BiblioAsia Podcast

After quitting her civil service job to become a pastry chef, Yeo Min decided to focus on preserving traditional Chinese candy when she realised the tradition was dying, even in the syllabus of the pastry school . In this episode, she talks about her journey to making traditional Chinese candy, writing the book Chinese Pastry School and founding the Museum of Food.

Yeo Min is a pastry chef, a chef instructor and the author of Chinese Pastry School (2024). In 2021, she was a finalist of the Channel 8 baking competition “Crème De La Crème” and came in second at the World Gourmet Summit Apprentice Chef Competition 2021. She is the co-founder of Museum of Food.

• 02:33 – Why Yeo Min is passionate about preserving traditional Chinese candy
• 03:40 – Childhood influence
• 03:47 – The three candies representing past, present and future
• 06:58 – Vanishing street candy
• 11:08 – Ding ding tang and the future of traditional candy
• 15:07 – Homemade vs store-bought maltose
• 16:57 – Childhood memories of traditional candy
• 18:44 – Traditional Chinese candy versus Western confectionery
• 22:02 – Sugar sculptures in Chinese culture
• 25:06 – Why Yeo Min wrote Chinese Pastry School
• 42:10 – The Museum of Food and its mission
• 50:51 – Yeo Min’s next book
• 53:47 – Food heritage

• Read the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-a-woman-s-mission-to-revive-traditional-chinese-candy
• Watch Yeo Min make traditional Chinese candy: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/video-traditional-chinese-candy

Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore.

This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Nookcha Films. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Yeo Min for coming on the show.

Produced by the National Library Singapore, the BiblioAsia Podcast tells stories about Singapore history.

Fish head curry is a popular (and expensive) restaurant dish today, but this wasn’t always the case. Spice queen Devagi Sanmugam remembers when only poor people ate it. She delves into how the dish came about, spells out why fish head curry uses different spices from meat curries, and explains how a clay pot makes all the difference.

Devagi Sanmugam, also known as the Spice Queen in Singapore, is a consultant chef, chef educator and author of 24 cookbooks, including Indian Heritage Cooking (2011) and the award-winning I Am a Rice Cooker! (2016). Besides developing recipes and blends for spice companies, she has been a celebrity chef at events and a judge for culinary competitions, such as the locally produced Tamil version of the Master Chef cooking series and Channel 5’s cooking variety show Wok Stars.

• 02:00 – Why Devagi chose to demonstrate fish head curry in From Book to Cook
• 03:13 – The origins of fish head curry in Singapore
• 05:30 – How fish head curry became a multiracial dish in Singapore
• 05:34 – Differences between Malay, Peranakan and Indian fish head curries
• 07:11 – Why fish curry uses different spices from meat curry
• 09:30 – Fish head curry across Asia
• 11:13 – Eating fish eyeballs
• 12:21 – Why fish curry is cooked in a clay pot
• 15:09 – The key ingredients in fish curry
• 17:06 – Devagi’s journey into cooking and teaching
• 32:33 – Devagi’s future plans
• 38:40 – Spices are…

• Read the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-cooking-fish-head-curry
• Watch Devagi make fish head curry: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/video-fish-head-curry

Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore.

This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Nookcha Films. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Devagi for coming on the show.

Produced by the National Library Singapore, the BiblioAsia Podcast tells stories about Singapore history.

A hawker centre favourite, Hokkien mee is making a comeback in Singapore, according to Dr Leslie Tay, author of the blog ieatishootipost. He talks about the dish was created, what it takes to make a good plate of Hokkien mee, and what is needed to ensure that hawker food continues to thrive in Singapore.

Leslie Tay and his wife, Lisa, are the people behind the blog ieatishootipost. Together, they cover the latest on the best hawker food, new discoveries, restaurants and recipes in Singapore and during their travels. As a home chef, Leslie enjoys re-creating his favourite hawker and classic dishes on their YouTube channel, coming up with recipes that are tried and tested and are suitable for home cooks. He has written The End of Char Kway Teow and Other Hawker Mysteries (2010) and Only the Best! (2014).

• 02:42 – The origins of Hokkien mee
• 08:52 – Why frying time matters in Hokkien mee
• 10:46 – The dry and wet styles of Hokkien mee
• 15:24 – Why young hawkers are selling Hokkien mee but not char kway teow
• 18:31 – The return of pork lard
• 20:25 – Key ingredients for Hokkien mee
• 24:04 – Why Hokkien mee is served on opeh leaf
• 28:49 – Leslie’s motivations for starting his food blog
• 38:30 – Turning hawker knowledge into written recipes
• 40:49 – Leslie’s recommendation on Hokkien mee
• 42:20 – The future of hawker culture in Singapore
• 46:54 – Leslie’s favourite hawker dish

• Read the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-long-live-hokkien-mee
• Watch Leslie cook Hokkien mee: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/video-hokkien-mee

Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore.

This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Nookcha Films. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Leslie for coming on the show.

Produced by the National Library Singapore, the BiblioAsia Podcast tells stories about Singapore history.

What is commonly referred to as "kaya" belongs to a wider Malay repertoire of egg-based coconut confections known as serikaya. Award-winning writer and food historian Khir Johari tells the origins and meaning of serikaya, its common misconceptions and the different food he can concoct from the classic combination of eggs, sugar and coconut milk.

Khir Johari is an educator and food historian. In his book The Food of Singapore Malays (2021), he explores the gastronomy and cultural history of Singapore Malays. The book won Singapore’s Book of the Year 2022, Gourmand World Food Culture Award’s Best of the Best Book 2023, and its prestigious Best of the Last 25 Years. Following the success of his book, he founded “Dialogues by Khir Johari”, a platform for exploring Nusantara’s gastronomy through events and online discussions.

• 02:40 – Meaning of serikaya
• 04:05 – Origins of serikaya and the Portuguese connection
• 11:44 – Misconceptions about serikaya
• 13:07 – Earliest literary references to serikaya
• 15:39 – Importance of historical research in food studies
• 19:13 – How common serikaya was in the past
• 21:25 – Regional variations of serikaya
• 24:55 – Different serikaya dishes in the “From Book to Cook” video
• 27:33 – Kueh salat vs kueh putri salat
• 29:23 – Agar-agar serikaya innovation
• 31:24 – Evolution of serikaya over time
• 35:15 – Early commercial kaya and tin labels
• 40:02 – What makes a good kaya

• Read the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-serikaya-family-of-kaya-based-confections
• Watch Khir make serikaya: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/video-kaya

Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore.

This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Nookcha Films. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Khir for coming on the show.

Produced by the National Library Singapore, the BiblioAsia Podcast tells stories about Singapore history.

Cookbook author and former restaurateur Dhershini Winodan tells us how she has adapted jackfruit payasam, a common Malayalee dessert, by using local elements like gula melaka. She also talks about growing up in the Telecoms quarters in Yio Chu Kang and how the Malayalee community in Singapore has changed over time.

Dhershini Govin Winodan is a former restaurateur who started Chat Masala along Upper East Coast Road. Her latest book, My Long Table: Recipes & Memories (2023), contains over 130 recipes from Indian classics to popular international dishes, and the stories behind them. She has written articles for magazines like Her World, and appeared on radio and TV shows, including the episode “Indian Upma with a Twist” on the YouTube series Woking with Sunshine.

• 02:41 – Why jackfruit payasam is unusual
• 03:20 – What is payasam made of
• 04:12 – Using coconut milk in payasam
• 04:27 –Jackfruit payasam in Kerala
• 08:38 – Malayali cuisine in Singapore vs Kerala
• 09:19 – Malayali weddings in Singapore
• 12:08 – Malayali festivals beyond Onam
• 15:24 – Managing jackfruit
• 19:27 – The legend of payasam and Lord Krishna
• 21:32 – Types of jackfruit for cooking
• 22:21 – How using the bronze urli pot makes a difference
• 24:03 – Ingredients that make her jackfruit payasam special
• 27:14 – How Dhershini learnt to cook
• 29:02 – Why she came up with the name for her restaurant Chat Masala
• 31:40 – About her book My Long Table
• 36:53 – How Malayali food is different from other Indian regional cuisines
• 38:26 – What Malayali food means to Dhershini

• Read the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-a-layered-stewed-sweetness-jackfruit-payasam-made-local
• Watch Dhershini make jackfruit payasam: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/video-jackfruit-payasam

Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore.

This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Nookcha Films. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Dhershini for coming on the show.

Produced by the National Library Singapore, the BiblioAsia Podcast tells stories about Singapore history.

Award-winning writer Christopher Tan talks how the Indian samosa led to the curry puffs we know today, as well as the different types of curry puffs – baked, spiralled, made with mutton fat and fillings like otak-otak and taro.

Christopher Tan is a food writer, culinary instructor and photographer. His articles, columns, recipes and photographs have appeared in many publications, including Singapore’s Sunday Times and Straits Times, The Peak magazine, and America’s Saveur magazine. He has authored and co-authored many cookbooks, most recently Nerdbaker 2: Tales from the Yeast Indies (2024).

• 01:56 – What a curry puff is
• 02:24 – Types A, B, C curry puffs
• 05:35 – How Christopher became fascinated with curry puffs
• 12:06 – Curry puff vs samosa vs Cornish pasty
• 16:17 – Portuguese empanadas and Southeast Asian connections
• 21:46 – The earliest curry puff recipe in Singapore
• 29:10 – Why modern curry puffs rarely use pork
• 31:14 – The three curry puffs made for From Book to Cook
• 33:20 – Traditional fats used in layered pastry
• 40:39 – Why spiral curry puffs stay crispy
• 44:21 – Christopher’s research process for developing recipes
• 47:51 – How the curry puff scene has changed since the 1920s
• 53:58 – Curry puffs are…

• Read the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-the-crisped-the-baked-the-spiralled-curry-puffs-and-their-history
• Watch Christopher make the curry puffs: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/video-curry-puffs

Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore.

This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Nookcha Films. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Christopher for coming on the show.

Produced by the National Library Singapore, the BiblioAsia Podcast tells stories about Singapore history.

When chef, filmmaker and writer Sarah Huang Benjamin wanted to make Hakka abacus seeds for Chinese New Year, her relatives were of little help. The exact recipe was something the older generation had not passed on. Armed with her childhood memories of helping to make the dish, Sarah spent hours doing research and conducting countless experiments before she came up with something she was happy with.

Sarah Huang Benjamin is a chef, content creator, filmmaker and writer. She won the inaugural Asian Food Channel’s “Food Hero” competition in 2014, and later hosted, wrote and produced multiple shows on the Asian Food Network. She creates videos for her YouTube channel, which has gathered over a million views.

• 02:31 – What abacus seeds are
• 03:23 – Whether abacus seeds are only for Chinese New Year
• 03:46 – Why Sarah chose abacus seeds to demonstrate in the video for From Book to Cook
• 04:56 – Learning how to make the dish
• 09:27 – The difficulty of finding authentic abacus seed recipes
• 10:03 – Researching recipes through cookbooks and family knowledge
• 12:00 – Using fish sauce in her recipe
• 13:42 – The size and history of the Hakka community in Singapore
• 18:29 – Where to find abacus seeds in Singapore
• 19:32 – Why homemade abacus seeds taste different
• 21:21 – Sarah’s mixed Hakka and Peranakan heritage
• 22:53 – Plans for Sarah’s future cookbook
• 27:33 – What Sarah is working on now
• 30:58 – Family recipe is…

• Read the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-putting-together-a-family-recipe-of-abacus-seeds
• Watch Sarah make abacus seeds: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/video-hakka-abacus-seeds

Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore.

This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Nookcha Films. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Sarah for coming on the show.

Produced by the National Library Singapore, the BiblioAsia Podcast tells stories about Singapore history.

For decades, the conventional wisdom was that Singapore was “kicked out” of Malaysia. However, newly released documents in Dr Goh Keng Swee's Albatross file reveal a more complex history. In this episode, Janadas Devan, the coordinator for the Albatross File project, tells us more about the secret negotiations by Singapore’s leaders to separate from Malaysia, even as many of them still hoped to preserve a looser federation.

Janadas Devan is Senior Advisor (Government Communications) of Ministry of Digital Development and Information and the Prime Minister’s Office, and Director of the Institute of Policy Studies. A former journalist, he was educated at the National University of Singapore and Cornell University in the United States.

• 00:00 – Introduction to the Albatross File book and exhibition
• 04:41 – Why Singapore joined Malaysia in 1963
• 08:18 – Agreement between Lee Kuan Yew and Tunku to keep out of Malaysian politics
• 10:25 – UMNO’s performance in Singapore general elections 12:09 – PAP’s participation in Malaysia general elections and politics
• 15:05 – What Janadas remembers of the rallies in Malaysia
• 16:42 – Last straw that led to separation
• 24:46 – Goh Keng Swee’s proposal to separate
• 25:25 – Why Lee Kuan Yew was disliked by Malaysian politicians
• 28:54 – Why the British opposed a looser federation
• 31:02 – Why negotiations on separation were kept secret
• 31:50 – Opposition within Singapore leadership to the idea of looser federation
• 34:43 – Why the narrative of Singapore being “kicked out” of Malaysia was dominant
• 37:52 – What the Albatross file reveals about separation
• 41:47 – Importance of archives in other countries and Lee Kuan Yew’s memoirs
• 43:00 – Whether a looser federation would have worked
• 44:13 – Whether Goh Keng Swee had a vision for independent Singapore
• 47:07 – How the book and exhibition came about
• 52:25 – Which document in the Albatross file surprised Janadas
• 57:03 – How to begin reading the book
• 57:45 – Possible second edition
• 1:00:47 – The books Janadas is working on

• Read the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-the-untold-negotiations-behind-singapore-s-independence-in-1965/
• Read the related BiblioAsia article: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/vol-22-issue-1-apr-jun-2026-the-architect-of-separation/

Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore.

This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Red Ink Media. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Janadas for coming on the show.

Produced by the National Library Singapore, the BiblioAsia Podcast tells stories about Singapore history.

A film studio and theme park in Jurong opened to grand fanfare in 1992. Named Tang Dynasty City, it was modelled after the ancient city of Chang’an. Despite its underground terracotta warriors and other attractions, it struggled to draw visitors, as Senior Librarian Lim Tin Seng tells us.

Lim Tin Seng is a senior librarian with the National Library Singapore. He is the co-editor of of Roots: Tracing Family Histories (2013), Harmony and Development: ASEAN-China Relations (2009) and China’s New Social Policy (2010). He writes regularly for BiblioAsia.

• 00:00 – Introduction
• 02:09 – About Tang Dynasty City
• 03:54 – Who came up with the idea of Tang Dynasty City
• 05:25 – Why Chang’an was picked as the city to replicate
• 06:54 – The difficulty of getting construction materials
• 08:34 – Movies and shows shot at Tang Dynasty City
• 10:40 – Food options at Tang Dynasty City
• 12:38 – Popularity of the theme park
• 14:38 – Underground terracotta warriors
• 15:54 – How Tang Dynasty City tried to attract more visitors
• 19:10 – What Tin Seng enjoys about archival research
• 20:30 – Curiocity project, on story maps
• 23:03 – The research significance of Tin Seng’s favourite BiblioAsia article he has written
• 26:09 – How Tin Seng’s article on Sarong Island broke new ground

• Read the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-a-tang-dynasty-city-in-singapore-flying-swordsmen-terracotta-warriors-and-pagodas
• Read the article: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/vol-22-issue-2-jul-sep-2026-an-ancient-chinese-city-in-jurong-/

Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore.

This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Red Ink Media. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Tin Seng for coming on the show.

Produced by the National Library Singapore, the BiblioAsia Podcast tells stories about Singapore history.

Giovanni Gaggino came to Singapore around 1874 and lived here for more than 40 years. During that time, he set up a successful business providing supplies to vessels passing through Singapore, he wrote an Italian-Malay dictionary and once owned the Pulau Bukom. Writer Alex Foo tells us about the life of Gaggino and his legacy.

Formerly a literary arts librarian at the National Library Board, Alex Foo has written for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Orientations and ArtsEquator. Singapore history.

• 02:32 – About Giovanni Gaggino
• 03:57 – Why Gaggino came to Singapore in 1874
• 04:48 – The small Italian community in 19th-century Singapore
• 05:39 – What a ship chandlery is
• 07:18 – Acquiring and Monetising Pulau Bukom
• 08:21 – Gaggino’s other business ventures across Asia
• 09:18 – Writing a dictionary for trade
• 14:13 – Gaggino’s death and unfulfilled legacy
• 17:17 – How the story of Gaggino was reconstructed
• 22:16 – Libraries are…

• Read the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-italian-merchant-lexicographer-who-once-owned-pulau-bukom/

Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore.

This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Nookcha Films. The background music “Di Tanjong Katong” was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Alex for coming on the show.

Produced by the National Library Singapore, the BiblioAsia Podcast tells stories about Singapore history.