Book: Malay Heritage Cooking

By Rita Zahara

I wouldn't dare to get into the debate about Malaysian versus Singaporean cuisines - I'm not just an outsider, I also have friends from both places. I know enough to say "I like them both" when asked whether I prefer bak kut teh from Malaysia (where it's more herbal) over the type served in Singapore (which is more peppery). I'm not lying - I'd happily eat either version of the ethnically Chinese pork "tea".

Malay Heritage Cooking is one of the volumes in the Singapore Heritage Cookbooks series. The author, Rita Zahara, comes from a prominent Malay family in Singapore and food and cooking have always been important to her people as elements of celebrations and charitable work.

Malay food uses a lot of spices and the lists of ingredients in many of the recipes look daunting; as with many other cuisines, though, the preparation is more arduous than the actual cooking.

Zahara gives recipes for classic dishes including nasi lemak (coconut rice) with sambal tumis ikan bilis; beef rendang; kangkong belacan (morning glory with fermented shrimp paste); acar timun (carrot and cucumber pickle); soto ayam (chicken soup); and laksa Johor.