The sights and smell of Spring

Spring has arrived to Tokyo, and I'm happy for the warmer weather. One of the good things about living further south than where we were last year (in the Noto, Ishikawa-ken) is that spring arrives a couple of weeks earlier. The sakura (cherry) trees are in full bloom right now, and these fleeting blossoms will only last for a week before they start to fall.

Last Saturday we had gorgeous weather and we took a leisurely walk over to the East Garden of the Imperial Palace. The Otemon Gate (the east entrance to the garden)) is located west of Tokyo Station, and it took us only about 35 minutes to get there on foot from our apartment. The whole imperial area is surrounded by a moat, and one of the sakura trees growing on the banks of the moat were beginning to blossom. No surprise then that there was a crowd of Japanese people armed with cameras crowding this tree to get a shot of one of the few fully-bloomed sakura blossoms on that tree. I myself felt pretty silly as I poised my camera to take a shot of these flowers because only moments before I was chuckling at the crowd who did exactly what I was doing.

The moat and entrance to the Imperial East Garden; cherry blossom:


The East garden itself was nothing spectacular - certainly we have been spoilt by having lived in Ishikawa prefecture which is the home of Kenrokuen, touted as one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. (All the Japanese gardens we've seen so far have paled in comparison to the beautiful Kenrokuen.) There were many flowering plants and trees in the Imperial East Garden, although I'm certain the spring blossoms around my previous abode in the inaka (countryside) Noto were far more abundant and beautiful than those in this garden.

I am no flower expert, but I can certainly enjoy the sights of beautiful flowers. Indeed I'm ashamed to say that I cannot differenciate between some types of ume (plum), momo (peach) and sakura blossoms except for the timing of when they bloom respectively. Nonetheless, I hope you can get a taste of how spring looks like in Japan from the following shots.

Pink flowers:


Yellow flowers. Can you spot a bug in the daffodil shot?


Spring vacation started this week and my friend Kim from the Noto is visiting Tokyo for a week, which explains my lack of posting on my journal this week. Hopefully I will be posting more regularly next week.

Easter Baking: Hot Cross Buns

Hot Cross Buns make their appearances in Australian supermarkets and bakeries every year around Easter time. Perhaps it's an English/Australian thing because Rob and I recently discovered that our American colleagues and friends don't really know what hot cross buns are, although they are very familiar with the song. Honestly, I hadn't heard of the poem until I did some searching for the recipe. Traditionally it is a spicy, fruity bread with a cross painted on the top of the bun, but more recently the chocolate types are gaining popularity in Australia. Anyway, we missed eating hot cross buns last year, so this year I decided to bake a batch so we don't feel so far away from home. I think it turned out pretty well considering I used only cinammon and nutmeg for the spices (most recipes call for "mixed spices" which includes allspice and perhaps a few other spices). I am familiar with baking yeasted bread by hand, so a lot of the method are from intuition. Nevertheless, it is still a very easy recipe to follow, so maybe you can have some home-baked hot cross buns next Easter!

Hot Cross Buns

Makes a batch of 12 buns

Ingredients

Dough
3 cups (425g) flour
2 teaspoons (6g) dry active yeast or breadmaker yeast
1/4 cup (45g) caster sugar
2-3 teaspoons ground spice (cinammon, nutmeg, allspice)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (120g) dried fruits (traditionally, currants are used but I used sultanas)
1 cup (200mL) warm milk
2 tablespoons (35g) butter
1 egg

Flour paste for the cross
1/2 cup (75g) plain flour
1/3 cup (80mL) water

Glaze
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar

Method

If using dry active yeast, it needs to 'bloom' in some sugar and warm water solution (no hotter than what your hand can handle) for 10minutes.until it's frothy. If using breadmaker yeast, you can just incorporate it into the dry mix.

1) Heat the milk gently in a saucepan over medium heat until milk is warm enough to melt the butter. Melt the butter in the warm milk.
2) Measure and mix all the dry ingredients (flour, breadmaker yeast (if using), sugar, spice, salt and dried fruits) together.
3) Add the warm milk mixture and the egg to the flour mix and mix until dough comes together. Use floured hands to finish mixing to form a soft dough.
4) Knead the dough for 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth. (At this stage, add more flour if the dough is too wet, or add more water if the dough is too dry.)
5) Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set the bowl in a warm, draught-free place (I put it in my oven) for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until dough doubles in size.
6) After proofing, punch the dough down to expel the air, and divide into 12 even portions.
7) Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Shape each portion into a ball and place in the lined tray about 1cm apart. Set the tray aside in a draught-free place for 30minutes for its final rising.
8) In the meantime, preheat the oven to 200degC and make the flour paste by mixing the flour and water in a bowl until smooth. Add more water if paste is too thick. Spoon into a ziplock bag and snip off a corner of the bag. Pipe flour paste over tops of buns to form crosses.
9) Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25minutes until the buns are done. When they're ready, the buns will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
10) Make the sugar glaze by dissolving the sugar in hot water. Brush the tops of the buns with the glaze while the buns are still warm.

The buns are best when fresh out of the oven. You can freeze some for later.

Chinese @ Manchinro Honten, Yokohama

On our (not so) recent visit to Yokohama, we had lunch in Chuugakai (Chinatown). There were plenty of restaurants to choose from along the sides of the main street of Chinatown, but we wanted somewhere that served reliably good Chinese food. We only had my Tokyo Lonely Planet Guide (LPG) and its dining recommendations to go with, so we selected Manchinro Honten which is one of Yokohama Chuugakai's oldest and most popular Cantonese restaurants. According to the LPG the restaurant serves "delicacies prepared by a respected Hong Kong chef". According to this website, the restaurant employs "ten first-class chefs from Hong Kong". We had a Hong Kong expat resident in our midst, so this meal could at least prove interesting.

And popular, it is. We walked in the restaurant around 12:30pm with no reservations, and not surprisingly we were told that the restaurant was full and that we ought to make a booking for 2pm. Which is not too bad - we could wander down the street and snack on nikuman (steamed meat buns) in the meantime. I needed a toilet break, so I took the liberty at using the restaurant's swanky facility while Rob and his aunt waited for me on the sofas in foyer. When I came out, we were told that there was a table ready for us. Bargain! We didn't have to wait 2 hours for lunch after all!

The view of the restaurant from my seat:


Manchinro Honten is a beautifully decorated restaurant that is set out to impress. Polished wooden floor, beautiful porcelain on display, and there was even a pianist who was just finishing up his piece as we walked in. It is large, spacious with a luxurious ambience. This is certainly an upperclass dining establishment. Service was great, and considering the size of the restaurant, we didn't have any trouble getting the waiter's attention when we required it.

We did, however, had trouble deciding what to eat. I saw some familiar dishes but many of the photos of the dishes on the menu were more pretty than the Chinese fare that I'm used to. Rob's aunt was more than happy to let us choose all the dishes so we chose dishes using the basic structure of soup, carbs, red meat and seafood. They were all delicious, and for the first time regarding Chinese food served to me in Japan, I had no complaints. As to be expected, the flavours of each dish were more subtle than the more authentic Cantonese food I'm used to, but I understand that majority of the restaurant's clientele are Japanese and hence the need to modify the food. There were additional spices and condiments on the table to season the food to your liking.

The soup was Szechuan Soup, which wasn't as sour or spicy as many I've had, but still quite delicious (Rob, who is not a fan of Szechuan soup, even thought it was good). It was thick, eggy with meat, tofu and clear noodles. The carb was savoury Glutinous Rice, which was sufficiently sticky and deliciously flavoured from the small pieces of lap cheong (Chinese sausage).

Szechuan Soup and Glutinous Rice:


We ordered Beef in Special Sauce and it was Rob's and his aunt's favourite dish of the meal. The beef was tender, and the sauce was both savoury and sweet without being too cloying. It was pretty good, even for a non-red meat person like me. The seafood dish of the meal was a Crabmeat Parcel wrapped with Lettuce and served with green leafies and a light eggwhite sauce. It was a very mild-flavoured dish, which was a good thing because it allowed the subtle taste of the crabmeat to come through the dish. It tasted very healthy.

Beef in Special Sauce; and the Crabmeat Parcel:


We shared two desserts: Anmitsu (a popular Japanese dessert with jelly, anko, fruits and gyuhi) and Mango Pudding with Mango and Coconut Sauce. Even though Anmitsu was clearly not a Chinese-style dessert, none of us had eaten this sweet and I had heard enough about anmitsu to want to try it. It was delicious, and the syrup was not too sweet however the anko was almost too sweet. Fruits included a slice of fuji apple and apricots, and the gyuhi (mochi-like white thing) was yummy! There was even a scoop of chocolate ice cream in the ensemble. The Mango Pudding was nice and light, almost mousse-like and unlike the dense and heavy mango pudding that we're used to. We couldn't really taste the coconut in the sauce because the mango flavour dominated the dessert. I'm a big fan of Asian-style desserts because most of them are light which is a nice way to end a heavy meal (as is often the case with Chinese food).

Anmitsu and Mango Pudding:


Overall it was a lovely meal. The total bill for the three of us came to a bit more than 11,000yen (~AU$110), which is a lot more than I'd usually pay for Chinese food, but I thought the service, the presentation and the taste of the food were worth the price. I enjoyed the meal, but I do miss the no-fuss (read: messy), big flavoured Chinese fare that I'm used to.

Spanish-style Pork with Olives

Pork is the closest thing to red meat that I like to cook and eat. I'll eat beef and may tolerate eating lamb depending on how it's prepared, but generally I don't cook red meat at home. I cook quite a bit with pork, because I'm Chinese, and pork is "meat" for the Chinese (by no coincidence, the Chinese word for meat means pork and I believe this extends to all the dialects in the Chinese language). No, actually, it's one of the few ways for me to get iron into my iron-deficient body. Anyway, I digress.

The pork dishes I cook are limited to the Asian category eg sweet and sour, hoisin, teriyaki, curry. I was yearning to do something different with the last pack of pork I bought, yet I don't know of many (if any) non-Asian cultures that utilise pork in their cooking. So I turned to the internet for some recipe ideas, and whilst browsing through the pork recipes, I came across a recipe for "Spanish Pork". Intrigued, I took a closer look and saw that it uses olives, which undoubtedly gave the dish that Mediterranean flavour. I looked at several other results, and saw that some recipes used shanks whilst others used bite-sized pieces of pork; some called it a braise, others called it a stew; some used potatoes, others use beans; and most use olives, yet at least one omitted olives. Obviously ingredients and quantities varied depending on which recipe you looked at, so I just got the basic idea of what ingredients would make the dish Spanish, and went from there.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the olives complemented the pork. It's definitely a nice change from the Asian-style pork dishes I'm used to cooking. I used green olives stuffed with pimentos because we had some leftover in the fridge from making a quick pizza on the weekend, but any preferred types of olives can be used. This dish has a lot of taste due to the spices and olives, and the stewing/braising period melds all the ingredients together nicely. Using wine (Sherry) would add an extra depth to the dish. This pork dish is versatile and great with rice, mashed potatoes, couscous and even pasta. This dish is better the next day and the day after because time allows all the flavours to develop and meld together. It also freezes well.

Spanish Pork

Ingredients

750g pork, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 teaspoons ground paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon vinegar (I used rice vinegar)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
chopped chilli, to taste
1/2 cup Sherry (optional)
1x400g can of diced tomatoes
1x400g can of garbanzo beans (i.e. chickpeas), drained
enough water to cover
60g of pimento-stuffed green olives
1 teaspoon sugar (to cut the tomatoes' acidity)
salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Marinate the pork with 1 teaspoon paprika, cumin, vinegar, salt and pepper for a few hours (overnight preferably).
2. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, the remainder paprika and chilli and stirfry for a minute or so until fragrant.
3. Turn up the heat and add the marinated pork to the pot to brown, constantly stirring and scraping up the browned bits from the pot's bottom. This will take a couple of minutes - take care not to burn.
4. Add the diced tomatoes, sherry (if using) and chickpeas to the pot, and more water if necessary to cover the contents. Bring to a boil then add the olives.
5. Turn down the heat to a simmer, cover the pot and let it simmer away for about 1 hour.
6. Serve with rice, potatoes, couscous or pasta.

Yokohama sights and rides

I am a bit behind in writing entries for my photos, and this outing to Yokohama occured almost three weeks ago shortly after we arrived back in Tokyo from our trip to Malaysia and Perth. Rob's aunt, who is a long-time expat in Hong Kong, was in Tokyo for some work-related event that occurs annually. This is her fifth year for her annual Tokyo trip, so she hardly needed any tour guides to show her around (we felt like more useful hosts when she visited us in the inaka (rural) Noto last year). In fact, she has been to more places in Tokyo than us, but then we do suffer from the we-live-here-so-we-can-visit-anytime-we-want syndrome. She hasn't yet been to Yokohama in the adjacent Kanagawa prefecture, and we ourselves have been meaning to pay a visit for awhile now, so we hopped on the train and took the 25 minute ride south of Tokyo into Yokohama to do some exploring together.

Chuukagai (Chinatown)

Our first stop was Chinatown which is actually a 5-minute train ride away from the main Yokohama station. It's the biggest Chinatown in Japan, and definitely larger than Kobe's Nankinmachi (Chinatown). Since it was the weekend, the streets were very crowded with locals, tourists and vendors alike. There were many stalls selling nikuman (steamed meat buns much like my beloved bao), gyoza (dumplings), roasted chestnuts and many sweet snacks. We had some decent Chinese food for lunch at a Chinese restaurant - not the best Chinese food we've ever had, but MUCH better than our previous experiences with Chinese food in Japan. Even Rob's aunt, who is a Hong Kong resident, approved of the food. After lunch, we found room in our stomachs to snack on some delicious egg tarts and deep fried sesame balls bought off some of the street vendors. We came across a small shop selling Chinese cooking wares, and I bought my very first iron wok and spatula.

Gate at the entrance to Chinatown: the kanji reads "Chuukagai" (from right to left, of course) which means "Chinatown" in Japanese; and the crowded street:


Landmark Tower

With our stomachs filled, we headed towards the Minato Mirai 21 district in Yokohama to visit the Landmark Tower, the tallest building in all of Japan. It is in the same area as the subway station, but I thought it was quite a bit of a trek to get to the tower from the station. From subway level, we rode on an escalator that spanned three storeys to get to ground level. Then we needed to cross over to the adjacent building where we encountered a large and elaborate steel art structure in between the two buildings.

The long escalator ride; and the strange steel art structure:


View of the Landmark Tower from ground level:


The tower stands at 295.8m, providing an excellent view of the vast city, and you can even see some Tokyo buildings from this height. On a clear day Mt. Fuji can be seen, but unfortunately for us, it was quite a hazy day. Incidentally, this tower has the world's second fastest elevator, reaching up to 12.5m/s or 45km/hr! We weren't in the elevator very long at all before we reached our destination at the top! On the observation level, you can get a 360deg view, but the nicest view was of the harbourside development of the Minato Mirai 21 district. I've manually stitched together a panorama of this view from three separate shots to give an idea of the view of the harbour. If you squint towards the bottom right of the panorama, you can see the Cosmo Clock 21 Ferris Wheel that we rode on later.



Ferris Wheel

The Cosmo Clock 21 is one of the largest ferris wheels in the world (it was the largest when it was built in 1989). It stands 112m tall, which I think is a mere 0.5m shorter than the height of the giant ferris wheel that we rode in Tempozan Harbour (Osaka). It has a digital clock attached to the wheel, and hence the name. It was a pleasant ride post-sunset when the city lights were just beginning to come on.

The view of the wheel, and the view from the top of the wheel:


It was a good trip, and we'll probably visit Yokohama again to check out the other things that we didn't have the time to do.

Malaysian food - Part 5: Rice Dumplings and Buns

This is the final part on my spiel on Malaysian food, and the honour goes to dumplings and buns simply because they were the very last things we ate before our flight to Perth. We had a few hours between landing in Kuala Lumpur from Langkawi and flying out from KL to Perth, and my dad was kind enough to bring our additional luggage and drive us the 20minutes distance between the two airport terminals. I requested that he brought some yummy food for our last meal in Malaysia (with specific requests for these two items), and was it ever yummy!

The dumpling I'm talking about is a Chinese Rice Dumpling known in Malaysia as Chang, or Bak Chang if they contain meat (bak means pork in Hokkien). (In Mandarin it is called Zongzi.) It is made of glutinous rice stuffed with delicious fillings, wrapped in bamboo leaves and then boiled. The filling in bak chang is usually a delicious combination of pork belly, Chinese mushrooms, dried shrimps, salted duck egg yolk, and chestnuts. Traditionally it is made during the Dragon Boat Festival, but I'm pretty sure that in Malaysia chang is usually available most of the time because as a kid, I used to enjoy chang regularly - something that discontinued when we migrated to Australia. It is quite a tedious and long process to make bak chang, as I found out from my elder sister who tried to learn making it from my Nonya grandmother before we moved to Australia. A search on the internet for recipes also reveal that making bak chang indeed involves a long and arduous process - here's one recipe to give an idea. It must feel rewarding after making a successful batch of bak chang.

Bak Chang wrapped in bamboo leaves, and how it looks like unwrapped. Unfortunately eating chang without plate and utensils is pretty messy and sticky so once I started eating it I couldn't take additional photos (it was already pretty tricky trying to take a shot of the chang with greasy fingers after I'd unwrapped it).


I'm sure many are familiar with Bao (Chinese buns) from eating (or at least sighting) Cha Siu Bao during a dimsum/yumcha meal at a Chinese restaurant. However, these ones that I love eating are different and more superior than the popular cha siu bao. I know them as Da Bao (da means "big") and my favourite ones are filled pork, half a boiled egg and the usual seasonings and vegetables. I remember eating them for breakfast or lunch in my dad's car during long car trips travelling interstates with my family when I was a kid in Malaysia. And this one was as good as the ones in my memory. Mmm, delicious.

A whole bao, and its meat filling:



Overall, we had a great time in Malaysia, indulging in perhaps far too much delicious Malaysian food. I think it'll be awhile before we start craving good Malaysian food again. I hope that the photos and descriptions in the past five entries is a good introduction to those who are not familiar with Malaysian food. This is but a peek into the vast variety of food that is known as Malaysian cuisine - I wish our stay in Malaysia was longer so that I could tell you more!

Malaysian food - Part 4: Food in Langkawi

For our 2-day stay in Langkawi, I mostly relied on the Langkawi wikitravel page for ideas on where to eat. We stayed at a beachside motel on Pantai Cenang, and we remained in this area for the duration of our stay. We wanted to try out the 'relax-on-the-beach' kinda holiday, and I can't say I like this mode too much - I like keeping busy and doing things while travelling! The beach was great - white sand and clear water - although the tiny jellyfish in the water on our second day wasn't all too pleasant!

Pantai Cenang is Langkawi's most popular beach, and there are many eateries and restaurants lining the road that runs along the beach. Perhaps it was because of the Chinese New Year festivities that a few dining places we were interested in were closed. Never mind though, because the aforementioned list gave us many more to choose from.

Beach Garden Resort

This was the most western-style and hence the most expensive meal we had during this trip to Malaysia. When I say expensive, I mean expensive in Malaysian standards. This resort is managed by a German guy, so it was catered more towards foreigners' tastes rather than the locals' tastes, serving upscale Western and (westernised-)Malaysian dishes with service and prices to match. Indeed, I think I was the only Asian customer in the dining area! It is a beachside restaurant, so it was nice to enjoy the sand in between our toes, savour the sunset and eat our dinner.

Enjoying the view of the sunset while sipping our freshly-juiced watermelon and pineapple juice:


The menu featured some Chinese New Year specials including yeesang, a raw fish salad originating from Singapore and eaten for good luck during Chinese New Year. Obviously this wasn't the traditional version, but a rather prettied-up dish interestingly garnished with endives. I can't remember the type of fish that was used, but I remembered it tasted surprisingly fresh. The yeesang wasn't a filling dish, but it was a nice and refreshing change from all the greasy and bold tasting food we'd been eating previously. Rob ordered a fish curry that was served with coconut rice, and presentation points must be given to the chef because curry with rice aren't exactly the most elegant dishes to put together. It was very tasty, but not Malaysian enough - the rice could use with more coconut milk for the fragrance, and we wished there was more curry liquid.

Yeesang and the fish curry:


The bill came to about RM90 (~AU$30 or 3000yen) which is really not that expensive, but we know that we could have had a far more satisfying and tasty meal for less than half that amount.

Rafi's Place

This un-named little place wasn't far from our motel, sandwiched between two pretty big and well-signed restaurants (Restoran Aliah and Tomato Nasi Kandar). If not for the mention of Rafi's Place on the wikitravel page, we would have not even noticed this shack. We actually came here for brunch in search of some good Nasi Lemak, but we were told by Rafi at 11am that they'd completely sold out of nasi lemak - a good sign that his nasi lemak is indeed good. Not to worry, we had plenty of other things to choose from the menu which featured some western-styled breakfasts like eggs on toast as well as many Malay and Thai dishes. Rafi is a very friendly and chatty guy, and he told us that his wife is from Thailand so she made good Thai food. When I asked why he doesn't have any signboards up on the outside of his shack, he said that he did not want his place to get too much business. He said that even now he is more busy than he'd like to be.

We asked Rafi for recommendations, and he happily recommended dishes after asking for our preferences (I wanted tom yum (a Thai spicy and sour soup) and hubby wanted something spicy). Unfortunately I don't remember the exact names of the dishes, but I do remember that they were very tasty with quite a spicy kick! Mine was a fish soup that was similar to tom yum, and Rob's order was a spicy chicken dish.

My spicy and sour fish soup, and hubby's spicy chicken:


Food was quite cheap, and we paid about RM 15 which also included drinks.

Restoran Haji Ramli

The main draw of this place for us was the Ikan Bakar, the name literally meaning "burnt fish". Ikan bakar is whole fish that has been marinated in spices and belacan, wrapped in banana leaf and then grilled over charcoal fire. It is a classic Malay dish and is a popular dish featured at many of the seafood restaurants along Pantai Cenang. Haji Ramli is quite a big restaurant with an adjacent bbq shack with a variety of fresh fish on ice on display for the customers who wish to order ikan bakar. Seafood and ikan bakar are available from 3pm at Haji Ramli.

The Ikan Bakar shack:


We chose a type of fish called siakap (sea perch) for the ikan bakar and it was so good! The outer crust was crispy with spices yet the flesh had the moistness of a perfectly cooked fish. We also ordered Tom Yum with prawns, Kang Kung Belacan (water spinach with chilli shrimp paste) and Kailan Udang (Chinese kale with prawns). The tom yum was great, the kang kung was very nice (it's one of my favourite vegetables which I can't find in Japan! Kang kung belacan is the best way to eat the vege, in my opinion) and the kailan dish paled in comparison to the kang kung. It was all good though, and very affordable. Everything was under RM50 (~AU$17 or 1700yen) and we both agreed that this meal was far more satisfying for the soul and tastebuds than the previous night's dinner was at the Beach Garden Resort.

Our drinks - tomato juice and longan; and the delicious ikan bakar:


Tom yum and the vegetable dishes (kangkung in the foreground, kailan in the background):


Miscellaneous eats

We went in search for Nasi Lemak again for breakfast a few hours before our flight out of Langkawi, and we found many stalls and eateries selling packets of pre-made nasi lemak for RM1 (~AU$0.33 or 33yen). A very cheap and popular breakfast amongst the locals. It was also our last chance for some good Ice Kacang which was interestingly flavoured with strips of preserved nutmeg, a specialty of Penang. We also enjoyed a refreshing drink from a young coconut.

A packet of nasi lemak for RM1:


Ice kacang and young coconut drink:


All in all, it was good eats in Langkawi!

Butterflies love Rob

The butterflies at Penang Butterfly Farm could not keep their feet off Rob and his bright red t-shirt. I thought this photo was too amusing not to post.

Rob standing very still in an awkward pose (he was looking at a stick insect when the butterfly landed on him) so as not to scare the butterfly away until I'd taken a few shots!


We had a great time at the butterfly farm, and I think Rob saw more exotic butterflies and insects (particularly the variety of stick insects) in that one place that he had ever seen in his entire life.

Malaysian food - Part 3: Penang eats

After spending a couple of days with family in KL, we headed to Penang for an overnight stay. My family used to live in Johor Bahru, which is at the southern tip of West Malaysia (so close to Singapore) so we hardly ever made the 8+ hour drive to Penang to visit my uncle (mum's eldest bro) and his family. The last time I was in Penang was more than 15 years ago for a family reunion shortly before my family migrated to Australia. This uncle (the same one who single-handedly cooked all of the dishes for the homecooked spread during our most recent visit) and his wife graciously spent a whole day driving and bringing us around to enjoy the gastronomical delights of Penang. And did we eat! I'm still amazed at just how much food we managed to stuff in a single day! My uncle and auntie brought us to the best hawker eateries and stalls in Penang, but unfortunately I do not know the precise location of each place. Don't worry though - it's hard to go wrong with food in Penang. I had my camera with me so this is a great way to introduce the wonderful food you can expect to enjoy in Malaysia (and according to my uncle, the best versions are found in Penang).

Another thing about Malaysian food is how cheap they are. Most of the dishes listed below cost around RM 3 (~AU$1 or 100 yen).

Main and side dishes

Char Kuay Teow - fried flat rice noodles. Usually with seafood, various meat, dark and light soy sauce, lots of oil and beansprouts. If you're lucky you can get ones with seeham (cockles, a type of strong-tasting shellfish). These noodles are very tasty, and one of Rob's favourite Malaysian food.



Hor Fun - this is kuay teow noodles with thick egg sauce. Usually comes with seafood, various meat and leafy greens, and you must stir and mix all the ingredients and sauce before eating. This is one of my favourite food especially when it's made with fresh noodles. Not as greasy as Char Kuay Teow. By the way, kuey teow noodles are my all-time favourite type of noodles, especially the fresh ones. Unfortunately I can't buy dried or fresh kuey teow in Japan.

Horfun before and after mixing:


Popiah - a type of spring roll filled with bang kuang (a type of turnip) and various vegetables. Very healthy too.

Chee Cheong Fun - a type of rice noodle roll served with a dark and thick salty-sweet sauce (and chilli sauce if requested). I remember eating this for breakfast when I was a kid on Saturday mornings after a trip to the hawker stalls. It's one of my favourite food from childhood.

Popiah and Chee Cheong Fun:


Assam Laksa - noodles in a spicy and sour fish soup of Nonya origin. The soup is made with assam, which is the Malay word for tamarind. Laksa is a very popular noodle dish and there are many variations of laksa depending on the region. Laksa is also one of Rob's favourite Malaysian food although he has a preference for the coconut-based curry laksa.

Hokkien Mee in Penang is basically what is known to many non-Malaysians as Prawn Noodle Soup. It is what the English name suggests - noodles in a prawn-based broth. Ingredients include prawns, meat (pork and/or chicken), sliced heepia (fish cake), fish balls and boiled egg, usually garnished with deep fried shallots and spring onion and served with an extra dose of sambal belacan (spicy chilli sauce made with shrimp paste). Note that there are two types of Hokkien Mee, and depending on location, it could mean either the fried yellow noodles or the prawn noodle soup. To me, Hokkien Mee refers to the fried noodles, so imagine my surprise to find that Hokkien Mee in Penang refers to what I know as prawn noodle soup.

Assam Laksa and Hokkien Mee:


Nasi Kandar is a term that I was not familiar with, but I saw many references to this dish in Penang. When I asked my uncle and aunt what nasi kandar was, they answered by bringing us to a Nasi Kandar stall. These stalls are run by mamak (Indian-Muslims), and Nasi Kandar is a meal of rice served with a variety of curry dishes and sides. It is simple fast food since all the dishes are already prepared, but one of the advantages is the large variety of curry to choose from.

A Nasi Kandar stall, and a plate of nasi kandar:


Drinks and dessert

Cendol is a very popular drink made with coconut milk, pandan noodles and palm sugar. I remember when I was young, the cendol man would ride past our house every afternoon selling this delicious drink, and my sisters and I would occasionally sneak out to pay this man 50 cents for a cendol drink served in a mini plastic bag with a straw. The ones I've had since were usually served more sophisticatedly in a glass or bowl. It's a very nice and refreshing drink that also doubles as a dessert.

Cendol:


Ice Kacang is also known as ABC which is short for air batu campur - air means water, batu means stone and campur means to mix. The word kacang means beans and refers to the red (adzuki) beans used in this dessert. The base of Ice Kacang is usually made up of atap chee (young palm seeds), red beans, corn, grass jelly and cendol noodles, and then it is topped with a mound of shaved ice and drizzled with a generous amount of syrup and condensed milk. There are of course no rules, and a variety of other ingredients do make their way into this dessert such as nuts, fruits and ice cream.

Ice kacang with ice cream, and with fruits and ice cream:


Roti (bread)

I have given a more detailed explanation about Roti Canai and Murtabak in a recent post. The ones we had in Penang for brunch were quite a lot better than the ones we had in Kajang. We also ordered Roti Tisu (tissue bread) which is actually a sweet variation of roti canai pulled really thin, cooked on a hot plate until super-crispy, rolled into a tall structure and drizzled with condensed milk. It was a bit too sweet for me, but I wanted Rob to give it a try.

Roti Canai and Murtabak:


Roti Tissue - notice how tall it was! Beautiful but it makes for clumsy and messy eating: