Growing up in Malaysia really instilled in me a love and dedication to good food - experiencing the hawker centres, food courts and such a massive variety of food, available all day every day.
Mandy Yin is Malaysian-born Chinese of Peranakan Nyonya heritage. She moved from Kuala Lumpur to London as a child and later became a corporate lawyer before embarking on her career in food. Having started off small with a street food stall in 2013 before pursuing her laksa bar as a pop up concept, she opened her award winning flagship restaurant Sambal Shiok Laksa Bar in 2018. She is also the author of Sambal Shiok: The Malaysian Cookbook and is a regular feature in national and international press and TV.
Mandy Yin will be taking over the coasts of Sri Lanka on the 16-17 weekend this month as the guest chef of Gourmet Galle (happening January 31 – March 31 in the South). Ahead of her visit, she talks to us about what’s to be expected at her dinner and masterclass and the influence her roots in Malaysia had on her cooking.
Q: Tell us a little about your journey with food and the culinary world?I used to be a corporate lawyer in London. Ten years ago I realised that I could work that hard building something for myself, in a field that I was truly passionate about - food. When I immigrated to London with my family in the early 1990s, my strongest memories of home were always food-related. I started off in street food markets around London at first with a unique product at the time, my chicken satay burger. Over time, my customers would ask me to open a restaurant so that they could come eat my food when it wasn’t cold and raining, and also they asked me to make laksa. That’s when the laksa bar was born as a pop up restaurant. I opened Sambal Shiok Laksa Bar in Highbury, North London in 2018.
Q: Can you recall a particular moment/memory which started your love for food?
Growing up in Malaysia really instilled in me a love and dedication to good food - experiencing the hawker centres, food courts and such a massive variety of food, available all day every day. My mum is also an excellent cook and I used to watch her cook all the time. I probably learnt a lot through symbiosis. When we moved to London, I was lucky that she continued to cook Malaysian food for us.
Q: What’s your signature style when it comes to food and cooking?
I love bold, punchy flavours - usually with a chillie-kick. All of my cooking is inspired by things I have eaten in Malaysia, and then influenced by my favourite dishes when eating out in London or on other travels. My favourite ingredients are Malaysian fermented shrimp paste, chillies, coconut milk, lemongrass and tamarind. This will give you an idea of the flavours I bring to the table!
Q: As a professional chef, what’s your honest advice for the home cook or the first timer?
Don’t be a slave to a recipe. It is there only as a guide and for you to develop to your own tastes or preferences. The main thing you should pay attention to is seasoning - without salt, there is no flavour!
Q: What’s on the menu at Gourmet Galle?
The menu will be a seafood-centric explosion of Malaysian flavours. The dishes will showcase the cuisine’s multicultural influences - Malay, Chinese, Southern Indian/Tamil and Peranakan. You can expect to see nods to my signature Peranakan curry laksa and Malaysian fried chicken with peanut sauce which are bestsellers at Sambal Shiok Laksa Bar.
Q: What’s the ‘one-off’ recipe you’ll treat guests to at the Masterclass Gourmet Galle?
I’ll be sharing one of Malaysia’s national dishes, nasi lemak. Rich coconut rice with chillie sambal and many other accoutrements. Similar yet different to Sri Lanka’s beloved lamprais. I will also be talking about two of Malaysia’s favourite sambals and how to make them as part of the demo.
This Weekend, world famous Indian chef Hari Nayak will host dinner on Saturday (9th) at Malabaar Hill and a masterclass on Sunday (10th). For more details on the chefs and the full programme, visit
https://gourmetgalle.comABOUT GOURMET GALLE
Gourmet Galle is a 12 week-long gourmet food festival up and down the south coast of Sri Lanka giving guests the fantastic opportunity to enjoy a meal cooked by celebrity and world-renowned chefs and to learn how it’s all done at their masterclass. The dinners take place in exquisite homes and the finest boutique hotels and each menu is curated especially for the occasion.
Catch Mandy Yin for dinner on Saturday, 16th March at the Sun House for a multicultural dinner or learn how to make an authentic nasi lemak at her masterclass
on Sunday, 17th.
