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A mouthwatering and uplifting debut about legacy, tradition, and striking out on your own, set in family-run restaurants between Malaysia and Hong Kong

Every morning before sunrise, Lim Ah Hock opens the shutters of his small kitchen on Carpenter Street, lights an incense stick and prepares the best laksa soup in all of Kuching. According to Lim family legend, the laksa’s secret ingredient – their ancestral broth – was gifted to them by a deity, who promised the family prosperity as long as the broth is passed down through the generations.

But Ah Hock is aging, and the broth’s quality is fading. His only son, Wei Ming, has no interest in the family business, having spent eight years in Hong Kong trying to prove himself as a chef. Now, he's struggling with gambling debts, embroiled in a love triangle, and the restaurant he's been left to run has lost its Global Restaurants Guild star.

Invited home to Malaysia for his father's 60th birthday, Wei Ming sees a chance to escape his troubles. But when old conflicts resurface and a local businessman threatens to destroy the family legacy, father and son are forced to ask themselves what truly matters.

‘Deeply comforting and nourishing' Samuel Burr, author of The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers

© Janet Tay 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026