Feast your eyes on May for Malaysian eating extravaganza

May-laysia is coming to New Zealand in a month-long celebration of Malaysian cuisine.

A series of exciting epicurean events in Auckland and Wellington is scheduled for May including the opportunity to feast on sublime Malaysian food for free at special events in the capital city.

May-laysia is part of the Malaysia Kitchen Programme for New Zealand – a campaign encouraging Kiwis to try Malaysian cuisine. And with more than 50 Malaysian restaurants here, the nation’s food lovers can look forward to a diverse range of foods.

Malaysian cuisine is a blend of Malay, Chinese and Indian food traditions which make up the fascinating interplay of delicious flavours. Because Malaysia has been a key transit point in the ancient spice route, many cultures have influenced the country’s cuisine.

Famed NZ chef Peter Gordon is a firm fan of the cuisine and is “the world’s fondest laksa lover”.

May-laysia was launched at a special event at restaurant ‘dine by Peter Gordon’ in Auckland’s SkyCity Grand Hotel on Friday 8 April (view the video here). Delighted guests were treated to a rolling feast of Malaysian food including several of Peter’s own fusion dishes.

Peter prepared a menu of crayfish and smoked coconut laksa (entrée) and a main comprising roast Cambridge duck with kumara dumplings, wok-fried bok choy, ginger and black beans and sweet-chilli squid. His tempting dessert was a coconut tapioca with mango and passionfruit, avocado yuzu sorbet and a coconut wafer. Peter’s roast duck recipe is available on the ‘Food & Recipes’ page.

Two top Auckland Malaysian chefs braved the heat in the kitchen to prepare classic Malaysian dishes such as satay, roti chanai and beef rendang.

Chefs Kalai Subramanian from Panmure’s Sri Puteri restaurant and Jacky Lam from Epsom’s KK restaurant were thrilled with the opportunity to work alongside Peter in the dine kitchen.

May-laysia includes a number of events and special promotions to dine at Malaysian restaurants in Auckland and Wellington and New Zealanders also have the chance to win a trip to Malaysia for a once-in-a-lifetime epicurean experience.

The exciting month of May-laysia

May-laysia is a fabulous month-long celebration of Malaysian cuisine, and there are loads of ways you can be a part of it! Make sure you follow @MYkitchenNZ on Twitter to keep up-to-date with all the latest info. Here are some of the highlights!

Win your passport to Malaysia – simply dine at participating Malaysian restaurants for your chance to win a culinary expedition to Malaysia! Scroll down to see all participating restaurants. For entry details, T&Cs and a list of participating restaurants, see our Promotions page.

Win a journey to Malaysia with Sunday Star-Times and the Malaysia Kitchen Programme for NZ – click here to enter.

Curry Challenges - crave the date: Can you handle the Malaysia Kitchen heat? Challenge your curry tolerance level during the month of May-laysia at your favourite Malaysian restaurant – for free*.

Be the first 100 at the restaurant to taste and try a range of curries, test your taste buds and see how much they can handle. Save the date to be at the following restaurants for the Malaysia Kitchen Curry Challenge for free tastings of different curries and exciting prizes to be won:

• Friday 6 May, 12 noon – 2pm, Navas Café, 14 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland
• Friday 13 May, 12 noon – 2pm, Kayu Manis, 201 Cuba St, City Centre, Wellington
• Friday 27 May, 12 noon – 2pm, Istana Malaysia, 1-5 Allen St, City Centre, Wellington

*Curries are taste sizes only, not full sized meals www

And if you've won a voucher from our ZM Curry Challenge crew, head here to see all participating restaurants!

Spot prizes and dining vouchers to be won – keep checking back throughout May-laysia to win spot prizes and dining vouchers

May-laysia at Nosh Food Market

5 May 2024 - Shoppers at Nosh are being treated to a month of Malaysian epicurean inspiration as part of the Malaysia Kitchen Programme for New Zealand.

People now have access to recipes and ideas to create tantalising Malaysian dishes at home using Blackrock meats, fresh produce and Malaysian products such as NZ-made Rempah Malaysian sauces.

May-laysia at Nosh launched on 4 May with a sold-out cooking demonstration featuring fabulous foodie Peta Mathias and Auckland Malaysian chef Youges Subramaniam preparing several delicious Malaysian dishes to the 50 guests.

Dishes included roti canai and chicken curry, mee goreng, beef rendang. Peta’s own favourite Malaysian recipe - Soto Ayam (chicken soup) - is available on our Recipes page.

Food lovers looking for Malaysian kitchen inspiration would do well to head into Nosh during May-laysia for tips, recipes, and the best quality fresh produce to prepare authentic dishes at home.

New name, new owners and new delicious Malaysian offerings

There’s little doubt the beauty and splendour of the Auckland City Hotel enthrals. And as a bonus, within resides one of Auckland’s hidden culinary gems - The Mustard Seed Malaysian Restaurant.

Delectable, authentic Malaysian cuisine is served within the heritage building resides by new owners of the restaurant previously known as Bing’s Malaysian Restaurant.

The Mustard Seed offers a range of ethnic Malay, Chinese and Indian influenced dishes which are essentially the core of Malaysian cuisine.

Owners Tommy Ning and Joni Hoang are keen to demonstrate the wonderful tastes Malaysian food can bring to Kiwi diners.

“It’s all about the experience, ambience and food offerings”, says Ning. “The Mustard Seed brings this together for guests and foodies alike all in a beautiful four-star hotel setting.”

The Mustard Seed seats up to 200 diners in a grand dome-shaped ceiling dining hall which is becoming a rare sight in Auckland’s CBD.

“We pride in serving authentic Malaysian cuisine and our three Malaysian chefs are very experienced in this space. They specialise in char kuey teow, beef rendang, chicken and lamb satay, curry and lamb varuval,” Ning says.