Authentic Baba Nyonya Asam Pedas

Asam Pedas Fish

There is no Asam Pedas cuisine that is more flavourful or taste better than my mom's. I grew up enjoying my grandmother's and mother's Baba Nyonya cuisines. These Baba Nyonya cuisines maybe found in some of the restaurants in Vancouver serving Malaysian cuisines but not all the Malaysian cuisines listed on their menus are any where close to authenticity let alone acquiring the true taste and flavour of a favorite Malaysian cuisine.

Asam Pedas 

And, it so happen that my favorite Baba Nyonya cuisine is my mom's Asam Pedas. Whenever I return to visit my mom in Malaysia, she would not miss cooking up this favorite spicy fish cuisine. Still the best and my favorite cuisine. Mom's recipe is simple and easy to follow. In mom's recipe for Asam Pedas, the main ingredients include 4 fresh chillies, 5 bulb of fresh shallots, 1 stalk of lemon grass, laksa leaves, a bulb of ginger flower, a dozen of okra, a cup of thick turmeric juice, and choice of fish.

Basil Egg Omelette

On that day, mom also cooked basil egg omelette which she wanted me to try. This egg omelette came about from mom's experience in Vietnam where basil is a popular vegetable used in their cuisines. And mom also grew some of this basil in her herbal/vegetable garden for her own consumption. The basil egg omelette actually has medicinal properties that promotes health. Basil has medicinal properties of antioxidant and anti-bacteria.

Some of the most popular Malaysian Breakfast

Nasi Lemak in Banana Leaf Wrap

Number one on the list of the most popular Malaysian breakfast would be the Nasi Lemak.  Mostly eaten in the morning but nowadays, nasi lemak has become so popular that it is even consumed late into the night. Malaysians crave for this fragrant coconut milk rice cuisine. Nasi lemak is so popular that it is sold everywhere and in nearly every coffee shop, even on the side walk of a strip mall, and by the roadside venders.

Roti Chennai with Sambal

Next on the list of the most popular breakfast is the Roti Chennai. Introduced to Malaysia by the Southern Indian immigrants, this crispy pan fried bread (pancake) is best eaten with sambal or curry as a dip. And this is also one of my favorite cuisine. Simple yet flavourful and tasty with sardine sambal that I prefer when eating this roti. In Vancouver, there are only the frozen pancakes that are available in the Asian grocery stores but back in Malaysia, roti Chennai are found everywhere.

Curry Puffs

The curry puff is also another popular Malay cake that is popular during breakfast. The curry puff is filled with potato curry and sometimes there are boiled eggs in the puffs too. During my recent trip back to Malaysia, I had the chance to eat as much of these Malaysian favorites as possible. Still missing out on some but I was happy to have at least eaten all these three simple but popular Malay and Indian cuisines.

Real Roti Chennai Flown in From Malaysia

Roti Canai from Malaysia

My eldest kid was visiting his grandma back in Malaysia during the summer. He returned to Vancouver a couple of days ago and I had my mum packed about twenty pieces of Roti Canai for him to bring back to Vancouver. I have personally done this before, bringing home with me about two dozen pieces of Roti Canai from Malaysia on different trips. Other than the Roti Canai, I have him bring home the sardine and anchovy sambal that goes with the Roti Canai.

My Favorite Breakfast - Roti Canai

I love Roti Canai for breakfast when I was still living in Malaysia. I would have the Roti Canai at least twice a week and there was a particular Roti Canai stall that I would frequent with my family. According to my mum that Roti Canai stall is still around and the same person toasting the Roti Canai still operates from there. He usually serves the Roti Canai with a few different types of dips which he cooks in the morning. Of all the curry dips, I like the sardine sambal best.

Real Authentic Roti Canai

Before this particular occasion, the last time someone from my family actually came back with Roti Canai from Malaysia was my wife, when she visited both our mums. So, that was more than two years ago. To keep the Roti Canai fresh for the journey, I usually have the Roti Canai maker wrap all the Roti Canai in several layers of plastic and old newspapers. Then, have the sardine and anchovy sambal put in a container that can be sealed. Before packing them into the luggage, I have my mum wrap another few layers of plastic bags. Once the Roti Canai and the sambal reaches home, I have them placed in the fridge. Whenever I want to eat the Roti Canai, I have them steamed and the sambal warmed up in the microwave oven.

Special Malaysian Delight Cook Out Session

Fried Curry Puffs

We were at a friend's place the other day for a cook out session. We were showing this friend how to make the popular Malaysian Curry Puff from scratch. And coincidentally, they have also cooked up some delicious Curry Chicken and Vegetable Curry for lunch with Roti Chennai. So, the theme for that day seems to be, "Curry". Although, the session was supposedly to be a cook out event but due to the non permitting weather, it turned into cooking in the kitchen. Furthermore, and luckily only four friends were able to participate in this cook out session.

Curry Chicken

We started with preparing the stuffings for the curry puff first. In the hot wok, drop about five spoons of cooking oil then followed with two pounds of finely chopped potatoes. Fry the potatoes until cooked and introduce some finely chopped chicken meat. Stir and mix the potatoes with the chicken meat so that they are evenly spread. Add in about three spoonful of curry powder and stir until the mix are evenly coloured. Sprinkle some salt for taste then add the two pounds of finely chopped onions. The onions don't have to be really cooked as it will be cooked when the puffs are fried.

Roti Chennai

Stir the mix and transfers to a bowl to rest. As for the dough, mix and knead five cups of self-rising flour with two cups of water, one cup of butter or margarine and a pinch of salt. Once the dough is ready, use a rolling pin, roll the dough to thin sheets that can be used for wrapping the potato and chicken curry stuffing. We use the curry puff plastic mould to make consistent size curry puffs. This curry puff moulds are available in Asian Grocery or shops that sells kitchen wares. Sometimes they are also call Perogy moulds (for making Greek Perogies).

Chicken Curry and Vegetable Curry on Roti Chennai

Once the curry puffs are all wrapped, then clean, dry and add more cooking oil in the wok. The curry puffs should be immersed completely in the cooking oil to allow them to be cooked evenly. Once they turn golden brown, transfer them into a serving plate. After the curry puffs were all fried, we ate lunch. The curries were already prepared and cooked before we even arrived at the friend's home. She was pan frying the roti Chennai as we were preparing the curry puffs. So, we could have the Roti Chennai fresh from the pan. And it was an awesome lunch and a cook out session.

Authentic Penang Cuisines in Calgary

Freshly Fried Penang Lobak

My wife and I woke up early in Calgary on a cool rainy Sunday with several cooking projects in mind. We were in Calgary for the weekend and had earlier mentioned to the host (with whom we were putting up the night at) that we were going to cook up something unique and special for them. We had also prepared the ingredients, components and sauces the night before. We have planned to start early enough so by the time we were done with the cooking, eating and cleaning up, it was time to leave for home.

Wrapping the Pulut Panggang

Our first Penang cuisine was the famous Penang Lobak which we have cooked many times before for potluck occasions in Vancouver. We have prepared about two pounds of pork (cut in strips), one pound of ground pork, a small taro root tuber (cut to 1cm cubes) and a carrot (cut to 1cm cubes) to be mixed together with five spices (five spoons), corn starch (two spoons), salt (for taste) and chicken stock (half spoon). And all this mixed to be used as stuffings for the Lobak. We have also bought some soy bean curd sheets for the wrapping of the meat stuffings.

Famous Penang Char Keow Teow

Once the Lobak were ready for frying, we move on with preparing the next cuisine. While my son and I was frying the Penang Lobak outside in the balcony on a camping stove, my wife was teaching the friends in the kitchen on how to prepare and wrap the Pulut Panggang. The glutinous rice stuffed with spicy coconut flakes and dried shrimp paste, wrapped in banana leaf. The spicy coconut flakes and dried shrimp were prepared separately. While the glutinous rice would have to be cooked by steaming in a wok using coconut milk (180ml).

Petaling Street Tai Lok Mean

Once the coconut flakes and the glutinous rice were cooked, the wrapping starts. First, lay a piece of banana leaf, about eight inch by eight inch square, with the shinny part facing up. Put the glutinous rice (one and a half inch wide, five inch long) along one of the edges of the banana leaf. On top of the glutinous rice apply a coat of the spicy coconut flakes with dried shrimps. Then, roll the banana leaf with the glutinous in the leaf and seal both ends with a bamboo tooth pick.

Rempah Flavoured Baked Chicken Wings

Once the banana leaf pulut panggang were properly wrapped. Toast or grill them in a flat frying pan. No cooking oil is needed in the toasting process. The pulut panggang is ready once the banana leaf turns brown. Both side has to be toasted or grilled until the leaf turns brown. The other two cuisines that we cooked were the Penang Char Keow Teow and Petaling Street Tai Lok Mean. And the daughter of the host brought her special Rempah Flavoured Baked Chicken Wings which was an excellent addition to the four Malaysian cuisines we had prepared.

Still A Favorite Among Malaysians

Authentic Penang Lobak

The Penang Lobak in still a favorite cuisine among Malaysians in gatherings, potlucks and cookouts. I fried some Penang Lobak for a potluck during the weekend and they were gone within minutes when served. Other than that the cuisine was a conversational piece too. People were asking, who brought the Penang Lobak cuisine. And comments like, I have not eaten these in years, keep coming up. Many people, even Malaysians who are not familiar with Penang special cuisines don't really know about Penang Lobak.

 Penang Signature Cuisine

But one thing in common is that, the Penang Lobak taste really good and flavourful too. There are a couple of different recipes found on the internet for making the Penang Lobak but I still like my grandmothers recipe. Using traditional ingredients such as five spices (main ingredient), corn starch, taro mixed with pork then wrapped in soybean curd sheets. Fry each roll in hot cooking oil until the soybean curd sheets becomes crispy. Once the lobak rolls are fried, allow them to set for several minutes before serving because if not the meat inside might burn the tongue.

Everybody's Favorite

The Penang Lobak is also served with two types of dips or sauces. One is the chilli sauce which taste and looks like the Thai chilli sauce and the other the corn starch with chicken broth, which is not spicy. A good piece of lobak has adequate taste and flavour that does not need to be dip in any sauce to be delicious. So, I usually only provide the chilli sauce for the lobak, which is available in many Asian grocery stores. Fried pressed tofus can be served alongside this Penang signature cuisine as both can be dipped in the same chilli sauce and corn starch sauce for additional flavours.

Vegetable Acar The Flavoured Tropical Vegetable Pickle

Vegetable Acar

My wife decided to make Acar from cucumbers, carrots, napa cabbage and grounded peanuts. It was a simple process with some patience. After cutting the vegetables into one inch strips, add sugar, rice vinegar, sugar cane vinegar and a pinch of salt  for taste. Mix everything together and then place into bottles. The acar in the bottles is then kept in the fridge for about three days before it can be consume or flavourful enough for consumption. This type of pickle is very popular among the indigenous people of Malaysia. The Chinese came along and perfected the process and made it even more flavourful.

Favorite Acar

The Baba Nyonya of Malaysia, loves the Acar. We have many versions of Acar, not only vegetable ones. I have made Fish Acar using mackerels or hasa hasa. And when we make Acar, we make it in large portions and share the vegetable pickle with the rest of the community. For those that like the Acar a little spicy, just add either chilli flakes onto the Acar or add real chillies. Cut the chillies like the other vegetables and mix them all up.

Acar Acar

Acar is not a cuisine that is aromatic as curry and others. It does not fill the room with beautiful aroma when processing. In fact it does not require any cooking except for the roasted peanut. But once put into the mouth, the flavours and taste of the sauces absorbed into the taste buds even before chewing starts. The Acar can be considered the Kim Chee of the Baba Nyonya people of Malaysia. When refrigerated, the Acar can be preserved for a long time.

Gathering of Authentic Malaysian Cusines

Curry Chicken

Our group of Jalan-jalan Cari Makan friends got together for a sumptuous potluck of Malaysian cuisines in the back lawn of a friend's home in Surrey. We had more than ten different cuisines to start with. My contribution this time was curry chicken and fried sweet potato balls. But the main course for yesterday's potluck was chicken satay. The host prepared about one hundred sticks of chicken satay and he was grilling them when we arrived.

Grilled Chicken Satay

Other than the satay, we also have barbecue beef steak which was the other grilled cuisine. Then, we have Nasi Kungit, or also known as Turmeric Rice, which was just right with the curry chicken. In fact, this was the first potluck occasion that I have seen this rice cuisine. The only difference was the type of rice used in the turmeric rice. My mum used to cook turmeric rice using glutinous rice and has lots of pepper corns in the rice. Our host for the evening have also prepared the peanut sauce as the dip for the chicken satay. The next Malaysian cuisine was Nasi Lemak wrapped in banana leave and parchment paper, which was used to contain the fragrant of the coconut milk flavour.

Nasi Lemak

There were about fifty packs of nasi lemak on the buffet table when we first arrived, but as the party started and while waiting for the satay to cook, we ate the nasi lemak. Nearly everybody started with the nasi lemak and each ate at least two packs of them. When all the guests have finally arrived, the friends that have started with the nasi lemak were already filled with the nasi lemak slowed down on the eating. By which time, there were less than half of the nasi lemak packs left in the serving tray.

Barbecue Chicken Wings

Cendol

The other Malaysian cuisines that we had for the evening were fried mee siam (fried vermicelli), beef rendang, chicken with shitake mushrooms cooked in soy sauce, barbecue chicken wings, glutinous chicken sticky rice, with cendol and fruits for desserts. The evening was just dining on Malaysian cuisines prepared by my fellow home cooks.

Glutinous Chicken Sticky Rice

Fried Mee Siam

Turmeric Rice

Fried Sweet Potato Balls

The Most Consumed Breakfast Cuisine in Malaysia

Nasi Lemak

The most consumed breakfast cuisine in Malaysia is not only famous and popular in Malaysia but in Singapore, Brunei and parts of Indonesia and Thailand as well. In Malaysia, this rice coconut milk fragrant rice cuisine is found in every coffee shop imaginable, especially in the mornings. And the most wonderful thing about Nasi Lemak, as it is popularly called, is nobody gets bored with it. We can be eating this fragrant rice everyday and never gets bored with it.

Famous Nasi Lemak

I remember my military days, I would be eating Nasi Lemak every morning in the mess hall but of cause with different side dishes. One day would be curry chicken or beef and the next could be with rendang or sometimes just plain with boiled eggs and sambal anchovies. There will be occasions when we just ate Nasi Lemak with a piece of fried fish. No matter how or what it is combined with, Nasi Lemak always taste good with spicy curry gravy or sambal.

Authentic Nasi Lemak Cuisine

Nasi Lemak is a fairly simple cuisine to prepare and cook. In fact there are all kinds of recipe online. Other than rice, all that are needed would be screw pine leaves, ginger, onions and coconut milk. As for the side dishes, a simple add on would be boiled or fried eggs, slice cucumbers, fried ground nuts, fried anchovies and sambal. More elaborate side dishes would include rendang beef, chicken curry, fried chicken or simply fried fish.

Another Famous Penang Noodle Cuisine

Penang Hokkien Noodle

We cooked the Famous Penang Prawn Noodle for dinner last night. With the intention of freeing up some space in the freezer of the collection of shrimp skin that were taking up some needed space for some new items, my wife decided to cook the Penang Prawn Noodle again. We usually used up to about six hundred grams of prawn skins to cook the shrimp flavoured broth for the Penang Prawn Noodle cuisine. This noodle cuisine was made famous and popular in Penang by the Penang Hokkien clan.

The Famous Penang Hokkien Noodle

Although, there are Penang Hokkien Noodle paste available from the Asian grocery stores, I still prefer to cook my own Penang Hokkien Noodle from scratch. Basically, we boil the shrimp skins in a pot of water for several hours. After that remove the shrimp skins from the broth using a ladle. Once all the shrimp skins are removed, continue to boil the broth with some pork ribs for another hour on slow heat. Before turning off the heat or serve, add three spoons of belacan, two spoons of grounded dried chilli powder, three spoons of dried shrimps, a few pinch of salt for taste, three spoons of fried shallots, and three spoons of brown sugar.

Another Famous Penang Noodle Cuisine

Once the shrimp broth is ready, allow it to continue boiling on slow heat. Prepare the noodle, bean sprouts, slice eggs, slice pork, a few shrimps, slices of char siew yok, and water spinach in a serving bowl. Using a ladle, scoop about five ladle full of soup onto the noodle in the serving bowl. Also, scoop up the pork ribs into the bowl with the soup as well. Then, garnish with fried shallots, prawn sambal and half a spoon of fried lard.

Hainanese Chicken Cuisine with Sesame Seed Sauce

Home Cooked Chicken Rice

Just had Hainanese Chicken Rice a couple of days ago with some friends in Richmond and I am already thinking of cooking my own version of chicken rice and the boiled chicken with sesame seed oil. So, I did just that for dinner yesterday. Took a dozen chicken drumstick out from the freezer in the afternoon to thaw. When I got home in the evening, the chicken drumsticks were ready to be cooked. Nowadays, cooking the chicken rice is easy. Just use any of the Hainanese chicken rice mix available in the asian supermarkets.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Therefore, I will focus on the Hainanese Chicken cusines. Start with boiling a pot of water and then throw in the chicken drumsticks once the water is boiling. Leave the drumsticks in the boiling water for about five minutes and then transfer the drumsticks into a pot of cold water. Let the drumsticks cool down in the cold water for about five minutes. Then, reintroduce them into the hot water again. This process will allow the gluten to form or granulate underneath the skin. This is a trick I learned from my mum to make the chicken meat taste better. After two minutes in the hot water, transfer them into a serving plate.

Boiled Chicken Drumsticks with Sesame Seed Sauce

A proper chicken rice will not be complete without the chilli sauce and the sesame seed sauce. The chilli sauce is a mixture of garlic paste, chilli paste, sesame seed oil, salt, lemon juice (or vinegar) and chicken stock. Many chicken rice vendors would not share this chilli sauce recipe and will only hand down from one generation to the next. The sesame seed sauce is the gravy used to flavour the boiled chicken meat when serving. It is a mix of sesame seed oil, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, chicken broth and salt.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Hainanese Chicken Rice

I went out for Hainanese Chicken Rice rice with some of my cari makan (looking for food) friends. We rendezvoused at the Aberdeen Centre's food court. There are some Asian food outlets in the food court that serves real authentic cuisines. We especially like the Hainanese Chicken Rice stall which serves authentic Chinese Malaysian Hainanese Chicken Rice and Curry Laksa Noodle. They call the Curry Laksa, Singapore Laksa. Whatever it is, I prefer the chicken rice over the laksa because the chicken rice is authentically how it is cooked and prepared in Malaysia.

Singapore Laksa

The curry laksa is authentic too, but there are other type of laksa noodle that is found in Vancouver in other Malaysian eateries which can be as good and authentic. For example the Sarawak Laksa and the Penang White Curry Noodle. Other than this stall serving the chicken rice, the neighbour serves really awesome fried chicken wings and the queue for the fried chicken wings are always visible. People just line up for that fried stuff.

Fried Chicken wings

Aberdeen Centre's food court is one of the busiest I have seen. And the beverage and food stalls here are doing well but the two main stalls would be the chicken rice and the fried chicken wing stalls. They nearly always have a queue in front of the stalls. Most of the patrons in Aberdeen are Asians. That's the reason the food court has a variety of Asian cuisines. In the mall, there are several Asian restaurants like Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

The Famous Malay Curry Puff

Curry Puffs

The Malay Curry Puff is popular throughout Malaysia and Singapore. Evolved from a simple tea time or breakfast snack to becoming a signature delicacy served as dessert among cakes and puddings. Curry puffs can be found in different occasions and celebrations in Malaysia. There are even business establishments that became known for making and cooking the best curry puffs. The curry puffs have become a commercialized item. That is how popular this snack food has become.

Home Cooked Curry Puffs

At home, the curry puff is just another common Malaysian cake or kuih as we call it. My wife and kids often when they have some spare time, gather in the kitchen to make the curry puffs. I would usually prepare the fillings for the curry puff which is mostly potatoes. Sometimes, we even switch to sardine. But still, potatoes remained the main component in the curry puff fillings. My kids would usually help their mum knead the dough for the curry puffs and then hand craft the curry puffs.

Freshly Fried Curry Puffs

It is fun when the family prepare and cook together. Not only do the kids learn a skill but the togetherness helps in building bonds. We will involve our kids in the kitchen as much as time permits and when chores are done. This time, we made about three dozens of curry puffs and took them with us for a picnic with friends. The curry puffs were all gone within minutes when we served them. Most people would not be satisfied with just one piece but can eat as much as three on the average.

Hot Spicy Sambal Petai

Sambal Petai with Anchovies

Petai or famously known as the bitter bean is one of the most favoured bean in South East Asian cooking. There are a variety of recipes that require this authentic bean but its taste is one which has to be acquired to like. Even after consuming the bitter nut, the taste, flavour and smell lingers on for a few hours. When cooking the petai, the smell of petai lingers in the kitchen and anywhere closes to the kitchen for hours. The better the petai, and the tastier of the petai, the stronger the smell. And for those who don't like the smell of petai, that is not the end.

Sambal Petai

The smell of the bitter bean stays in the stool and urine of the person consuming the petai. So, get ready for the smell in the toilets. There is no where to hide the cooking and eating of petai. But in spite of the smell and bitter taste of the bean, Malaysians love eating petai. There are many ways how people eat the petai. Some like it raw. Just peel the bean from the pod and throw it into the mouth. Chew the bitter bean with a spoonful of rice. Simple and fastest way to cook would be with fried anchovies, tamarind juice, chopped cucumbers, chopped onions, and chopped chillies.

Sambal Anchovies with Bitter Beans

I have also grilled the petai pods with the beans still in the pods. And then, peeling the beans off the pods, consuming them like chew gums. Then, there is also sambal udang petai which is another famous Malaysian petai cuisine. My mum would always prepare sambal dried shrimps with petai for me when I was living in Malaysia. Some people like to eat petai with egg plant because they believed that egg plant can absorb the petai odor when eaten together. I found that to be a myth. When I eat petai, everyone around me would know because of the smell. So, let it be known.