61: Modernizing heritage food to remind us of our roots | Marcus Leow, head of product development at Naked Finn

Marcus Leow: “If there ever is a lao po bing (wife biscuit) in a more modern flavour, I honestly don’t think that’s bastardizing a recipe. I would say that that’s a way of keeping up with times and moving forward, but at the same time, reminding us of our roots… Like with kueh, you have so many flavours nowadays but the ones that get sold out are the traditional flavours – like regular kueh salat but done very well. Even for ang ku kueh or bingkah ubi, the original flavours are still the best. So even though there is a lot of modernizing of flavours, as long as it is part of the conversation, we are still going on the right track.” Marcus Leow, head of product development at Naked Finn, shares about his Peranakan heritage, plus: *Kueh-making vs pastry* *Using vegetables in kueh* *The journey towards embracing his heritage* *Buah keluak and belimbing* *Applying techniques to keep heritage dishes and snacks alive* *Learning about new heritage ingredients* *His hopes for Singaporean food* *Favourite eats in Singapore* Singapore Noodles: http://sgpnoodles.com/ @sgpnoodlesSingapore Noodles newsletter: http://sgpnoodles.substack.com/