M’sian home cooking

(Been searching through my draft posts and decided to post this so it's from some time back.)

My mum has transformed from someone who couldn’t cook to someone who actually has a secret stack of recipes, all hand-written and crumpled with the many times she’s referred to them. Whenever I’m home, she’ll try to bring out all the new dishes she’s learnt and it always amazes me how good her cooking skills have become.

Some of my favourite home-cooked dishes are shown below. Alot of them are plain and simple dishes as I remember them from my childhood, but as you all know, sometimes these are the best types of meals.

Different lighting from different meal times - also partly due to rubbish photography skills

Tung choy cheng chu yuk (Steamed pork with preserved vegetables)

Bits of pork minced with some tung choy, seasoned with salt and pepper, and steamed. That’s all. Easy. When I was a kid, I used to have plate after plate of rice with just the gravy from the dish alone. Just gravy and rice, lots and lots of it.

Lou kai kiok (Stewed chicken feet)

This is another one of those home-cooked favourites that can’t be found in restaurants. Chicken feet is stewed in soy sauce (and other sauce mixtures) till cooked, and hard boiled eggs added in to absorb the flavour. Eaten with rice, the gravy alone can can take me through plates of it.

Salted fish meat patties

I specifically asked my mum to make this dish while I was home. It’s not like I can’t make this in London, well, maybe the salted fish is quite expensive so I don’t buy it here, but it’s different, you know? Eating this at home makes it taste a little better.

Dark soy sauce sweet chicken

I used to call this ‘Teem Gai’, or sweet chicken, as this is how it tastes. First the chicken pieces are fried (not deep-fried, but fried so preferably the skin should be left on to allow the chicken to be nice and crispy) and then the sauce is made, and the chicken pieces thrown back into the work to absorb all the lovely flavours. The sauce is made with thick, dark soy sauce, soy sauce, a little oyster sauce and quite a bit of sugar. When cooked, the sauce (because of the sugar) thickens up (and sometimes tends to stick to the bottom of the wok), but this ensures that the chicken pieces are coated perfectly.

It’s almost like biting into a boiled sweet, where the shell first cracks and then the tender chicken piece inside is revealed.

Steamed lap cheong and lap ngap (Chinese sausage and waxed duck)

This has traditionally been a Chinese New Year dish with us, as waxed duck is one of those things we get during the festive period. I’m sure there’s something on Wikipedia as to why this is so (but I’m not going to research that just now).

The taste of this always reminds me of when I was in school, as this was one of the simplest dishes that could be made for dinner. Chuck a few pieces of Chinese sausage and waxed duck onto a plate, put that on top of some rice in the rice cooker, and half an hour later, a lovely meaty smell is wafting around. We usually drizzle some dark soy sauce over the dish and that blends quite well with the oil that is steamed out of the duck and sausages, really lovely gravy for hot, steamed rice.

(OK, a tiny bit of flash photography coming up ...)

Claypot fish with Japanese tofu, baby sweetcorn and vegetables

This is a new dish in that it wasn't one of those I had when I was a kid. My mom tried something similar when she was in London, and tried making it at home and it turned out really nice! Not sure what fish she used but it's a white fish, and the chunks were deep fried before being stewed in the claypot together with the tofu and vegetables. With the hot gravy over steamed rice, absolutely perfect.

Aubergine with dried prawns (har mai)

This is another one of the new dishes learned from restaurants, and mastered through practise. Pieces of aubergine are coated in a light flour batter before being deep fried (this is one looooong process, believe me) and once that's done, they're removed from the wok. The small prawns (fragrant, and used to add a new dimension to dishes) are sauteed in hot oil, with some seasoning, before the aubergine is thrown back into the wok for one more thorough stir and the dish is ready to be served.

Fish and vegetable curry

There have been a few version of this curry dish through the years, but they are largely similar in that this is a slightly sour curry (fish curries in Malaysia tend to be) flavoured with assam skin to give it the limey, tangy taste, and the vegetables used are usually a combination of ladies fingers (okra), aubergine and green beans. This is one of my favourites because it doesn't feel that heavy like curries usually do, mainly due to the limey lift from the assam skin. A plate of steamed, fluffy rice drenched in this gravy, with a crumbling of poppadum (and a fried egg) is possibly one of the nicest dishes I've had.

Stewed pork in soy sauce (lou chu yuk)

Now THIS is definitely on top of the league of childhood dishes, and I can understand why. Aside from it being so unbelievably tasty, it's also not a difficult dish to cook once you've got the seasoning and ingredients right. The pork is stewed in a sauce made from soy sauce (light and dark), star anise, garlic cloves and white pepper. Once cooked for a few hours, the meat and sauce almost melt into each other, resulting in a stew with the most tender, flavoursome meat. Fantastic with rice (you're beginning to see a trend now, aren't you).

To round it off, one of my favourites of all time (I was craving this a few days ago).

Baked beans with fried egg and sliced onions

Yes, possibly a combination of items guaranteed to give your social life a decline, but who cares when you get a dish that good in return? When I mentioned this recipe to my friends, the most common reaction I got back was one of slight suspicion, mixed in with curiosity.

If you like all these 3 ingredients separately, how can you not like it together? It's the ultimate in comfort food and if you know you're not going out (for the next few days), throw these 3 ingredients together and you'll have a warm, tomatoey, beany dish perfect for ... guess it ... white rice!

Mmm I'm hungry.

M;sia - Ah Sang Bak Kut Teh, No.531, Jalan SS9A/12. Seri Setia, Sungei Way,

Whenever we want to eat Bak Kut Teh, there isn’t much room for discussion as to where we’d go as this HAS to be THE best place for it in PJ / KL. Sure, there may be other more famous places in Klang which is famous for its BKT, but in my opinion, this version tastes better than any I’ve ever tasted.

If you’re into your BKT, then you’ll know what I mean when I say that some soups are just quite … airy-fairy. Without substance. Without colour. Without taste.

Ah Sang’s BKT is nothing like that. It has pizzaz! Ooopmh! A nice, dark soup with lots and lots of herbs, punchy tastes and such confidence to it that it struts down the alley with a delicious after taste that makes us go back time and again for more of that soup.

Despite the humble surroundings, actually, scrap that, it’s not really that humble for a BKT place. I’ve seen much worse, some without fans. This place has maintained the brightness, clean interior for as long as we’ve been here, and the yau char kuay / garlic counter seen above has remained in the same spot too – perfect for my frequent to and fros to get more garlic. Nothing much has changed here except for the fact that …

There is now a poodle at the counter watching over the tissue dispensers.

The last time we were here, the poodle was just a little pup sitting in a carrier bag, sniffing the air hungrily while giving little peeks every now and then.

My, how it has grown. Now, big burly men tip-toe their way to the side of the counter, their hands hesitant and quick – ready to swipe at the tissue dispenser when Poodle Doodle is not watching. He ain’t stupid, this one. Quick as a dart, he’s heard them, and barks / growls / stares meanly at the tissue-opportunists as they bid a hasty retreat back to their tables; still sweaty, slightly greasy, and very frightened.

Oh well, have another sip of iced tea hey?

While we wait for the main star to turn up, the extras slowly trudge up the red carpet. First, we have the rice which forms the base for the souper star (ha ha). There are 2 versions here – the normal white rice and the yau fan, which is rice cooked in some sort of stock which involves oil, I guess, since yau is oil.

After that, we have the other usual sideshow Bob, the yau char kuay. These little things are more commonly found in market, being fried fresh for consumption – really nice eaten with hot coffee. Kinda like Tim Tams dipped in tea, but more deep-fried. They’re also really great dipped in herbal soup, something about the soup squishing out of the now slightly soggy and chewy flour stick that is very appealing.

Now we come to the underdogs – the guys who don’t usually get the credit they deserve. Namely the garlic. Boy oh boy do I love garlic. Especially the raw ones. I know, social life? Not much, but nevermind hey. There is raw garlic here, everyone please bring the dark soy sauce, and clear the social calendar.

I could, and usually do, have about (and I’m not joking here) just slightly less than 10 little plates of these in one BKT meal. When I exhale, people look away. And these are people on the other table. In the other restaurant. I don’t know why I like it so much, might be something to do with the contrast of sweet from the sauce, herby from the soup, and sharp garlic which immediately brings out the beauty of the whole mixture.

The limo pulls up, the cameras are flashing, the heat is on (literally) – here comes the claypot Bak Kut Teh!

The claypot was full to the brim with meat, mushrooms, vegetables, and my favourites – the foo chuk, straw mushrooms and offal.

You can tell that these claypots have been well-seasoned, and have been churning out pot after pot of delicious, bubbling soups with meat.

The best bits, foo chuk and vegetables. We asked for extra and filled the pot to the brim again just as it was being depleted.

The meat was tender, and cooked well in the soup to allow all the flavours to soak through.

OK, so you might wonder what all this looks like in a bowl, when it’s just about to be slurped up? This was my bowl, and I tried to put a little of everything in here, but my mom kept adding more! (which is why there is another picture below this) The pai kuat (pork ribs) were tender, and falling off the bone just perfectly. The yau char kuay had absorbed the goodness of the soup, made all the more flavourful by the garlic and dark soy sauce.

Turning the bowl to another angle, we have the foo chuk which was not only crispy, but also managed to soak the soup up like the yau char kuay. Fabulous, fantastic, excellent choice for lunch. Would definitely recommend this, we’ve been coming here for years and each time, the food is consistently good, the people friendly as ever, and the overall meal, very enjoyable.

M’sia - Ah Khai Char Siew, No. 63, Jalan 20/7, Petaling Jaya, opposite Seaview Restaurant

This is guy who makes the nicest char siew I have ever tasted. While we’ve not even come close to finding something similar in London, he’s pretty hard to beat in Malaysia also (there is one place in KL but that’s not the point of the post today). He loves posing for pictures with us whenever we’re there, which makes a nice change from the usual sulks and distrustful stares I get from some places. This guy is all smiles whenever we’re there, maybe that’s why his char siew tastes so good.

Anyway, back to the point. He runs a small little stall in a coffee shop across from Seaview Restaurant, and despite there not being too many other stalls in this place, tables are filled with customers – so the assumption here is that they are all here to eat his char siew.

However, if you’re not that into your roasted, delicious, sweet and slightly crispy pieces of pork, then there’s the chicken option too. They do pretty good roast chicken here; the meat is tender and moist, and the gravy very delicately flavoured.

I do find it difficult to eat anything else but the char siew when I’m here though. I mean, look at it. Look at how each piece is perfectly marinated, perfectly roasted, and perfectly crispy sweet on the outside, and mouth-meltingly … melting on the inside.

The secret to all this perfection in his cooking, I guess, is mainly down to the cut of meat he uses. This is definitely not weight-loss food – the reason the meat is melt-in-the-mouth is because it’s mainly fatty pieces of pork, which also explains why the pieces char so well.

If you’re around Seaview and don’t fancy the same bowls of noodles, you have to try this place out. The dude is really nice, and has been featured in quite a few articles (I know this because he has them stuck on the side of the stall). He’s really proud of what he does, and rightly should be too as this is one of, if not THE, best char siew we’ve tasted. Don’t even have to ask the question, I’d most definitely one hundred percent recommend you try this out.

Update: Now moved to a new location a few shops away.

M’sia – Pulau Perhentian

When we were in Malaysia, the fiance and I decided to spend a couple of days in Pulau Perhentian, which is located on the east coast of the peninsular. While we’d been to Pulau Redang before (40 minutes away from Perhentian), some of our friends were saying that it was getting too commercialised, and that it wasn’t as good as before so we thought, why not try someplace new. While Perhentian isn’t exactly untouched territory, it’s pretty good for a start.

(Lots and lots of pictures – similar pictures – to come, but since I don’t usually post scenic views here, it’s not really that many if you consider it in terms of average per post kinda thing)

There isn’t much structure to the way in which the pictures are organised, so I’ll do my best and tell the story as the pics come along. Sound good? OK.

This was a boat we saw on the way from the jeti to the resort. I’ve seen quite a few fishing boats before, but none which look as colourful and highly-stacked as this one.

The view from where I was sitting on the speedboat to the resort. There were dolphins near the front apparently, but of course I missed that, being in the middle looking out to the back of the boat and all that.

Something else I saw while missing out on the dolphins.

And then when everyone had had enough of the dolphins, I took a little stroll to the front, saw no dolphins, but continued to perch on the front looking into the boat. Kinda for dramatic effect or something.

Here’s another picture I took for effect while I was at the front of the boat. It’s not too often I bring the camera out to sea, so while I had it there, I was going to take as many pictures as I could.

The boat transported not just us holidaymakers, but also some eggs and what looked like a lot of fruits. Someone said they also took rubbish back from the island onto mainland.

After about 40 minutes on the boat, we neared the island. This was what we saw from the boat as we were approaching Tuna Bay Resort – one of the best resorts on the big island – although that’s not implying that it’s five stars or anything.

Dudes waiting to pull the boat in.

While I went slightly nuts snapping about 50 pictures before we even stepped onto the island, it turned out to be a good thing as we didn’t have sunlight like this for the next 3 days while we were there. It didn’t quite rain continuously either, but the skies were kinda grey and so, not the greatest for photo-taking.

Don’t actually have much to say about these pictures, but because I like them, I’ve posted them here.

The water taxi which took tourists either around the Besar island from one resort to another, to the tourist spots, and also from the Besar island to the Kecil island, which seemed to be the party-island where most of the backpackers go to, apparently.

This was the boat that took us from mainland to the island.

Water taxi prices.

The boat which took scuba divers out to sea. We didn’t go on this one as we only went snorkelling.

Another one.

The resort workers taking our luggage (joke) from the boat to the resort.

The deck chairs where we spent quite a lot of our time, mainly snoozing.

This was what the chalets looked like – not quite out chalet but as ours was next to a construction site, I decided this one looked better.

Snooze …

Seriously, how can you not wanna snooze when you have the heat, this view, and not much else to do?

On the first day there, our lunch which came as part of the package deal was some sort of cheese baked pasta. Surprisingly nice, though it was slightly weird how no one told us what we were having, but just kinda nodded at us as we sat down, said the food was coming soon, and then it was there on the table. I know we didn’t have much choice as to what we were having, but they could have at least told us what it was surely?

The next day, we had a buffet breakfast at the same place, and that was quite tasty also.

No matter where you are, even if you’re on a secluded island in the middle of the South China Sea, there is always … baked beans on toast.

Boots buy one get one free. Not the sunglasses.

The weather was kinda grey after the first day.

Pancakes and sausages on the second day.

We then went to feed some fishies by the pier. They go nuts for mushroom buns.

It was an amazing trip, despite not having much to do (and no TV). We went snorkelling (first day snorkelling was interesting, with us mainly trying to keep afloat and not go towards the huge rock covered with barnacles), we went kayaking (work those shoulders) and had nice walks by the beach. Saw lots of fish, really enjoyed ourselves, and would really recommend anyone to go there for a long weekend.