TWO ASIAN KITCHENS

by MasterChef Australia winner

ADAM LIAW

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New hardcover cookbook published 2011, 240 pages.

"My life has been filled with beautiful memories of food: hawker noodle dishes eaten as a child in Malaysia, late-night suppers near my apartment in Tokyo, the best grilled chicken from a Thai street market, and my grandmother's famous Hainanese Chicken Rise. These dishes all sit fondly in my memory, but they also tell their own stories of rich tradition and culture. They are stories which are centuries old, but which have not yet ended. With each new dish we make we add our own experiences and tastes.

Before I was 18 I had lived in more than 20 different homes across four countries, and each of their kitchens has left me with unique memories. My family crossed three countries in as many generations, and yet my story is not unique in Australia. As a child, every week I would eat my way around the world.

For me, Hainanese chicken rice is not just a good lunch: it is the latest in a thousand delicious plates of chicken my grandmother has lovingly prepared for our family. When I cook siew yuk, I am replaying the memory of my father carrying roasted pork belly home from the market on any of a hundred Saturday afternoons in Adelaide. A plate of beef with oyster sauce reminds me of all the times my mother served it up next to an equally huge platter of beef stroganoff to feed eight hungry children around the dinner table. 

The Two Asian Kitchens in my life are The Old Kitchen and The New Kitchen. The Old Kitchen represents the traditional dishes of my family history - hawker noodles, Japanese yakitori, sour and salty Malaysian laksa. The New Kitchen features modern dishes that draw on the memorable flavours and experiences of my own life as a migrant in Australia."

Adam Liaw

Chapters include:

• Introduction
• Pantry
• On techniques
  • donburi
  • dumplings
  • sushi
  • stir-frying
  • fruit liquors
  • tempura
• The Old Kitchen
• The New Kitchen - includes Farmer's Union iced coffee pudding with tea-smoked chocolate and five-spice tenkasu (this Adelaide girl is very impressed!)
• Glossary of ingredients and Index

Two Asian Kitchens is an Australian publication. All measurements are in metric and metric cup & spoon.

About the author

Adam Liaw grew up in Adelaide and as a child loved to cook for his family. He moved to Tokyo to work as a media lawyer before taking part, and winning, the second series of MasterChef Australia. He now lives in Sydney and is planning to open his own restaurant.

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Two Asian Kitchens by Adam Liaw, Australia's Masterchef Series Two winner