This Global Kitchen | Day 16: Malaysia
Connect with Kari:
Hi! Sudah makan? (which means ‘Have you eaten?’ and, interestingly, is a common greeting in our host country.) My name is Kari. My husband, two sons (3 years old and 9 months old), and I have lived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for four years. If you come over on any given day, there’s a good chance you’ll find me a lot like this: in the kitchen, my hair in a mom bun, and a child hanging off of me.
The apartment we’re in now is the third one we’ve lived in since moving to Malaysia and this kitchen is by far my favorite! This picture is looking into the kitchen from the living room.
Many kitchens in Malaysia are separated into two sections: a wet kitchen and a dry kitchen. This is the dry kitchen. I had never heard of this concept before moving here, but I’m told it has to do with the frequency that Malaysians stir-fry. They want their stoves to be in a place where the smoke and steam can easily escape, so there needs to be windows you can open.
The dry kitchen is usually located where you would expect to find a kitchen, but wet kitchens are all over the map. Sometimes they’re attached to the dry kitchen, sometimes they are on the balcony, and sometimes (like our old place) they are down the hall on the other side of the apartment. When we were originally looking at the apartment we’re in now, I was drawn to how convenient the wet kitchen was just a sliding glass door away!
We love having these glass doors! It’s so nice to be able to close off the wet kitchen when we need to use the blender, mixer or something else noisy while kiddos are sleeping. We also like that we can trap the heat when the oven is on.
Once upon a time, these shelves were hidden behind a door, but said door was very poorly planned. It opened right on top of the counter so anything that happened to be sitting there was either pushed off the counter or had to be moved. I know, first world problems. But it didn’t take long for me to be annoyed enough that I just took the door off. And as it turns out, I really liked how it looks! Plus, I had always wanted some open shelving. Win win!
This is my trusty box oven. None of the apartments we’ve lived in have come with an oven, but I love to bake. Not having an oven was not an option. We bought this baby during one of our first weeks in Malaysia and I have been pleasantly surprised at how reliable it has been.
This little area of the kitchen is by far my favorite. It has brought me so much life each morning after being awake with little ones during the night. Our youngest has been a terrible sleeper since the day he was born so, naturally, I don’t get much sleep either. I begged my husband to get me this latte machine for my birthday to help combat the constant fatigue. Best decision ever! We have had so much fun with this machine. Making lattes has kind of turned into a hobby of ours. We love trying new flavor combinations and have even started making our own flavored syrups. (It’s super easy!)
I love my kitchen and am truly spoiled, but it does have a couple of little quirks — one of those being this sink. When we were first inquiring about our apartment, the kitchen had not been put in yet. We were told the only sink would be the one on the back wall in the wet kitchen. I explained that I really wanted one that I could do dishes at and still be able to see my kids playing in the living room. To our relief, the owner agreed to add one. In my American mind, I figured they would change the plans to incorporate the sink. I guess I forgot that I live in Asia, because they kept the same plans and just added a sink where there was a little room. It was also about 6 inches taller than the counter. It definitely looked like an afterthought. My husband ended up cutting the metal legs down with a hacksaw. It took at least an hour of sawing, but now the sink looks much more integrated into the kitchen.
Another little quirk is the location (and serious lack of) outlets. In the dry kitchen, there are two outlets: one behind the fridge and one smack dab in the middle of the floor. Who’s idea was that? It’s certainly not conducive to having small children in the home. We took the outlet cover off and replaced it with a more child friendly version that prevents them from being able to electrocute themselves. The downside is the new cover is a couple of centimeters off the floor, so there have been many stubbed toes as a result.
We also have extension cords and power strips all over the place. I do my best to hide them!
I hope you enjoyed this tour of my kitchen! If you’re ever in Kuala Lumpur, come on over and I’ll make you a latte. :-)
My Must Haves For My Expat Kitchen:
There are a few things from the States about which I often find myself saying, “Man, I’m so thankful I brought this overseas with me.”
The first is a recipe book that my super thoughtful aunt put together for me. It contains all my favorite recipes that different members of my family frequently make. When I’m having a moment of missing home or just craving a certain dish, I love that I can pop open my recipe book and make a little taste of home.
The second is this can opener. I brought this with us overseas because I accidentally paid $25 for it (long story) right before we moved and I felt obligated to get $25 worth of use out of it. But I’m so glad I brought it! When you open a can it doesn’t leave sharp edges and therefore slice through the super thin Asian garbage bags we use. It also opens cans in a way that you can reuse the lid which comes in handy when I only use part of a can’s contents. Just the other day I only used half a can of precious green chilis from the States. I was able to just push the lid back on and store them in the fridge until I needed the rest a couple days later. (I know a Tupperware will do the same thing but I inevitably forget it’s in there unless there’s a label)
The third is the echo dot. It’s not necessarily a kitchen item but I use it ALL THE TIME in the kitchen. I think it’s extra helpful because it’s hands free. I have it do conversions for me on the daily. “Hey Alexa, how many grams are in half a cup of butter?”
She’ll also keep track of my grocery list so when I realize I’m out of something I just tell her to add such and such to my grocery list. You can sink that to your phone so your list is with you when you go to the store. She also plays music, tells jokes, and recites the abc’s which my boys find extremely entertaining. (Anything that can occupy them for more than 5 minutes is worth it’s weight in gold)
My Favorite Expat friendly Recipe:
Salsa
by Kari | TakingRoute.net
My husband was born and raised in Texas. (I’m from Montana) After we got married we lived in Texas for several years and got used to eating lots of good Tex Mex. Living in Asia, we don’t get much Mexican food so I’ve had to learn how to make our favorites from scratch. We’ve tried a lot of salsa recipes and done a lot of tweaking and have landed on this recipe.
- 6 Tomatoes
- 1/3 cup cilantro (might also be called English parsley or Coriander depending where you live)
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 diced green chilis (you can also use ½ can of diced green chilis)
- 1-2 Jalapenos depending on your preference of spice (you can also use canned or jarred)
- Lime juice from half a lime ( about 3 tsp)
- ½ tsp cumin
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Put it all in a blender and mix it up! It’s better if you put it in the fridge for a while and let the flavors meld a bit. The beauty with salsa is that you can add or omit ingredients to your liking and it will probably still be delicious!
