KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 — You have probably tasted Madam Kwan’s iconic nasi lemak at some point. Believe it or not, the recipe is from a person who hates to cook.
The namesake of the popular Malaysian restaurant, Madam Kwan Swee Lian, 81 admits that when she first ventured into the food business in 1977, she didn’t like to cook.
Originally from Kluang, she had moved to Kuala Lumpur at the age of 14, to pursue her studies at the Kuen Cheng Girls’ School. At 18, she picked up hairdressing and later, she also became a beautician.
In 1957, she opened her own beauty salon on Jalan Imbi, which carried internationally renowned cosmetic brands like Lancome and Shiseido. She had picked Sakura for the salon’s name since she loved the delicate pink flowers from Japan.
After 28 years in the beauty business, Madam Kwan decided it was time for a change. “I was tired of doing hair and make-up for others and I was quite old already (she was 42),” she said.
Her Eureka moment to switch over to food was sparked from a random visit to a friend who made a good living from a simple food business peddling yau char kwai and red bean tong sui.
She says,“One day if I do a facial, it takes about one and a half hours and I can only make a few ringgit. If I cook something for one hour, more people can enjoy what I do.”
The business-minded woman decided to call it a day immediately, which shocked her 10 salon employees. Eventually she closed the salon and reopened it in 1977 as Sakura Cafe.
In the 1970s, the restaurant created quite a stir because it was outfitted with glass topped tables and served food on luxury plateware – a rarity in those days, especially for a non-hotel dining establishment.
“All my plates and glasses were beautiful and imported from Japan. I’m that kind of person, if I do something it must be the most beautiful.”
She decided to serve dishes like nasi lemak, curry laksa, assam laksa — local food that represented Malaysia. After 10 days of business, disaster struck. “Originally when I started the restaurant, I never thought I would be the cook as I was not interested in cooking but the chef I hired worked for 10 days and quit,” she said.
As a stop-gap measure, Madam Kwan’s friends helped out. However, the ever practical businesswoman knew that she would need to learn how to cook as a long-term solution.
“The first thing I started to cook was nasi lemak, as I personally like to eat nasi lemak,” she explained. Her benchmark was the nasi lemak served at the Holiday Inn. “It was the best nasi lemak for me as the rice came in complete whole grains and it was very nice to eat.”
Madam Kwan learned to cook by making the dish over and over until she got it right. “Since I’ve eaten it so many times, I kept testing until I got it right. If it was not good, I threw it away and did it again.”
That nasi lemak turned out to be the iconic version served till today at Madam Kwan’s; fluffy aromatic coconut steamed rice served with chicken curry, dried shrimp floss, vegetable acar, sambal ikan bilis, hard-boiled egg and cucumber slices.
The second most popular dish at Madam Kwan’s is Nasi Bojari — tri-coloured rice served with deep fried chicken drumstick, assam prawns, beef rendang, hard-boiled egg, tomato and cucumber slices.
Many have wondered about the origins of this dish since it’s not commonly found in Malaysia but Madam Kwan insists it’s her own interpretation. “I saw a teacher in Singapore called Madam Chin (who has probably passed away now) cook the dish once. I did not follow the recipe exactly but I did my own version.”
Customers also rave about the tender delicious beef rendang served with the dish. Even though she does not eat beef, she has no qualms cooking 200 kilograms of beef rendang on a daily basis at the central kitchen.
The food served at all the Madam Kwan’s outlets has a unique taste due to the insistence of certain cooking methods, as discovered during Madam Kwan’s own cooking experiments.
For example, she insists on making their own chilli paste rather than relying on ready made chilli boh since it’s cleaner and without any fillers. Moreover, the chilli paste must be prepared the traditional way using a stone grinder and a lot of elbow grease.
“I am fussy as I cannot stand the dried chillies to be so dirty or let the customers eat it.” In the process, she also got people to fabricate a special machine to replicate that pounding method for the dried chillies, which is still used today for all of their chilli paste.
Her attention to every detail and flavour also makes the difference in her famous chicken curry served with the nasi lemak, as she blends the spices herself to make it into a wet curry paste. For every dish she wants to cook, she would formulate her own unique sauces to give it that special taste.
To the surprise of many, in the 1990s, she sold Sakura Cafe for around RM20 million. As she says, “it was an offer she could not resist.”
After working for the new owner for a year, she was free to move on to new ventures. In 1999, Madam Kwan’s was set up in Bangsar by Madam Kwan’s youngest son, Datuk Rudy Foo and his wife, Datin Maureen Ooi. “Now I work for my son,” she chuckles.
Till today, the sprightly old lady still cooks away in the central kitchen from 5am to 9am. She will cook two of her mainstay items – chicken curry and beef rendang. Being fussy, she insists that no one interfere in her cooking, only allowing them to prepare her ingredients.
Like clockwork, she is at the kitchen every day, not missing a day even if her car breaks down, preferring to walk. Once she is finished with the kitchen by 9am and after a short rest, you will find her at the Madam Kwan’s at Pavilion KL by lunch time.
She’ll be greeting people at the door with her trademark hat and beaming smile. Her love for hats, as we found out was out of necessity for kitchen hygiene. Moreover, it’s her fuss-free way of not bothering with an elaborate hairstyle. Even how she dresses — white long-sleeved shirts — is her practical way to match all her clothes.
For many, she’s an icon for the delicious food they have continued to enjoy at Madam Kwan’s, so they often clamour for a picture with her.
One enamoured fan even drove up all the way from Singapore to present her with a hat. “The biggest encouragement comes from the customers, when they come and shake my hand and tell me... Madam, your food is very good.”
Madam Kwan’s outlets are located at Suria KLCC, Pavilion KL, Mid Valley Megamall, Bangsar Shopping Centre, 1 Utama Shopping Centre, Empire Shopping Gallery, Sunway Pyramid and Alamanda Shopping Centre. There is also an outlet at Vivocity, Singapore. https://www.facebook.com/madamkwans
