Comment: Wonderful site! Love the recipes. Will certainly be visiting this page more often! Keep it up.

Comment: HI Ida : That was an impressive resume. Good luck on the website. Will return for your recipes.

Comment: Bewdy, Ida! Marvellously elegant site, and love the funky wok-wearing pose, niftily angled. Whatever you're nibbling and imbibing looks to be agreeing with you, so much look forward to your gastronomic guidance. My congrats to you and all concerned with the savvy site set-up!

Comment: I haven't looked at the rest of the page yet, Ides, but would love to be one of the first of your commenters, anyway. Love as always, Beebs

Comment: Ida Your recipe instructions are so clear and simple anybody will want to try Yum Yum Looking forward to more.

Comment: yOU'RE HOT! I'D LIKE TO FRY YOU UP AND COAT YOU IN CHAR SIU SAUCE...xx

Comment: Ida Your recipes are so clear and simple! Everybody will want to try Yum Yum .Looking forward to more recipes

Comment: Hey SIL! Congratulations - wonderful website! Look forward to your wonderful recipes. To anyone who tries your recipes - they are in for a real treat!

Comment: Congratulations on hitting the cyber highway with your wok and wit! Great effort. Recipe section is great. Fantastic space for future food reviews and tipoffs.

Comment: Ida, you rock You and your wild wild wok A wok star A culinary diva, by far

Comment: Thank you, everyone, for your lovely messages. Glad you are enjoying the website!

Comment: Hei Ida! Here's something for you think about - how about Virtual Food Tastings?! On a serious note, once this website is up and running, you could organise regular visitors to meet on a regular basis for a dine-out. Then they bring their friends, and soon more people will catch on to your site. PS: You should monitor randy visitors like IAN DARLINK - we don't want this turning into a porn site!!

Comment: You make a great food ambassador over there. Let people know about our Peranakan food.

Comment: Hi Ida Great website. Love Dowager's idea of organising for regular visitors to meet for a dine out. Great social networking opportunity. We could also go one better and do cooking classes etc. All the best. PS - yes pls monitor Ian dahlink - I hear he can get carried away :-)

Comment: This is great.

Comment: Wah lau, Ida, you vely pandai lah. Get hungry already after reading your recipe. Looking forward to more yummies and good luck. Cheers.

Comment: Fantastic site Ida! Hope to get you in QLD for some demos..Love your work xx

Comment: Wah lau, Ida, you vely pandai lah. Get hungry already after reading your recipe. Looking forward to more yummies and good luck. Cheers.

Comment: Congratulations on your website. Just love the picture and name of your site. Next time you make it to Brisbane, we must have a cook-in. No rock cakes and sponges, but maybe we can relive those home ec. cooking lessons (I still have the recipe book from Kuo Chuan Girls School albeit slightly stained and ragged) and there are some recipes we can rediscover. Keep adding more wonderful recipes. Cheers Su

Comment: This is great.

Comment: Interesting website! Congratulations Ida!

Comment: Hey Ida Well done. Looking forward to many great recipes as always from you. I will certainly be getting more and more ideas from you. Look forward to working with you again in the New Year. Take care

Comment: Ida, does bread feature in Singapore cuisine? Do other flour based foods like pastry occur in Straits cooking? Also, what would I ask for in a London food store, if I wanted to make that lovely firm jelly type dessert called aga-aga? Is it true that this comes from seaweed and is it beneficial to someone who lacks potassium and iodine in one's diet? What's your favourite dish? Cheers Ida - great website!

Comment: Hey Ida Well done. Looking forward to many great recipes as always from you. I will certainly be getting more and more ideas from you. Look forward to working with you again in the New Year. Take care

Comment: Hey Ida Well done. Looking forward to many great recipes as always from you. I will certainly be getting more and more ideas from you. Look forward to working with you again in the New Year. Take care

Comment: Hey Ida Well done. Looking forward to many great recipes as always from you. I will certainly be getting more and more ideas from you. Look forward to working with you again in the New Year. Take care

Comment: Wow, Ida, just logged on to your website and was impressed with the simplicity of the layout. You certainly have amassed quite a collection of recipes (no doubt with numerous anecdotes) over the years. The site's name, and the strategic wok placement, are real gems when it comes to quirky ideas! It brought back great memories of my time at Leader Newspapers. Until we next meet, long may you maintain your magnificent culinary reign - as you continue to Walk on the Wild Side! Rama G.

Comment: Hello Ida, How exciting it is to see your very beautifull website. You showed so much promise when I worked with you at Leader, and see, I knew all along you would make a success of anything you tried. So proud of you, my delightful friend.

Comment: Gerald, apologies for this late reply to your question of my last meal. My last meal will definitely be savoured over a few days. Starting with Belon oysters washed down with Bollinger, following will be an exquisite truffle soup. Then in no particular order, I’ll have Singapore laksa, chilli crab, Wagyu beef, Peking duck, tom yum soup and ayam buah keluak . For dessert, crème brulee, lychee gelato and sago gula melaka, and a smooth long black coffee. William Shakespeare (he can peel me a grape and recite a sonnet), Judi Dench (what a dame) and Alan Rickman and his sexy voice will dine with me! Check this website for a book review on My Last Supper.

Comment: Hi Ida Lovely recipes Do you have medicinal recipes to ease cold and flu symptoms???

Comment: Hi Gerry In answer to your question about bread and Singaporean cuisine, I would say it does feature widely in many forms. Bread and chilli crab, yum! Bread in the form of steamed buns with delectable fillings like roast pork and chicken, double yum. What about Indian breads, like roti prata, roti chanai, yum yum yum! Re agar agar, it does come from seaweed, which can only be beneficial to your health. Try getting it in powdered form from Asian grocers in London. If anyone else can help, please post a message. Bon Appetit!

Comment: Hi Ravinder Thank you for your comments. Nothing beats a hot curry for cold and flu symptoms. Try my best chicken curry recipe. Hope it helps.

Comment: Ida, Love the site and your fun and quirky style. I'll be trying the Crunchy Pork Noodle Balls tonight. Francis

Comment: Hi Ida! Great site. See you in Singapore in July!

Comment: Great to see how well you are continuing to do, Ida. Your taste in food of all kinds has always been impeccable and unique. Warmest greetings

Comment: Love your picture ! and the web page layout looks great. The photo gallery too ! Keep up the good work !!

Comment: Hey Ida The Photos of Broadmeadows look great. We should hit the road and do a tour together. take care until next time. Kath

Comment: Afternoon Ida Do you know of any reasonable Malaysian restaurants around the Western suburbs - we used to go to this place called Laksa King in Flemington but the last visit there was very dissapointing - new management arrogant owner and i certainly will not be going there again

Comment: Hi Jackson. Look forward to meeting up in Singapore and sampling all the scrumptious food.

Comment: Hi Peter Koh Thanks for your message. How about telling us where you like to eat in the US?

Comment: Kathy, my friend and co-demonstrator, we should organise a cooking roadshow around Australia. What do you think?

Comment: Ravinder, I will certainly follow up your unfortunate Laksa King experience. If anyone knows of good Malaysian restaurants in the Western suburbs of Melbourne, please let us know. Thanks and Bon Appetit!

Comment: Hi gourmets and friends. Check out my new Cooking Tips section. If you have any questions on food and cooking, ask me and I'll my best to answer them, If you'd like to share some cooking tips, please post them on the website. The most creative tip will win a prize! Bon Appetit!

Comment: Ida, great website - so interesting. I have a question for you. Does garlic feature in Chinese and Peranakan cuisine? Is it a new addition to food in SEAsia? I always associate garlic with Spanish, Italian and French cooking. Did they import it from the East or was it the other way around? Also, what is "blutchan"? What does it consist of please? I ask because I was priviledged recently to have a delicious meal in Malacca, hosted by a distant relative of mine called Mrs Chua. this meal, which about 40 of us enjoyed, had some blutchan in little plates accompanying the range of delicious Peranakan dishes. It was quite exquisite. The meal was arranged in downtown Malacca and was a local restaurant with about 20 tables offering about 200 covers - a fabulous local eatery. I just love this website - it's brilliant. Thanks for making it so interesting. Warmest good wishes and cheers...gerry Tan.

Comment: Hi Gerry Ah, the wonderful garlic, the cure for flu, coughs, colds, indigestion...the list goes on. Not to mention its wonderful taste and flavours, infusing everything from a Spanish paella to a Cantonese stir fry. I must admit I'm not sure if the Asians used it first or the Europeans. Will follow it up and let you know or if anyone here knows, please share your knowledge with us. Re blachan or blacan, didn't we and the rest of the Tan Tock Seng family group have a magnificent time in Malacca, thanks to Roney Tan and Josephine Chua's splendid organisation? Blachan is fermented shrimp paste, used as an ingredient in many Malaysian, Singaporean and Indonesian dishes. At the wonderful restaurant we visited, it was served as a side dish to complement the delicious food we had. See my recipe for sambal blachan in the Chinese New Year recipes section, as a condiment for the Kiam Chye Duck Soup. Bon Appetit!

Comment: Hi Ida, many of us modern nyonya can't cook our wonderful traditional food. I remember how dependent I was as a new housewife juggling to get some food on the table. It's this very reason we need people like you to perpectuate our cuisine and rescue new cooks. After having the privilege of meeting you with your bubbly personality, I can imagine only happy food coming out of your kitchen. Miss you lots, Ida.

Comment: After two centuries zipped thru like a blinkety blink,America will usher in an era which even Nostradamus failed to foresee......????

Comment: Ida, great pic & I love your chef's hat!

Comment: Ida, love your website! My question is: If you were alone and shipwrecked on a desert island, which five cooking ingredients would you like to have in your store cupboard? I'll allow you salt and sugar only - so which five other items would you desire?

Comment: Hey Ida. Just wanted to share that at a recent gathering, the host served chilli crabs with pasta as well as fried mantou. It went down very well especially with some nice wine! See you back in Singapore next year? Great site.

Comment: Well done, Ida! I do enjoy your reviews, you have a knack for showing us the important highlights..like your other comments and suggestions. Thanks

Comment: Hi, Ides, it's going to be wonderful to catch up with you in Melbourne over Christmas. It's probably been seven years since we last looked each other in the eye and told a few fibs. You are one irrepressible lady, and although we have stayed in touch electronically, I'm hankering to hug you again and chew the fat, so to speak. See you soon, love, Baz

Comment: Hi Ida, Love your chantek website altho gua tak tau masak lah! Cos the kitchen is a really hot place ! But can do other things Peranakan .. beading, sewing, eating ... May be flying to Sydney and Melbourne around Xmas holidays. Will let you know. Warmest regards, Chris

Comment: Keep up the good work and hope to learn more from your wealth of culinary knowledge.

Comment: YOU look HOT, can't wait to hook up. Or let's just hook a tasty Red Emperor :) deep fry and serve with a spicy sauce! You should also run a SINGLES website...my gorgeous foodie Queen! XX

Comment: Hey Ida How have you been? Bet you and Frank are well into the Chinese New Year Celebrations. Love your idea about the Cooking Roadshow :-) Keep up the good work as always

Comment: Hi everyone Thank you for your lovely messages and apologies for this tardy reply. I promise to reply to you all individually very soon. Meanwhile, keep wining, dining and enjoying!

Comment: Hey cousin Jo Chua It was great meeting you as well and what a knowledgeable Malaccan you are. Thanks for the personalised tour of Malacca, not to mention the scrumptious meals we enjoyed. I would advise all modern nonyas and everyone else interested in the culinary arts to experiment, be adventurous and persevere. How about a Peranakan recipe from you, Jo? What's your favourite dish?

Comment: Hi Alice You, too, can have a chef's hat like mine. Just put your wok on your head and take a photo, easy!

Comment: Ida, do desserts feature strongly in Chinese cooking as they do in English food? Do you have equivalents to say, Jam Roly Poly, Spotted Dick or Sticky Toffee Pud? Love your website and your very attractive wok hat! I'd love to be marooned on a desert island with you dear IDA!

Comment: Gerry, are you still waiting on your reply from me? If I'm stranded on that desert island with only salt and sugar to season my solitude, I hope I have the foresight to stock up on these ingredients: Rice to keep my ample tummy full and chillies to spice things up. Hope there's a coconut tree nearby for fresh coconut juice for breakfast every day, coconut milk to enrich my culinary creations and some fish swimming nearby. And I'll comfort myself with chocolate while waiting to be rescued. Do I really want to be rescued???????? Hmmmmmmmmmm.

Comment: Greetings, Helen Tan, my fellow bon vivant. Thank you for showing me the Dempsey Rd destination last August. I plan to explore the area more on my next trip. Pasta with chilli crab sounds interesting. We've had chilli crab with noodles served in Hong Kong style restaurants in Melbourne for a while. But I still hanker for the way we used to eat them in Singapore, with chunks of baguette or French sticks. Do they still serve them that way at the seafood restaurants there?

Comment: Hey Ian Darlink Why don't you send me some of your gorgeous recipes, say, your squab dish stuffed with veal and pork which you cooked so beautifully recently at your chateau? You do cook so elegantly, swoon! And how about those durians on a 42 degree day? Whew! No time for a singles website, I'm afraid. Being a foodie queen takes up all my time. Now, about that recipe .........

Comment: Hey Baz Didn't we have a great time bonding over roast duck and crispy pork with lashings of chilli, ginger and garlic sauce? We literally chewed the fat, didn't we? Seven years just melted away like the duck fat on hot rice and I don't know about you, but I don't remember telling any fibs. Or is that a fib? Irrepressible? Moi???

Comment: Hi Rachael, David and Cindy Thanks for all the lovely comments. Anytime you have a culinary query or need a recipe, just call out.

Comment: Hi Kathy George We are doing real well and enjoying the Melbourne Food and Wine events at the moment. Looking forward to Vivaldi's Last Meal with brothers Stefano and Sergio Di Pieri this Saturday and the Indian Hawkers' Bazaar on Sunday. Let's start planning the cooking roadshow soon!

Comment: Hi, Ides, my son Matthew is an Ox, and he is currently regenerating pasture land degraded by cows out the back of Mackay in Qld - let's hope he has a successful year, hey? Sounds like a right and proper year for him. See you soon, love, Baz

Comment: Hi Ida, At long last I have got here, what a fantastic web site, I am about to head off to your recipes now, can't wait to try some after reading some of the comments. regards Maz

Comment: Is rhubarb ever used in Chinese/Peranakan cuisine Ida? If so, how is it cooked and what kinda dishes are fashioned from this excellent plant. We're right in the rhubarb season here in the UK and we enjoy such delights as, rhubarb crumble, rhubarb and ginger jam, rhubarb pie with creme Anglaise(custard), rhubarb with clotted cream splashed with a drizzle of English honey and delicious rhubarb and red pepper chutney! Would love to hear if rhubarb is used in SE Asia. Great website Ida - thanks for all your efforts.

Comment: Hi Gerald re rhubarb in Chinese/Peranakan dishes...I know it's addressed to Ida but the previously silent one now decide to put his 2 cent's worth. Rhubarb IS used in Asian cooking, there is a nice Hot & Sour Rhubarb with chicken loosely based on a Jamie Oliver recipe. And how about a Pork Belly & Rhubarb Casserole dish. They are not my recipes but can supply you if you want/like.

Comment: Hi Baz Here's wishing your son Matthew a wonderful year of the Ox.

Comment: Hello Maz Do tell me which recipes you've tried from the website. How did they turn out and did you enjoy cooking and eating them? Do tell.

Comment: Hi Ida Cooking Road Show sounds good. I thoroughly enjoyed the Good Food & Wine Show - it was my first time as a spectator. Hope you are well. Take care

Comment: Shalom and mazeltov Ida..great to see your commercials hit the screen. Affectionately yours Rachael

Comment: Hi Ida : Found your peranakan recipes. Will get Linda to try the assam prawns. Hope you'll be showing more on your website

Comment: Hi Ida, Hope to see you as one of the competitors or judges during the next MasterChef series. God Bless

Comment: Congratulations! You are getting great exposure through Google! U.Jackson said that you, Ida are a very intelligent individual! Great job Ida! Grand Aunt, Alice. PS Grand aunt doesn't it sounds like I'm a hundred years old?

Comment: Congratulations! You are getting great exposure through Google! U.Jackson said that you, Ida are a very intelligent individual! Great job Ida! Grand Aunt, Alice. PS Grand aunt doesn't it sounds like I'm a hundred years old?

Comment: Hi Ida, great website, great ideas. I will be visiting often. You certainly get around in the gastronomic world. I look forward to trying the recipes.

Comment: Ida,your Tamarind Shrimp, is this udang asam? Sounds easy to do & yummy too!

Comment: Hi Kathy George I enjoyed the Good Food and Wine Show so much that I attended twice. Let's do some more demos together soon. Did you visit Taste of Melbourne recently? It was scrumptious!

Comment: Hi Alfred Has Linda tried cooking the assam prawns yet? It's the easiest recipe and soooo delicious! Look out for more new recipes soon!

Comment: Hi David and Cindy I'd like to be a judge on MasterChef, I think, sounds very interesting. Did I tell you when I once judged a competition sponsored by Meat and Livestock Australia? I had to eat my way through 15 lamb dishes!

Comment: Shalom and Mazel Tov to you, too, Rachael. When are we having borscht again? Enjoy, enjoy.

Comment: Hi Cathy Apostilidis Glad you like the website. Looking forward to meeting up for some good meals and good times.

Comment: Howdy Alice Pek Tamarind prawns and udang assam are certainly one and the same dish, a great Peranakan (Straits Chinese) dish. So easy and yummy to cook. Try it on the barbecue some time. Let me know if you like it.

Comment: great site ,nice and simple but effective layout,I must try that kangaroo dish some time,perhaps useing baby lamb fillets instead.Then we can finish off with poached pears in white wine with belgian choc cream!!

Comment: If there's a particular dessert I absolutely adore it is one made with lemon, and your lemon desserts are the most delish!! Thanks Ida for introducing Lush Desserts on your pages.

Comment: Hi Ida Have been surfing around and find your website very interesting. I love the picture of the Babi Chin. What is the difference between Babi Chin and Babi Ponteh? I know the answer but look forward to reading others' comments! Are you busy preparing up a storm for the current LNY? I can't be bothered this year. The wet markets here are overwhelming as the stall-holders just push up the price skywards so much so it's almost as cheap to have it in a Restaurant. Then there's no cleaning-up to do afterwards and best of all, no left-overs to eat for the rest of the LNY of fourteen days!

Comment: Darling IDA, is it true that Marco Polo introduced pasta to the Chinese when he sailed east, centuries ago and that they liked it so much they adopted and adapted it to make noodles of every description? Btw, how many different types of noodles are there? Thanks - I love this website of yours - cheers! PS. When are you coming to London?

Comment: Hi Rachael, my fellow dessert aficionado. I shall bring you a Lemon Creme Lush Dessert the next time we meet and you will fall in love with the luscious tangy flavours. If you're good, I might bring you a Belgian Chocolate Creme as well. Mazel Tov!