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MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Malvin Soh is excited to introduce Winnipeggers to the spicy, complex flavours of Singapore.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The urban designer began cooking familiar favourites to combat his own cravings when studying and working in Australia, where he lived for nearly 10 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom where I lived in Sydney, it was usually about a 15-minute drive to Chinatown to get Southeast Asian ingredients,\u201d he says. \u201cSydney already had a good supply of fresh seafood and access to authentic Singaporean, Malaysian and Indonesian restaurants. It was during that time that I discovered my interest in cooking Singaporean food, and it helped me feel connected to the food I grew up eating.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Singapore Chili Crab is one of Sedap\u2019s more popular offerings.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n After moving to Winnipeg, Soh contemplated venturing into the food industry when he realized that despite the city\u2019s diverse food culture there was nowhere to get Singaporean cuisine.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew it was going to get tough for me if I didn\u2019t figure out how I was going to access Singapore dishes here. It was a problem only I could solve \u2014 no one was going to solve it for me,\u201d he says, adding that he even went as far as drafting out a business plan with his wife before the couple recognized the venture would be a drain on their financial resources.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Malvin Soh prepares char kway teow, a stir-fried rice noodle dish, in his kitchen. Soh hosts a pop-up restaurant, Sedap Singapore Kitchen.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n He would also have to create awareness of Singaporean food in the community \u2014 at the time, not many people were familiar with the cuisine \u2014 in order to run a successful restaurant.<\/p>\n Newly arrived, with a young child to care for, he shelved the idea and got on with the business of establishing a career and tending to his family while continuing to cook regularly at home.<\/p>\n \u201cAs time went on, I would invite friends and their families over. After a while, people asked, \u2018When\u2019s the chili crab coming? When are you cooking the char koay teow?\u2019 And then suddenly they began asking when I was going to cook for the public, why I wasn\u2019t already,\u201d he says with a laugh.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Malvin Soh prepares nonya laksa.<\/p>\n It was food for thought. He weighed out the pros and cons, had more discussions with his family, and in April this year, after more than a decade of cooking up a storm at home, launched Sedap Singapore Kitchen at Riverview Community Centre at 90 Ashland Ave.<\/p>\n He promoted the pop-up event on Facebook, Instagram and among family, friends and colleagues, and was gratified by the response.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Malvin Soh puts the finishing touches on nonya laksa.<\/p>\n He\u2019s been filling up tables and plates on the regular ever since, serving classic dishes such as Hainanese chicken rice, Nonya laksa and chili crab to Winnipeggers who have developed a taste for the fragrant, sweet-and-spicy and creamy flavours and textures typical of the cuisine.<\/p>\n Finding the exact herb, spice or root he needed to make certain dishes was challenging at first, but Soh enjoys food shopping as much as he enjoys cooking, so it wasn\u2019t too much of an ordeal.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Ice Kachang is a concoction of shaved ice, red beans, jelly, sweet corn and sweet syrup.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Hainanese Chicken Rice with soy paste, scallion ginger, chili sauce as condiments.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to ask people, but first you have to know what you\u2019re looking for. For instance, knowing that laksa leaf is the same as Vietnamese coriander means you can go to a grocery store which has Vietnamese offerings,\u201d he says, pointing out that he\u2019s also learned a lot from his uncle, a chef in Minnesota who shares tips with him on their regular phone calls.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me it\u2019s more like fishing for ingredients. I get very excited when I spot things like curry leaves or candlenut.\u201d<\/p>\n He would spend weekends grocery store hopping on the hunt for ingredients that lie outside the realm of the international food aisle in big-box grocery stores.<\/p>\n He would take note of which stores stocked what, building a list of where to go to get specific ingredients. It\u2019s an exhaustive but by no means comprehensive list, which he keeps both on his phone and as an Excel spreadsheet for longer-term food planning on his computer.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Prawn Keropok or prawn crackers.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cInitially, I referred to it a lot when putting together new dishes for upcoming pop-ups. Eventually, after many trips to the Asian grocery stores, I started remembering where to find most things,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cOne ingredient I haven\u2019t been able to find locally is bunga kantan or torch ginger flower, which is used in dishes like Chinese rojak and asam laksa. Depending on what I\u2019m preparing, I substitute it with lemongrass, calamansi or Japanese pickled ginger.\u201d<\/p>\n Soh\u2019s pop-ups at Riverview Community Centre take place once every two months and he keeps both the guest list and the menu tight; he does not want to over-extend himself or his small team of helpers \u2014 wife Florianne and their daughter.<\/p>\n At every pop-up, the family sets up a display of books, video clips and printed information about Singapore culture and food. Florianne enjoys organizing the events and his teenage daughter enjoys helping him cook.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Orh Luak is an omelette made with oysters.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe venue can easily accommodate around 200 people but as it\u2019s just the three of us, 40 is all we can manage. I want to let people try the food, and after serving I walk around and talk to guests and answer any questions they may have,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the way I like it. The whole purpose of this is to connect and to engage. To talk about the food, to make it accessible for everyone to try. In Singapore there are a hundred ways of cooking one thing. This is my way, this is my story.\u201d<\/p>\n Visit Sedap Singapore Kitchen\u2019s Instagram<\/a>\u00a0and Facebook<\/a> page for more information about the festive pop-up lunch on Dec. 19.<\/p>\n av.kitching@winnipegfreepress.com<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t AV Kitching AV Kitching is an arts and life writer at the Free Press. She has been a journalist for more than two decades and has worked across three continents writing about people, travel, food, and fashion. Read more about AV<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting AV produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n \t\t
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