Growing up in a family of restaurateurs and caterers, I watched my mom and dad cook in huge pots, deliver food in vans and serve it at wedding receptions but I’d never had any interest in cooking till I left Malaysia. When we moved abroad, I couldn’t get my fix of Curry Laksa and this was what pushed me to cook. It was as simple as that! From phone calls to my late mom to exploring the Oriental Supermarket in Perth, I started filling up my pantry with various Asian ingredients. I started learning to cook some Malaysian classics; some came out perfectly, however, some were so disastrous that I had to get rid of them before my husband came home from work!   

 

When my girls filled in the entry form for MasterChef UK 2018, never in a million years did I imagine that I would ever walk into the MasterChef kitchen?! I must admit, without the Rendang-gate controversy, I would have been just another Masterchef contestant. All that publicity, be it good or bad, has made me who I am today.

 

The icing on the cake was definitely getting an email from Marshall Cavendish about publishing a cookbook. Once the hard work was done, the fun started which was coming up with a TITLE. I was immediately drawn to, “My Rendang Isn’t Crispy and Other Malaysian Favourites”, as suggested by my publisher. Cheeky I know, but it seemed a fitting close to the Rendang-gate controversy. Little did I know, it would cause another storm leading to it becoming a bestseller in Malaysia and winning the Gourmand World Cookbook Award alongside Nadiya Hussain’s, “Time to Eat”.

 

Today, when I look back at my accomplishments within this short span of time, I am more than pleased. I can proudly say that “My Rendang Isn’t Crispy” is the perfect legacy that I leave behind to my family, my children and everyone that I love.