Yes, Chef! Shalu Asnani of Vegetarian Cooking Studio Little Green Kitchen

Asia is one food-crazy continent! We take great care to pick restaurants based on culinary vibes, rankings on international gourmand guides, mentions in magazines, Instagrammability, and added hunger. Yes, Chef! features the region’s chefs’ stories of love and labour in kitchens that have made some of our restaurants the next big thing in Asia.

Chef Shalu Asnani of food consultancy and vegetarian cooking studio Little Green Kitchen finds herself in an interesting position in Singapore's plant-based scene. "Conventional" is not a word you would associate with the chef; she is a former lawyer who uprooted herself from the legal profession to find herself in the pursuit of professional cooking and vegetarian cuisine.

Shalu's entry into plant-based cuisine began at The Hutong culinary school in Beijing, where she attended vegetarian cooking classes. It was this experience that compelled her to eventually put up the Little Green Kitchen in Singapore in 2011.

While her first few years as a chef weren't a walk in the park, chef Shalu has since gone on to establish herself as one of the foremost vegetarian chefs in the city-state. She attained a Diploma in Vegetarian Cuisine from the prestigious Cordon Vert in the United Kingdom in 2012, a Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate at the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies in 2018, and has been awarded a Certificate of Excellence and the Traveller's Choice Award by TripAdvisor in 2017 and 2020, respectively.

Chef Shalu has also worked with celebrity chef Bobby Chinn and had the opportunity to cook food for the leading English primatologist and anthropologist Dr. Jane Goodall.

Recently, The Beat Asia had the chance to catch up with chef Shalu to talk about her early beginnings, the thriving vegetarian food scene in Singapore, what a perfect meal for her is, and her dreams for Little Green Kitchen.

First off, what compelled you to make the jump from being a lawyer to a chef?

I did not make that decision consciously. I moved to Beijing with my husband’s job and could not find a decent job practicing law due to language barriers, so I explored alternative careers and kind of fell into being a chef!

How would you describe your early years of being a chef?

As with many new careers, it was a real struggle to find meaningful work and convince people that vegetarian food tasted good!

What made you focus on vegetarian cuisine specifically?

I’ve been vegetarian since age 13, it’s what I know best. It’s what I’ve been cooking and experimenting with from a young age, so it was the obvious option for me.

Please share with us what a typical day for you looks like, from the moment you wake up to getting things rolling at the Little Green Kitchen!

It really depends on the schedule. If I have a class to teach, then I start prep in the kitchen straight away. Otherwise, I take time out to do a quick workout then settle into my desk and start working on research and recipe development for various projects.

How far would you say you've gone since you started Little Green Kitchen in 2011? In hindsight, what things would you have done differently?

I would say I’ve come a long way. I got my diploma in vegetarian cuisine from Cordon Vert and a plant-based nutrition certificate from e-cornell. I’ve worked with many restaurants on menu development, done a successful pop-up dinner, [and] a stint at Club Med, so it has been pretty interesting.

How would you describe the vegetarian food scene in Singapore, and what do you think is Little Green Kitchen's role in this thriving landscape?

I think it’s definitely becoming increasingly popular as people now realise that plant-based cuisine can be extremely delicious and exciting and worthy of a fine dining experience. I am constantly experimenting with ingredients and recipes so that I can be at the forefront of this exciting movement.

Describe your creative process in thinking up a new recipe or jazzing up an old one. What do you consider first?

If [it’s] for a client, then it totally depends on the brief. I work around their requirements and restrictions to create a dish they are happy with and can replicate easily. At home, I am constantly re-creating old recipes by just working with leftover ingredients!

What's a philosophy you follow when it comes to the vegetarian recipes you create? In cooking for nourishment and pleasure?

I create recipes that are tasty but also highly nutritious. Eating clean and healthy is very important for me.

There seems to be this notion that vegetarian cuisine can be bland and dull. How do you keep things interesting in the kitchen and strike a balance between innovation, authenticity, and tradition?

I think the food should speak for itself. It will not taste bland if it’s well-seasoned and made with quality ingredients. I use plenty of herbs and spices in my cooking to make it flavourful.

What's one vegetarian dish you'd whip up and serve to a non-vegetarian foodie? Why this one in particular?

My cauliflower buffalo wings. I’ve been told it’s better than the real thing!

Describe the perfect meal for you and why?

A vegan spicy ramen with homemade broth and lots of veggies and tofu. I love anything hot and spicy with a flavourful base.

How would you describe yourself as a chef and a cooking instructor? How do you want your students to remember you?

I would like my students to remember me as a chef who cooks with passion and from the heart. I love what I do and want to teach people the joys of cooking and eating healthy.

Where do you see Little Green Kitchen in the next five or 10 years? What activities and milestones do you want to witness for your brainchild?

I hope to have a small restaurant or café serving my cuisine.

A 'Proustian moment' happens when a certain taste or scent arouses or awakens a vivid, involuntary memory from one's past. To the French novelist Marcel Proust, it was the madeleine cake. What is a scent, dish, or taste that invokes a vivid and special memory from your childhood? What makes this memory so meaningful to you?

Home-cooked Indian curries. It’s what I grew up eating almost every day and everything at home was cooked from scratch by my grandmother.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

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