Celebrity chef Adam Liaw on his Malaysian culinary roots

On the show, Liaw and Poh try all sorts of both traditional and contemporary Aussie fare like meat pies, spaghetti Bolognese and even sandwiches. — GREAT AUSTRALIAN BITES

On a muggy Monday morning, Adam Liaw’s appearance at the Mandarin Oriental in Kuala Lumpur doesn’t attract too much attention. A couple of stragglers do a double-take, some curious bystanders stare for a couple of minutes but beyond that, few people seem to realise that they are in the presence of one of Australia’s biggest culinary stars.

In Australia, this scenario would probably have played out differently because over there, Liaw is a megastar in his own right and for good reason: the Malaysian-born Australian lawyer competed in and won the second season of MasterChef Australia in 2010 in a finale that is still the most-watched non-sporting television event in Australian history.