Lim Bian Yam & Y3K issue no.5

LIM BIAN YAM

Culinary Expert

Master of Chefs

Y3K Recipes issue no. 5 (March 2002)

He has dedicated his entire life to his two passions, namely cooking and flower arrangement. He is highly accomplished in both fields. This master has trained several chefs and culinary experts. Amongst them is the renowned Home Economist, Florence Tan. She is a celebrity chef, who needs no further introduction. Some of his students have been taking lessons from him for the last 20 years. Meanwhile others have made good achievements in the gastronomic world.

Lim Bian Yam was born in 1933, to a Penang Baba family. At 69, he has been in the culinary field for more than 40 years. His early years was spent in Penang’s Muntri Street, near the famous Kuan Yin Temple. His grandfather, a miner, lived in an old prewar shophouse with a huge kitchen. The fairly wealthy family hired a cook, Ah Heng Pek (Uncle Ah Heng) to prepare the family’s daily menu. Ah Heng Pek used to carry Lim Bian Yam with one hand while cooking with the other. This was how his cooking passion developed.

Lim Bian Yam’s mother was another great influential factor whereby she encouraged him to pursue his interest; an uncommon activity for boys then. As a teenager, he was responsible for the household marketing errands and daily menu planning. His aunties were good cooks too, coaching him various traditional cooking methods.

Without exact measurements, his aunties usually rely on the "agak-agak" method. But Lim Bian Yam wrote down the very first family recipes with precise measurements. Later, he started to collect and experiment different signature dishes of his elders. However through trials and errors, he managed to compile most of the wonderful recipes.

Surprisingly as a formal student of Cordon Bleu school in London, he worked as a draughtsman in Penang Town Council. Then he decided to expand his knowledge on flower arrangment, which he has attained great recognition.

As he currently anchors in Kuala Lumpur, he considers cooking only as a leisurely interest. It gives him great satisfaction to see his students enjoying cooking. His creativeness had lead him to the creation of "Fusion Cooking".

I still remembered my initial visit to Master Lim’s home two decades ago in Penang. The wooden house was designed elegantly, surrounded by bamboo plants. Traditionally, bamboo resembles good morality. In the same way, it reflected on Master Lim’s low profile lifestyle, as he was involved in many charity acts.

Last year I tried looking him up at the same place, but was met great disappointment. Later, I found out that he had shifted to Kuala Lumpur. Finally I managed to encounter him again at his cooking school in Taman Seputeh.

The low profile master finally agreed to be interviewed and thus contributed a few recipes to our Y3K Recipes’ readers. Hereby, we would like to express our gratitude for his kindness shown.

To all those who are interested in cookery or flower arrangement lessons, kindly contact
Mr. Lim Bian Yam or Mr. Vincent Chee:
Tel/Fax: 03-2274 1571