Melissa and Michelle Pong are like two bubbly peas in a pod. The 2 sisters are the cool owners of the Fat Spoon Cafe in Damansara Uptown, a quaint little cafe known for its quirky local favourites served with a twist. It’s a cafe that’s only about 3 years old but the sisters’ creations, mostly inspired by family favourites, have created a good following.
Taking a step further, Melissa and Michelle have recently shared some of their favourite recipes in a cookbook, published by MPH. It was a project that thrilled them and their tireless efforts, which involved members of their family, have resulted in a cookbook that’s simple with very-easy-to-follow instructions. It documents quite a number of their family favourites and some of these are also served in the cafe.
The sisters credit their mother and maternal grandmother (and other family members, of course) for the incredible influence that has shaped their love for food. Serving mainly northern Nyonya food, they love experimenting and twisting the recipes a bit but still retain the natural flavours and essence of the dishes.
Flicking through the pages of this cookbook, I can see the little twists and creative innovations injected into the recipes. For example, I like their idea of using watercress in a noodle dish and those scallops & passionfruit shooters are perfect for a meal to be remembered.
During the private launch of this cookbook, a select group of guests (of which I was privileged enough to be included) got to taste some of the dishes published in the cookbook. In between sips of their popular refreshing Ice-blended Lychee and Mint, we listened as Melissa and Michelle took turns to explain a bit about the dishes before they were served.
It was a hands-on affair for the guests as we got to assemble and wrap our own Beef & Basil Popiah Wrap. The lemongrass and chilli dressing was a particularly match for the fragrant basil and coriander leaves in the popiah.
Here – do it yourself 🙂
Minced beef, piquantly flavoured with garlic and fish sauce
Load on the vegetables
A mix of balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and soya sauce went a long way in jazzing up the Squid Salad that was served next. This is a typical example of Fat Spoon’s forte: mixing local and western influences in a dish.
I love Michelle’s Lemongrass Pot Clams – such aromatic heartiness in a bowl of piping hot broth cradling fat juicy clams. There’s sufficient heat in the dish too, thanks to the finely chopped chilli padi dotting the clams. I think I spooned up every single drop of the broth.
Torched Salmon Rice Bowl is a delightful quirky take on the traditional salmon don. The symphony of flavours from finely chopped torch ginger flower, lime juice, fish sauce, fried shallots and chilli padi intermingled with the smokey hints from the torched salmon is like a crazy party in the mouth. Crazily delicious, that is.
Don’t you just love that golden oozy egg?! 🙂
As I had to rush off back to work, I missed Melissa’s Asian Lamb Stew and their Nangka Madu Crumble with Vanilla Ice Cream. What a shame. But, never mind, the recipes are in the cookbook – I just need to find some time to cook these myself.
The Fat Spoon Cookbook retails for RM39.90 and is available in the Fat Spoon Cafe, MPH, Times, Borders and Kinokuniya book stores.