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.

One of The Most Famous Penang Cuisine

Penang Lobak

Although this cuisine is found nearly everywhere in Penang, mostly in the Chinese coffee shops that host among others a food cart selling a mix of fried finger food such as shrimp fritters, fried tofu, fried fish cake, crab meat, the thousand year old egg and so on. Lobak, as it is commonly known in Penang and else where in Malaysia among the Chinese, is a must have item. Lobak is actually a mixed of pork marinated with five spice, stuffed in layers of crispy soy skin. Synonymous to Penang Chinese cuisines, Lobak is a delicious meat wrapped fried in oil that originated with the Teochew clan of Penang.

The Famous Lobak

Today, Lobak cuisine is found in every corner of Malaysia through to Singapore. In Singapore it has evolved to form another name and the preparation method is slightly different from the way Lobak is prepared in Penang. But still, the ingredients and components of the Lobak, still remains the same. There are several recipes found on the internet for this authentic cuisine but like always, I like the simple preparation method used by the food cart cooks that make a living selling this cuisine. In fact, they have perfected their skills in Lobak making over the years and no where else can we find so many of such experts except in Penang.

Teochew Lobak

The soy skin for making Lobak is unique. In Penang, we call them the Teochew soy skin because the Teochew people were the ones who first discovered the process in making these unique soy skin. Now, it is mess produced. Even, that it is manufactured by the Teochew people in China and only found in provinces where the Teochew clan lives. The pork filling is a mixture of pork (cut in strips or minced), carrot cubes, taro cubes, and onions. Then, marinate and leave overnight (in the fridge) with five spices and corn flour. I know of some cooks that add cabbages in the pork fillings to increase the volume and cut costs but I rather not use cabbage.

Lobak

When wrapping the fillings into the soy sheet, make sure the stuffings are tightly wrapped inside the Lobak roll to avoiding any of the liquid and fillings from escaping into the cooking oil use for the frying. To glue the ends of the soy sheet together, I use chicken egg. Its like glueing the envelope lid but instead of water, I use chicken egg.

When frying the Lobak roll, use medium or slow heat. So that the inside fillings are well cooked. We cook the Lobak very often at home and occasionally brings them to potlucks and cook outs.