70: The diversity, beauty, and healthfulness of the Malay diet | Khir Johari, researcher and author of The Food of Singapore Malays
Description
Khir Johari: “When we look at our understanding of Malay food, it is typically based on a narrow window, and that is the hawker centre. If you get a chance to visit Malay homes (your Malay neighbours or friends), that is where you get to see things that you don’t normally experience… Reading and travelling help to inform, and with that, you’ll come to understand the diversity and beauty of Malay food, and look at it as a very healthy diet. Any food you eat in excess is bad, regardless of your background, ethnicity, or geography.”
Khir Johari, author of The Food of Singapore Malays, shares about his new book, plus: *Who are the Malays* *How his interest in Singaporean Malay food began* *Lack in documentation of Malay gastronomy* *Mee siam* *Impact of urbanization and globalization on Singaporean Malay food* *Foraging in Malay food culture* *Ulam and seafood in the Malay diet* *Ways of cooking with greens* *Connecting with nature* *Concept of Peranakan in Singapore* *What can be problematic about the way Peranakan food is marketed these days* *Food as medicine* *Growing up years* *Kampong glam then and now* *Extinct dishes* *How we can embody the Malay ethos towards food in this modern day and age* *Hope for Singaporean food culture*
Khir Johari: https://www.thefoodofsingaporemalays.com/ @khir19
Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodles
Singapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/
Over the weekend, a commentary that I wrote on hawker prices was published on CNA and has sparked a bit of debate. Much of the discussion has been robust and I thought I’d share my views on some of them:
“Letting hawkers set their own price at will is going to raise the cost of living for...
Published 03/27/23
Five to six years ago, when I was working on Wet Market to Table, I came across the menu at Nouri where regional vegetables and fruit were celebrated in new and unexpected ways. Lots has changed since then and it is not uncommon now to see young chefs working with produce from our markets, but...
Published 10/16/22