• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
GO TO EXPAT LIVING SINGAPORE
GET OUR NEWSLETTER

Expat Living Hong Kong HomepageExpat Living Hong Kong

Moving to Hong Kong and not sure where to start? Expat Living is the essential lifestyle guide to living in Hong Kong.

Menu
  • Living In Hong Kong
      • Living Here
      • Where To Live
      • Schools
      • For Guys
        • Traditional festivals in Hong Kong - Dragon Boat FestivalTraditional Festivals & Events in HK
        • 5 Reasons to Use a VPN in HK
        • South Lantau - moving to Hong KongGuide to Pui O Village, South Lantau
        • Money - for article on financial habits and wealth management5 Steps for setting realistic financial goals
      • View all
    Close
  • Things To Do
      • Things To Do
      • What’s On/Calendar
      • Competitions & Offers
        • Top beaches in Hong Kong - Stanley BeachTop 35 Best Things To Do In Hong Kong This Weekend
        • Traditional festivals in Hong Kong - Dragon Boat FestivalTraditional Festivals & Events in HK
        • Public swimming pools in Hong Kong - Tung ChungBest public pools for families
        • What to watch this month – Netflix & more!
      • View all
    Close
  • Kids
      • Activities & Things To Do
      • Education & Enrichment
      • Health & Wellness
      • Mums & Babies
      • Podcasts
        • Filling the learning gap in the COVID recovery
        • Cambridge education at CDNIS - Students on the summer learning programmeGet a Taste of a Cambridge Education in HK!
        • Bottle-feeding a baby - when is the right time to introduce a bottle?“When can I give a bottle to my baby?”
        • Public swimming pools in Hong Kong - Tung ChungBest public pools for families
      • View all
    Close
  • Homes
      • Home Décor
      • Readers Homes
        • Children's books author Bhakti Mathur in hr home on the Peak Hong KongA writer’s retreat on The Peak
        • Asian furniture and home décor - Altfield swirl vases7 must-have Asian classic pieces
        • Causeway Bay apartment home makeover - Christina Standaloft and partnerSpace-savvy Causeway Bay home makeover
        • Home furniture and décor in Hong Kong - Altfield InteriorsHome news: décor, furniture & more!
      • View all
    Close
  • Travel
      • Short Breaks
      • Further Afield
      • Travel News & Offers
        • South Lantau - moving to Hong KongGuide to Pui O Village, South Lantau
        • Mount KinabuluClimbing Mount Kinabalu in Sabah
        • Top beaches in Hong Kong - Stanley BeachTop beaches in Hong Kong
        • Considering moving to Singapore for your next expat post?
      • View all
    Close
  • Wine & Dine
      • Recipes & Groceries
      • Bars & Restaurants
        • Harbourside Grill5 Dining discoveries in Hong Kong
        • Salted Vanilla Caramel Ice Cream Balls Recipe
        • Baan Thai restaurant in Hong Kong, Thai foodTaste Test: Thai food in Hong Kong
        • Hong Kong People: Meet Amy Elkhoury
      • View all
    Close
  • Style & Beauty
      • Fashion
      • Hair & Beauty
        • Best foundationsFab foundations for hot climates
        • Tried and Tested: Lip glosses and lip liners
        • Teenager having a facialWhen is it time for your first facial?
        • Stretch mark treatmentHow to get rid of stretch marks
      • View all
    Close
  • Health & Fitness
      • Medical & Dental
      • Fitness
      • Wellness
        • Menstrual cupsHave you considered a menstrual cup?
        • 6 stages of life where family medicine matters
        • pregnancy - for web article on common problems in pregnancy and how to relieve symptoms10 common problems in pregnancy & how to help
        • Cup of tea - Tips for taking care of yourself from MindnLifeAre you taking care of yourself?
      • View all
    Close
  • Shop
      • Magazine
      • Advertise With Us
        • March-May2022
        • March-May2022
        • March-May 2022 Issue – $36 (Free Shipping)
        • SALE! ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION PRINT & DIGITAL BUNDLE – $128 (USUAL $192.00)
      • View all
    Close

A Helping Hand: bilingual cookbook for domestic helpers

11 April, 2018 by Expat Living 3 Min Read

https://expatliving.hk/domestic-helpers-cookbook-helping-hand/

With the aim of seeing domestic helpers flourish at cooking Western food, Rowena Michaels has published A Helping Hand, the first cookbook in both English and Tagalog. A freelance writer and columnist with her own award-winning lifestyle blog, changmoh.com, this is Rowena’s first foray into publishing.

Rowena Michaels saw a need for a cookbook for domestic helpers
Rowena Michaels saw a need for a cookbook for domestic helpers

A Helping Hand is a useful hardback title packed full of tasty Western and Asian recipes in English, complete with a step-by-step Tagalog translation; the benefit for families who employ Filipino domestic help in places like Hong Kong and Singapore is obvious. According to Rowena, putting the book together has been a “crazy, eye-opening experience”.

Where did you get inspiration for this wonderful book? I speak French at a pretty proficient level, and a few years ago I was trying to cook from Cuisine du Monde while on holiday in France; there was a copy lying around in the house we had rented. It was extremely difficult to follow, and I found myself getting stuck with the cooking terminology. It came to me in a sudden flash how difficult it must sometimes be for our helpers to decipher cooking phrases such as “beat”, “blind bake”, “bind” and “blanch”, which, let’s face it, are neither helpful nor descriptive – even for native English speakers!

What did you hope to achieve? A lot of people living in Asia are fortunate enough to be looked after by hardworking helpers who can generally turn their hand to anything, be it childcare, cooking or cleaning. What I’ve written in the Tagalog introduction (which sits opposite the English one and which is aimed at helpers) is that I hope that this book becomes their friend, saves them time and helps to turn cooking into a creative and enjoyable process – not something tinged with confusion and potential misunderstanding. I believe that food cooked with care and confidence tastes so much better, too!

The recipes are presented in English and Tagalog for domestic helpers to use
The recipes are presented in English and Tagalog for domestic helpers to use

What can we expect inside the cookbook? I hope that A Helping Hand will help to promote household harmony and will be enjoyed by people from all walks of life, whether they’re busy working mums, expats, families who are familiar with Western classics, or perhaps families who want to know more about British cooking, from chicken pie to the perfect sponge cake. I do, of course, have some Asian dishes in there too – for example, there’s a cheat recipe for Mama’s Mee Goreng, which comes from my husband’s Nyonya (Straits-born Chinese) grandmother’s own handwritten cookbook that dates back to 1942! Lastly, I make a donation from each and every sale to HOME, the wonderful charity dedicated to upholding the rights of migrant workers in Singapore.

What has the authorial process and entrepreneurial experience taught you? That producing a book takes a lot of research, commitment, patience and time. I call this my third child! If you have an idea that no one else seems to have thought of and you spot that elusive gap in the market – go for it!

A Helping Hand cookbook is aimed at domestic helpers cook Western food
A Helping Hand cookbook is aimed at domestic helpers cook Western food

A Helping Hand: Delicious Recipes in English & Tagalog is available to purchase from blondemedia.asia (US$39).

This article first appeared in the Feb/Mar edition of Expat Living magazine. Subscribe to our regular newsletter to stay in the loop!

Love food? Check out our Wine & Dine section.

Categories: Recipes & Groceries Wine & Dine Tags: A Helping Hand Cookbooks Domestic Helper Recipes

Get the latest events, stories and special offers
sent to your inbox.

By signing up, you'll receive our bimonthly newsletters and offers, which you can unsubscribe to anytime.

You May Also Like

Crispy Crusty Apple Pie Recipe

Recipe: Crispy Crusty Apple Pie

Bamboo sticks at Dockyard food hall in Hong Kong

Taste Test: Fab Food Hall Finds!

Hong Kong People: Meet Amy Elkhoury

Primary Sidebar

  • COMPETITIONS & OFFERS
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Subscribe

© 2022 Expat Living Hong Kong, All Rights Reserved.