Khir Johari is the author of the multi-award-winning book The Food of Singapore Malays: Gastronomic Travels Through the Archipelago. His seminal work explores the cultural anthropology of Malay food and showcases its role in shaping Singapore’s Malay culture. The title is the result of 11 years of painstaking research, drawing on material that dates back as far as the 7th-century Srivijaya Empire. The book is richly detailed, combining historical anecdotes and information with captivating photography. Since its release, the book has won numerous awards, including the internationally coveted Best of the Best in Food Culture at the 2025 Gourmand World Food Awards. Following this success, Khir founded Dialogues by Khir Johari, a platform dedicated to exploring the Nusantara’s (maritime Southeast Asia) food, culture, and history through events and online discussions. Its inaugural event, Serumpun: Tasting Tradition, Telling Tales held in 2024 now returns for its third edition. The day-long symposium features talks, panel discussions, and restaurant collaborations.
Khir’s journey toward becoming a respected figure in promoting the Nusantara’s culinary culture began in his childhood. Born and raised in Kampong Gelam, he grew up in the historic Gedung Kuning (Yellow Mansion) — once an annex of the Sultan of Singapore’s royal palace. It was in this sprawling home, housing a four-generation household, where his earliest food memories were shaped. Both celebratory and everyday dishes were prepared in the house’s four kitchens, under the watchful eye of his great-grandmother. His mother, an accomplished cookery teacher, also taught him how to cook.
Khir’s interest in his cultural identity deepened in 1994 when he left Singapore for university in California. Reflecting on his roots from afar, he longed to read in Malay, taste the food of home, and reconnect with his heritage. In California’s libraries and bookstores, he discovered a wealth of books on Southeast Asia, offering valuable insights into the Malay Archipelago’s culinary culture. After seven years teaching mathematics in California, he returned to Singapore in 2007 and joined the Singapore Heritage Society, eventually serving as its Vice President from 2015 to 2017. There, he applied years of research to cultural preservation efforts which affirmed the idea for The Food of Singapore Malays.
For the next decade, Khir delved into researching and documenting the history of Singapore’s Malay community. Along the way, he amassed a unique Southeast Asian collection of artworks, rare books, artefacts, food anthropology items, and music recordings. “I was pretty much on my own,” he says. “With information so scattered, you have to be not just a historian, but a botanist, zoologist, and anthropologist to connect the dots.”
Today, Khir’s work continues beyond his book as he shares his field notes through Dialogues by Khir Johari, a cultural initiative where events and social media posts work together to foster discussions on the Nusantara’s food, culture, and history. Now in its third year, Serumpun: Tasting Tradition, Telling Tales continues as a day-long symposium bringing chefs, thinkers and makers from across the region. Through talks and panel discussions, it deepens ongoing conversations about food, memory, and identity across the Nusantara. “My hope is that we continue the important work of preserving and celebrating our rich culinary heritage,” says Khir. “Our shared cultural roots are an essential starting point for understanding how food connects us across generations and borders.”
Awards for The Food of Singapore Malays: Gastronomic Travels Through the Archipelago
1. Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2025 – Best of All across Gourmand’s history
2. Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2025 (30th anniversary) - Best of the Best in Food Culture
3. National University of Singapore (NUS) Singapore History Prize 2024 - Winner
4. Alan Chan Spirit of Singapore Book Prize 2024 – Merit Award
5. Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2023:
● Best Book of the Last 25 Years
● Best of the Best in the World
● Best Asian Cuisine
● Best Culinary History
● Best Book of the Year (Singapore)
6. Asian Print Awards 2023 (Markono) - Best in Offset & Best Book Printing.
7. Singapore Book Awards 2022:
● Book of the Year
● Best Illustrated Non-Fiction Book
8. Wardah Books of the Year 2021
The Food of Singapore Malays- This is not a cookbook. It is the unwritten story of a people. Between the vast Indian and Pacific oceans lies a realm of extraordinary natural abundance: the Malay Archipelago, known widely as the Nusantara. These islands of Southeast Asia have nourished the lives of indigenous Malays throughout the centuries and nurtured the diverse peoples that have set foot on their shores. Today, the Malays make up less than a fifth of the population in Singapore, a city with ancient ties to the Malay world.
This book explores their food, not just as a means of sustenance but as a cultural activity. Inheriting the Nusantara’s rich flavours, Singapore Malays have a grand culinary heritage reflecting their worldviews, social values and historical interactions with other cultures. Through close examination of their daily objects, customs, art and literature, these pages reveal how the food Malays enjoy is deeply embedded in different aspects of their identity. Following the broad sweep of Malay cuisine’s evolution – from the 7th-century kingdom of Srivijaya to the 21st-century emporium of cosmopolitan Singapore – this book traces the continuity and dynamism of a shared cultural consciousness.
Sumptuously served with stunning photographs, delicious recipes and diligent research, this is essential reading for anyone – gourmets and amateurs alike – hungry for a deeper understanding of the relationship between people and their food.
