Laksa

Great pics TP! Hey! Can you get me a packet of cream crackers with the granulated sugar on top? Actually, my all time fav Malaysian cookie is kuih bangkit. That's one item that I've been unable to find here. Can you believe that a store would choose to carry Apollo cakes but not kuih bangkit? It's criminal! Obviously they have access to Malaysian imports, they're not importing the right stuff!

Okay, I have the A1 packet in front of me and the list of ingredients reads: angelica pepper, aralia cordata, sinensis, cinnamon, paurantiii star anise, astraglietc (sic?), cigusticum, fructus zanthoxylum. I have no idea what the relative proportions of those herbs should be... and never knew what herbs actually went into bak kut teh. Have never needed to know, frankly. Malaysian Chinese medicine herbalists know exactly what herbs to combine when you ask them for "bak kut teh". I've had bak kut teh made with herbs from the medicine shop, but I actually prefer the A1 mixture. The one from the medicine shop tastes ... uhmm.. too much like medicine.

Thanks kew! That's most informative. Now I know I've never had nasi dagang. I may have had nasi kandar. The nasi kandar curries sounds a lot like the curries served at Indian restaurants here - little use of coconut milk, if at all. I suppose the "Bismillah" sign is an indication that the food has been certified halal? Will non-muslims who observe all the halal requirements be able to have their restaurants or food certified halal?

We had bak kut teh last night! If you have access to an Asian grocery that also sells S.E. Asian foodstuffs, you may be able to find bak kut teh herbs in a packet. Look for the A1 brand; they make several varieties of bak kut teh. I prefer the one that comes with the herbs visible through a clear window at the back of the packet. Bak Kut Teh is a Malaysian/Singaporean invention, so your regular Chinese herbalist may not be familiar with it.

Thanks for the advice. I'm always very gentle when transferring Ms Congee to a plate for slicing. She wouldn't have it any other way.

Not to fear! It ain't "harmful" for man (DH takes it too), and nothing will 'disappear' ; it's main efficacy is to clear the women's system. Solly. I've been deliberately mischievous. ← *WHEW* That's a relief! And to think, for all these years, I've been drinking the soup under the false impression that it was beneficial to men. I mean, with names like dong guai and dong sum, can you really blame me? I'm sorry, my mind is only capable of very shallow thoughts.

It also occurred to me to ask for the recipe, but I wonder if it's better to ask what it'll take to have a pie fedexed to me? Did you say you bake professionally now? I don't recall... If not, now's as good a time to start as any, right?

Dong guai (cantonese)/ dang gui (mandarin) and dong sum (Cantonese)/ dang shen (Mandarin) are herbs that are good for women so I guess that's why TP called it "soup for girls". ← I drink that soup all the time! But I had no idea those herbs are especially beneficial to women. Let's hope what's good for women isn't harmful for a man, and doesn't make him any less of a man.

How.... err... how did that happen, do you suppose?

These are known here as pea shoots. What Malaysians commonly call yams are known here as taro. TP, what are those brown fruits, in front of the boxes of mandarins, and behind the pineapples?

Yeah, that's very strange, Shiewie. What else do you do that's strange? So does anyone know if kueh kapit has its origins in Kapit, Sarawak? TP, how big is that floss bun? Next to the bear, it appears to be as big as a cantaloupe. Just imagine how much miracle whip is in there!

In honor of this blog, I'm having a hot cup of Milo and buttered toast with kaya for breakfast. The kaya is not freshly made. It's the nasty flourescent orange type that comes out of a tin. Tastes fantastic though when you're 10,000 miles away.

Abra, maybe the difference can also be attributed to the history of the two countries. Malaysia was once a British colony, and Indonesia a Dutch one. Many years ago, English was the medium of education in Malaysia, and it was also used in legal proceedings. The English influence can be felt in many aspects of present day Malaysia; in the architecture, on the roads (Malaysians drive on the left side), and in government, but to their credit, they knew enough to leave the food alone.

Hey Tepee, for a good (food) time, hook up with some eGulleteers! If you're coming to NYC, I have to say Pan will make an excellent guide. He knows ALL the places! Generally speaking (and speaking very generally now), I think it's much easier to "stumble" onto good food in Malaysia. Even places you wouldn't expect to be good, like shopping mall food courts, or at the airport, can provide surprisingly pleasant dining experiences. That happens to me much less in the States. The surprises are usually unpleasant ones. Not to say that good food can't be found, but you gotta know where to look, or have a guide.

What are jimmies? Is there any food you had in Canada that you now miss?

Inside the egg was a single propeller aeroplane piloted by a bird. Hmmm... birds are training to be pilots now? Talk about being kiasu! (Okay, maybe it wasn't really a bird )

That's not necessarily a bad thing. I almost broke my front teeth once biting into a kinder egg and not knowing there's a "kinder surprise" inside.

In the States, Cadbury chocolates are made by Hershey. And chocolate covered honeycomb bars like Crunchie or Violet Crumble are almost impossible to find. So what did you get from the snack shelves at the gas station?

Helen, can you get Malaysian fried kway teow in Japan? I know a number of Malaysian restaurants in Melbourne were started by erstwhile Malaysian students who decided that studying no longer interested them... I am aware of an emerging trend of Malaysians going to study in Japan, and wonder if something similar might be happening over there.

kew, what do you call those sandwiches with a filling made from sausages wrapped with a thin fried omelette, seasoned with ground pepper, ketchup, with tomatoes and cucumber? Your picture of roti john reminds a lot of that. Is cucumber in burgers/sandwiches a Malaysian peculiarity? Is apam balik usually made with ground peanuts and sugar? Never had the creamed corn variety. Is the corn wet and does it affect the crispiness of the pancake? The photos are making me hungry. Could you tell me what apam is? Looks like ice cream...

How was the nasi lemak? What else came wrapped with the rice in the banana leaf? Did you cook the kway teow yourself or did you take out? What was in it? Ahh.... ais potong. Would gladly give my right arm for some ais potong right about now. I almost had to when I was in Carrefour at the Megamall back in February. I spotted a six-pack of aix potong in the freezer and had to have it right then and there. I took it to the cashier and paid for it, and walked back into the supermarket, ripping open the pack, and started biting off big chunks of the ice cream. Apparently, that sort of thing isn't done in KL, and the security guard wasn't too pleased. I think the guy must've been close to 60, and looked more like a greeter at Walmart, so I thought better of messing with him, and wisely left the store. Kew, do you know why they're called ais potong (potong=cut)? My favorite is the pulut hitam flavor. Is this a new flavor? Don't remember seeing it when I was a kid.

I think they grow certain temperate fruits and vegetables in the Cameron Highlands, where the weather is cooler. I wonder if it could have come from there? The pictures are great, kew! I liked the pictures when they were bigger too. I love tropical fruits, and I couldn't get enough of it while in Malaysia. But my parents, who live there, prefer to eat imported fruits, like oranges, apples and grapes. My dad says tropical fruits like rambutans and papayas are so commonplace that he's sick of them. Living in the states, I feel the same way about apples and oranges.

Since we're posting pictures of laksa... Sarawak laksa, with a glass of soy bean milk. The laksa might look a little plain (most of the goodies are hidden underneath the beehoon), but tastes absolutely heavenly.

Go Kew! Go Teepee! Malaysia boleh! The soup you made for dinner looks a lot to me like sup tulang (beef bone soup). Does it taste like it at all? Does it contain similar spices? Do you bake a particular type of dessert more often than others? Do you make both Western cakes and Malaysian kuih? Never having lived in KL before, I am surprised to see, when I visited last month, many KL residents eschew a good and proper Malaysian breakfast of nasi lemak or roti canai, (or in my case, both nasi lemak AND roti canai), in favor of a cup of coffee or a piece of toast or nothing at all. What is up with that? A hot breakfast is so easily obtainable in Malaysia, available at almost every street corner, so one can't use convenience as an excuse. What I would give to exchange my breakfast of wheat bran for a hot, fluffy piece of roti canai every morning!

There's always next time, right?