Munching in Malaysia

Let’s see… where did I leave you? In Thailand I believe. So now I want to give you the low-down on Malaysia since that is where we’ve been for the last month. And here’s how I plan to do it: food. Bet you didn’t see that coming…

After a month and a half in Thailand, the tastes of Malaysia were exciting and satisfying. The excitement of Malaysian cuisine comes from it being a mix of the distinct cuisines of the three most prominent ethnicities that are present in the country today. Let me explain…

#1 Our first stop in Malaysia was Pulau Penang, an island off the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia (the rest of Malaysia occupies a different piece of land and is where you find the spectacular home of so much of what you’ve seen on Planet Earth: Malaysian Borneo).  When we arrived there (after most business hours), we headed to Teluk Bahang, the beach where we decided to stay, by bus. When we got off the bus, the only sign of life was an extremely well-lit, 24-hour cafeteria looking place. We later learned that this was a Muslim, Indian food restaurant. Which means they did not sell beer but they did sell roti – the food we ate everyday on Teluk Bahang and nearly everyday after that while we were still in Malaysia. We tried and enjoyed a whole lot of Indian treats but roti holds a special place in our hearts. It was cheap, filling, and, most importantly, ridiculously delicious. It’s simple really – it’s just a type of bread. But it’s a buttery, flaky, warm type of bread and it usually comes with a small portion of curry to dip it in. And it always leaves a person smiling… Indian.

#2 Our next destination was the Cameron Highlands – a chilly, hilly and green landscape that hosts a couple of small towns that look stunningly similar to the old country of some European countries and is surrounded by lush jungle, which also happens to be one home of the world’s largest flower (It’s called Rafflesia, we saw it, it was amazing). While we were enjoying the cool weather here, we also enjoyed the cluster of food stalls just outside our guest house. We went there for just about every meal (the only exceptions being the obligatory roti now and then) and sorta became regulars at one stall in particular. It was run by a very cute Malaysian couple that wore matching bandanas which proudly donned the ultra-symbolic Canadian maple leaf. We just called them the Canadians. They were also both deaf so we exchanged a huge amount of smiles, which was really nice. A bi-product of this circumstance was that we got to just pointing at what we wanted and she got to just pointing at what we ought to have. Naturally, we always went with her suggestion. And this is where we had nasi lemak for the first time – an omni-present Malaysian dish that might actually be synonymous with breakfast. It was like their version of eggs & toast, only much more interesting. So let me explain this one. Or try anyway. I believe the words nasi lemak literally refers to the rice part of the dish, which is what I am going to encourage you to try to make, but is used to identify the whole dish. Which is this: delicious coconut-milk-soaked rice, a fried egg, little fried fish, peanuts, and, if you’re lucky, some lovely Malay-spiced chicken. I came to love this dish, all except the little fried fish, I have to admit I loathed their presence in any dish of mine but they were often present so I just had to deal with it. And I think you’d be surprised how a  little soaking in coconut milk takes rice to a whole new level… Malay.

#3 Next we headed to Melaka, an old port city with museums in ships, Portuguese forts and a glittering Chinatown. When we weren’t shopping for Christmas presents here, we were eating. For one of these eating breaks, we were drawn to an ornate storefront with an open-air dining space inside and a lot of people eating there. We got in line to be seated but when we got to the front of the line, he just asked us what we wanted to eat. We obviously didn’t know so he sort of just decided for us and shuffled us into the restaurant. What we got was chicken and rice balls in a real-real Chinese restaurant. These rice balls were wildly popular here, we saw them everywhere, and that’s probably because they’re awesome. It’s just rice formed into a perfect little ping-pong-ball-sized ball and served with some simple yummy chicken and sauce. Chinese food in Chinatown – charming… Chinese.

#4 I know I said three and that’s because this one doesn’t really count but I must share it with you. You see, after Melaka we headed to WWOOF farm #2; Kahang Organic Rice EcoFarm, to do some rice farming. We did said rice farming for about a week until the newly hired Thai rice farmers showed up on the scene and we were no longer an efficient way to get that rice farmed. So we were moved to the kitchen to cook for ourselves, about five other volunteers, about 7 permanent staff members and a variable number of guests visiting the farm. It was fun and exciting at first but began to get a bit tiring after, oh, the third or fourth meal cooked with the same exact ingredients. I eventually headed back outside for rice farming side jobs but Gavin stayed in the kitchen because, well, he’s a pretty nice guy and they needed the help in there. But that’s besides the point. The point is that with our limited ingredients and unfamiliar spice selection, we came up with a few. new Malaysia-inspired recipes to bring home. I won’t go into detail but I will describe the most important one. If you are like us and are in the habit of making breakfast potatoes nearly every weekend, then you may like this one: add some curry to your potatoes. Not a new idea, I know. Not genius either. But tasty. And we’d done it before, at home, but after about four rounds of potatoes and three different curries, we got it just right. So maybe that’s it – add the right curry and the right amount of it and keep trying until you get it just right. Then eat it with some scrambled egss maybe. Or maybe you want to just throw the eggs right in there with the taters, you know, when they’re good and crispy and properly curried. And maybe serve them with some nasi lemak on the side… sounds good, right?.. Us.

I suppose that’s it for now, I’ll let you get right to trying all these new treats out in your own kitchen… As for us, for now, we’re in Cambodia and loving it. More on that soon.

Happy cooking and happy eating!