Listed: Southeast Asian Food Writers, Bloggers, etc.
Take note of your grandparents' recipes. Take note of these writers' recipes. Take note.
There have been many messages in my phone number and email asking how I’ve been doing in the past three weeks. From my friends, colleagues that I work with, a handful of journalists, and my father. Especially him. He’s been texting me about his concern for my safety since February. He has some friends who reside in other states, so he shared their contacts just in case something bad happens. I understand his concern. Living with a sense of fear is not comfortable. You go for a walk carrying fear, you go for a grocery run carrying fear, and you go to bed carrying fear. It’s not just in your pocket anymore. It’s probably the size of your baggage. It’s a collective fear shared amongst Asians.
I’ve seen many posts dedicated to this issue. But, I haven’t seen many that highlight Southeast Asians; they’re filled with a list of food bloggers from East Asians and the diaspora. Meanwhile, Asia is so big and huge. Asia is not just the eastern “tip” with chili oil, dim sum, and noodles. I can’t even cover the whole continent from this post. So I choose Southeast Asia as the focus of this newsletter. This list is not in any particular order. Please drop more writers, bloggers video producers, organizations, and any food-related media from Southeast Asia if you know some!
Arenga Pinnata, by Francisco Manuel Blanco, illustrated around 1880 - 1883. Arenga Pinnata is a palm native to India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, and all of Southeast Asia. It’s considered the second most essential palm tree in Southeast Asia after coconut tree. Every part of the tree is used in everyday life; The sap is for wine, arak, sugar, vinegar, and Bioethanol; The fruits (Kaong, Kolang-Kaling) are boiled for dessert; the bark is used for medicine and flour; the leaves are used for broom and roof.
Myanmar
Burmese Beyond is an account of Mimi Aye, a Burmese culinary author whose book, Mandalay, is a love letter to Burmese food and people. Here’s where you can have a look at some pages of the book. It’s really heartwarming looking at those pictures! The book is not just photos of plates, it really is beyond that.
Rohingya Cultural Memory Centre
This project is preserving the heritage of Rohingya culture; from songs, textile, to recipes! (if you know me, you know I’m a nerd for fabrics and food, from stitches to flavors!).
Cambodia
Proudly cooking Cambodian food, Chef Nak celebrates traditional Khmer recipes!
From garden to table. Soneatheye’s page on Instagram is a gardener’s dream. Growing the veggies in the garden, Soneatheye cooks Cambodian recipes from California!
Brunei Darussalam
There’s not much information that I could find on Brunei. But, one that I think is worth mentioning is Am Carmen. Born and raised in Brunei, Am is a Filipino descent. You can find Filipino and Bruneian food on her page.
Malaysia
Linda of Roti n Rice
You got Roti (bread)? You got Rice? You know you’re on the page of someone who lives abroad. Linda’s cooking ranges from Stout Brown Sugar Glazed Corned Beef to Lobak Lodeh, Malay style Lodeh with white radish - unlike the Javanese version with Manisah (Chayote) and Tewel (Green Jackfruit) or the Chinese-Javanese one with Rebung (Bamboo Shoots). Her other blog that she writes together with her husband, Paul, is full of Nyonya (Peranakan / Strait Chinese) cooking
Singapore
Long before Thomas Stamford Raffles established it as a trading port in 1819, Singapore was already a hub of culture. With the influx of immigrants from India, Sri Lanka, China, and the surrounding areas (Malaysia, Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Jawa), the food in Singapore is diverse. Share Food collects recipes that shape Singapore; Indian (Kerala, Bengali, Parsi, Gujarati, Tamil, etc.), Sri Lankan (Tamil, Telugu, Malayali, Punjabi, Bengali, Singhala, etc.), Arabian (Hadhramai, Yemeni, etc.), Chinese (Hokkien, Teochew, Canton, Hakka, Henghua, and Fuzhou), and Melayu.
A poster in an Arabian-descent-owned-shop in Singapore
Timor Leste (East Timor)
Timor Leste Food Lab is a way of making sense of taste through culinary. This food lab is founded as a way to preserve biodiversity and honor indigenous knowledge in Timor Leste.
Honest and warm, Heni Lopes shoots videos of her life in Northern Ireland. Her videos are mostly recipes or her cooking with her children running in the house. It’s the kind of cooking video you will relate to! From Kue Putu to Naan Seu-Seu.
Philippines
If there’s someone who embodies the fashion sense and spice of the Philippines, that person is Angela Dimayuga. In the interview with The Cut, she mentioned how the inside layers of her cake could be like her cargo pants. Her cooking represents her style so well; glamorous, loud, and fun.
Laos
Looking for Laos recipes written by someone from Laos is like finding a needle in a haystack. It’s a grant worths research. Saeng’s blog is one out of a few cooking blogs I could find. He’s an L.A based food writer and producer that dedicates his writing for Laos cuisine!
Indonesia
If there’s a food blogger that writes Indonesian recipes with handy tricks and ingredients to substitute, it’s Marv of What to Cook Today. She was born and raised in Indonesia, so her blog is basically an Indonesian food galore - from Soto Medan to Tahu Isi. Aside from Indonesian recipes, you can also find Nyonyas cooking from Singapore and Malaysia in her blog!
I wrote about Lestari in my newsletter a couple of months ago. This website is a database of Indonesian food from Aceh to Papua, that you can read in Indonesia, English, and German. The archivist, Endang Lestari, collects recipes from all over Indonesia by sorting many cookbooks. In short, she is my hero. Making a database of recipes? QUEEN! All hail Endang Lestari!
Thailand
Pranee’s page is like a one-pot dinner! She writes recipes, does virtual cooking class, and shares her favorite everything related to Thai food!
Vietnam
The first time I stumbled upon Lisa’s page is 3 years ago after my trip to North Vietnam. I had pork and seafood Pho almost every day for two weeks and I thought I’d had enough of meat after the trip. On the other hand, I was craving Pho. Her vegan recipes are handy for those looking for Vietnamese vegan recipes.
Love this! I missed my chance of getting all the indo/fave family recipes from my mom when she was alive sadly. I'm glad there are alternatives out there, while not the same, for me to continue learning about indo cooking and more. Thank you for collecting it all on one page!!