Cover MasterChef Champion of Champions Ping Coombes

Ipoh-born Ping Coombes shares what she misses most about home

You can take Ping Coombes out of Malaysia, but you can't take Malaysia out of her. Born in Ipoh and now based in Bath, UK, she has never lost her love for Malaysian food; in fact, living away from Malaysia has only compounded it.

Since moving to the UK in 2004, Coombes has been busy cooking Malaysian food and sharpening her skills. In 2014, she joined the MasterChef UK competition and emerged victorious. She would go on to also win MasterChef Champion of Champions in 2022. 

The home cook published her first cookbook, MALAYSIA, in 2016; the book consists of easy-to-master Malaysian recipes. Coombes then took to educating others about Malaysian food via her cooking school, Ping's Masak Club, and her supper club, Ping's Makan Club. Her passion in spreading her love for Malaysian cuisine eventually earned her the title Malaysia Kitchen Ambassador in 2016. 

Recently, Coombes collaborated with The Cookaway, a UK food subscription box service, on six Malaysian recipe boxes containing quintessential dishes like rendang and laksa with the aim to get more people to cook Malaysian food at home.

Tatler Dining chats with Coombes on what she misses eating in Malaysia.

See also: A Taste Of Home: Zoee Wong On Her Favourite Eats In Malaysia

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Above Coombes is most at home when in the kitchen
Tatler Asia
Ping's Laksa Nyonya
Above Ping's Laksa Nyonya

What do you miss most about being away from Malaysia? 

Undoubtedly my mum's cooking! I miss how effortlessly she cooked even with everything else that she was doing. No matter how busy, she always cooked with care and thought. She would always make Chinese sausages for my daughters and Chinese broths for me. 

What are the foods you miss eating in Malaysia? 

I miss Ipoh kai see hor fun (shredded chicken kuay teow) and white coffee. No one does them like they do in Ipoh. I know I am biased but the Ipoh hor fun is unrivalled. 

Is this the first dish you eat when you return home?

It depends on what time we arrive home and whether it is the first meal in or out. Usually, my mum would have prepared my favourite Hakka noodles, the recipe of which is in my book. For breakfast, I normally request to go to Fai Kee for pork noodles. It's stall number 43 at Kompleks Sukan Ipoh. 

See also: 7 Malaysian Chefs Share The Foods That Remind Them Of Home

Do you have a favourite restaurant in Malaysia?

I love casual eats when I'm home, maybe because I miss the mamak, kopitiam, and hawker stalls. I actually don't have a favourite restaurant in Malaysia.

If you have guests visiting from abroad, where would you take them to give them a real taste of Malaysia? 

The hawker stalls.

Where do you like to catch up with old friends over a meal? 

We tend to hang out at one of my friends' place and order food from various restaurants. That way we can stay chatting longer and behave like teenagers again! Staying up all night drinking and then dim sum the next morning isn't uncommon amongst my friends! 

See also: A Taste of Home: Sambal Shiok Laksa Bar's Mandy Yin on Her Favourite Pasar Malam

Tatler Asia
Coombes with some members of her Masak Club
Above Coombes with members of her Masak Club

Do you stock up on Malaysian ingredients or packaged foods when flying back to the UK? 

Most definitely! I fly in with virtually an empty bag but leave with ikan bilis, dried prawns, sambals, salted egg powders and lots of kacang putih. 

Where do you go to find authentic flavours of home in the UK? 

They are rare, which is why I learned how to cook in the first place. When I am in London, I go to Laksamania, which does the most delicious wantan mee. The first time I tasted it, it reminded me of the ones from my childhood and I cried.

What is your favourite recipe from your cookbook? And your children's? 

My girls' favourite has to be the Hakka mee, but I particularly love my caramel kaya. Let me tell you a secret. I only learnt how to make kaya when I wrote the book. I practised hard and after numerous failures, I finally perfected it. A friend of mine makes it regularly and she said it is the best she has ever tasted! I wouldn't have attempted it if it weren't for this cookbook.

What inspired you to start Masak Club and Makan Club?

I wanted to spread the love for Malaysian food and the only way to do that is for people to taste it and to cook it. I can exert my creativity and cooking skills, which allows me to connect Malaysian flavours with people. They also allow me to work as a parent of two young children as I am not chained to the kitchen for 16 hours a day.

Now, I also run Ping At Home, which is a chilled meal service delivering Malaysian curries in Bath and surrounding areas. I started this during the pandemic with my husband Andrew and we're looking to expand into frozen meals to be delivered nationwide.

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Courtesy of Ping Coombes

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