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.

Penang Char Keow Teow from Home

Famous Penang Char Keow Teow

This was the second consecutive weekend with three days off. So, I invited some friends over to enjoy some Penang Char Keow Teow. Earlier in the week I found raw cockles in a Korean grocery store on Kingsway. It was so surprising to me, as I had been searching for cockles for a very long time and to see them being sold in a store that I frequent a lot was even more surprising. In Penang, the cockles are an item in the famous Penang Char Keow Teow.

Penang Char Keow Teow with Cockles

So, it was an opportunity for me to show off the cockles to my Malaysian friends. What better way to do it than to invite them over to my home for the Penang Char Keow Teow. The cockles are used in many of the famous Penang cuisines. For example, the Penang white curry noodle, in steam boat dishes, and lok-lok stalls in the pasar malam. With the cockles, I am finally able to complete my list of the required items for my Penang Char Keow Teow.

Penang Char Bee Hoon

With the cockles, it makes the Penang Char Keow Teow even more authentic. Already, my home cooked Char Keow Teow is the most flavourful and authentic in Vancouver, the cockles makes it even better and closer to home. Most of the friends that came that day had a second helping. So, I had to add different noodles. Instead of Char Keow Teow, the fried noodles became Char Bee Hoon at the end. And the orders just kept coming.

Penang Char Keow Teow

Penang Char Keow Teow with Crab Meat

I decided to cook the famous Penang Char Keow Teow at home yesterday. Ready with all the ingredients, I fried about twelve servings in total. The frying only took me about thirty minutes. After that, my wife and I delivered to the home cooked Penang Char Keow Teow to our friends. It has been awhile since the last time we had a cookout. So, we thought it would be nice to share Penang Char Keow Teow with some of our friends living in the area.

The Famous Penang Char Keow Teow

The other day, I think it was last week, when we fried the Penang style noodle we used the vermicelli and shanghai type noodles. So, this time round we actually fried with the keow teow instead. Most of our friends like the keow teow more than the other type of noodles. I like either noodles but frying with the keow teow is easier than vermicelli because the vermicelli tend to be sticky. The vermicelli leaves a layer of crust at the bottom of the wok which has to be cleaned after each frying.

Authentic Penang Char Keow Teow

In comparison, it takes a bit longer to fry each serving of the vermicelli but some people loves the eating the fried crust. I also posted the photos of the Penang Char Keow Teow on my FB Vancouver Makan Club pages and people started asking where is the Penang Char Keow Teow avaialble in Vancouver. One even suggested I should open a restaurant. The point is, up until today there is no Malaysian restaurant in Vancouver that can serve the authentic Penang Char Keow Teow.

Home Made Penang Lobak

The Famous Penang Lobak

My wife and kids prepared the pork and ingredients for the Penang lobak in the morning. Then, left the pork and five spice stuffings in the fridge for about two hours before wrapping in the soft soybean curd sheet. The stuffings were a mixture of thinly slice pork, taro cubes, carrot cubes, water chestnuts, five spice, salt and pepper. We prepare the Penang lobak with chunks of meat rather than ground pork to make each bite meatier and crunchier.

The Signature Cuisine of Penang

After wrapping the stuffing in the two layers of soft soybean curd sheet, the lobak rolls are fried over an inch of cooking oil. When taken out from the plastic bag, the soybean curd sheet comes in a very huge round paper thin sheet of soybean curd that has to be cut into eight inch squares. It takes only a few minutes to cook. Once the lobak rolls turned golden brown, they are ready. The soybean curd wrappers will also turn crispy and remains crisp for about an hour or so.

Taro and Penang Lobak

The Penang lobak can be immediately served from the wok to the plate. Some people like them crispy and some prefer them when they have cool off. But we often make quite a few of these lobak rolls and freeze them for later consumption. The kids and I have them with rice for lunch at school. We will usually prepare a whole bunch of the lobak rolls and give to friends or take it to some of our potlucks. The Penang lobak is simple to make and the ingredients are easily sourced from our local Asian grocery stores.

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.

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 Signature Penang Hokkien Cuisine

The Famous Penang Lobak

The Hokkien clan of Penang started immigrating to different parts of South East Asia and some landed in Penang in search of work even before the colonial days. The Hokkiens were predominantly from the Fujian Province in China. But others may have arrived from Guangzhou Province. That was what we were told by our fore fathers but no written records or clues were left behind to proof any of these claims. Most of my early ancestors were either seafarers or small business owners that came to Malaysia looking for a better life. Some has arrived in this part of South East Asia even before the founding of Penang by Sir Francis Light.

Spice Flavoured Penang Lobak

Over time, with the cultural mix and diversity, many of the unique cuisines that are found in Penang today were actually creations that were developed here on the island, these signature cuisines were never found anywhere on mainland China because Penang was surrounded with the richness of the spices. One of the most unique is the Penang Lobak. A a meat wrapped cuisine that originated from Penang. The soy bean curd sheet is used as the wrapping sheet. And the stuffing is a combination of minced or sliced pork with five spices, taro, carrots and jicama.

The Uniquely Special Cuisine of Penang

Spices were abundance and readily available in Penang. Therefore, it is no wonder that many of the best and tastiest cuisines originated from Penang. And all of which uses some of these spices. The Penang Lobak cuisine is meat base and the meat that is stuffed in the Lobak Roll was marinated over night with five spices. The meat was left over night in the fridge to absorb the flavours and fragrance of the spices. When fried the Penang Lobak acquires a unique taste and crispiness, all of which comes from the combination of the ingredients and spices.

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.

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.

The most significant cuisine from Penang

The Shredded Dried Squid Cuisine of Penang

This is truly the signature cuisine of Penang, the Jhew Hu Char or the cuisine for all occasion. No matter what the occasion is, whether to celebrate, to worship, or to gather, this cuisine is a must have in all occasions in Penang. A fairly simple cuisine to prepare but the significance and importance is beyond the simplicity of the cuisine itself. I have not known any other cuisine that celebrates this kind of significance in the Chinese culture of Penang. Alas, I have not seen this cuisine's significance outside Penang.

Penang Jhew Hu Char

This simple dish is actually stir fried shredded dried squid with shredded jicama, shredded carrot, dried shrimps (or fresh shrimps) and finely slices of pork. The other ingredients that are used in the cuisine are two spoonful of dark soy sauce, pinch of salt, pinch of sugar, and a shake of pepper. Some of the recipes that you will find on the internet also recommend to add oyster flavoured sauce but I don't as the oyster flavoured sauce would change the taste and add too much fish flavour. Also, one more vegetable that was recommended in the Jhew Hu Char is shredded cabbage. I like the taste of jicama, so I do not add the shredded cabbage.

Cuisine for All Occasion

In fact, for that real authentic taste and flavour, I usually add a pinch of sambal belacan on the Jhew Hu Char before wrapping it in lettuce. This same cuisine can also be used to wrap in fried spring rolls (or fried popiah in Penang). When used as spring roll stuffing, it needs to be drained off as much of its liquid first. The people that use this as spring roll stuffings usually do not add as much of the dark soy sauce and oyster flavoured sauce at all. They just increase on the salt. And also, they add a lot more shredded cabbage into the cuisine. Jicama blends well as spring roll stuffings.

The Baba Nyonya Gulai Tumis or Asam Pedas

Authentic Gulai Tumis

This is truly one of the most marvelous cuisines that was created in Penang by the Baba Nyonya clan. Growing up, I used to have this spicy and sourish cuisine every week because it was my dad's favorite dish. Naturally, I grew up learning to appreciate this spicy fish cuisine so much so that it became a must have cuisine, at least once in a week like my dad. My mum and grandma cooked the best gulai tumis and they have handed down the recipe to me and my siblings. There are a few types of fish that are normally used to cook with this particular cuisine. And they are the black pomfret, white pomfret, stingray, asian mackerel (kembong), basa, catfish and sea bass just to name a few.

Salmon Fish Head Gulai Tumis

But in Vancouver, I have tried cooking with the Salmon fish head and it turn out to be really good. In fact, I cooked the gulai tumis, using the same recipe with different types of fish and found that the Salmon fish head to be ideal. The spicy and sourish taste of the cuisine blends well with the tender fish meat. Besides that, the Salmon fish head is usually sold at a much cheaper price that the whole fish itself. And, when boiled in the gulai tumis gravy, the fish meat on the Salmon fish head peels off from the bones easily into the mouth. I could get  a lot more meat from the fish head cooking this way than frying.

Baba Nyonya Gulai Tumis

My recipe for gulai tumis is really simple. The important ingredient in a good bowl of gulai tumis is in the tamarind juice. Only fresh tamarind paste or pulp will do. I start with blending shallots (five bulbs), lemon grass (two spoons of the grated type), garlic (one clove), dried chillies (five pieces), ginger (one inch), and turmeric (one spoon of the powdered). Once the blended paste is ready, set a side. In a cooking pot, pour five spoons of cooking oil and add the blended paste. Allow to simmer and throw in some laksa leaves to simmer together.

Salmon Gulai Tumis

Once the aroma fills the room, add two cups of thick tamarind juice. Add salt for taste and half a spoon of sugar. Make sure to stir the gravy well and bring to boil. Add two more cups of lighter tamarind juice and stir again. Immediately, add fish or fish head. Once it is boiled, turn the fish over and add okra, then turn off the heat after two minutes. Allow the lid of the pot to remain closed for several minutes before serving. This similar cuisine is also called Asam Pedas in places outside Penang in Malaysia. So, it is a popular spicy and sourish fish cuisine in Malaysia.

The Famous Penang Char Keow Teow on the go

Penang Char Keow Teow

In the afternoon on the weekend, I was invited by a friend to fry Penang Char Keow Teow in his backyard. He had prepared all the necessary ingredients as I have earlier requested. I only have to arrive with my frying wok, the homemade Char Keow Teow sauce, my preferred chilli paste, and the Keow Teow (flat rice stick). So, I arrived ready to start frying the famous Penang fried noodle cuisine. And it was a perfect day for an outdoor outing like this. The weather was great to start with. There were just about a dozen people in the get together which was a small crowd considering the crowd we normally have in our outdoor outings. More like three families getting together. Also, that was the first time I have been invited to a friend's place to do this. The outing was relaxing and I did not have to do too much.

Freshly Fried Char Keow Teow

In total, I fried about twelve plates of the famous Penang Char Keow Teow in approximately thirty five minutes and was able to enjoy the rest of the afternoon chatting and trying out the other Penang cuisines that were prepared by the other friends. Like always, when we have Penang Char Keow Teow, that noodle cuisine was the main attraction. That gathering was the first Char Keow Teow outing in August and it won't be long before cold weather sets in and no more outdoor activity until next summer. So, we tried to make the most of the outing and enjoy as much of the outdoor as possible.

Kuih Kochee

We also have other popular Penang delights that were prepared by the friends that hosted the event. There were Kuih Kochee, Curry Chicken, Malaysian prawn crackers from Trengganu, Malaysian fish crackers and fruits. The weather although was nice and sunny but it soon became really warm and unbearable by two o'clock. By then,  we decided to move indoor after the Char Keow Teow to continue with the other cuisines inside the house.

Home Cooking the Popular Malaysian Nasi Lemak

Nasi Lemak

We decided to cook the famous Nasi Lemak yesterday. My wife actually suggested that we cook the Nasi Lemak for two meals. We can have the Nasi Lemak for breakfast and then take to work as lunch. Since, we have to wake up early anyways, because the kids are attending summer classes and their classes starts at eight. Our get up time has been set for six in the morning. We just need about an hour to cook a simple Nasi Lemak cuisine. So, we started with cooking the rice which actually takes the longest time to cook. Clean the rice, then add a canned of coconut milk with water to the level slightly above the top of the rice.

Traditional Coconut Milk Rice

Add a few slices of ginger, onions, a pinch of salt for taste, and a few leaves of the pine screw into the rice. Then press the button on the rice cooker to start cooking the rice. Once I have the rice cooking in the rice cooker, I got on to preparing the other components of the Nasi Lemak cuisine. I got one small frying pan on the stove to fry some eggs and another to fry a handful of anchovies. Once the anchovies were done, I fried some ground nuts. Then, slice the cucumber. As for the sambal (Chilli paste), I relied on the pre-pack sambal from Malaysia which I bought from T&T Supermarket. That really save me some time.

Home Cooked Nasi Lemak

I would usually prepare the chilli paste from scratch or sometimes fry some fish fillet or even cook a pot of curry chicken. But this time, just use the pre-pack chilli paste. This is the thing about Nasi Lemak, the cuisine itself is so diverse. There are so many really great recipes online and even in Malaysia where Nasi Lemak is the most popular cuisine, there are so many versions of Nasi Lemak cuisine. The real trick in Nasi Lemak is actaully the cooking of the rice itself. The other components that comes with the rice are just supplementary, which can also make the Nasi Lemak cuisine special.

Pulut Inti the Glutinous Rice Pudding with Palm Sugar and Shredded Coconut

A Traditional Rice Pudding

A few days ago one of our friends give us a dessert that I have not seen or tasted in a very long time. I was thrilled when my wife brought them home after her chance meeting with this friend. In Penang, this dessert is commonly found at food carts that sells Baba Nyonya cakes, fritters, puffs and all kinds of local delicacies. This is a popular item that is actually easy to cook. But the process may require slightly longer as the main component is glutinous rice. The glutinous must first be soaked for several hours to allow the glutinous rice to absorb water.

Pulut Inti

Therefore, when steamed the glutinous rice becomes soft and fluffy. My grandmother used to make this glutinous rice pudding for breakfast every so often. I have nearly forgotten about this particular glutinous rice pudding until just a few days ago. I remember, when cooking (steaming) the glutinous rice several of the ingredients used were the same to cooking the fragrant coconut milk rice (nasi lemak). There were screw pine leaves, coconut milk and water added into the pot with the glutinous rice when steaming. The palm sugar and shredded coconut flakes were separately prepared then garnished on top of the glutinous rice.

Traditional Pulut Inti

Basically, Inti means stuffing in Malay but this stuffing is not placed in the wrap in between two layers of glutinous rice just like sushi. But rather, it is applied on the top of the rice pudding to give it a flavourful sweet taste of coconut palm. This sugary liquid and coconut flakes paste were just a mixture of some liquified palm sugar to coconut flakes. The coconut flakes has to be the very fine ones.