What I Cook When Nobody's Watching: Recipes & Musings for a Simple Life

by Poh Ling Yeow

Poh Ling Yeow believes that the simpler we eat, the happier we are, and in this book she shares all the things she cooks when nobody's watching.

Reconnect with the simple pleasure of cooking for yourself and others with proper quickies, nourishing bowl food, comfort combos and crowd-pleasing feasts that take everyday ingredients to new and delicious places. Poh also shares hard-won wisdom, musings on the garden and cheeky household tips.

What I Cook When Nobody's Watching is a celebration of good, honest food and will help you find beauty and ritual in the everyday.

Features metric measures with conversion chart.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Cooking

288 pages, Paperback

Published May 2, 2023

Reviews

[Deepashankari · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first cookbook that I’ve read cover to cover in a sitting because IT WAS THAT GOOD! Brilliant recipes that makes a beginner feel excited and somewhat confident in trying new recipes and techniques. As a huge fan of Poh and her limitless vibrant energy, I loved this book and her musings. Book was beautifully illustrated and filled with photos that reminded me of my mum’s kitchen back home.

[Ming Suan Ong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful little book with gorgeous illustrations throughout and some interesting recipes. I find that her recipes are interesting and written simply but don’t always work for me (and I’m not a novice cook or baker). I tried the sweet potato and kale curry (good), anchovy and courgette pasta (nice), chai (nice but not spicy enough for me), sweet pork buns (disaster - her recipe for the buns is so simple and didn’t work for me as it didn’t say what the texture of the dough should be and mixing for 2 minutes definitely isn’t enough time), pandan Swiss roll (again a fail - the cake was so sticky it was coming off in clumps when I tried to slice it). For someone who appears such a perfectionist on master chef her books are not written that way. I’ve had problems using her 100 bakes book too - but they are good looking books and other people seem to have better luck with her recipes.

[Opal Edgar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book to read, that's all about looking after yourself both by suggesting quick recipes that let you feed yourself well without stress or a lot of things, and by offering meditative recipes that you can turn into an afternoon activity to zone out, or chat with family/friends.
It's full of little quirky tips and everyday hacks too.
Tasty, pretty, fun. A fantastic gift to make.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book from Poh. I liked that recipes have GF, DF, V etc at the bottom so I know what I can eat and what can be adapted with small changes. There is also some great advice in here as well. Love the drawings and photos of Rhino and Tim (the dogs).

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a true reflection of Poh’s personality.
The photographs are just stunning, the illustrations are super cute especially the ones of her dogs.
LOVED the colourful displays of the home as well as the bits and piece’s of helpful tips.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book on cooking, with (short) stories as part of each recipe. The recipes are the core of this book, but the other information adds context. There are many wonderful and amazing recipes, and several I am looking forward to trying.