Embracing the plant-based lifestyle in Malaysia
I wasn’t sure if creating a blogpost for this recipe would be an insult to my website and to my audience. To me, something that has at least three ingredients can then and only then be justified to be called a recipe. But stepping out […]
There was a time I visited my friend Mien’s place, after she had returned from a few years of working in Mexico. She served me some pasta she cooked with local veggies. She explained that she was mostly eating plant-based while living abroad, and her […]
I just had a press interview this week, and I was asked: What is one of the biggest misconceptions about veganism that you face now? My answer was that many people believe that going vegan is expensive. I explained that most plant-based references we have […]
APA KHABAR!
I’m Davina Goh, a performer and plant-based lifestyle advocate.
I’m based in Malaysia, and “Apa Khabar?” means “How are you?” in Bahasa. Welcome to my page!
I had previously been using social media to post pictures of the food I was making. My friends, excited about my creations, began to bug me to get a blog going. So here it is, finally! This is my space to share recipes, green living tips, and places to find great plant-based food in the Klang Valley, where I live, and aim to expand this to other countries I get to travel to.
As a purist as I used to be with how food should be made, it no longer applies to my life as I’m breaking all rule imaginable as a vegan recipe developer. I’m already replacing a beef patties in burgers with mutant-sized mushrooms. Some people would straight up decide that that just does not work. I get it, as much as I once felt about kailan on pasta.
That’s the beauty that I didn’t see coming about what I do. Cooking not only vegan, but vegan AND local, breaks down perceptions and builds new ones. And I get to share these new perceptions with my community and the world to ignite and inspire. “I would have never, ever thought about making satay out of jackfruit!” I’ve been told as someone ate my creation. To see people’s faces widen with wonder, it is to literally see minds opening up.
When my friend Claire Sancelot from The Hive invited me to take on her Farmer’s Basket Workshop, I said yes… Albeit with some apprehension on what I could make out of it. I normally give a local Farmer’s selection the simple stir-fry treatment – certainly not anything worth teaching.
The previous workshop facilitator was a food maestro who managed to achieve the impossible in my books: make a fantastic-tasting cake out of bittergourd. I doubt I could top such sorcery. But whilst I was developing the workshop, I had a lot more fun with local produce than I thought I would. And the results surprised even myself.
If you’re up for experiencing local produce in ways you may not have thought of, then join me at the workshop! We’ll get rolling, blending, baking and rolling a bit more. My ultimate hope is for you to expand your own world as a kitchen scientist – or artist, if you prefer! – with homecooked food that not only nourishes, but awakens something from within.
As a Malaysian, I always find it fascinating to make a visit across the causeway. Even though it is our neighbor and even once upon a time a part of Malaysia too, stepping foot in Singapore is like stepping into a completely different world. It’s […]
What is it about Penang that sets its food apart from the rest of Malaysia? Could it be something in the water? The fresh island air? Maybe just the Pride of the Penangite? Whatever it is, it attracts visitors not just from the rest of […]
There aren’t many fully vegan establishments around Klang Valley, so when a new one opens up, the vegans are on it like ants to sugar. Sala’s ant trail has only gotten more manic has since opening just a year and a few months ago. With […]
Whenever I catch sight of a new plant-based cafe or restaurant around town, I make an immediate beeline for it. Not because I’m necessarily hungry, but because I have a genuine concern about how long it will survive in the, for lack of a better […]
For the past three years, I have been hearing stories from my husband about the mystical land of Koh Phangan. He has been making numerous visits to this small Thai island for the sole purpose of attending silent retreats, but he has also been telling […]
