The publication highly recommended the eatery, which was described as a ‘Malaysian restaurant popular for its big, spicy flavours in dishes like curry laksa and char koay teow.’ The writer went on to write, ‘Australia’s proximity to Asia makes Sydney a playground for lovers of Southeast Asian cuisine.
Get a curry laksa — a loaded noodle soup with a spicy coconut broth (from 20 Australian dollars, or $12.60) — at Ho Jiak, a Malaysian restaurant in bustling Haymarket.’ While that may sound like a steep price to us locals to pay for a bowl of noodles, it's monumental that Malaysian-born talents continue to put our nation on the food map.
The Ho Jiak brand –– which means ‘very tasty’ in the Hokkien dialect –– can be found in three locations in Sydney –– Town Hall, Haymarket, and Strathfield as well as at Amah by Ho Jiak, a sibling venue.
This isn’t the first time that they’ve been recognised by international media; back in 2018, they were impressively chosen as TimeOut Sydney’s People’s Choice: Best Restaurant of the year. Hospitality Magazine Australia also counted them amongst the 50 Gamechangers in the industry in the year 2021.
We spoke to Head Chef and owner Junda Khoo to find out more about his restaurant, who feels “stoked and grateful” about being chosen by the New York Times and thinks that Ho Jiak has added an “awareness and appreciation for Malaysian food” to Sydney’s food scene.
The 36-year-old chef was born and raised in the Klang Valley and moved to Sydney at the age of 16, but he has roots in Penang as his parents and grandparents lived in Lebuh Ah Quee on the island.
As seems to be increasingly the norm with many people in the food industry nowadays, Khoo doesn’t have a culinary background as he attended Sydney Tech High School and finished a double degree in finance and IT at the University of Technology Sydney.
What is served at his restaurants may not be the typical Malaysian fare that locals are used to, as the chef has put his own spin on many of the dishes. The idea behind their ‘Laksa bomb’ was to make a curry mee that you can have in one bite so that customers still have space to try other dishes. Noodles, chicken, prawns, and other elements are all combined into a dumpling and served as an entrée.
He has also innovated the ‘dry yong tau foo’ with his ‘salt & pepper tofu skin dish’. Tofu skin is stuffed with red snapper fish paste as per the norm but instead of it being served with soup, it is deep-fried in a wok with salt and pepper.
Khoo said, “While most love it and understand what we are doing at Ho Jiak, we still have those saying that we are not authentic and traditional. A lot of my cooking is from taste memory. If I come across a dish that I had before in Malaysia and enjoyed, I will then try to recreate it here but using local ingredients and of course, different cooking methods.”
He continued, “I guess what I am trying to say is that I'm trying to push the boundaries of Malaysian food here. The two dishes that I just mentioned, are they truly Malaysian? No. But they have elements and flavours of Malaysia cooked by a Malaysian.”
Khoo has certainly piqued our curiosity about the taste of the dishes at Ho Jiak but unfortunately, we won’t be able to make a trip over to try out the fare for ourselves, so we spoke to Malaysian-born Navnith Singh Grewal who is now an Australian resident. He said, “It was easily the most authentic Malaysian food I've had in Australia. Their food makes me feel like I'm back home in Penang.” He had sampled ‘chilli pan mee’, ‘char koay kak’ and ‘char hor fun’ during a recent visit.
We also sought the opinion of Australian native Blade Atton who shared, “Hojiak was like Malaysia as I’ve never tasted it before. It had all the flavours I experienced while travelling in Malaysia but with a contemporary and innovative twist.”
There are also plenty of other Malaysian dishes that Khoo has yet to introduce to the menu at Ho Jiak: “I change my menu every year after travelling back home for a month. Depending on whatever dishes inspire me on my trip back, I showcase that in the next menu change for the coming year,” Khoo related. Khoo shared some of his top picks from his recent trip in July –– the ‘Duck Meat Koay Teow Th'ng’ at Lebuh Kimberley in Penang and ‘Warong Nasi Lemak Panas Warisan Sambal Opah’ in USJ.
Khoo also gave a shout-out to other fellow Malaysians in the city, Mamak and Malay Chinese Takeaway, “They were one of the first few Malaysian restaurant pioneers that started changing the Malaysian food scene in Sydney.”
Speaking on Malaysia’s recent announcement of its Michelin guide debut, Khoo said, “We have no plans to open a restaurant in Malaysia in the near future, but hopefully one day. It’s exciting to see Malaysia finally being in the Michelin guide.”
Visit Ho Jiak’s website or follow them on Instagram.
Image credit: facebook.com/hojiak.townhall