MasterChef star Poh Ling Yeow reveals her family’s cultural heritage

She’s the Malaysian-born cook who is a fan-favourite on MasterChef Australia. 

And on Tuesday, Poh Ling Yeow revealed her family’s cultural heritage, as she ate her mother’s traditional dumplings. 

The 47-year-old shared pictures to Instagram of her dish, before revealing her background. 

‘Dinner at Mum’s was incredibly delicious taro dumplings of the Dai Bo Hak Hakka clan – not the best looking dish, in fact, a bit like a bird’s eye view of pair of dugongs floating in kelp,’ Poh’s post began.

‘Mum’s side of the family is Hakka but from the Fui Jieu clan. My Tai Koo Poh (Great grand Aunty) first learnt this dish from my Grandma’s seamstress,’ she said.  

Poh said the dish is stuffed with pork and shrimp and served with a chili and garlic sauce. 

Poh, who is a fifth-generation Chinese Malaysian, said that the dish brings back fond memories of growing up in Malaysia, before she migrated to Australia as a nine-year-old with her family. 

‘It brings back the deepest childhood memories of Malaysia, having a go at making these as a wee five-year-old with my Tai and Sai Koo Poh (oldest and youngest great grand aunties) and marvelling at the flavour of Chinese celery for the first time,’ Poh said. 

Poh previously spoke about wanting to reconnect to her culture, after moving to Australia as a child and going by the name of Sharon and trying to fit in.

‘I did such a great job of shedding everything that made me feel different that in my early thirties I had nothing,’ Poh told Business Insider Australia back in 2014, before saying she ‘got a little bit scared’.  

‘I thought if I have children I have nothing of my heritage to pass on to them and so I thought I really need to reconnect with my culture,’ Poh said. 

‘And food is such a natural fit for me, I love cooking, I’m just so driven with food.’