Laksa

Yetty, I'm seeing for the first time the insides of a yellow passionfruit (or a yellow passionfruit, for that matter). Does it taste the same as the purple one? The pictures of salak remind me of langsat. Though not at all scary looking, langsat comes immediately to mind when I think of Indonesian fruits. It is so good! I think much of the langsat sold in Sarawak is imported from Indonesia.

Janet, you could do no worse than I did, and will most likely do a lot better with the pictures. I read somewhere that Han Ah Reum has branches in NY - there's thread dedicated to Han Ah Reum on the NJ board. Okay, here's the lowdown on store locations from their website. I don't know if every store will have a sweets counter though. Doesn't hurt to call ahead but you already knew that.

Nobody has ever said that about my squash. Thanks for the info, Danielle. I am interested to see how you're gonna prepare the squash, and to read your take on how the cousas are "tough to beat" when compared to other squashes.

In my last experience with NYC roti canai, I ate a very "stretchy" roti. The dough was highly elastic and when I tried to pull at it to break off a piece, I ended up getting a chest workout. Myself, I like the flaky dough with a slightly crispy exterior, but I'm still looking. I have nothing but time and a little persistence. I'm no expert on murtabak but I always like to think of it as a Malaysian version of Greek moussaka. Why? because both names start with the letter "M".

Hi Danielle, I'm delighted to see that you've started your blog! I have never had koosa squash. How are they different from regular squash, besides in appearance. Also, what are Akane apples? Are they similar to an apple that I may be familiar with? And muskmelon.. is that the fruit that looks like an overgrown cantaloupe?

I stopped by Han Ah Reum in Ridgefield, NJ, after lunch today and bought some of these. I don't think they're hodduk, but I bought them from the same counter that sells hodduk. Can anyone tell me what they're called? They're filled with red bean paste and I believe they're deep fried. Tastes really good: As you can see from the picture below, there are lots of samples laid out on the counter in the store. Three out of four samples were filled with red bean, and I like what I bought the best, even though I also sampled the hodduk (I think). The top item looks like hodduk but it's savory, and is filled with a green onion like vegetable. I spoke no Korean and had difficulty communicating with the counter ladies in English. One of the ladies asked me if I was Chinese. I said yes and she gave the name of the top item in Chinese - Jiucai shaobing, or Jiucai youbing (couldn't figure out what she said exactly) and it does taste a lot like Chinese cong youbing (scallion pancake) but with jiucai (Chinese chives). I had wanted to ask them if they had brown sugar or honey hodduk because I didn't want to get both items with the same red bean filling. I now regretted not having persisted more with gestures and other ways of communicating. I also sampled very delicious pastel colored frozen candy thingies that look like they were sitting on solid blocks of a frozen substance that's not ice. It was much much colder and looked like a science experiment. Did not end up buying as I was worried if they would survive the hour long drive home in 90+ degree weather. Edited for clarity

I think you are right about Indonesia (also konyal) but according to this website, it's called buah sus in Malaysia. I like to call it buah asmara, but nobody else knows what I'm talking about. (asmara = passion)

I wonder if anyone here has tried using the frozen coconut cream in curries or nasi lemak rice? It appears to me that a number here find the frozen stuff to be superior to canned coconut milk. andiesenji, do you have a favorite brand of frozen coconut cream?

Michael, you know, over the years, I have lowered my expectation of heat/spiciness level of Malaysian restaurants outside SE Asia. I can understand that they may be motivated by a desire, misguided or not, to cater widely to the "local" palate. Thanks for the link to Eastanah's menu. It interests me to see that they have two types of Laksa, neither of which are in the "Penang" style. Oh, there's not a lot of information on the kuih. I wonder how many pieces you get for $5.50. The ones at Sanur are 60c a piece. Seems to me the prices at Eastanah are generally higher than other Malaysian restaurants I've been to in NYC. Does it fancy itself as a higher-end place, I wonder?

Janet, let me know how you like the kuih. My favorites are the ones that have glutinous rice or gula melaka (palm sugar) or both. I don't like the ones with the "dry" fillings that much. Where is Eastandah and do they have kuih? I still haven't found kuih salat or ondeh ondeh.

Until a particular incident took place? That's wild!! Now I'm intrigued. Looks like it's a husband and wife team that owns the place. They're both Chinese. He is from KL and he told me he's been in NY for 6 years. The wife is the one who makes all the kuih. That's all I know. I have a business card from him which I seem to have misplaced. Welcome back, by the way. I've been reading about your trip on the China forum.

Fantastic! Thanks. Making zha jiang mian will be my next cooking project.

I think the good news is, given enough time, a traveller can gain immunity to the "germs" that don't appear to trouble the local residents. The bad news for a "local" is that if you spend enough time away, you could lose the immunity that you had developed in childhood. When I first went back to Malaysia after spending many years abroad, I went through several weeks of agony. I didn't care because I wanted to eat the tasty stuff and I could cope well enough with some medication. After some time, I no longer needed any medication.

You may substitute it with anything you want. Just don't call it Zha Jian Mian! [it's a joke... see "authenticity" thread.] Let's say I want to be authentic. Is the type of noodle I should use readily available from Asian grocery stores?

Absolutely! It's like having a perfume insert in a magazine. When I'm reading such a magazine in the bathroom, those perfume inserts really come in handy.

This brought a smile to my face. Well said!

Yetty, I'm looking at the cacao fruit and I can't figure out which part of the fruit one is supposed to eat? I'm guessing the creamy white bulbs inside? The tamarind doesn't scare me. Looks like a pen<backspace><backspace> -- I mean peanut.

What kind of noodles should be used for zha jiang mian? Can I substitue with thin spaghetti?

I like any donut that is super-fresh -- like just out of the fryer. Does anyone know how to get really fresh DD donuts? So far I've only been able to get the still warm and pillowy soft, right-off-the-conveyor-belt donuts at KK. But no matter how fresh, no cake donuts for me. Yeasty ones all the way!

foolcontrol, you have excellent taste. NulloModo, does scotch work as well or does it have to be bourbon? I tried vermouth once in a creamy mushroom sauce. It turned out a little on the sweet side.

Sure, it's cool. What we look like is no secret. Yetty is right, there is a picture of us around somewhere, but it's not the easiest thing to find. Why don't I give you the link? Here we are, enjoying a meal we prepared last week. Can you tell who's who? Yetty: debonair? Are you sure you were looking at a picture of me? Edited to add: Here I am, eating again. I think I've gained a few pounds since the blog started.

I don't mean to doubt you trillium, not at all, so don't take this the wrong way. But will those stores have canned tuna for my Tuna Mornay?

misgabi, you know what I forgot to put on that burger? Bacon. We got a can of pineapple rings but I decided against using it. When I was in Melbourne I had always requested that they leave out the pineapple. It's for the same reason I never liked Hawaiian pizza. Now that I think about it, I do miss the Laksa. In NYC, the only laksa that I've found is in the Penang style, which is incredibly sour and has sardines in it -- not something I'm very fond of. Although not Sarawak laksa, I could always get curry laksa or laksa lemak in Malaysian restaurants in Melbourne. Do you get to eat much laksa where you are?

hathor, I'm delighted to see that your steak has a very healthy crust of crushed peppercorns. Do you find that they come loose from the steak while cooking? When that happens, I scrape all the loose bits from the pan and smear them on the cooked steak (like spackle) before serving.

You're killing me, Soba. You're killing me! It's off to the Dinner! thread I go then. That's the eGullet halfway house for old bloggers, right?