Sammy Wong's Kitchen

My cooking and baking style is "HUGE with healthy and a dab of decadence!" I love living a healthy lifestyle which includes exercising, eating healthy and cooking well.  I aslo enjoy eating delicious food.  I don't believe in crash diets, but I do believe in conscientious and conscious eating habits.  Some amazing food recipes are worth their weight in calories, but others can be tweaked to be healthier! Through much of my own experimentation and research, I've gleaned a multitude of "inspired" recipes and cooking hacks such as...not everything good has to be made from scratch and not everything good needs to be made with tons of butter! It is my pleasure to share my and selective guest contributors' baking or cooking recipes and findings with you all.

Michelle Sam profile

Many of my recipes are "ethnically" inspired as a result of my upbringing as a Chinese in South Africa and my travels around the world where I love to "live and eat like the locals".  After being diagnosed with pre-diabetes a few years ago, I started researching the wonders of sourdough and am on a mission to create recipes that are healthier while keeping them interesting and delicious.

Check out my recipessourdough digesttips & tricks as well as my helpful tools section.  So, tie on an apron and come join me in my kitchen!  Also,  please send me requests, questions or comments in the comment section.  I'd love to hear from you. Lastly, I would love and appreciate a follow on social media.  Thanks!



My Latest Recipes


Growing up in South Africa, Easter was a big thing.  I went to an Anglican all-girls school that took religion very seriously.  We attended chapel every morning and observed all the Christian Holidays.  We were encouraged to give up something for Lent, forty days before Easter, which made Easter extra special, because not only were we celebrating Christ's resurrection, but READ MORE

ALL PURPOSE SPICE AND HERB MIX

This all purpose spice and herb mix is the perfect base for many dishes.  Just like my universal Chinese marinade GET THE RECIPE

EASY MILK FUDGE

I grew up in an East Indian community in South Africa.  One of my favorite treats was an Indian milk GET THE RECIPE

TRIPLE TREASURE CANTONESE STEAMED EGG

When I was a pre-teen and needed to make a quick dinner for my family since my parents were working, GET THE RECIPE

SPROUTED BLACK LENTIL SOURDOUGH BREAD

In my "previous life," before the internet, I sourced ingredients for food manufacturers and bakeries. One of my clients was GET THE RECIPE

JUICY TOFU AND VEGETABLES STIR-FRY

Everyone wants to eat healthy! Although I enjoy eating animal protein occasionally, my family does eat very healthy.  I'm a GET THE RECIPE

AMAZINGLY EASY ROASTED BONE MARROW

I really like bone marrow on toast!  When I was a child, my mother used to make a soup that GET THE RECIPE

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE SOURDOUGH COOKIES

I distinctly remember the first time I had a double chocolate chip cookie.  It was at a cookie store in GET THE RECIPE

SPLIT PEA, VEGETABLE and HAM SOUP

Split pea, vegetable and ham soup is a great dish to make using Holiday leftover ham and it's such a GET THE RECIPE

SCALLOP CRUDO

There is nothing better than fresh seafood.  Eventhough I live in Southern California, the seafood is nothing like the East GET THE RECIPE

Follow me here

Prefer to watch my videos?

Subscribe to my youtube channel where I explain my recipe videos as well as share handy cooking tips and tricks that I've learned over the years which I would call "life skills"


Cooking Tips & Tricks


I love the outdoors, especially fishing.  On a recent trip to Nantucket, I had the (Read more)

How to clean and prepare squid

Many sourdough starter recipes out there are derived from professional bakers who bake multiple loaves (Read more)

Sourdough starter for the home baker

Many people think that scoring your sourdough is just for aesthetic purposes.  I used to (Read more)

Scoring your sourdough

Making GOOD and healthy sourdough bread is a labor of love.  It takes time and (Read more)

Making the bread dough

What is a starter?  What is a levain? Some recipes use the word starter and (Read more)

Maintaining the starter, making the levain

Environment It took me a while to figure out how my environment was a huge (Read more)

Understanding sourdough: adapting to the environment

Baker's percentages and hydration percentages are two math concepts that are helpful when baking bread. (Read more)

Bread Math: Baker’s Percentages

Here are some essential utensils and tools for sourdough baking.  These basic necessities that will (Read more)

Essential utensils and tools for sourdough baking

Cooked spaghetti squash sounds simple, but there are some tips for cooking perfect spaghetti squash (Read more)

Cooking perfect spaghetti squash

Need some quick meal ideas?

EASY, HEALTHY, DELICIOUS!

BARLEY, VEGETABLE and CHICKEN SOUP
SILKY CANTONESE STEAMED EGG
MAPO TOFU
SUMMER CHEF SALAD
VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLLS (with video)

About Michelle Sam

Michelle was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and has been a passionate eater since birth and cook since age 7. She later started experimenting in the kitchen, recreating and tweaking dishes she discovered on vacation and her travels to countries around the world. Michelle currently lives in Irvine, CA and manages a tech company that she founded ten years ago. When she isn't working with her engineers to write code, she can be found in her kitchen absorbed in a new project. When Michelle's two daughters moved to the East Coast, she filmed a few cooking tutorial videos to help guide her girls to make their favorite "Mom dishes" on their own. To Michelle's dismay, it appeared that thousands of anonymous viewers enjoyed her tutorial videos...but not her daughters! They would still call her for instructions. Michelle also started The OC Supper Club, a group of foodies that get together for member-lead cooking class meals, potluck competitions, and tastings through the many hidden culinary gems of Orange County.


Update:  I recently posted a very silly video that has nothing to do with cooking.  My girls apparently watch it almost every day!

Get the latest scoop!

Never miss another new recipe or tip & trick.  

Get the latest tips & tricks!

Subscibe to my Youtube Channel