Penang Asam Laksa

The tastiness of Penang's Asam Laksa is so widely known that many have traveled far and wide just to sample it.

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One dish that every tourist must try out when visiting Penang is the Penang Asam Laksa. It is available at many hawker stalls and eateries all throughout the island. Though all of them tout their asam laksa dish as the best, the most famous asam laksa stall in Penang is the one operating at the Air Itam market. Some believe that the dish may have originally been a fisherman's fare, as the main ingredient used are small and less favoured types of fishes.

The ingredients used in creating this tantalizing dish are simple and can be found almost anywhere. Garlic, lemongrass, fresh turmeric, shallots, chilli paste and belacan are all grounded into a paste before starting on the broth. Tamarind paste is then mixed with warm water, squeezed and sieved into a stock pot and brought to a boil. Vietnamese mint leaves, sugar, dried tamarind slices or locally known as asam keping, slices of torch ginger bud or bunga kantan and the ground paste of spices are added into the boiling broth. Cleaned whole mackerel fish is then added into the stock and boiled until cooked. The fish is then removed, set to cool before cleaning off the bones and flaking its meat. The broth is simmered to reduce and intensify the flavours. The mint leaves and dried tamarind slices are removed before putting in the flaked fish meat. It is usually served with thick rice noodles garnished with sliced cucumber, pineapples, onions, mint leaves and a spoonful of thick prawn paste.

Though the whole combination of the taste of gravy, noodles and its condiments blends very well together, it is the soup that most people love. So much so that there are certain places in Penang where fried spring rolls are sold together with the soup only, so that the consumers may dip the crispy spring rolls into the soup before it is eaten. It is not surprising to find that some of these dishes can also be found in these other states albeit a slight twist to the recipe. For instance, the laksa that is popular in Ipoh is very similar to the one in Penang except that the Ipoh laksa is slightly more sour and contains prawn paste in their gravy. Laksa Johor has only one thing in common with Penang Asam Laksa – the type of fish used, but differs in everything else.

It is apparent that the consumers do not mind what kind of noodles are used in a bowl of asam laksa so long as it is tasty. The fragrant aroma of the gravy that wafts to their nostrils, the anticipation of biting into that spoonful of noodles and finally slurping it all down with a huge dose of the tasty asam laksa is magical enough to transport them to another state of mind where nothing can come between them and their little bowl of heaven.

Durian

Reviled by some, worshiped by others, the one thing that is certain about the durian is that it there is absolutely nothing else like it on the face of the earth.

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Though the smell may be offensive, the flavour of the fruit itself is another thing entirely. Strong, bitter overtones soon give way to a seemingly limitless spread of smoother, sweeter flavours beneath: strawberry, custard, butterscotch, banana. As such, it is no wonder that many love incorporating the flesh of this king of fruits into other foods, be it cakes, pastries, desserts like cendol and ice kacang, sweets and even dishes like tempoyak, which is made from fermented flesh of a lower quality durian. As the fruit is seasonal, cakes and pastries using fresh durian are more expensive compared with others.

Much in the same way that wine or scotch appreciation becomes a lifelong and rewarding hobby for some, durian connoisseurs develop tastes for their own preferred varieties (or cultivars) of the fruit, and will travel to restaurants specializing in diverse durian menus to compare tastes and textures and to discover new, hidden subtleties and flavours. These days, durian farmers are beginning to realise the potential of earning extra income by offering durian lovers private tours of their farms to sample some of the freshly harvested durians. Certain farms offer accommodation as well as durian buffets to their visitors, letting them really go all out to enjoy the fruit that they love.

One interesting belief that many Chinese have is that the durian has properties which will 'warm' up the body. One way to counter-effect this is by drinking water poured into the empty shell of the durian. When the Malays say that someone 'mendapat durian runtuh', which literally translates into receiving a falling durian, it usually means that he/she encountered unexpected fortune. Another interesting fact is that the fruit usually falls during the night, as some believe that the fruit has eyes and will not fall during daytime when the farmers may be working the fields. Whatever your reaction to the durian may be, tasting the durian for the first time promises to be an unforgettable experience.

Cendol

This simple yet delicious local dessert has captured the hearts of many all over the country.

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Nothing quenches thirst like a refreshing bowl of cendol on a hot sunny day. The feel of ice shavings combined with creamy coconut milk and the sweetness of the palm sugar all melting into the ice slowly going down the parched throat is akin to being in heaven. This homegrown delicacy can be found anywhere in any state in Malaysia and has spawned a few variants over the years.

A normal serving of cendol will have shavings of ice and scoops of diluted coconut milk with bits of cooked dough dyed green in colour. It is made by pressing kneaded and coloured dough through a metal mould resembling a shredder into a bowl of water. These little noodle-like pieces of dough are then put into a pot of boiling water and cooked for a short while till fully cooked. Some traders mix these little pieces of dough into diluted coconut milk whereas others keep it aside on its own. The usual condiments that comes with a bowl of cendol are red beans and grass jelly. Depending on the location, it is not unusual to find glutinous rice, creamed corn and other types of jelly added into the dessert. It is then topped off with a generous drizzle of palm sugar to give it its signature sweetness.

Over time, creative businessmen have found ways of spicing up this seemingly ordinary dessert by adding and combining it with other ingredients. Imaginative traders have added additional items like ice cream or other titbits like sago or different types of jelly. There are others who would combine the cendol with another local delicacy known as ABC, an abbreviation of Air Batu Campur, which literally means mixed ice. This dessert has also been converted into an ice cream flavour as well. One of the more successful 'mergers' created is the durian cendol. This winning combination sees the inclusion of the sweet flesh from the king of fruits into the mixture. Together with the aroma and taste of the palm sugar, it gives this sweet concoction a somewhat bitter edge, making it just perfect when it hits the tongue. The creaminess of the durian flesh goes down smoothly with the rest of the dessert. Though some other businesses may replace the fruit with its extract instead, nothing beats having the real thing.

While the durian cendol is more commonly found in Malacca, the most famous cendol is located near Chowrasta in the city of Georgetown, Penang. The stall selling the cendol is so famous that it has been featured in many newspaper and magazine articles, as well as television programs. Many visitors to Penang make it a point to drop by to this stall for a taste of this interesting dessert.

Nasi Lemak

 
The iconic Nasi Lemak is considered by many to be the national dish of Malaysia. If you don't try it during your trip to Malaysia, you may as well have stayed home!

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Possibly the greatest dish ever created by Malaysians, nasi lemak is one of the most versatile meals that can be found in Malaysia. This simple meal can be found almost everywhere, be it in the heart of any Malaysian city or in the remotest areas of the country. It has become such a favourite amongst Malaysian that there are some who eat it at least once everyday!

The ingredients and the cooking process involved in creating this tasty meal is simple. Nasi lemak is rice cooked in coconut milk. Screwpine leaves, locally known as pandan leaves, are first washed and later added into the cooking pot to give the rice its signature fragrance. The rice is usually eaten together with anchovies fried till golden brown, crispy cucumber slices, roasted peanuts, half boiled egg and chilli paste known as sambal.

Throughout the years, the recipe has been adopted by many people in Malaysia and improvised to suit their tastebuds. Certain cooks have found that including slices of ginger into the rice helps improve the taste of the rice. Realizing that the rice goes well with almost anything, many traders add simple things to the list of condiments and side dishes to go along with the rice. Chinese traders usually offer chicken curry, chicken sausages, luncheon meat and even stir-fried water convolvulus as side dishes, to be added on as pleased. As spicy dishes are not the norm for most Chinese folks, the zing in the chilli paste from Chinese traders is toned down, often with a tinge of sweetness in it. Other budding entrepreneurs, in an effort to make their product more noticeable, have chosen to add green artificial colouring to the rice.

The varied taste of nasi lemak also exists amongst Malay traders. The varying amount of coconut milk used when steaming the rice makes a world of difference. Too little of the coconut milk and the rice ends up tasting watered down. Put in too much and the smell of the oil from the milk overpowers the rice. Another important factor that greatly enhances the taste of this dish is the chilli paste that goes with it. That too varies with the individual traders as some make it really spicy compared to others. While the Chinese traders sell nasi lemak with sausages and curry chicken, the Malay traders have introduced their own crispy fried chicken or spring chicken as an accompaniment to the dish.

There is one item that is commonly used in packaging nasi lemak, and that is the banana leaf. Banana leaves are not only ecologically friendly, but also lend an aromatic fragrance to rice wrapped within it. In the olden days, farmers working in the fields would normally eat banana leaf wrapped rice with for lunch. Because of this, sellers often use it when packing the steaming hot rice, making it more appetizing to the customer when they open it to eat.