Bōl And Local Pasar Invite Diners To Taste The Wild

“Traditional sourcing prioritises consistency—uniform size, predictable yield, and year-round availability,” explains Kian Liew, co-founder and executive chef of Bōl. “Forage farming, on the other hand, accepts irregularity as a form of honesty. They are not cultivated for visual perfection but harvested at their natural peak.”

For its latest menu, Bōl collaborated with Local Pasar—a harvest partner bringing hyperlocal, foraged produce from field to table—to highlight ingredients that tell the story of their growth. A bent stem may suggest a passing animal, while the different colours on leaves may be a sign of fluctuating temperatures. “I realised that if we were going to speak meaningfully about Malaysian cuisine in a contemporary fine-dining context, it could not only be through reinterpretation—it had to begin with the land itself,” Liew says.

The restaurant’s unique take on Peranakan flavours has always been captivating, but From the Ground is a menu of unexpected discoveries. “Forage farming introduced us to ingredients that exist outside of commercial agriculture—plants that are seasonal, often overlooked, and historically used in vernacular cooking but rarely seen in modern tasting menus,” Liew states. “Working with these ingredients allows us to reconnect with a deeper ecological memory of our foodways, rather than relying solely on what is readily available through conventional supply chains.”

The chef is particularly surprised by sea blite, a plant that resembles the appearance of rosemary but is found in coastal salt marshes and sandy shores. “Its texture remains crisp even when lightly dressed, and its salinity is both gentle and persistent—closer to the minerality of seawater than to the sharpness of salt,” he notes, expressing interest in ingredients that have a strong sense of place, in both flavour and memory. “It behaves almost like a natural seasoning, allowing us to reduce the use of added sodium while retaining depth.”

Other ingredients include wild tepus, which is traditionally used in healing broths or confinement soups, and belimbing buluh, which helps tenderise fish or balance rich stews. At Bōl, however, Liew infuses the former in an aromatic tea, while the latter is incorporated into a soursop parfait dessert.

It’s an art form working with these ingredients because of their unpredictability. “Ingredients do not always arrive in the same size or maturity, and their flavour intensity may vary week to week,” Liew explains, but by embracing this challenge, it pushes the chef to continue raising the bar. “Working with forage-farmed produce shifts the role of the kitchen from one of control to one of interpretation. We respond to what the land offers, rather than expect the land to conform to the menu.”

Out in the field, Local Pasar gave the team at Bōl a tour of nature’s untamed beauty. “Opening a crate of freshly harvested herbs and noticing how dramatically their aroma differed from the same ingredient sourced commercially was a formative moment,” Liew reminisces. “The volatility of their fragrance—how quickly it dissipates once harvested—underscored how time-sensitive these ingredients are, and how much of their character is lost in transit.”

Although much has been unpacked in From the Ground, it seems the journey is far from over. “We are also interested in exploring lesser-known indigenous herbs and root vegetables that have historically been used in regional medicinal cooking,” Liew says. “Many of these ingredients have nuanced bitterness or aromatic complexity that could introduce a new dimension to savoury courses or even desserts.”