A'ruma Malaysian

Welcome to part 1 of our Long Bay Village Q&A Sessions - We are pleased to interview A'ruma Malaysian for our first piece.

Part 1 - A'ruma Malaysian Long Bay

Hi team A’ruma! Please introduce yourselves 👋

My name is Brian Teoh and I run A'ruma Malaysian with my wife, Carol. We come from Malaysia and have made NZ our home since 2014. We fell in love with this neighbourhood and have lived in Long Bay since then.

What's your favourite dish and why? 🥘

Definitely our beef rendang. It is a traditional dry-style curry popular in Indonesia and Malaysia. We use beef brisket which is slow cooked for hours in our home-made spices and thick coconut cream. Fresh ground ‘wet’ spices are used instead of dried spice powder in the cooking and we finish it off with toasted coconut and finely chopped kaffir lime leaves picked from our garden. Results in the ultimate melt in your mouth explosion of flavours!

Where did you learn to cook? 🥢

I was born into a family with proud Malaysian Peranakan lineage. Peranakan refers to an ethnic group of mixed Chinese and Malay heritage that has particular cultural practices unique to them. A significant peculiarity of this culture is the passion for a colourful variety of food.

Our daily lives revolved around the kitchen (a routine we continue). Our kitchen was the largest living area in the home, where three generations of family would spend most of the day. Everyone was expected to help out - I usually ended up with laborious task of peeling onions and the pounding of fresh spices on the pestle and mortar. My grandma was a perfectionist when it came to cooking, she has passed on to us many invaluable tips and recipes, some of which our guests get to enjoy in our restaurant.

We have seen you serving up dishes at the Long Bay Village Market - what do you think about it? 🛒

It is a fresh addition to our Long Bay subdivision. We love the vibes that the market brings to the entire Village.

Head to A'ruma Malaysian's website to see their menu!