Cooking since age 5, this 15 Y/O M’sian chef & recipe creator ventures into making products

15-year-old Danish Harraz has been making headlines ever since he started sharing his recipes online. He’s said to make “fail-proof” recipes that are easy to follow, with his latest ones including crispy samosas, savoury bread puddings, gooey chocolate chip cookies, and much more.

As a chef and online personality, he’s worked with countless brands from dUCk to Ayam Brand to promote a variety of products. But as of last Friday, the schoolboy has officially launched his very own product—Danish Harraz’s Chili Oil.

Made available on his brand new Shopee page on December 2 at 3PM, Danish announced that the product had completely sold out within two hours.  

Rise to fame

At the tender age of 3 years old, Danish started to play with kitchen utensils and cooking equipment, but it wasn’t until he was 5 years old that it bloomed into a full-fledged passion and he started to cook and bake by himself.

With his knack for cooking, Danish started sharing his recipes and food reviews on Facebook and Instagram in 2013.

Before long, he was already reported to have amassed thousands of followers, racking up a 60,000 follower count as of 2017 across Facebook and Instagram.

Now, five years later, his Instagram account boasts nearly 250,000 followers.

Even global networks took notice of Danish, and he was invited by Cartoon Network to be a part of its local Powfactor campaign. In 2020, Danish was featured by BCC My World, a channel about outstanding young people, created by Angelina Jolie and the BBC World Service.

A young philanthropist

While Danish’s skills in the kitchen at a young age might’ve been his initial ticket to stardom, it’s perhaps his philanthropical approach that kept him there.  

At 9, Danish started his own charity, Danish’s Love & Support Crew. But even before that, he was already known as a charitable child, having set up a local soup kitchen helping the homeless when he was 7 years old.

He told The Sun that the charity group was funded by his own online baking business, Danish’s Red Kitchen, which was set up when he was 7, as well as earnings from his brand collaborations and cooking demos. He also shared that his followers would contribute funds from time to time.

His kindness further shone in 2020 during the pandemic. Only 13 years old at the time, Danish had offered to pay half of a man’s salary so he could keep his job.

Venturing into entrepreneurship

The young chef considers Danish’s Red Kitchen to be an online baking business that he formed when he was 7, though prior to his chilli oil, it appears it hadn’t really sold many products before.

Presumably, the bulk of the income he would’ve made from that would be through the cooking demo and brand deals that he’s mentioned.  

At least, that was the case before he launched the chilli oil that sold out in just two hours.

The product came in two variations, Original (Garlic) and Salted Kurau Chunks. Based on screenshots posted to Twitter by Danish’s supporters, the Original went for RM17.90, while the Salted Kurau Chunks variation was RM20.90.

A quick Google search shows that other handmade chilli oils are roughly around the same price. A chilli oil by NoJokeFood is RM20 on Shopee, and the same goes for another brand on Lazada. Of course, there are cheaper options too, such as this RM15 crunchy garlic chilli oil.

Of course, compared to established brands like Lee Kum Kee or Lao Gan Ma, which typically cost around RM5 to RM10 depending on where you buy it, these handmade chilli oils can be considered pricey.

Danish’s chilli oil isn’t marketed as halal, but based on its list of ingredients, it’s safe to say that it’s Muslim-friendly.

Although the product is now sold out, Danish indicated he would be making another batch, even asking his 34.9k Twitter followers what spiciness level they preferred.

While chilli oil isn’t a novel or rare product, Danish has grown a fanbase that seems to be supporting his entrepreneurial efforts. Leveraging this audience, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Danish continues to expand his brand and product range.

Featured Image Credit: Danish Harraz