Sama Sama, by Julie Lin

Sambals and salted egg yolks

I’m going to be upfront: me and Sama Sama didn’t get off to a great start. The first few things we cooked from it — sesame-slicked udon noodles, mushroom sticky rice, Maggi mee goreng — weren’t bad, but definitely underwhelmed. The two noodle dishes leaned a little too hard on store cupboard staples and felt dull as a result, the mee goreng in particular resembling the sort of stir fry whipped up in student kitchens across the land; the mushrooms just felt off in proportions, with 500g of mushrooms to 300g of rice, and a one-note flavour profile that never inspired us to go back and finish the leftovers.

I say all this only to set the stage for the fact that I really can recommend Sama Sama, because so much of the rest of the book really gets it right.

Partly, the book required a little adjustment of expectations. For one thing, it’s billed as “comfort food,” and as such chef Julie Lin has mostly kept things simple, quick, and approachable. You shouldn’t expect to master the complexities and intricacies of Malaysian cuisine here, though you might develop an understanding of some of the base flavour profiles, staple ingredients, and core techniques.

But I also had to adjust to the fact that this isn’t a Malaysian cookbook — it’s a Malaysian-Scottish one. Now, that doesn’t mean pages filled with haggis noodle soups and black pudding curries (not that I’d say no to either), but it does mean there’s often a bit of a British bent to things. Think a smoked mackerel nasi goreng, tamarind toastie, or a cakey sticky toffee pudding that uses gula melaka palm sugar and coconut milk for its sauce, adding a rich funk that goes beyond the usual caramel notes.