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Some flavours don’t just belong to one culture. They carry memories, identities, and stories that quietly connect people across backgrounds.
For Haniesah Lai Binti Abdullah, better known as Mama Cah, that story begins with the simple, familiar fragrance of bamboo leaves and glutinous rice.
Grew up learning from the forest
Long before she became known on TikTok Shop, Mama Cah’s life looked very different.
She grew up in the dense, roadless forests of Kuala Rompin in the late 70s, in a small fishing village where nature wasn’t just a backdrop, but survival in itself too.
Raised by her ethnic Jakun mother and grandmother, she learned how to live off the land, relying on river catches and forest harvests.
It wasn’t like how it is now. Back then, everything came from around us. Even the way we cooked was based on instinct.”
Mama Cah’s childhood was raw and untouched, the kind of early exposure that shaped her palate in a way no formal training could.
It taught me to appreciate ingredients for what they are. Simple, but meaningful,” she said.
A second home & heritage
Years later, life brought Mama Cah into a completely different world. She spent two decades living with her former Chinese mother-in-law, where she was slowly introduced to Chinese cooking.
But for her, it wasn’t just about learning recipes.
“I didn’t just follow steps,” she explained. “I had to understand the texture, the taste…that ‘kick’ that makes it authentic.”
When Mama Cah became a Muslim in 2011, her relationship with food took on a new meaning. Instead of leaving her past behind, she chose to carry it forward.
I realised a lot of mualafs (Muslim converts) quietly miss the food they grew up with, especially food like bak chang (rice dumpling with meat).
That was when the idea came to me to not just to recreate the dish, but to make it accessible without losing its essence. I didn’t want it to be ‘similar’ to the rest. I wanted it to feel the same.”
From contractor to culinary creator
Interestingly, food was never part of her original plan. Before this, Mama Cah worked as a contractor and later ran a sambal and paste business.
But in 2024, an unexpected equipment failure forced her to rethink everything. Drawing on her problem-solving mindset, Mama Cah spent three months experimenting and refining her bak chang recipe.
The biggest challenge? Recreating the signature richness of traditional bak chang – all without pork in it.
It’s not just about taste. It’s about that melt-in-your-mouth texture too,” she explained.
After countless trials, Mama Cah found her solution: a carefully balanced blend of chicken skin and thigh meat that replicated the original experience.
Building something from almost nothing
When Mama Cah started focusing on her TikTok Shop in early 2024, she had little to no capital. Everything she built came from her own skills, consistency, and the support of early customers.
At first, people had to wait up to seven days as it was all pre-orders. But today, my backyard operation in Kuantan has grown into a nationwide business, complete with frozen delivery systems to ensure my bak chang reaches customers across Malaysia.
When asked how she conducts her live sessions, this was how Mama Cah described it:
I just talk like how I would normally talk, like chatting with neighbours. When people watch, they don’t just see food. They hear my story as well.”
“I’ve seen some sessions where 1,000 bak changs would be snapped up just like that. Suffice it to say that the response has been nothing short of overwhelming.
To date, Mama Cah has sold over 47,300 bak changs, a number she still finds hard to believe.
But for her, the success goes beyond sales.
It makes me happy knowing families from different backgrounds are eating this together,” she added.
For Mama Cah, every bak chang carries something deeper than flavour. It’s a bridge between cultures. A memory preserved. A story shared.
In Malaysia, food brings people together. And for me, if my bak chang can do that, that’s more than enough.“
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