For the Love of Food

In his bestselling book, The Food of Singapore Malays, food historian Khir Johari shares the stories and recipes that make Nusantara cooking delectably unique

- Dudi Aureus

Food lies at the heart of one’s identity. As a Singapore Malay, food historian (and former maths teacher) Khir Johari embarked on a life’s mission to weave the histories, cultures and beliefs of the Singapore Malay community into stories, travelogues and recipes that make up his 624‑page tome, The Food of Singapore Malays. First released in November 2021, the book has been reprinted twice: in March and September last year.

It was more than a decade in the making, Khir shares, given that “a dedicated book on Malay food like that didn’t exist at the point of its inception” in the 2000s, when he was still teaching in the San Francisco Bay Area in the US. In the book’s preface, he recalls how being far away from home made him realise how “food can help us realise who we are”, thus further strengthening his identity as a Singapore Malay. “There’s so much to share about Malay gastronomy in the Singapore context,” he adds, and it became his “cultural calling” to share it with the world.