Latest news with #JulieLin
Scotsman
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Scottish chef ‘steps back' from restaurant amid first cookbook success and London move
Julie Lin | contributed Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... For chef, broadcaster and now author Julie Lin, 2024 was a year of career highlights - from her restaurant Gaga being awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand to writing her first cookbook, something she had been thinking about doing for a number of years. Her love of food started from a young age as Lin, whose mother is Malay Chinese, and father is Scottish, grew up learning how to toss pasta with chopsticks, listen to the sizzle of something cooking, and create a banquet out of leftovers; lessons that were integral in helping her embrace her culture. 'Have you eaten yet?' is the question her mother asks her most frequently to this day, and by the age of three Lin was asking this in two different languages. John Devlin This love of cooking and fusion of Scottish and Malaysian food led to her opening a food stall in Glasgow in 2016 with classic Malaysian dishes like Nasi Goreng and dishes with a twist: sesame prawn toast using a local delicacy – Scottish, thick-cut Mother's Pride Bread. Lin called this ' making little lunch boxes for people. It was almost like the hawker style stalls that you get in Malaysia,' she explained, on the latest episode of our podcast Scran . 'I really loved street food, so I started cooking at lots of festivals and things like that, lots of great music festivals in Glasgow. And then we ended up opening our first little restaurant.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The little restaurant was Julie's Kopitium, located on Pollokshaws Road in Glasgow's southside. Lin called it 'like a hole in the wall". I loved it'. The cosy restaurant, and the food being cooked in the postage stamp kitchen went hand in hand - and enveloped diners in a warm embrace of spicy flavours and unexpected combinations all eaten in what felt like your friends dining room. Picking up takeaways from there was something that helped me get through lockdown, such was the comfort of the soft coconut curries and jars of hot and spiced chilli oils. Julie's Kopitiam inevitably led on to bigger things, this time with the opening of Gaga in the city's west end in 2021. Lin, in partnership with the team that, at that time, managed the nearby Thornwood bar. But now, she is starting a new chapter, quite literally, with the launch of her first cookbook, Sama Sama (which means same same or you're welcome) and a move to London. This means taking a step back from Gaga, as Lin said: ' I am no longer a restaurateur and now becoming an author. It feels really good to be at this stage of having gone through lots of different styles of hospitality and food and learning about food to now have a little book that's just been released.' Lin said she'll always have a toe in restaurants but with the book coming out, and more TV work on the horizon (you may recognise her from Saturday Kitchen on Somebody Feed Phil), she wants to take a step towards teaching, home cooking and presenting. Lin added: ' I've grown up in Glasgow and I love it. I feel like a Glasgow girl through and through. As much as I don't live here anywhere. I live in London now, I still love Glasgow with all my heart, but it's been really nice to see my food journey happen through Glasgow.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Sama Sama is Julie's first cookbook | contributed In Sama Sama, Lin showcases how food is central to culture and how it has, for her mum, broken down barriers, something she hopes we can take to heart in these more turbulent times. She said: 'If I was to bump into you, I would say 'hi, how are you? What have you been doing?' But in Malaysia you would say, hi, have you eaten yet? Because you just start every conversation with food. So it seems to be that food is ingrained in every single part of our lives, even from the very beginning of you speaking to someone. And that's no different from how my mum taught me about foods and how we eat growing up, it was always very much a celebration of what we had in the house. My mum used it as a kind of social way of making friends when English wasn't her first language. I feel like food would've done a lot of that communicating for her.' Lin added: 'With everything that's going on in the world right now, there's so many amazing parts about living in the UK and food is so diverse here. You get so many different countries selling food and that is such a privilege. We've had people that moved here to create lives. Food doesn't resolve everything, but it certainly helps us speak about all of the things that are happening in the world because it's essentially political in itself. For me, I think we need to celebrate within Scotland and the UK all of the amazing kind of food that we've got.' Julie Lin | contributed This fusion of cultures in food is what you might call modern fusion , but forget any kind of perception you have of fusion dishes from the past. Lin said: 'I think that fusion food got a really bad rep in the nineties and noughties, and I think primarily from fancy chefs who didn't quite know what to do with all of these ingredients from all over the world. Actually fusion is such a lovely way of cooking and what it represents. I would even argue that Malaysian food in itself is a fusion because it's so mixed. You've had so many years of colonisation and movement. There's Malay Indian influences, a British and Portuguese influence in the food.' After a whirlwind book tour, you'll see Lin back on TV as she's presenting Discovering the World's Table on BBC World Service, where she's visited Istanbul, an experience that she relished. ' You look back and think 'wow'. I feel so lucky to be at this point and very privileged to have had all of these opportunities including doing quite a lot more TV presenting.' But when it comes to the book, of which she's already planning a second, she said ' A special shout out to Scotland because writing the book really was a nice exploration of celebrating being Scottish, but also celebrating, being mixed.'
Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Combining cultures
Julie Lin is an author, recipe developer and broadcaster. She has just published her first book Sama Sama which fuses Malaysian, Chinese and Scottish influences from her heritage. In 2011, Julie Lin made a note to self on Facebook: "New mission in life," she wrote in a status update: "be Nigella Lawson." At the time, she was working in retail in Glasgow and teaching piano and violin while channelling most of her creative energies into cooking dinner parties for friends. Flash forward 13 years and while Lin may not have fulfilled her mission exactly as stated, she's been making all the right moves in that direction. First she went on MasterChef in 2014 and made it to the quarter finals. Then she quit her job and became a chef, before setting up her own street-food stall in Glasgow. She graduated to a "proper"restaurant on the city's south side in 2017, then a larger one called GaGa which is still going strong today. Now she's written a cookbook, which unites the two parts of her heritage — Malaysian and Scottish — in unexpected and delicious ways. "My mum's from Malaysia, and I go there every year," she says. Her father is Scottish and she grew up in Glasgow "with an abundance of amazing Scottish produce. So it feels like I'm from both places." Chinese sausage bucatini carbonara Carbonara will forever be one of my favourite dishes. The Chinese sausage (lap cheong) I use is an ambient food, so I always tend to have it in the cupboard. It's truly one of the finest ingredients — its smoky sweetness makes it taste like maple-cured bacon and it works perfectly with the rich egg yolks. Allowing the fat to render a little releases the oils into the dish and creates the most moreish flavour. Serves 2 200g dried bucatini (or another long pasta) 40g Chinese sausage (lap cheong), thinly sliced at an angle 1 Tbsp olive oil 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped 3 egg yolks 50g parmesan, grated, plus extra to serve 1 tsp light soy sauce ½ tsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) salt and black pepper Method Bring a large saucepan of well-salted water to the boil. Add the bucatini to the pan and cook for 8 minutes (or according to the packet instructions). Meanwhile, in a dry frying pan, gently fry the sausage over a low heat until the oils are released, allowing it to get a bit crisp. Remove the sausage from the pan and set aside. Add the olive oil to the pan and fry the chopped garlic until fragrant but not browned. Using a fork, whisk together the egg yolks, grated parmesan, soy sauce, kecap manis and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Once cooked, drain the bucatini, reserving some of the pasta cooking water. Add the sausage back into the pan along with the drained bucatini and toss in the garlic oil. Slowly add a little of the pasta cooking water to the egg yolk mixture until glossy and combined. Pour this over the hot pasta and sausage and mix together. Serve immediately with black pepper and the extra parmesan grated on top. Chinese-style spicy garlic celery Celery divides people. I think that's because most of us are introduced to it in the form of batons dipped into hummus. But I adore celery in its cooked form, especially with soy and garlic. This is a version of a common wok-fried celery dish we eat at large banquets in Malaysia. Serves 1 2 Tbsp Shaoxing rice wine 3 Tbsp light soy sauce 1 tsp white sugar 2 Tbsp vegetable oil 1 bunch, celery sliced on an angle 5 cloves garlic, peeled and finely diced 1 tsp cornflour, plus 3 Tbsp water to make a paste 1 tsp Malaysian crispy prawn chilli or crispy chilli oil salt and ground white pepper Method In a small bowl, mix together the Shaoxing rice wine, soy sauce and sugar. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok over a high heat. Add the celery to the hot oil and stir-fry for 1 minute, or until a little translucent. Next, add the garlic and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, or until fragrant. Add the rice wine, soy and sugar mixture, then add the cornflour paste and stir-fry until everything thickens slightly. Allow all of the flavours to come together, then taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and white pepper. Finally, add the crispy prawn chilli or crispy chilli oil and make a few last tosses. Serve immediately while piping hot. Nasi goreng with smoked mackerel Nasi goreng is probably one of the most recognisable dishes in Indonesian and Malaysian cuisines. Nasi means rice and goreng means fried, so it translates simply as fried rice. Full of flavour, this dish can be adapted to use up any ingredients you have in the fridge. I adore adding mackerel to this; the smokiness makes it extra punchy. It's important to cook out the paste (rempah) here so that all of the roundness of the flavours can coat the rice. All of the day-old rice grains should absorb maximum flavour. Remember, nasi goreng is a simple dish to cook, but it's all about making sure it's not still wet at the end of the frying process. Serves 2 vegetable oil for frying 2 spring onions, chopped into 4cm chunks 150g fine green beans, trimmed 50g smoked mackerel, flaked 300g cooked and cooled jasmine rice (preferably a day old) 1 ½ tsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) 1 ½ Tbsp fish sauce, or to taste 4 eggs 150g beansprouts For the rempah 1 long shallot, peeled and roughly chopped 5 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped 2 fresh long red chillies, deseeded and roughly chopped 4 dried red chillies, soaked in warm water for 20 minutes, drained, deseeded 2 Tbsp dried anchovies (ikan billis) Seasoning station (optional) sambal belacan, chilli crisp oil, fish sauce, light soy sauce, lime juice, salt Method First, make the rempah. Place all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and blitz to a paste. Heat plenty of oil in a wok over a medium-high heat. (You need lots of oil to make the paste oily enough that it coats the rice.) Once the wok is hot, add the rempah, spring onion chunks, trimmed green beans and flaked mackerel. Fry everything for 1-2 minutes, stirring continuously so that the paste doesn't catch and burn. Turn the heat down, then add the cooled rice to the wok with a few tablespoons of water. Add the kecap manis and fish sauce, stirring furiously until everything is mixed together. Create a well in the centre of the rice. Keeping the heat on medium-low, crack two of the eggs into the centre of the well and allow them to scramble. Once fully cooked through, mix the scrambled egg through the rice with the beansprouts. Heat enough oil to cover the base in a separate pan over a very high heat. Once the oil is very hot, crack the remaining two eggs into the pan. Fry until the skirts of the eggs are golden and crispy. When ready to serve, spoon the rice into two bowls and top with the crispy fried eggs. Add whichever of the ingredients you fancy from the seasoning station. — The Observer
BreakingNews.ie
12-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- BreakingNews.ie
Julie Lin's curry leaf chicken legs with salted egg yolk sauce recipe
'I became obsessed with salted egg yolk sauce after trying it at a restaurant in Singapore. It has an incredible, full-bodied flavour, a rich and velvety texture,' says cookery writer Julie Lin. 'There's something so satisfying about salting your own egg yolks. The transformation of the yolk, as it solidifies, reminds me of an orange fruit pastille. Combined with evaporated milk – an ingredient used a lot in Malaysia due to the lack of fresh dairy farms – the richness is irresistible.' Advertisement Curry leaf chicken legs with salted egg yolk sauce Ingredients (Serves 4) 2tsp ground turmeric 1tsp chilli powder 4 chicken legs, skin on Vegetable oil, for frying Salt and freshly ground black pepper For the salted egg yolk sauce: 2tbsp butter 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced 3–4cm piece of root ginger, peeled and minced 4 baked salted egg yolks 10 fresh curry leaves, plus extra (optional) to garnish 2 fresh red or green bird's eye chillies, chopped (optional) 3tbsp evaporated milk 1tsp white sugar ¼tsp ground white pepper (Liz Seabrook/PA) Method 1. If salting your own egg yolks: cover the base of a shallow plastic container with fine salt, 2-3cm deep. Use a spoon to make dents, then add a yolk to each. Cover them with more salt, then refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. The yolks should now have a sticky, gummy texture, perfect for layering on rice. They keep for 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge. 2. Preheat the oven to its lowest setting (about 60°C/40°C fan), place the yolks on an oiled wire rack and bake for 3 hours until dry and hard. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 months. Advertisement 3. Combine the turmeric and chilli powder in a small bowl, then season with salt and black pepper. Rub this spice mixture into the chicken legs and let them marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or ideally overnight. 4. Heat a generous amount of vegetable oil in a heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Carefully lower the chicken legs into the hot oil and fry until golden and fully cooked. This should take about 10–15 minutes on each side, depending on their size. Once cooked, set the chicken aside on kitchen paper to drain any excess oil. 5. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger, then fry until fragrant. Add the salted egg yolks and cook, stirring continuously, until it becomes a creamy, emulsified sauce. 6. Add the curry leaves and chillies (if using), then stir for a further minute. Pour in the evaporated milk, then mix in the sugar and white pepper. Stir until the sauce becomes thick and creamy. Advertisement 7. Once the sauce is ready, add the fried chicken and toss in the sauce until each piece is well coated. Serve hot, garnished with additional curry leaves, if desired. (Ebury/PA) Sama Sama by Julie Lin is published in hardback by Ebury Press. Photography by Liz Seabrook. Available now
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'A little bit of Glasgow magic': TV chef to host event for debut cookbook
A popular TV chef is celebrating the launch of her debut cookbook with a pop-up event. Glasgow chef and TV presenter Julie Lin will be appearing at fried chicken spot Birds at Phillies, in Shawlands, on Sunday, May 18. The event will mark the release of her debut cookbook Sama Sama. Read more: Fundraising day to honour legacy of former Glasgow Times sports reporter Guests at the event will be treated to a limited edition set menu, featuring dishes straight from the book. This will include Julie's crispy chicken burger, which consists of southern fried chicken thigh, pickled cabbage, carrot slaw, and a drizzle of fish sauce caramel. The menu will also include criss-cut fries and a Fettercairn Sama Sama Serve cocktail, created by Julie in collaboration with Fettercairn whisky. Guests will also have the opportunity to chat with Julie and get their new cookbooks signed. Tickets for the event, which will run from 5pm to 8.30pm, are priced at £20 per person, which includes the full set menu and a welcome cocktail. Bookings are now open and can be made by emailing Julie said: "I'm so excited to be celebrating Sama Sama with my friends at Birds. "Nick and I have known each other for years, so to bring this collaboration to life - with one of my favourite recipes - feels really special. "It's all about great food, great company, and a little bit of Glasgow magic." This event is the first of its kind for the Birds at Phillies, well known to locals for its popular fried chicken. The collaboration brings Julie together with her old friend Nick Watkins, the founder of Birds. The pair have a shared passion for bold flavours, welcoming hospitality, and a laid-back atmosphere. Read more: 'What do you call a wizard's dog?': Pupil reaches joke competition final Nick said: "Kicking off our first ever Birds collab with Julie couldn't feel more right. "She's one of the most exciting voices in food right now, and a good pal too - so it's the perfect full circle moment. "We can't wait to welcome everyone for an amazing night of food, whisky and good times." This is just the first in a series of collaborations for Birds, which hopes to continue offering unique food, drink, and cultural experiences to its customers.
BreakingNews.ie
08-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- BreakingNews.ie
Julie Lin's garlic udon in sesame and chilli oil recipe
This is a quick udon to satisfy that craving for a warming bowl of noodles, says cookery writer Julie Lin – 'even when I'm in a rush'. She says: 'Sesame paste can be easily found in Asian supermarkets now. It's a brilliant store cupboard ingredient, which makes vegan broths nicely rich without being overpowering. This is one of my go-to meals for when I'm eating alone, as it's such a quick recipe.' Advertisement Garlic udon in sesame and chilli oil Ingredients (Serves one) 200g fresh udon noodles 2tbsp Asian sesame paste 1tbsp light soy sauce 1tsp dark soy sauce 1tsp rice wine vinegar 1tsp white sugar 2tsp Sichuan-based chilli oil, or to your taste, plus extra to garnish 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced 3cm piece of root ginger, peeled and minced 2 spring onions, finely sliced 1tbsp toasted sesame seeds Seasoning: Black vinegar, salt, light soy sauce (Liz Seabrook/PA) Method 1. Blanch the fresh udon noodles by plunging them into boiling water for 2 minutes. To stop the cooking process, submerge the noodles in icy cold water, then drain and rinse under cold running water. Set aside. 2. To make the dressing, whisk together the sesame paste, both soy sauces, the rice wine vinegar, sugar, chilli oil and the minced garlic and ginger in a bowl until well combined. Add a splash of water until you get a creamy consistency. Adjust the seasoning to your taste. Advertisement 3. Toss the cold noodles in the dressing, ensuring that each strand is evenly coated. Taste and add whichever seasoning station ingredients you feel like. 4. Pile the noodles into a deep bowl, scatter over the spring onions, then sprinkle on the toasted sesame seeds and a drizzle of the chilli oil. (Ebury/PA) Sama Sama by Julie Lin is published in hardback by Ebury Press. Photography by Liz Seabrook. Available now
