New perspective to ‘playing with your food’ expression
KUALA LUMPUR: While a majority of people use corn flour to thicken gravies and sauces, an innovative and creative couple from Sungai Petani in Kedah are using corn flour dough as the basic ingredient to produce handmade craft products.
Aida Yuhaini Yusoff, 43, and her husband, Hasnizar Abdul Halim, 44, took a year trying various techniques and measurements before being able to produce the perfect dough to create beautiful crafts.
“The basic ingredients used to make the dough are a mixture of corn flour, baby oil, baby lotion, glue and vinegar that is cooked on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes before being kneaded while still hot to get a chewy, smooth and fluffy texture,” she said when met at the National Craft Day 2024 recently.
Various handmade crafts such as fruits, flowers and popular dishes such as nasi lemak, satay, fried kuey teow, fried chicken, air batu campur or even macaroons, and burgers are produced.
Most of them are decorative pieces on plates, cups, food containers, menu boards, spoon or fork holders and serving boards.
These intricate pieces are sold at RM5 to RM800 depending on the size and shape.
Born in Kangar, Perlis, Aida Yuhaini said all the crafts that she produced are not only suitable for home decoration but also can be used as hijab pins, key chains, fridge magnets, party and wedding souvenirs.
Although the process is complicated and requires a high degree of precision, she said practice made perfect as she learned the skills only through online tutorials since 2019.
“I didn’t study the skills formally but instead made references from local and foreign craft experts such as those from Russia and South Korea through a visual search site with Pinterest images,” she said.
Having a workshop in Pekan Baru, Sungai Petani in Kedah, Aida Yuhaini said as the number of her customers increased she struggled to meet the demand, with every product she produced based on her own creativity, according to the style and wishes of the customer.
“In a day, I can produce 10 to 20 key chains and fridge magnets depending on the size and shape, and all these products are made by myself without using any moulds. If there is an event, I will double up production to add to the existing stocks,” said Aida Yuhaini, who once received an order to make a 0.6-metre-tall pineapple-shaped sculpture that took three weeks to complete in 2021.
“I also offer creative art classes through workshops that are open to children and adults, at RM45 and RM100 for a three-hour session,” she said, hoping that the art of handcraft will continue to grow.