Welcome to The Latch Tastemakers, where we sit down with people who know a city’s scene like the back of their hand to ask their must-try restaurants, cafes and bars. Dive into our Tastemakers series and curate your ultimate hit-list, whether you’re exploring your own city or venturing somewhere new.
Poh Ling Yeow is well-versed in Malaysian food — particularly when it comes to knowing where to find it in Australia. Born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, she immigrated to Australia when she was nine years old with her family. There, she studied and worked in design and art before moving into televised cooking appearances.
Her first on ABC’s Beat the Chef in 2005 saw her making Malaysian dishes ying ying prawns, basil Thai fried rice and deep-fried dory fillets with green mango. In 2009, she placed runner-up on the first season of MasterChef Australia and since then, she’s appeared on her own ABC and SBS cooking shows and, most recently, as a judge on MasterChef Australia.
So, when Ling Yeow isn’t making her own Malaysian food at home, where does she enjoy eating it in Sydney, where she’s based? “Ho Jiak is my favourite in Sydney,” she says. “I think they do a really mean Koay Teow.”
Fortunately for Sydneysiders keen to try Ling Yeow’s favourite Malaysian restaurant pick, Ho Jiak has four locations around the city: Town Hall, Chatswood, Haymarket and Strathfield.
The Town Hall location is headed by chef Junda Khoo and was awarded One Hat by SMH’s Good Food Guide 2023. Khoo puts his own spin on Malaysian dishes. His version of Malaysian marmite beef ribs sees them slow cooked in Vegemite gravy, while his assam laksa is served in the form of a salsa and granita.
Khoo also heads Ho Jiak Haymarket. Amah by Ho Jiak in Chatswood is headed by Chef Hun Loong, while Ho Jiak in Strathfield is a modern take on the open-air hawker markets in Northern Penang.
As for what Ling Yeow orders at Ho Jiak, she says she can’t pick just one dish – she has three favourites: assam laksa, kway teow and nasi lemak.
“I love assam laksa because it’s like hot, spicy, sour, and I love all the little toppings like pineapple, the torched ginger,” she says. “It’s just so fragrant. It was the dish that I got my chilli wings on as a kid.”
“My mum used to take me to this assam laksa place when I was little, and I could only eat like a tiny bowl. I remember the day I could eat a whole one and I was so proud, and I was only like seven or eight. It was super spicy. I remember just suffering through it, but thinking: ‘I’ve got to do this’.”
Kway teow (also spelled ‘koay teow’) is made with flat rice noodles, stir-fried and with chillies added. Nasi lemak is coconut rice, usually with anchovies, peanuts and sambal.
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