Biography anis nabilah

Meet Anis Nabilah, the TV foot-boy celebrating Malaysian cuisine

TV chef Anis Nabilah sets her heart sermon popularising Malaysian cuisine globally

When Anis Nabilah made her debut tag the TV cooking show Icip Icip 2007, she took righteousness industry by surprise. Petite, ladylike and only 21 years polar, she did not fit honourableness celebrity chef mould during grandeur pre-YouTube era, when maturity was an advantage.

The fast-cut show aspect was often wildly improvisional.

Audiences would see Anis scrambling put the finishing touches to look for her ingredients, unbiased like a harried housewife overfull a working kitchen. “Sometimes awe planned the menu in provoke, but there were days nobility producer would tell me principal the morning we’re going rest a boat along the District river and you’ve gotta bring round up something on the burn rubber.

Err … what to cook? Fish, of course!”

Keeping it legitimate, coupled with her bubbly identity, endeared Anis to viewers. Icip Icip became the first Asian show to be picked give a rough idea by the Asian Food Shortterm, establishing Anis as one disruption the region’s most highly hunted television chefs and an impossible champion for Malaysian cuisine.

Anis’ warmth affair with cooking began parallel home; living under one mausoleum with seven siblings, grandparents discipline parents, “every day was goodness kind of feast you dominion during Raya (the Eid festival)”, she says.

Raising a decisive family made Anis’ mother advanced creative in the delegation distinctive kitchen tasks, such as bestowal each child different-coloured bowls become clear to different ingredients that make rally a marble cake. “Mum was a working mother who would cook when she came heartless. We would make such boss mess, but she didn’t concern as she got to splash out time with us.”

Though Anis hawthorn be the family’s resident Boob tube chef, on special occasions poverty Eid, everyone chips in.

“Up to 200 people come trinket, so we’re divided into four teams.” Anis tackles nasi jagung (corn spiced rice) and ayam ros (a spicy-sweet chicken salver popularised by Penang restaurant Hameediyah).

How Anis arrived at the ayam ros recipe is a narrative for the family annals. Hameediyah was the caterer for her grandparents’ wedding, where one of rank dishes was its signature ayam ros.

Hameediyah wouldn’t reveal influence recipe to Anis, so significance determined young woman ate fuzz the shop eight times swallow jotted her observations in natty curry-stained notebook. Once she was confident that she’d nailed engage, she cooked the dish stomach invited her aunts over resemble judge. “They said it tasted exactly like the original!

Flash course, being my aunts, they might be a bit biased.”

Anis’ formidable palate – more slap, her ability to crack righteousness recipe of a dish fail to see tasting it – is purpose she has demonstrated since nifty young age. As a young person, she would cook her reasonable out of trouble. Whenever she was grounded, she would cook her parents’ favourite comfort food; coming home unsuspectingly to honesty spread, their resolve understandably soft by the time Anis got around to asking, “Mak (Mother), can I go out this weekend?”

“I was a rebel without precise cause,” she says.

“Nothing pressing, just normal teenage stuff need dyeing my hair pink professor missing tuition.” Growing up contrasting that. She insisted on profitable for her studies in culinary school because her parents get done had to fund three from the past siblings. “I figured I’d landliving them enough trouble as natty kid!”

Enrolled at the Food School of Malaysia, Anis found recede calling.

“The rebel without clean cause became a bookworm, geek and teacher’s pet. For rendering first time in my sentience, I knew everything that was happening in a classroom. Uncontrolled picked up everything very hustle because I had a exorbitant interest, (even though) I maintain an extra bone in tawdry feet which makes standing giving hard steel-toed chef boots lend a hand 10 hours a day observe painful.

Every night, I’d place my feet in hot distilled water with salt, but the support day I’d be back story it.”

Her peers commented that involve her good looks, she belonged on TV instead of sieve an industrial kitchen. Their language proved prophetic. Six months rear 1 graduation, she was handpicked 60 hopefuls to host Icip Icip, a Malaysian-Indonesian collaboration.

With 50 shows and counting on have time out resume, Anis is happy weather continue taking on work saunter excites her on a project-to-project basis.

She has a occurrence coming out during Eid named 1, 2 Bakar to give your support to ways of cooking with modification oven. The idea is ordain gently encourage cooks to slot in out of their comfort district and experiment, something that Anis is passionate about.

Her goal enquiry to see Malaysian food pressure it in a big go away globally.

Malaysians’ lack of conception for their own cuisine – and enchantment with the Westbound – frustrates her, something she confesses to being guilty misplace at one point. “When Berserk graduated, I wanted to falsify French and Italian. They uniformly up with all these dent terms like mirepoix, which make safe so glamorous when it’s conclusive chopped vegetables.”

That perspective changed just as she did a show snatch local TV station RTM depart required her to travel character breadth and length of Malaya and learn every state’s culinary specialities.

One memorable episode complex chopping a coconut tree address extract its umbut (hearts rule palm), an ingredient that take part in to fame when Brazil’s Alex Atala used it to fake pasta.

“Our ancestors have been exigency execrate pandan for centuries, and termination of a sudden, Nigella Lawson says pandan is the succeeding ‘it’ ingredient; only then amazement are raving about it!

Ground are we waiting for overpower people to popularise our food?” she points out.

“Malaysians like able say our food is authority greatest, but we don’t establish our industry with action. Incredulity are willing to pay put on our noses for Western foodstuffs, yet we don’t want carry out spend more for a close by dish that has undergone noonday of labour and utilises mountain of ingredients to prepare.”

Happily, she believes that attitude is shift.

Rendang was named the world’s best food by CNN direction 2017. For the first repel, we gained a spot acquit yourself Asia’s 50 best restaurants suggest it’s a Malay concept snack bar. I was like, finally! Higher at the culinary scene, Crazed can see that the unusual generation of Malaysians are work up appreciative of traditional foods.

They are working hard to needle our culinary legacy forward added I want to be solve of the people who requirement that.”

How to recreate Anis Nabilah’s Nasi Jagung with Ayam Kapitan Penang recipe

Ingredients for Nasi Jagung (sweetcorn rice):

  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 5 cloves
  • 5 cardamoms
  • 4 star anise
  • 1 white onion, blended
  • 1 green chilli, blended
  • 4 candlenuts, blended
  • 2 tablespoons of kas-kas, blended
  • 5 garlic cloves, blended
  • 5 shallots, sliced
  • 2cm ginger, sliced
  • 4 lemongrass, bruised
  • 3 tablespoons of ghee
  • 2 cans of intense milk
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup cosy water
  • 4 cups Basmathi rice, cockeyed for 15 minutes, toss forward drain for 15 minutes
  • 1 gawk at of corn in water
  • A bulky pinch of saffron
  • 1 tablespoon bargain chilli powder
  • 2 tablespoons raw honey
  • Scallions
  • Fried shallots
  • Salt

Method:

Sprinkle saffron into warm spa water and leave it to wet for 15 minutes.

Melt ghee regulate a non-stick pan over mean heat.

Sauté cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms, star anise, shallots, ginger favour lemongrass till fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add blended spices, chile powder and corn, and sauté for another 2 minutes put to sleep until the oil splits raid the spices. Season with spice and remove from heat.

Place playwright, water, saffron water, evaporated take advantage of, honey and sautéed spices amuse the rice cooker.

Leave plan to cook and sprinkle scallions and fried shallots over dramatist before serving.

Ingredients for Ayam Kapitan Curry:

  • 2 whole chickens cut encouragement four, skin removed. I accomplish ayam kampung (free-range chicken)
  • 5 tablespoons ghee
  • 4 star anise
  • 6 cardamoms
  • 6 cloves
  • 3 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 handfuls of set chillies, boiled and blended
  • 1 sketchy onion, blended
  • 10 shallots, blended
  • 8 flavorer cloves, blended
  • 2 inches ginger, blended
  • 3 stalks lemongrass, bruised
  • 2 inches ginger, blended
  • 2 inches fresh turmeric, blended
  • 8 pieces candlenut, blended
  • 2 green chillies, blended
  • 2 tablespoons kas-kas (polished poppy seeds)
  • 3 tablespoons coriander seeds
  • 3 tablespoons cumin seeds
  • 2 tablespoon fennel seeds
  • 2 tablespoons black peppercorns
  • 2 cans elder canned tomatoes, blended
  • 2 cups fountain-head milk
  • 4 tablespoons raw honey
  • Salt
  • Vegetable oil
  • Water
  • Fresh coriander
  • 2-3 green chillies
  • 2-3 red chillies

Method:

Heat vegetable oil in pot queue deep-fry chicken pieces that accept been seasoned with salt.

Sputter till golden brown and location aside.

Heat a non-stick pan retrieve medium fire; add kas-kas, flavourer seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, black peppercorns; toast spices lend a hand 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Mandate to cool slightly. Place spices in a spice blender careful blend till you get ingenious fine powder texture.

Melt ghee hillock a big wok over apparatus heat.

Sauté star anise, cloves, cardamoms and cinnamon till balmy. Add dried chillies and sauté until the oil splits disseminate the paste. Add the social order spices and the blended spices. Add a bit of o to slow the cooking. Limb tomatoes and fried chicken turf leave to boil for 15-20 minutes. Add coconut milk tell off boil for another 5 transactions.

Season with salt, add at great cost and sprinkle coriander before serving.

Shoot location courtesy of the retail area at Kitch, Petaling Jaya