Malaysian
One of my most enduring memories of going to the cinema in the old days was the quick detour after the ticket counter to the peanut man standing at one corner of the entrance. This was long before the advent of the modern concession stand with its soda machine and prepackaged snack food. Peanut man [...]
Round or oval eggplants really do resemble their namesake. The name eggplant was apparently given by the Europeans in the eighteenth century because the variety they knew then had fruits whose shape, size, and color looked like goose eggs. In Malaysia, these round eggplants are known as Indian eggplants or brinjals, used mainly in curries [...]
The two most evocative flavors of the tropics are coconut and pandan (screwpine). Combine them together into a single sweet confection and you have a “blockbuster” dessert! Just a couple pieces of this candy with your cuppa will satisfy any sweet tooth, that is if you can stop yourself from reaching for a another and [...]
In every language there are always some unique words that convey highly expressive notions about food and cultural nuances all at once. In the Malay language, rojak fulfills this down to a T. Blessed with an abundance of tropical fruits and vegetables, Malaysians often take a variety of ingredients and mix them together into a [...]
Culinary history was changed forever when someone long ago in China introduced rice to wok! The humble steamed rice, tossed with seasoning (normally soy sauce) and oil, seared with the intense heat from the frying pan, transforms into a dish worthy of kings. There was even an episode of Iron Chef where the Japanese chef [...]
Hokkien hae mee or mee yoke as it is called in Kuala Lumpur originated from Penang, where it is simply known as Hokkien mee. This noodle soup has since become popular in the other urban centers in Peninsula Malaysia. As the name suggests, this delectable dish has its roots in the maritime Hokkien (Fujianese) cities [...]
When I first planned my trip to Malaysia, I had every intention of just staying with the family in the Klang Valley – the large urban corridor that forms the Kuala Lumpur metropolitan area. I was pleasantly surprised when my brother offered to drive me 200 miles up the peninsula to the island of Penang. [...]
Continue reading about Malaysia Revisited Part 3 – Penang and a Little Bit of Ipoh
