1. Chef Darren Teoh wants to prove that ‘lowly’ local ingredients can be the cause of
haute enjoyment. Vivian Chong talks to Teoh about his revolutionary ideas.
MALAYSIAN CUISINE
Modernising
Black glutinous rice congee with soft boiled
yolk, ox tongue and mushroom broth
136 ELLE.MY
LIVINGFOOD
to be a space for exploring Malaysian cuisine as it has never been
before: traditional in essence, contemporary in approach.
“Rather than embracing traditions or cultural norms as the
anchor, I look at history and what’s available. I design dishes based
on that,” Darren elaborates. “You won’t find rendang or curries on
the menu. There may be aspects of them but not a complete dish or
even a deconstruction.”
That means using ingredients that are familiar to the Malaysian
palate while eschewing the typical curries, stir-fries and stews.
Dishes are instead presented in ways that are more descriptive of
Western and European fare. Bunga telang, otherwise known as
the butterfly pea and usually used as a food colourant, is used to
Y
ou’re here to taste our menu, not choose what you want
to eat,” says Darren Teoh, culinary lecturer turned head
chef at Dewakan, deadpan. “We put a lot of effort into
creating our menu; we don’t simply slap things on a
plate. There’s a certain tone and succession from one
course to the next, like a story with a beginning and end.”
Dewakan offers no à la carte dishes but course meals. The
complete story is told through a 10-course dinner (‘abridged’
versions — five-course dinners and four- or three-course lunches
— are also available), and the tale is a unique one. Set up by KDU
University College and open since March, Dewakan (a portmanteau
of the Malay words ‘dewa’ and ‘makan’ for god and food) is meant
ELLE. MY 137
dress a prawn dish; kai-lan is puréed and served alongside corn-fed
chicken; black glutinous rice is given a savoury turn as a congee;
the oil of daun selom, typically used in ulam, flavours an aerated
yoghurt; and nutmeg syrup is married with smoked chocolate
Chantilly cream.
Darren’s hope is that customers walk in with no expectations,
“but leave feeling proud of Malaysian produce. Even ‘lowly’
ingredients can be used in haute cuisine as long as we drive for the
highest quality.” That quality is heightened with doses of whimsy
(edible twigs dipped in a budu mayonnaise), dashes of fancy
(mushroom consommé siphon-brewed tableside) and a flair for
artistic plating. There have been comparisons to Denmark’s Noma,
repeatedly named the world’s best restaurant, where Darren did
a two-week stint as a stagiaire in 2012. He and chef/owner Rene
Redzepi had met two years earlier at Chef-Sache, an international
conference held in Germany.
Darren doesn’t agree with the parallels drawn between
Dewakan and Noma, although he has borrowed some ideas from
the latter. His most important takeaway from his experience with
Redzepi was neither the recipes nor the techniques. “Everyone there
was obsessed with cooking. We talked food, we cooked food… it
was very intense and exciting to be part of a team like that. Everyone
drove for extremely high quality.”
He’s taken a similar approach at Dewakan, where he and his
kitchen team — staffed by former students of KDU’s School of
Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts — take anything from
one day to a month to perfect each recipe. His biggest challenge,
he admits, is himself. “I’m particular about how things are done. If
I don’t feel that it’s right, it won’t go on the menu.”
Darren relies a lot on instincts, which is unsurprising for
someone who ended up as a chef by default rather than design,
although destiny may have helped, too. Growing up, he spent a lot
of time in his Malayalee grandmother’s kitchen, helping out with
chores such as grating coconuts or cutting onions.
Perhaps that set the tone for his future, but Darren chose to
study hotel management simply because that was what his results
qualified him for. He had no ambition except “not to flunk out
of school”. Evidently, he did well enough to land a position with
Singapore’s Les Amis Group and worked his way around their
flagship restaurant for five years before returning to Malaysia to
begin his foray into academia.
With Dewakan, he transits from lecture halls back into the
kitchen, but shies from calling himself a chef. “A chef is essentially
a boss. In one to two years’ time, I might be able to tell you what
makes a good chef,” he says, but for now, “I’m a cook.”
Dewakan, Lower Ground Floor, KDU University College, Jalan
Kontraktor U1/14, Shah Alam, PJ. Tel: 03 5565 0767. Reservations
(preferably via dewakan@kdu.edu.my) are advised for dinner.
“You won’t find rendang or curries
on the menu. There may be aspects
of them but not a complete dish.”
CUTTLEFISH ‘NOODLES’,
ROSE APPLES, CASHEW
NUTS, TENGGEK BURUNG,
CUCUMBER & CLAM
STOCK SNOW
We want our guests to start their journey with a
refreshing dish. The cuttlefish is gently cooked
then thinly sliced to resemble a flat rice noodle.
It is tossed with lime leaf oil, diced rose apple,
toasted cashew nuts and sliced tenggek
burung. We then cover it with a snow made of
cucumber juice and another of clam stock.

2. A minimalistic colour scheme never
dates and can work with any style
BLACK & WHITE
DELIGHT
LIVINGHOME
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Blanket, RM149.90, H&M
Pendant lamp,
RM2,199, Kare
Poster, RM49, Ikea
Button stool,
RM1,299, Kare
Card table, RM694,
luisaviaroma.com
Cushion, RM42, H&M
Bar stool,
RM1,799, Kare
Decorative jar,
RM319, Kare
Empress
plate, RM610,
luisaviaroma.com
TEXT&CO-ORDINATION:SAMANTHAJOSEPH
138 ELLE.MY
1. GULA MELAKA
“This is quite a complex ingredient, with varying
notes depending on the layer you use. The
darker the colour, the deeper the layer and the
more bitter it is. When buying, scrape off a bit to
taste. If you can’t sample it, don’t buy it.”
2. ROSE APPLE
“We get a lot of Thai varieties here, which are
sweeter, but I prefer local ones for their spongy
texture and hints of green notes. It’s an elegant
ingredient with clean flavours.”
3. SALTED EGG YOLKS
“Cooked at a low temperature and then
puréed, they provide a lovely creaminess
that I like to pair with fish. To tell the difference
between a good and a bad salted egg, you
simply have to buy enough to know!”
4. WILD HONEY
“One of my ex-students sourced this unique
honey for us that is produced by stingless
bees. It’s slightly acidic with lime notes and
not very sweet.”
DARREN TEOH’S FAVOURITE INGREDIENTS
GULA MELAKA MARQUISE, SOUR
MERINGUES & PULUT ICE CREAM
We use gula Melaka and caramelised white
chocolate to make a marquise, then serve it
with dehydrated date sponge and macerated
mulberries. We cover that with sour meringues
and garnish with some butterfly pea flowers. This
is accompanied by a white pulut ice cream.
PHOTOGRAPHY:TOMMICHU/BLINKSTUDIOS;HIZWANHAMID