KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 — Instead of trying to stock up on different spices for making various dishes, how about getting World of Nyonya’s versatile Nyonya Paste by cookbook author Debbie Teoh that allows you the flexibility to create different dishes with just one packet. 

It’s a case of a universal paste that fits all, as with a few tweaks and all of the right ingredients assembled, the master paste can cook up a Melaka-style Nyonya Laksa Lemak within five minutes. 

The Nyonya Paste simmered with water and coconut milk becomes the base for the laksa and all you need to do is cook the prawns, sliced fish cakes or fish balls and beancurd puffs and assemble all of it on top of boiled noodles, garnishing it with thinly sliced daun kesum.  

Teoh is sought after for her soulful Nyonya food and detailed recipes  with many years of hands-on cooking experience, making her the perfect candidate to weave her magic with this Nyonya Paste. 

The idea for this easy-to-pack master paste was driven by observing the dilemma of her catering clients who craved her food once they tried it. 

“Most of my customers come from overseas and they yearn to bring back what they tasted here to their home country.

“With the Nyonya Paste, they can now bring it back to their home country and recreate the same taste they experienced here.”

She’s been tinkering with the idea for many years but it’s only last year she decided to make a strong push to manufacture the paste for the public. 

Working with a halal certified factory, this spice paste is prepared using the retort method where it’s packaged in multi-layered pouches and sterilised using heat and pressure.

This method allows the paste to be shelf stable without refrigeration or preservatives. 

Tweaks had to be made by Teoh to her original recipe to ensure it’s just as flavourful and colourful as a freshly blended spice paste too. 

So far, Teoh has experimented with a few dishes like Masak Lemak Nenas Udang, Lontong and even Ayam Berempah Goreng, which uses the Nyonya Paste. 

Even Ayam Rendang can be cooked in 30 minutes with the Nyonya Paste, as long as all the ingredients like kerisik, coconut milk and the herbs have been sourced. 

An option to change it to a vegetarian rendang is even available as the chicken can be switched to a meat-free ingredient. 

In future, all the recipes will be made available on YouTube for easy reference at home.

Currently, you can purchase the Nyonya Paste for RM15 for a 150 grams packet by contacting Teoh via her instagram (IG:Debbie_Teoh) 

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