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How do our food experts cook and eat? David's Deliciously Dangerous Char Siu's namesake, Chef David, takes our Q&A.

First dish you’ve ever made?
Frog porridge with a stolen bird’s egg when I was 14, as a boy scout. We had to survive two nights in the jungle given only some ration of rice and two cans of sardines. It was one of the best meals of my life and I still talk about it today.

Your cooking ritual?
When I cook, I visualize the final product of the dish and 90% of the time it turns out the way I imagined it to be. My wife jokes that I’m the reason for her poor cooking skills!

Your favourite odd food pairing?
Durian with jasmine rice and a little salt.

Your #1 guilty pleasure?
Artisan coffee from all over the world with a guilty rich dessert!

What’s one thing you didn’t understand about the Sri Lankan food culture when you first came here?
I was actually pleasantly surprised that Sri Lankan cuisine and cooking has many similarities with Malaysian cuisine. When I am in Sri Lanka, I would eat everything local. For me, the best is home-cooked food in Sri Lanka and especially when the food is cooked from a kitchen that still uses wood!

The most exotic food you’ve eaten?

Balut in Manila which is a fertilized developing egg embryo that is boiled and eaten from the shell. It’s an experience of a lifetime.

A dish you’d eat but not cook?
Roti Canai in Malaysia, also known as Paratha roti in Sri Lanka.

Your favourite childhood meal?
Nasi lemak which is fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaves served with local sambol, boiled egg, meat or fish dishes with fresh cucumbers. I grew up in Taiping, Malaysia and this was a dish created in the early days for farmers to have a full hearty meal for breakfast to keep them going the whole day. I’m happy to be debuting this Nasi Lemak in the DDD menu soon!

Your proudest food invention?
DDD Char Siu. I adapted my recipe to the traditional cooking methods of char siu and concocted a winning recipe and cooking process to make it my own!

Pick a cuisine to eat for the rest of your life?
Peranakan cuisine. Peranakan cuisine comes from the Peranakans, who are descendants of early Chinese migrants who settled in the cities of Penang and Malacca, Malaysia. The inter-marriage of these cultures with the local Malays is reflected in the unique and delicious cuisine and combines Chinese, Malay, Javanese and other influences.

Easiest meal to impress someone?
DDD char siu ;)

An underrated ingredient?
Coconut, especially coconut oil which adds amazing flavour to dishes and contains numerous health benefits. Sri Lanka produces some of the finest coconut products and it’s great to see that Sri Lankan produce is gaining the well-deserved international popularity and recognition.

Your favourite Sri Lankan food?
Egg hopper with coconut sambol. My first Sri Lanka food I ate was spicy Fish Cutlets. I crave for both of these dishes daily during my first week in Sri Lanka.

Your last day on earth, where are you and what are you eating?
I’m in Taiping, the town I grew up in, having my favourite street food of “popiah” and “cendol”.