The Malaysian Kitchen: 150 Recipes for Simple Home Cooking

by Christina Arokiasamy

Irresistible Malaysian recipes for the American home cook, including curries, noodle bowls, stir-fries, street foods, and more

A delicious and informal mashup of Southeast Asian and European influences, Malaysian cooking is full of flavor and easy to love. Chef and author Christina Arokiasamy brings it into the American home kitchen. This cuisine borrows from the traditions of Thailand, India, China, and Portugal for dishes as varied as Chili Prawns, Salmon Tandoori, Hainanese Chicken Rice, and Grilled Lamb with Rosemary Pesto. Christina gives recipes for authentic Malaysian favorites like Beef Rendang and Char Kway Teow Noodles, while also sharing her own modern iterations, such as Wok-Fried Spaghetti with Kale. An assortment of sambals and chili sauces—simply thrown together in a blender—get you started on your way to these dishes but are so tasty and versatile you’ll find yourself using them in the rest of your everyday cooking. Vivid on-location photography takes the reader into the spice markets, coffee houses, fishing villages, and kitchen gardens that inspired each recipe.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Nonfiction, Cooking

352 pages, Hardcover

Published March 21, 2017

Reviews

[NILTON TEIXEIRA · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Beautiful book with delicious recipes.
I have not tried any, so to give it a 3.5 stars seems unfair, but it is mostly because I wished that there was a picture for each recipe, as I like to have that anticipation of a final product.
The book is well written and very informative.
Once I have tried a few recipes I may review or add some notes about it.

[Brenda Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Love this beautiful cookbook! It's gorgeous from cover to cover: the paper is heavy, smooth and shiny; the pictures of food are gorgeous; even the page edges are trimmed in vibrant color. There are also fun, interesting photos of Malaysians cooking in Malaysia sprinkled throughout. I leave this book on the counter so I can enjoy the visual feast frequently. The recipes are fantastic and include the expected meat, chicken,fish, vegetables and dessert as well as yummy soups and street food. I've prepared several dishes so far and plan on making many more. The author is the daughter of a spice merchant and provides a spice chart describing the taste, aroma and use of Asian spices - fabulous! She offers interesting tidbits about other subjects too, including "Rice in Asian Diets" and "How to Successfully Cook with a Wok". With all the online recipes available these days a cookbook has to be really special to tempt me and this one is (really special) and was worth every penny. And I bought it while shopping with a friend - thanks to Marcia for introducing me to the lovely independent bookstore, Bookends and Beginnings in Evanston, Il.

[Yaaresse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating this one strictly on reading, not trying out the recipes. I might get around to that later, but my purpose of reading this one was to learn more about Malaysian flavor combinations and foods. To that end, it did quite nicely.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very practical advice, good recipes, and a great intro to Malaysia

[Deborah Cleaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

The recipes are simple if you have access to somewhat rare ingredients like pandan leaf, kefir lime leaves, kicap manis, sambal oelek, and liquid palm sugar. There is a recipe for sambal but you must scavenge for other ingredients. Still, the book illuminates Malaysian cooking and customs and the pictures and descriptions should motivate you to find ingredients to savor these dishes. A thoughtful book to introduce the reader to the kind of cooking uncommon in American kitchens.

[Dray · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the cuisines I am least familiar with. Good cookbook for explaining the varieties, spices and flavors of the large region.

[Aasinathena · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first book about Malaysian food and I love this !

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fantastic cookbook is full of stunning photos and delicious recipes. I made several and they all disappeared quickly.

[Garry Whitmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the things I like about the whole Kindle eco structure is the chance to buy books at low bargain prices that in hardcover are quite expensive. This book was one of these. I like cooking and have dipped into both Thai and Chinese so to be able to buy a book on Malaysian cooking for less than a couple of pounds was worth it.

The book itself on initial inspection looks interesting I will undoubtedly try some of the recipes. As usual, it's written for the US market without any consideration for the rest of the world, but I'm used to this now, and at the price, not an issue.