Poh moves out of her kitchen and heads off overseas – to Malaysia, the country where she was born. She is on a three-week trip starting in Kuala Lumpur to find out more about her heritage and traditional Malaysian dishes.
Poh wasn’t one of my favourite contestants in the first season of Masterchef. Her inclusion in the competition came after the judges rejected her first dish and told her to go home and cook something “from the heart” (or similarly cliché location). Her second dish got her through and the show did its darndest to eliminate that early mis-step from viewers’ minds by constructing a “Poh cooks from her heritage” narrative. When she was brought back as a “second chancer”, grudge-holding viewers (which could well be a set of, say, one) seethed at “third chancers”. Of course, when the final came down to Julie versus Poh, I would have preferred to see Poh through, as at least she’d consistently shown competence and creativity in the kitchen.
Coming second did not damage Poh’s food-related ambitions; the ABC recognised her potential and signed her up for a series to fill the old Cook and the Chef spot. I tuned into the first couple of episodes and, whilst she seemed very natural on TV, the giggling and fawning over guest chefs grated. Was that Poh? Perhaps it was just me, because after a few weeks I tuned back in and have become a regular viewer.
Why does Poh’s Kitchen work for me where Delish failed? After all, Julia Jenkins got into the competition without second or third chances and showed her skill early on by “beating the chef”. The format of “Poh’s Kitchen” is really well suited to addressing the reservations I have about the credentials of hosts. Rather than set Poh up as an expert in all things, she teams up with a different chef each week and takes on the role as the viewer’s proxy, asking questions, prompting for further details on produce or technique. She, in turn, cooks Malaysian dishes and calls in family members to demonstrate traditional dishes that she wants to learn. She is an enthusiastic student and teacher, deferring to the expertise of others but able to make connections between processes she uses in her food and what the experts are doing in their dishes.
The most recent episode was a slight departure from the kitchen-based regular episodes, as Poh was back in Malaysia (see blurb, above). As a big fan of KL, it was great to see the city scenes, and I did want to jump through the screen to eat on Jalan Alor – although I would have gone for bak kut teh, frog porridge or beef ball noodles, not durian. At her Grandmother’s house in KL, she made Pohpia under the supervision of one of her aunts, identifying unusual ingredients (such as the yam bean), describing their properties (water chestnutty) and suggesting alternatives. A visit to the Batu Caves was followed by an excellent roti canai demonstration, and then it was off to check out some nasi lemak (with an excellent tip for fluffy rice: use three different rice types to maximise the chances of getting “fresh” rice). Finally chef Ismail Ahmad cooked up a couple of Malay dishes – snail curry and young jackfruit curry. I’m not sure whether Poh just has a production team who are able to scout the most personable guests around (in the case of Ismail Ahmad, he was a real character – addressing the viewer through the screen), but I suspect her personality and the obvious delight she shows in the creations of her guests does a lot to put them at ease.
Nobody is more surprised than I am that I’ve become a Poh fan, but I was pleased to see that the show has been renewed for a second season. We need more Poh!
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Poh’s Kitchen is on ABC1 on Wednesdays at 6.30pm. It is repeated on Saturdays at 11.00am and on ABC2 at 6.00am on Thursdays. Recipes are available on the show’s homepage, and full episodes are available on iView.
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Love that show too. I am a Poh fan.
Reemski´s last blog ..Chicken Schnitzel and Autumn Salad from An Honest Kitchen
Great review, maybe I will remember to record it next week. One of the interesting things about Poh is that she was identified as someone who should be in the show by the producers prior to the auditions.
Reality Raver´s last blog ..Saturday Reality Tidbits
Nice review and spot on with the description of her role as viewer’s proxy. I have become a bit of a Poh fan too, except for the episodes that feature a certain Mr Perry whose smarm and smug factor vexes me no end.
Jo @ secondhelping´s last blog ..Monk -amp Me
[...] The “patissier of pain” Adriano Zumbo had created another difficult task for the Masterchef contestants to complete. Poh Ling Yeow would have loved it and wonder if Zumbo has been on her new show, which is still going on ABC1. Injera continues to watch it and has given her mid-season assessment of Poh’s Kitchen on her blog Blah Blog Blah. [...]
I watched that ep of Poh’s show too – it was a good one – that chef at the end was very chatty and smiley.
But honestly – does Poh own anything that isn’t a strappy singlet top?
You’re right, Jo! The eps with the Ponytail were a bit too much. I really like the French chef she has on (name escapes me) and the David Thompson episode was good fun.
Seepi, I was rather envious of Poh being able to wear strappy tops and short shorts in Malaysia. The weather really demands that kind of clothing, but I’ve always followed the advice of guidebooks and covered myself modestly (not that short shorts are my thing, but I would love to wear a tank top!).
How good did the enormous vat of rendang look?
Oh – I wondered about that. In Thailand the locals don’t like strappy singlets. surely Poh would know these things from her rellies? I thought perhaps it was ok in Malaysia.
Malaysia is a bit different. Whilst guidebooks tend to advise tourists cover up a bit, it’s not mandatory and Chinese Malaysians are a lot more relaxed about what they wear, so Poh wouldn’t have stood out at all. And, to be honest, a lot of tourists take their cues from that, it’s just that I was teaching and picked up the habit (no pun intended) from that.
Great review Injera! Totally agree the concept of Poh being the food geek amateur is what makes it so appealing. Must say though that the eps with Neil Perry put me off – does she always lean over and touch the chefs on the arms, shoulders, back around 7-8 times per episode or is that reserved for Neil?
I’d also like to see the Alvin and Poh show. Alvin absolutely loves Poh (apart from naming plants in her honour, she is his favourite chef and inspiration for going on the show) and I think those two on a show together would be a very cheery half hour. They could set each other mystery boxes and just cook outrageous yumyucks.
Fides, I also struggled with the ponytail episodes, but couldn’t really put my finger on why. Will check them out in repeats at some stage to look out for the unnecessary physical contact.
Love the idea of the Alvin and Poh show! Adam could come in as a guest for some of the yumyucks (three course pizza, anyone?). From what Aaron’s been cooking lately, he wouldn’t make it on the basis of missing the yum element.
There was an episode with Andre from last year’s MC – did you happen to catch that one? The banter between the two was very easy and natural and big-sister-annoying-little-brother-y.
Oh I’d love Adam to appear anywhere cooking a three course anything… I’ve become strangely infatuated…
Didn’t see Andre but that would have been a fun episode – I’ll have to go to the website or wherever to see old episodes, and I’ll leave a message on her messageboard with the Alvin idea.
Have you made any of her recipes? I loved the idea of the five spice Indonesian layer cake, but the 15 egg yolks required for it made my arteries harden just at the thought.
Great idea, leaving a suggestion on the website! I hope it happens – I’ll be able to say “I know who…”.
Strangely enough, given the amount of food TV I watch, I rarely cook the recipes from it. Sometimes I think something looks good and I do my own version of it, which is easy enough with pastas and braises etc, but I hardly ever go to the site for the recipe and follow it. Most recently, I did the Dak Bangalow chicken from Coconut Coast – which was lovely – but as much as the layer cake looked great, it also looked complicated, particularly for my dodgy oven.