Christina Arokiasamy is a cookbook author and cooking instructor based in Kent. She grew up in Malaysia with a mother who was a spice merchant. And, for years, she worked at top–notch restaurant in South East Asia. She knows how to cook. But, fifteen years ago, she came to Seattle for the first time and ran into something totally foreign. Christina talks with KUOW's Megan Sukys about her encounter with a salmon.

Christina Arokiasamy, the Malaysia-born author of the 2008 cookbook ‘The Spice Merchant’s Daughter’, guides you through her region’s cooking in her classes near Seattle. $60, spicemerchantsdaughter.com.

Christina Arokiasamy has been blending spices and flavors since childhood. Her senses are finely tuned to it, the way a musician has an ear for a melody.

Malay cooking instructor Christina Arokiasamy shares tips for combining spices and recipes that feature her favorite blends.

With more people cooking these days, Seattle's spice shops are seeing a spike in business. Local spice girl, Christina Arokiasamy sniffs out her favorites.

With her American best-selling cookbook under one arm and a mission to share her personal knowledge of all things spicy with the masses, we caught up with seasoned spice specialist Christina Arokiasamy at Ary's Warung for the Indonesian launch of 'The Spice Merchant's Daughter'.

This elegant little book is for those of us who hunger for dishes that explode onto the palate. The first time I tried one of these recipes, I was tasting things in places I didn't even know had taste buds.

Christina Arokiasamy, author of The Spice Merchant's Daughter: Recipes and Simple Spice Blends for the American Kitchen, writes of the influence her parents and grandparents have on her cooking today.

This volume, a recent release (after 2.5 years of effort), is as succulent as the food shown inside. Laid out around key pantry items for Malaysian, Indonesian and Thai dishes, Christina (can I call you Christina?) includes beautiful pictures that will have you drooling! So wear a bib when reading the recipes.

The spice merchant's daughter will not open a restaurant. It's almost a shame. Her cooking bursts with such brilliant flavors, it would rank among the city's most thrilling places to eat.

The recipes in this book are truly tantalizing to read but are not itimidating to try, written purposely to include ingredients that can easily be found in North American grocery or Asian stores. What I really like about this cookbook are the first few chapters that outline all the main ingredients you'll need, along with very useful tips on how long they can be stored and what to look for when buying them.

Arokiasamy grew up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where her mother had a spice stall in the busy local market. She began her culinary career as a chef in various hotels in Southeast Asia, but she later became a cooking teacher, and she is now the owner of the Spice Merchant's Cooking School in Seattle. In her first book, she shares her knowledge ("Spices were in my blood," she writes) and offers mouthwatering recipes influenced by her Southeast Asian background and training. She provides a good introduction to the spices and other essential pantry items, followed by a chapter on make-ahead spice rubs, pastes, and other seasonings. Most of the 100 recipes are easy and approachable, and Arokiasamy's food memories and reminiscences are a pleasure to read. Highly recommended.

The last time I spent so many hours shopping for ingredients was cooking from Morimoto's book, so I wasn't sure at first how Christina Arokiasamy could think her recipes were simple. Simple in the same way that Morimoto thought slicing paper-thin sushi was simple, as in, simple for a highly trained professional? As it turned out, though, she was reasonably correct.

As a schoolgirl, Christina Arokiasamy could always smell her house before she could see it. In "THE SPICE MERCHANT’S DAUGHTER: Recipes and Simple Spice Blends for the American Kitchen", Christina journeys back to her childhood and reveals the magic and culinary adventure behind the golden yellow tumeric, burning red chile, earthy brown cumin, coriander and cinnamon powders of the Southeast. With a voice that evokes the aromas and flavors of her past, Christina regales readers with stories from her childhood and empowers the home chef to cook fantastic dishes with authentic spices.

Cooking with spices is Christina's passion, and her love for spices goes back through generations. Her great-great-grandfather was a captain of a merchant ship owned by the English East India Company, transporting spices to and from India, Malaysia and the Indonesian archipelago. Hence her passion.

The perfumes of Malaysia practically float off the pages of this beautifully composed cookbook. With a Proustian nostalgia, cooking instructor Arokiasamy follows her nose back to Kuala Lumpur, where her mother ran a spice stall (and her great-great-grandfather transported spices for the English East India Company), mangoes were delivered to their home by bicycle and baths were enhanced with ginger-scented water. Her aim is to introduce turmeric, star anise and saffron to readers in a country where the term “spice blend” usually refers to Colonel Sanders's secret recipe. Here, spices are the very foundation of cooking; Arokiasamy demonstrates how concentrated sambal made from shrimp paste or a garam masala can be prepared in advance to simplify dishes in a time-strapped kitchen. Recipes circle her native Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Though Braised Pork in Caramelized Soy Sauce and Rice Noodles with Seafood and Basil, for example, are densely flavorful, they are also relatively easy to make. Arokiasamy is a natural teacher, offering useful cook's tips with how-tos for making rice powder and peeling shallots. Suggested spice pairings, a list of shopping resources and a chapter defining the components of a spice pantry give cooks the tools for improvising on their own. Illuminating her techniques with vivid personal anecdotes, Arokiasamy offers a tantalizing glimpse of a rich, vibrant culture and all its scents and flavors.