PETALING JAYA: While the Covid-19 pandemic has forced everyone to retreat into the safety of their homes and kitchens, no amount of food delivery in plastic containers or brown paper bags can emulate the same feeling or taste of dining at a fancy restaurant.
Such was the predicament of Lua Bo Feng and his wife Irene Wong, who found themselves craving for their usual restaurant-type dishes during the lockdown.
With their events business in limbo due to the pandemic and nothing but time to kill at home, they attempted to replicate their favourite restaurant meals.
Irene had been toying with the idea of setting up a meal kit delivery service for a while now and discussed it with Lua.
After putting their heads together, they cooked up Jom Masak, a meal kit delivery service offering Malaysians a chance to whip up restaurant-quality meals at home.
They began marketing Jom Masak to the world in May and shipped off their first-ever meal kit a month later.
“Replicating the taste and exotic flavours of the dishes and making them scalable were the difficult parts. This is why even after five months, we only have five dishes,” explained Lua.
What differentiates Jom Masak’s meal kits from others currently in the market is that they offer a variety of international cuisines.
Jom Masak’s menu at the moment includes Korean Kimchi-jjigae, Italian risotto, Spanish paella, Hyderabadi biryani and Arabian Chicken Mandi.
This way, you’ll find yourself ‘travelling’ the world without having to leave your kitchen at all!
“These dishes are ingredient-specific and require a certain level of expertise, but we are offering the convenience of sourcing the most difficult ingredients for you,” said Lua.
Lua also said that ordering meal kits will help reduce food wastage by removing the risk of overbuying ingredients.
“When we have cravings for a specific dish, we go out and purchase the ingredients which often come in huge quantities when you’re just going to use a few spoonfuls. This is where Jom Masak comes in. Plus, you can feel like a hero in the kitchen!”
It wasn’t easy researching and developing the recipes, confessed Lua. To replicate the smoky flavours of Arabian Chicken Mandi, this home chef literally tasted and analysed each spice to understand what goes into making this dish so mouthwatering.
And the biryani? That took Lua an entire month to perfect what Indian mothers would agree is the perfect biryani.
Customers can expect nothing but great flavours as Lua constantly puts the kits through a taste test to ensure consistency and repeatability.
As far as personal favourites go, Lua says its got to be the paella. This is a preference he shares with his customers, as he says that “99% of them have purchased one box of the paella at the very least.”
Those who are kitchen-shy but still dare to get their aprons dirty can start with Jom Masak’s Kimchi-jjigae, which is a rather easy dish to whip up.
Once that’s been mastered, gradually turn up the difficulty with the risotto, paella and biryani before attempting the Arabian Chicken Mandi, which is the most challenging to put together.
“Business was good from June to August. It took a slight dip after, but since the Conditional Movement Control Order was enforced, our kits have been flying off the shelves.
“We deliver about 30 to 40 boxes each time now,” said Lua, who recently found himself packing the kits daily to the point where they ran out of boxes.
At the moment, the dynamic duo is cooking up another dish to add to Jom Masak’s colourful repertoire – Kelantanese Nasi Dagang.
Lua even went to the extent of travelling to Kelantan himself when the lockdown was lifted in pursuit of authentic ingredients to recreate the beloved dish with.
“I’ve attempted to replicate the dish at least seven times. So far, none of my attempts tasted anything like what I had in Kelantan, but I’ll keep trying!” he laughs.
Jom Masak delivers throughout Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak. In fact, Jom Masak has quite an established fanbase in Sarawak already, with one customer snapping up nine kits at one go.
This delivery range is made possible because the perishables are vacuum-packed so they can last in cold environments for a week and a half.
So, Sabahans and Sarawakians waiting to unleash their inner culinary skills at home with Jom Masak can do so now.
Postage fees are waived if three or more kits are purchased.
If you’d like more information, check out Jom Masak’s Facebook page here or contact Lua or Irene at 012-6326606 / 016-8895696.
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