A sweet take on time-honoured recipes

The long dining table easily accommodates big groups of diners at Adu Sugar, Kuala Lumpur. - FAIHAN GHANI/The Star

When I first met Chef Adu Amran Hassan four years ago at his restaurant Adu Sugar in Kuala Lumpur, I was blown away by his paintings, wall murals, his collection of objets d’art and a cabinet he had painted. Clothes that he had designed were displayed at the front. And of course, the main attraction was his Malay home-style dishes with his inimitable touch.

Given that Bali is one of Adu’s favourite holiday destinations, no wonder his restaurant exudes a Nusantara vibe in its decor. A portrait of his father Hassan with a cockatoo perched on his shoulder hangs at the entrance. Hassan, who is half Chinese, is also known as Ah Tan Sugar, because as a child, hot sugar syrup was accidentally spilt on his chest, leaving an indelible scar. That’s how the name Adu Sugar came about.

Next to it is a painting of his mother, resembling a Balinese princess with a rooster on her shoulder. There is also one of his brother with a Milo tin on his head and another bird on the side.

These days, Adu, 53, has put aside his interest in fashion designing (and dancing) to fully concentrate on his food. Most of his family members are in the food business – his eldest brother runs a food outlet back home in Kluang, Johor, selling roti canai and bakso. Another brother has a restaurant in France and his two sisters help him there.

Adu, who did culinary studies at Stamford College Kuala Lumpur, opened his first restaurant in Langkawi when he was 23.

“Langkawi was interesting and I made lots of contacts there,” says Adu. One of them was a German who offered him a job in London at his restaurant called Bird Cage which featured fusion fare.

In 2000, Adu ventured on his own and started a restaurant in London called Champur Champur which had a similar concept to Adu Sugar.

“The food was more experimental, exotic and gimmicky, but the core of the cuisine was still Malaysian.”

Adu then landed a stint as a judge in Masterchef Malaysia from 2011 till its fifth season, and shuttled between Malaysia and Britain. He sold his restaurant in 2012 and did some consultancy work before moving back to Malaysia in 2016 for good. Adu Sugar opened its doors in 2019.

“The whole point of becoming a chef was to be able to work for myself; that’s why I started my own restaurant. I’m into a more organic way of cooking, going back to how it was done in the kampung where we produce everything from scratch,” explains Adu who is all about cooking with time-honoured family recipes. Some 50% of the dishes at Adu Sugar is vegan since he practises plant-based eating twice a week.“It’s most challenging to cook vegan Malay food. Even non-vegan diners like my Vegan Mee Bandung which is full of umami. I use miso paste (the staple of vegan food), mushrooms and seaweed for the stock, otherwise it’s usually made with dried prawns. I made a vegan sambal belacan last week and it tasted 85% like belacan!” he describes.

The intrepid chef has also started sourcing for stinky tofu and tempe “to make vegan more interesting”. His vegan dishes include Mee Bandung – his bestseller, Urab Pucuk Paku with toasted pinenuts, Okra Fried with Tamarind Chutney, Red Rice Nasi Kerabu Salad, Soto and Lontong.

Since last July, he has been producing his own XO sauce using dried scallops and oysters, dried prawns, bonito flakes, dried kurau fish and gula Melaka. He makes a batch of 1,000 bottles each time and it has become such a hit that it needs to be pre-ordered. He has customers from Singapore and even New Zealand asking for it.

“At home, we eat a lot of fish, and on rare occasions, beef which would be cooked as rendang. We don’t use belacan in our cooking as my dad doesn’t eat belacan.”

Adu has been asked to give cooking classes but he is just too busy. Instead, he uploads Tik Tok videos on Instagram, teaching people how to cook. (His first ambition was to be a teacher.) In less than four months, he garnered 150,000 followers.

“I sometimes share my cooking video before I even put the dish on the menu,” he adds.Back in London, his restaurant Champur Champur was selected as the Best Restaurant for Curry Dishes. Recently, Adu was awarded “Most Influential Celebrity Chef in Malaysia and Asean” by the Asean Food & Travel Awards 2023 last March.

Adu still paints on the side. His art was what paid the rent and staff salaries during the Covid-19 pandemic. He did 13 commissioned paintings and sold two to an Australian collector. If you’re looking for a full immersive culinary experience, step into the world of Adu Sugar to awaken all your five senses.