes call for ingredients that may not be available in a supermarket, the vast majority of the ingredients can be sourced from a decent Asian supermarket and Yin also provides some ideas for substitutions. That said, the book has not been dumbed down, with the recipes and methods the same as those used at Sambal Shiok Laksa Bar in nearly all cases. Billed as ‘The Malaysian cookbook’ rather than simply a Malaysian cookbook, Sambal Shiok chronicles the rise of one of London’s best-known South East Asian restaurants along with providing around 90 recipes.Add the laksa broth ingredients to a large saucepan along with the fried spice paste. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently on the lowest heat for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, then remove the laksa leaves/mint/coriander and lemongrass, and adjust the seasoning (the salt and sugar), to taste. Add the tofu puffs to the broth for 10 minutes so that they soak up the flavour. Having bought two fat tubes of fresh egg tofu (which I love) just days before the book arrived, the first recipe we made was Soy-Braised Egg Tofu. There’s a lovely vignette in the recipe’s summary about the rustic family-style restaurant in Sarawak in which Yin tasted this dish, where three generations of women cooked and served customers, whilst the youngest member of the family slept in a baby basket to one side. Although the recipe includes pork mince and oyster sauce, it’s listed in the Vegetarian section of Home-Style Dishes, with suggestions from Yin to sub rehydrated shiitake mushrooms for the pork and mushroom sauce instead of oyster to make it vegetarian. We make the pork version and it’s fabulous; wobbly discs of egg tofu have a hint of crispness on the surfaces, with insides that are meltingly soft and silky, they are so good against the simple pork. Whilst our sauce doesn’t come out remotely as dark as that pictured, it’s wonderful mixed into the rice. We love this dish and have made it a few times already, even at the expense of trying more recipes. Heat the oil in a wok or large saucepan over a medium heat. Stir-fry the onion mixture and lemongrass for 10 minutes, stirring often. Make sure your windows are open as the chillies will start to smoke! Note the difference, btw in Malaysian versus Malay; the former refers to the people and culture of the whole country whereas the latter describes an Austronesian ethnic group native to an area that encompasses East Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, and coastal Borneo.

Assembling the bowls. I have often been asked how to boil a soft-boiled egg like we do at the restaurant. We use medium-sized eggs at room temperature. Start by bringing 8cm of water up to boil in a saucepan. Lower the eggs into the water with a slotted spoon and turn down the heat so it is at a rolling boil. Set a timer for 6½ minutes for soft-boiled or 7½ minutes for hard-boiled. Once the time is up, immediately take the eggs out, put in a deep bowl of cold water and leave them for 2 minutes to stop the cooking. It is easiest to peel the eggs in water as the water helps to get between the egg's membrane and the shell. Slice in half. Place a wok over a high heat until it is smoking. To achieve any sort of wok hei, you MUST fry only one portion at a time. Add the oil, garlic and half of the Chinese chives. Stir-fry for a few seconds until the chives have charred a bit.

The book starts with a series of mini essays that do a great job of contextualising Malaysian cooking and how it has been influenced by countries near and far. The country’s population is 60% Malay, 25% Chinese, 7% Southern Indian and 8% indigenous, making it a fascinating melting pot of different culinary influences. stalks of Chinese chives, sliced into 5cm (2in)-long batons, or substitute with 2 spring onions (scallions) Finally, blanch the egg noodles for 10 seconds and drain well before distributing among the bowls. Portion everything out into the bowls ready for serving – the beansprouts, green beans and prawns. Pour the hot laksa broth into each of the bowls with 4 halved tofu puffs per serving. Place the boiled egg halves on top and finish with sliced laksa leaves, mint or coriander.