Laksa

JerzyMade, are you anywhere near Kuching, Sarawak? This is the packet of commercially packed laksa paste we're gonna use, widely available everywhere good laksa paste is sold in Sarawak. (I have already confessed to being lazy and having a fondness for taking shortcuts) We're always glad to find laksa paste in the "goodies box" we receive from Malaysia every year. Actually, this Double Red Swallow brand paste isn't too bad. Have had good results with it before. If on the off chance that you're not in Sarawak, I'm gonna google for a recipe of a suitable substitute you can use.

I told Ms Congee a million times that people are gonna find her tuna mornay casserole with pasta pretty strange. But she won't listen, will she?

Hey, are you guys psychic or something? I was gonna ask you to guess what I had for dinner at Penang Restaurant on Elizabeth St. tonight, but you already knew! Dang! Pangan Ikan (stingray smeared thickly with sambal spices and grilled in banana leaf) Let me just post pictures of the dishes for the time being. "Review" to come later. Roti Canai (Indian style pancake served with curry chicken as dipping sauce) Penang Char Kway Teow (stir fried flat rice noodles with shrimp, squid, bean sprouts, egg, soy sauce and chili paste) Nasi Lemak (coconut rice flavored with cloves and pandan (screwpine leaves) served with chili anchovy, curry chicken, achar, and hard boild egg) Kangkung Belacan (stir-fried ong choy or water convolvulus/water spinach with spicy Malaysian shrimp paste sauce) Ais Kacang (shaved ice with red bean, corn, palm seeds, jelly, red rose syrup and coconut milk). Whole Ais Kacang. And close up of demolished ais kacang to show ingredients. Edited to add Ais Kacang. How could I have forgotten?

While Ms Congee kept herself busy making Umai, I enjoyed a chilled slice of melon. It's been hot and humid throughout the night and a cold piece of fruit first thing in the morning is particularly welcome. Went into the kitchen to check on her progress, and I thought the least I could do was to take some pictures. She's slicing up some flounder. I think any white fish with non-fatty flesh is suitable for Umai. The fish slices are then soaked in kalamansi and lime juice for a couple of hours to "cook" them. By this time, the acid would have turned the flesh opaque. The juice is then discarded. The two slightly different recipes she uses have lots of ingredients in common: From top left going clockwise we have ginger, which will be sliced or julienned very finely, vidalia and red onion, sour mustard - a pickled vegetable, shallots, sour mustard shown sliced, Thai chillies, and finally the brown block is belachan or shrimp paste. Salt and chilli powder are the ingredients not pictured. The belachan is first toasted in the pan and pounded and made into a paste with kalamansi juice and goes into the light colored Umai shown below. All the other ingredients are finely sliced and tossed in the salad. Although the original recipe doesn't call for it, I like to add a little fish sauce (nam pla) into the red Umai. Red Umai is made with fish, chillies, chilli powder, ginger, shallots, salt and nam pla. White Umai is made with fish, chillies, ginger, sour mustard, shallots, red and vidalia onion, belachan and salt.

Oh boy, where do I begin? You're right of course, Malaysian food on a whole is a conglomeration of the three major ethnic groups of the country: Malay, Chinese, and Indian. An important category of Malaysian food is Nyonya or Peranakan cuisine. The Peranakan culture is essentially the result of the cross-cultivation of Chinese and Malay traditions that began in the 17th century, maybe earlier by some accounts, when Chinese traders settled in Penang, Melaka and Singapore and started families by marrying the local Malays. These families retained Chinese traditions but at the same time adopted an extensive set of local customs and practices. The use of both Chinese and Malay ingredients in combination typifies Nyonya cuisine. For example, Chinese rice noodles are cooked in spicy fish or shrimp paste soups to make Laksa. The recipe for Babi Chin calls for pork -- the default Chinese meat, but forbidden (non-halal) to Muslims -- to be cooked with coriander, a spice that's foreign to Chinese cuisine but a key ingredient in Malay kari. The peranakan are unique examples of a cultural commingling that is rarer among the recent immigrants of the 19th and 20th century. Even though the second and third generation Chinese and Indians hold more closely to their traditions, their diets have been very much open to local influences. The current generation of Chinese Malaysians are as comfortable eating kangkong belachan (ong choy/water convulvus stir-fried with shrimp paste) as they are eating Chinese roast pork. Roti canai, a light fluffy tossed and toasted bread served with curry, and Nasi Lemak, a dish of rice cooked in coconut milk with sambal belachan (spicy sauce made from chilli and shrimp paste, again) are just two examples of distinctive ethnic dishes -- Indian and Malay, respectively -- that have universal appeal among all of Malaysia's ethnic groups. Classic Malay cookery drew its early influences, in the 15th century or thereabouts, from traders from India, China and the Middle East. It makes use use of spices like tumeric, chillies, galangal, kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass, in addition to the old stalwarts of cumin and coriander. The spice list is by no means comprehensive, but it is representative. Coconut milk also makes a frequent appearance in recipes, used in place of water sometimes, as in nasi lemak, or in stews much like one might use cream in Western cuisine to add richness and to "lengthen" the flavor. Rice is the usual staple, and chicken, beef and fish are popular sources of protein. While it might be tempting to generalize about Malaysian food, not all of it is fusion cuisine. The recent immigrants continue to prepare dishes that remain ethnically distinct. Should you venture into a kitchen in a Chinese home in Malaysia, don't be surprised to find food that one might see in Guangzhou or Fujian. We're planning to have dinner at a Malaysian restaurant in NYC tonight and hope to show examples of some typical Malaysian dishes, as well as "hawker" food that is ubiquitous in many parts of Malaysia and Singapore. Hawker food are so-called because they are sold by hawkers from mobile street stalls, but are now more often found in small informal restaurants, commonly called "coffee shops", or in hawker centers, which are like food courts, but on a larger scale. Examples of hawker food include Char Kway Teow, a stir-fried flat rice noodle dish, and Hae Mee, shrimp and wheat noodles in a spicy broth. In the next couple of days, expect to see my own attempt at Malaysian chicken curry, and we'll probably make Laksa tomorrow. Umai is a regional oddity, a Dayak raw fish salad that is unique to Sarawak. Ms Congee hopes to illustrate two slightly different versions of Umai for lunch today.

Yetty, I've never had Ak-Am candy. Is it good? It sure looks good. I managed to find a webpage with pictures here. Those candy have some pretty wacky names. Once they are firm, let me know the dates you'll be in NY. Should we organize an eGullet "Elsewhere in Asia/Pacific" posters mini get-together?

The smell of Tuna Mornay baking in the oven is unbearable when you're hungry. 20 minutes felt like a lifetime. Had to switch to the broiler for the last 5 minutes to brown the top. We used rotini (spiral pasta) in place of tortiglioni. Dinner is served with a rather young Australian wine, 2003 Yalumba unwooded chardonnay. I was a little concerned that the only Australian white I have on hand might be too young, but it turned out to be eminently drinkable. With strong peach tones and a hint of honey, it is mouth-wateringly luscious.

What's better than coming home from work and seeing that dinner is well under way? Okay, this is a trick question. What is better is seeing dinner all cooked and ready to eat, hahaha! But I'd told Ms Congee not to put the Tuna Mornay in the oven yet 'cause I need to take photos! Here's the recipe that she uses for the Tuna Mornay: http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/aww/recipes/db/aww/63/6374.asp Tuna Mornay is down-home Australian cooking. Comfort food in the vein of mac and cheese, but with tuna! Ms Congee putting the final touches to the dish: The beginnings of a tomato, onion and avocado salad:

Lunch was cleared away many hours ago. Dinner hasn't yet started. Your blood sugar level is on a downward trend. It's Friday afternoon and your mind has already drifted into the weekend. Let's snack! Here's what I'm having today for a quick pick-me-up: Clockwise from the top left we have white sesame candy, mung bean cookie, black sesame candy, and my all time favorite candy, crushed peanut candy that flakes and crumbles in your mouth. This one has just a mere hint of sweetness, but intense peanut flavor. Don't leave it out though, especially on a muggy August afternoon in NY, as it'll suck moisture from the air and become completely soggy.

If I didn't know better, I would've thought it looked like Chinese rock sugar. Here's a picture of Thai palm sugar I bought recently for comparison:

Have you guys ever tried the non-baked mooncakes? That's the top picture on the left. They look like they're made in Chernobyl. I guess the green one is "pandan" flavor. The link is to a Malaysian mooncake company.

I was getting really hungry around 11:30am today, and I started contemplating what to have for lunch. I could have some of last night's leftover BBQ pork, or ... I could get some curry from that Indian grocer I posted about earlier! An excellent opportunity to show some pictures of that. (Any excuse to get some curry, any excuse will do). Here's the front of the shop: Cool, they have dosa today, but I really felt like having some rice though. In addition to the dosa, there's a choice of a vegetarian paneer (Indian cheese curd), or a non-veg. chicken curry lunch, which was what I chose. While waiting for the lunch to be boxed, I noticed these very odd looking vegetables: They are bitter gourds, but a tad smaller and a whole lot spikier than the Chinese ones I'm used to seeing. They look really really good, and I wanted to get some but alas, we're planning the Tuna Mornay casserole tonight and bitter gourd just doesn't quite go with that. Another day perhaps. The lunch is served in simple styrofoam container, which utterly belies the princely feast contained within: Oh baby! For $4.50, you can eat like a king. There's chicken curry, peas and paneer in a (different tasting) curry sauce, lentil curry (different flavor again), basmati rice, with shallots, mango and hot chillies on the side, and as if that's not enough, a nice warm piece of pratha. The style is a lot more Indian home-cooking, in my opinion. The curries are not as rich (or heavy with ghee) as what I've seen at Indian restaurants. The flavors are straightforward, but comforting and satisfying nonetheless. As you probably know by now, I'm a greedy pig, so I ordered a samosa as well: I have a suspicion that their samosas weren't "home-made" like their lunches, but came from somewhere else. They are saltier and a lot spicier than the curries. I've had very enjoyable Indian sweets before, and I thought it's about time to treat myself to it again. These came from Rajbhog Sweets, in Flushing, NY (that's what the label says). I have absolutely no clue what each one of them is called. I could fit only two in after that heavy lunch -- they are pretty rich -- but they taste predominantly of coconut. That's in contrast to those I got from Moghul Express in Edison, NJ a couple of months ago, which tasted more of pistachios. The coconut theme is surprising as I would've equated that more with Southern Indian cuisine. From the label, I get the impression that Rajbhog specializes in Bengali sweets. If memory serves, Bengal is in Northern India. But heck, I am certainly no expert on Indian food. I just eat the stuff, dude!

Thanks! That's a very good question. (Whenever I say that, it means that I don't know the answer ). My mum has always taken the heads off, and she takes the guts out also. Congee, did you take out the guts out of those achovies? And you can also buy those achovies without the heads, so I just assumed... Maybe someone more knowledgeable than I can shed some light. Is it possible that there might be more mercury in the heads? I'm grasping here...

Ok folks, I'm sorry that you have to witness this. I'm going to show you what I had for breakfast. General Mill's Fiber One bran cereal One serving has 57% of your recommended daily fiber intake. 57%! I know what you're thinking, "are you out of your mind? How can anything with that much fiber taste any good?". Of course you're right. I could be eating the cardboard box the cereal comes in and won't know the difference. How do I get it down, I hear you ask. Mix it with cocoa puffs! Now it's more tolerable. Hey, the wild man needs his fiber, and he will stop at nothing to get it! Incidentally, the cocoa puffs are the new-fangled 75% less sugar type. It still tastes just as sweet because they use Splenda (sucralose) in place of the sugar. Bran cereal with cocoa puffs. Enjoy!

Hey, I learn from the best, right Yetti? If the camera thinks the peach is pornographic, who am I to argue? All I do is press the shutter. Transparent: I'm not a violator of peaches. This peach happens to be the "freestone" variety (as opposed to clingstone), so it separates easily once you cut it in half. One half gets the pit, the other doesn't. Works as a wishbone for vegetarians. helenjp: let me guess... would the Wild Man now by any chance be a valued resource in the New Zealand horse racing industry?

bleudauvergne: I only ever eat the century eggs with congee, never with anything else. It has become a force of habit. If I have dim sum, I'm compelled to order "pei dan sau yok jok" or congee with pork and century egg. It's like I was hypnotized and the hypnotist has forgotten to snap me out of it. SG-: I can only speak for Sarawak, I know very little about Sabah food. Apparently they make a killer buffalo soup noodle there but I've never had it. I think Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia in general have much in common food-wise, but there are certain dishes that you can only find in Sarawak. These unique dishes are either Dayak-influenced (the Dayak are the people who are indigenous to Sarawak and Borneo), like whole pig barbequed in a hole in the ground and Umai; or influenced by the predominance of the Foochow immigrants in Sibu and Bintulu, like "kampua mien", a pork lard noodle that is the breakfast staple of every foochow I know. Umai and Laksa recipes will be posted with the pictures, I promise. misgabi: Oh, I totally forgot about the pineapple! Thanks for reminding me. I wonder how they could fit so much inside a bun! Believe it or not, the things I miss most about Melbourne is this place you could go for congee at 3 am. Even at that time the place would be packed! Abra: Mrs Laksa has just signed up for her own eGullet account. She's very protective of her recipes, so I'd better let her post it herself. helenjp: that is the strangest thing I've heard! Your friend might well be the original Wild Man of Borneo.

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement. I am going to get around to all the questions. First, let me show you what I had for dinner. The country pork ribs have been marinating in plum sauce, soy sauce, both light and dark, shaoxing wine and sugar for 24 hours. The marinade is on the sweet side, but you could use less sugar or leave it out altogether to suit your taste. After that, it's into a 450 F oven for about half an hour on a tray or rack so the liquid will drain off. Turn them over and brown the other side under the broiler for the last 10 mins. Mrs Laksa made a dipping sauce from cincalok (pronounced like chin-char-lock), a Malaysian sauce made from fermented tiny baby shrimps. The dipping sauce recipe: 4 tablespoons cincalok 1 shallots, sliced finely juice from 1 lime sliced Thai chillies Cincalok is powerful stuff, incredibly pungent and salty, strong enough to ward off evil spirits, I firmly believe. It's a taste I am yet to conquer, I'm sad to report, but Mrs Laksa always keeps a bottle close by. A cucumber salad made from thinly shaved cucumber slices and dressed in mirin, sugar, light soy, salt, chillies and sesame oil rounds off the meal: For dessert, a ripe and juicy piece of fruit:

So I came home today from work and... WHAT IS THAT SMELL? Mrs Laksa has been following this blog too, and she's, as usual, one step ahead of me. Here's what I caught her doing: Snipping heads off dried achovies. Boy, these little fishies are rather pungent. It's all gonna be worth it though when we fry them up. Actually, you can buy these already de-headed (be-headed?). In case you haven't already noticed, this blog may not be to your liking if you're a tad squemish. Ok, if there are enough complaints, I will stop with the gross pictures. Truth be told, I get a perverse kick out of grossing people out. I have kickboxing class three nights a week. Before class, I usually eat a little snack to stave off the hunger pangs until dinnertime. Today's snack is boiled peanuts. These were raw peanuts boiled for something like 3 hours in salted water, until they are nice and mushy. Boiled nuts are pretty common in Malaysia, and I hear, also appreciated in the South. Gotta rush to my class now.

I believe there exists an urban myth that century eggs are made with horse urine. Does anyone know if that's true?

I am at your service, my liege. I just happen to have some raw ikan bilis (dried achovies) in the fridge. Watch this space closely for fried ikan bilis.

Abra, what were you doing in Banjarmasin? I actually spent 6 months of my life in Banjarmasin when I was around 8 or 9. My dad worked in the timber industry, and he went frequently to Banjarmasin to buy timber. I have limited but lasting memories of the time there. I had my first taste of frogs legs in Banjarmasin. I remember there was a lot of fresh seafood there. I wish I could remember more. Is Sarawak pepper difficult to get in the States? Pepper and cocoa are Sarawak's two main exports, if you ignore the wild men of Borneo.

Century eggs are duck eggs that are preserved in charcoal and lime, apparently. (Isn't google great?) We bought ours from a store. I think most people don't take the trouble to make them as the commercially available ones are pretty good. Dejah's blog from a couple of week ago had a pastry item made with century egg. Our rice cooker is non-stick but our stock pot isn't. The hardest part about making congee is the constant stirring so the rice doesn't stick to the pot. Ok, let me confess now to cheating and taking short-cuts, just to get it out of the way.

If anyone reports a gas leak near Prospect Street in Wappingers Falls, feel free to ignore it as it's probably just me cracking open a durian. Thankfully, within 10 miles of our apt. there's a Thai grocer, where I usually get my durian and Banh Mi, a Taiwanese grocer, and an Indian grocery that does a roaring lunch box trade, popular with many from my office. Believe it or not, Super Stop and Shop, a large chain grocer here in the North East, at one time had two durians in ther fruit dept.

I'll post the BBQ pork recipe with the pictures later tonight. Frozen bananas are unknown in the jungles of Borneo because we don't have electricity yet. The other orang-utans, those who've ventured nearer to the cities, speak of frozen bananas and banana daiquiri sometimes but I don't know whether to believe them or not.

Lunch is served! Mrs Laksa cooked congee (rice gruel?) with ground pork loosely shaped into balls. The preserved bamboo shoots in hot chili oil on top is my own touch. I normally have lunch in the office but since Mrs Laksa is cooking something special today, I drove all of 5 miles home. The pork balls were seasoned with white pepper, ginger powder, salt and light soy. Thinly sliced fresh ginger root, sesame oil, white pepper, salt, and sliced reconstituted shiitake went into the congee. She cooked everything in the rice cooker. Half a pound of ground pork to 1 cup of rice. I think the requirement is 7 times as much water as rice. Everything else is agak-agak, or Malaysian for "approximate/to taste". If you think black egg is unnatural, LOOK AWAY NOW! Ahh... century egg. It's like sulphurous butter encased in sulphurous black jelly. With a little bit of soy, it goes great with congee. My parents forced me to eat it as a kid, and now I eat it because I cannot not eat it. I've been trained to be a ruthless eating machine. When I have kids, I'm gonna force them to eat it too! It's my obligation as a Chinese.