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.

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.

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.

Home cooked the famous Petaling Street Tai Lok Mean

The Famous Petaling Street Big Fat Noodle

We had the famous Petaling Street Tai Lok Mean for dinner yesterday. My wife prepared the ingredients and the thick shanghai noodle for me to fry this famous noodle cuisine after I came home from work. So, instead of going out for dinner, we cooked and ate dinner at home. The Petaling Street Tai Lok Mean was made famous by the three brothers that started their noodle cuisine business in the heart of Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown way back in the early seventies. I frequented the this noodle coffee shop at the corner of Petaling Street, that was where it got its name from, a lot during the mid-eighties with my Air Force buddies.

Tai Lok Mean Petaling Street Special

Every time we ate there, I would watch how they fry the noodle cuisine because their kitchen was open and anyone can watch how the cooking was done. In fact, most of the street side noodle vendors or hawkers, as they are called in Malaysia, would actually cook in the open. And it is not difficult to learn how the cooking was done and what kind of ingredients were put into the noodle cuisines. Especially, for people like me that learn pretty fast from watching others. Then, I would try a couple of times, if I still done get it right, I will go back again to watch and learn more, maybe I have missed certain ingredients or missed out on a step.

Famous Petaling Street Noodle

So, throughout the years of observing and watching these real life master chefs, I have learn a lot. And some of these noodle cuisines are actually kind of simple to cook when you actually learned them. The Petaling Street Tai Lok Mean is an example of a simple noodle cuisine to cook. Many cooks over do the process and make it complex by adding too many ingredients. Of cause there are also different recipes in the Tai Lok Mean cuisine. But I still prefer the Petaling Street Tai Lok Mean recipe. Simple, authentic and flavourful.

The Authentic Rendang Chicken Cuisine

Rendang Chicken

Rendang chicken is one of the signature spicy curry cuisine of Malaysian cuisines. Just like many of my fellow Malaysian friends, we love the rendang cuisine. I have learned a simple method in preparing this signature cuisine. First, head to the nearest Asian grocery store and grab a pack of rendang paste from chilliz. This is the only rendang paste I would use at this time because I have been using paste and sauces from this particular brand and they are pretty easy to follow. And importantly, the paste is also authentically Malaysian.

Authentic Malaysian Chicken Rendang

So, anyone who loves rendang can now cook up the best authentic Malaysian rendang. All you have to do is make sure you have a pack of unsweetened coconut flakes (fine), a canned of coconut milk, one kilogram of chicken, one kilogram of potatoes and the chilliz rendang paste. Clean and boil the chicken before cooking the rendang. This way, all the smell of the chicken and blood that ooze out from the bones can be removed and cleared. Pour about five spoons of cooking oil into a cooking pot and drop the rendang paste into the cooking oil.

Delicious and Spicy Rendang

Simmer the paste a little and transfer the cooked chicken into the pot. And pour the canned of coconut milk into the pot. Stir until the paste is evenly colored with the coconut milk. Put in the potatoes and allow to boil for about fifteen minutes and then, drop in the unsweetened coconut flakes. Stir and mix every thing evenly until the coconut flakes are all warped around the chicken meat, forming a thick coat of paste. Once the gravy thickens, stop the heat on the stove and transfer to the serving plate.

Authentic Roti Jala and Curry Chicken

Malaysian Roti Jala

Roti Jala is a type of pancake that originated from the South of Peninsular Malaysia. Although, commonly known as bread (roti means bread in the Malay language), roti jala is more of a pancake than bread. But this pancake has lots of holes in it. The pancake looks like a broken piece of cloth or paper. Thus, the name jala which means net. Therefore, it is a type of pancake that looks like a fishing net. The roti jala is usually eaten with chicken or beef curry. I like mine kind off soaked with curry gravy.

Curry Chicken for Roti Jala

Yesterday evening, my spouse decided to cook curry chicken and roti jala for dinner. The roti jala batter is a mixture of water (two cups), multipurpose flour (six spoons), an egg, pinch of salt for taste and half spoon of turmeric powder. Once the batter is ready, fill it into a squeeze bottle (use a disposable water bottle with the cap drilled with three small holes). Make sure the batter is liquid enough to actually squat out from the holes on the cap when the bottle is being squeezed. In fact, that is how the roti jala is cooked, squeezing the batter out from the bottle onto a frying pan.

Favorite Malaysian Pancake

Once the pancake turns solid and brownish on the edges, turn it over and after a few seconds, fold the pancake or roll the pancake. This roti jala is best eaten with curry gravy. For an adult male, usually a person can eat up to about five pieces of the roti jala with a bowl of curry to dip it in. Roti jala is an authentic Southern Malaysian cuisine which is a traditional Malay cuisine found mostly in the state of Johor. Johorians would probably be more familiar with this pancake than other Malaysians.

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.

Home Cooked Sambal Petai for Dinner

Sambal Petai Anchovies

Came home late from work one day and decided to prepare and cook dinner in an hour because the time was already eight o'clock in the evening. I went straight into the kitchen and pulled whatever I can reach first from the fridge. Hastily, I managed to grab a cucumber and an egg plant. So, I immediately thought of sambal petai. In which (petai), I have actually just bought from Hen Long Supermarket just a few days before. The first thing I would need to prepare for this unique cuisine is to fry the anchovies and squeeze some tamarind juice which I set out to do.

Blench Kailan with Oyster Flavoured Sauce

Cooking sambal petai anchovies is simple and can be quickly done in less than an hour. I poured about four spoons of cooking oil into a hot wok and then throw in a handful of anchovies. Once the anchovies were fried, I throw in the cut egg plants (cut into small cubes) into the wok. Followed with two spoons of chilies and then the cucumbers (also cut into small cubes). Lastly pour in the tamarind juice just for the right taste and flavour. Allow the sambal petai anchovies to simmer a little bit and afterwards transfer to a serving plate.

Roasted Chicken Wings

The dinner won't be complete without a vegetable dish. Therefore, I boiled a pot of water to use. The hot pot of boiling water was used to blench a bunch of kailan vegetables. I later garnished the plate of vegetables with two spoons of oyster flavoured sauce and the fried anchovies. While I was doing all this, my kids had two trays of chicken wings in the oven already. The chicken wings were marinated from last night and allowed to set in the fridge overnight. So the kids when to the fridge and took the chicken wings out from the fridge and left them to roast in the oven for about thirty five minutes. Meanwhile, as I was finishing up on my two cuisines, I also got the rice cooker going with one cup of rice. Dinner was ready just slightly one minute after the hour at nine.

Authentic Malaysian Nasi Lemak and Penang Char Keow Teow in the park

Malaysian Nasi Lemak

My jalan-jalan cari makan friends got together on the first weekend of July and celebrated Canada Day by going to Barnet Marine Park for a picnic. Each of us contributed to the picnic with fruits, cakes and other familiar home made desserts. One of the friend came with nasi lemak (coconut milk fragrant rice) specially wrapped with sambal anchovies, ground nuts, cut cucumbers and egg. Although simple, the nasi lemak cuisine was really tasty and flavourful. It was the best nasi lemak cuisine I have eaten in a long time. The nasi lemak was cooked with basmati rice, coconut milk, slices of ginger and screw pine leaves. Whereas the sambal was prepacked sambal paste from the brand "Chillies", which can be found in most Asian grocery stores.

Penang Char Keow Teow

The rest of the condiments were garnished on top of the fragrant rice and sambal before wrapping up the nasi lemak with banana leaf and parchment paper. Although the finished product looked really simple and takes less than five minutes to eat, the preparation, cooking and wrapping processes could have taken at least two hours. That too, did not account for the time sourcing for the ingredients.

Same with Penang Char Keow Teow, the finished product looks fairly simple but it takes a lot of time and effort to prepare. The ingredients for Char Keow Teow are flat rice noodles, shrimps, fish cakes, bean sprouts, Chinese sausages, chives, clams, eggs, cooking oil (or lard) and a special concoction of sauces.

Char Keow Teow in the wok

And besides that, the skill and experience to frying a really good plate of the famous Penang Char Keow Teow is never easy to follow or emulate. It is never a secret among my friends that I fry the Char Keow Teow in front of them, a plate at a time. The technique seems simple and I have even taught some of the friends. And anyone could have copied and learned the technique but till today nobody could.  So, I have to do all the frying myself. And that is hard work and stresses me out having to fry between thirty to sixty plates in two sometimes three hours depending on how big the group was. Also, for the benefit of my friends, I only do this occasionally and with a small group at a time. Therefore, every plate of the Char Keow Teow that I fry would be consistent. And I have a system which I follow diligently.

Authentic Malaysian Curry Chicken Rice

Malaysian Curry Chicken

I woke up early in the morning and cooked a pot of curry chicken rice. It was one of those days where I woke up really early and just looking for something to do. So, I decided to cook curry chicken. I am always ready with all the components and ingredients for cooking curry chicken in my kitchen cabinet. In the freezer, I still have stocks of chicken drumsticks, chicken breast and chicken wings. I stocked them up when the price was right especially during our grocery shopping at the newly opened supermarket in Richmond. I also have curry powder, curry leaves, lemon grass, cumin, anise star, cloves, cinnamon stick and coriander in the kitchen.

Home Cooked Curry Chicken

With all the ingredients ready, I can cook curry anytime I wanted to. Whether midnight or early in the morning, it makes no difference. I start with eight spoons of cooking oil in a large wok and once the cooking oil was hot, I introduce two cups of curry powder paste (mixed curry powder with water to form thick paste), some curry leaves, 2 stalk of lemon grass, half spoon of cumin, about ten anise star, five cloves, two inches of cinnamon stick, and half spoon of coriander. Simmer the curry paste until the aroma fills the room. Then, throw in the chicken meat. Mix the curry paste with the chicken meat until everything is evenly coated.

Curry Chicken

Pour one canned of coconut milk into the wok and mix everything in the wok. Allow to boil until the chicken are cooked. Then, add pre-cooked potatoes into the curry chicken. Stir again and allow to boil one more time. Transfer the curry chicken into a serving bowl or a ceramic container.

Once the curry was ready, the family and I can have curry chicken with Roti Chennai for breakfast. And packed some of the curry chicken with rice for lunch at work and school. So, today I woke up early to cook two meals.