Youtube Video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW4ZPOjOKCk&feature=g-upl

Above, is a link to our new video, please watch it and let us know what you guys think :)

-Derwin, Charlie, Christian, Mel

What to look for in Malaysian Food!

Hi guys, in this post, I'll share with you what I've learned about Malaysian food regarding taste. It is common in Malaysia to judge something by the degree of spiciness, like most Asian countries, Malaysia is one of the many that prides themselves of spicy food, some of which include, curries, Nasi Dagang, pulut,or the sambal belacan served with many rice dishes. Malaysians enjoy using a generous amount of spices coupled with coconut milk as their trademark, this makes up a high percentage of their food with just two ingredients! Nearly every meal is served with rice, rice plays an important part of the meal, it is seen as the ingredient that combines all the flavours together where the fumes of the coconut rice is mixed in with the chilli peppers, onion and galic from most dishes. Lemongrass is commonly used in Malaysian food and can be found in a variety of dishes, the most common of which is featured in Rendang. Rendang is a spicy meat stew that orginated from Christian's home land, Indonesia, but we Malaysians just made it taste better. Also, Malaysians enjoy the sweetness of food, and can be found from their savory and sweet dishes. The peanut satay sauce has a large amount of sugar, used to extract the flavours of the barbequed satay sticks and the onion and cucumber that is served with is used to break the strong flavours, providing a relief of taste. Overall that pretty much sums up the flavours of Malaysia!

-Derwin

Foodception

Hi all! Charlie here again. I was contemplating about the intricacies and mysteries of the universe and thought I'd make a quick post.

So apparently, Malaysian food and Indonesian food are very similar. Some dishes are also very similar to Thai food. Which in turn is quite similar to Vietnamese food. To complete the circle, I've noticed Malaysian and Vietnamese desserts are quite similar, especially the use of 'cendol' and coconut milk.

The point I'm trying to make is that, many cuisines in the South East Asian region are very similar and in many cases overlap. And rightly so, since they are from a similar part of the world and must share many common cultural traits and climate conditions. But the thought I had is, the cuisines we have today for each country is a product of many years of innovation, borrowing ideas from other cuisines and whatnot. That means today we have more dishes than our ancestors did; but also that the next generations are going to have dishes that we haven't even heard of. Jealous!

Anyway...just some food for thought ;). (pun intended)

- Charlie

Food capital of Malaysia

In this post, I would like to talk about something else rather than introducing another malaysian dish. Having enough to know all kinds of mouth watering dishes, but where is the best place to get the most authentic Malaysian food? If you ever get a chance to visit Malaysia, then you must visit Penang.  Personally, I think Penang is the best place to travel and eat! 

Penang is a state in Malaysia, located on the north-west coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. Penang is long known as the food capital of Malaysia, renowned for its good and varied food. Apart from that, it is also ranked among top ten greatest street food cities in Asia according to CNN Go. In Penang, definitely you will be able to taste the most original and authentic food. To name a few, penang assam laksa (In CNN's top 10 yummiest food), char kuey teow, ikan bakar (grilled fish), cendol, prawn mee and hokkien mee. 

Char kuey teow

Hokkien Mee                                                                                             Prawn Mee

Penang Assam Laksa

Most famous cendol stall (Teo Chew Cendol @ Penang road)

 Ikan bakar(grilled fish)

Last but not least before I forget, in Penang , the best food is always served at hawker stalls, remember never go into beautiful fancy restaurants. The most well known hawker stalls is located at Gurney Drive. Also, never leave Penang without trying the local traditional biscuit, tau sar piar (bean paste biscuit). 

Tau sar piar (bean paste biscuit)

-Mel-

Forever neighbors

Hello everyone!

So as explained in our earlier post, Malaysia is influenced by many cultures because of its geographical location and historical events. And as mentioned in the early post that one of our group member is Indonesian, which is me. And geographically, Indonesia and Malaysia are neighbors, and that makes these two countries share similar things as they are located really close from each other. So after looking at some Malaysian food that our group has explore, from the Indonesian point of view I found these food really wonderful and fit my taste bud perfectly. And that is because some of the food have similarities and even some of them share similar name and still with some differences between them

Indonesia and Malaysia

in this post I will show you guys some Malaysian and Indonesian food that share some similarities, in names, or ingredients.

The first similar food is the chicken satay. Yes this is a very famous dish in Malaysia and also in Indonesia. In Indonesia we call it “sate ayam” it is literally a translation of chicken satay in Indonesian. Indonesian version of chicken satay is served with peanut sauce and lontong, which is a compressed rice wrapped in banana leaf. These two food are very similar and it is not surprising because both Malaysia and Indonesia are countries that share similar culture and located really close to each other.

Malaysian chicken satay from Mamak

Indonesian sate ayam

Second food is rojak, from earlier post you can see my mates eating rojak in the Mamak restaurant. It is a very beautiful dish that made up of many different ingredients. In Indonesia, it is called rujak, yup just a small differences in the name of the food. In similar with Malaysian rojak, rujak is also a combination of many ingredients that is served with a sauce. The most famous type of rujak is the fruit rujak, which is a combination of several tropical fruits including pineapple, jambu air(water apple), raw mangoes, bengkoang and many other fruits. Fruit rujak in Indonesia is served with sweet and spicy sauce made from tamarind, palm sugar, water, peanuts, and some chilli. It can be really spicy or just sweet.

Malaysian rojak from Mamak

Indonesian fruit rujak

 

Third food that is similar is nasi lemak and nasi uduk. These two foods are a rice dish which is cooked with coconut milk and served with some other side dishes. From its appearance both of these dish look similar. But it is still different from the side dishes that are served with them. In Indonesia nasi uduk is mainly served with boiled egg, fried rice noodles, and some fried onion on top. From these images you can tell that both of these dishes look pretty much the same and both of them tastes really good.

Nasi lemak

Nasi uduk

Neighbors sharing some delicious food with similarities, differences and amazing taste!

Christian

More than just a cup of tea!

Hey readers! After having a cup of teh tarik that day at Mamak, I've been thinking of it on and off, craving for more! So nonetheless I've decided to write more about teh tarik.  I must have forgotten to mention, opposing Charlie (he finds it too sweet for him), teh tarik is my all time favourite drink and I would order teh tarik whenever I eat out in Malaysia.

To start off, teh tarik is of the Malay language, teh refers to tea and tarik means pull.  Teh tarik is a classic Malaysian sweetened tea. To be specific, this beverage comes from the Indian community in Malaysia. It is made out of black tea, condensed milk and evaporated milk.

It is called teh tarik because during the preparation, the mixture will be pulled three to four times between two mugs. By pulling the tea, lower down the temperature so that it is optimal to drink. Also, the tea is pulled in order to create a frothy top. By looking at the top of the drink, can determine whether the cup of drink is good or bad. A good cup of teh tarik should have a thick and frothy foam.

Originating from Malaysia, the goodness of teh tarik has also been spread around the world, especially in Singapore and Indonesia. Various competitions will also be held in Malaysia annually to promote and to enhance the quality of teh tarik. Malaysians are definitely proud of this famous tea drink, perhaps more important than the drink itself is the underlying culture. Teh tarik was recognised by the Malaysian government as an important part of Malaysia's food heritage. Last but not least, the roti canai is the perfect compliment to balance out the sweetness of teh tarik.

 Happily pulling the tea with great skills!

Teh tarik competition

 

A nice cup of teh tarik

The perfect combination!

-Mel-

Dessert!!!

At first I was extremely skeptical about the desserts at Mamak, because the last time I dined there it was an absolute horror. This experience was different, I think going with friends was a better experience than going with a dad whose food expectations are second to none. The dessert at Mamak was very traditional and authentic, except for one, but we'll get to that later.

Our first dessert that we shared as a group was Ais Kacang. This is a traditional Malaysian dessert which is made from agar agar, crushed ice, rose syrup, red beans and sweet corn. This dessert is served throughout Malaysia and is mostly recognised as Kuantan's specialty. Kuantan is the third largest state in Malaysia and is situated on the east cost of Malaysia. As you'd imagine, nothing beats sitting on a beach chair, tanning your problems away with a soothing and refreshing bowl of Ais Kacang to relax your mind. 

Ais Kacang at Mamak, decorated with Rose syrup and sweet corn.

The second dessert that we had was cendol. Cendol is a dessert that is made from coconut milk, jelly made from rice flour and coloured with green colouring, shaved ice and palm sugar. Cendol is a quintessential part of the the Malaysian cuisine which is often consumed after a heavy meal. I think that the Cendol made at Mamak was extremely refreshing, it had the right balance of sweetness, however, the jelly that it was served with had a very dominant flour taste. Other than that, it wasn't too bad over all.

Cendol with crush iced and coated with palm sugar.

Finally, the last dessert that came out was the Roti Tisu. By the time this came out, we were all extremely full and bloated, I needed to open my button and fly from my jeans just to have enough room to eat this dessert. Over here, it was served with two scoops of vanilla ice-cream, though this is not tradition, it was rather pleasant. Roti Tisu is actually a thinner version of the Roti Canai, mentioned in previous post, and it is shaped in a pyramid. In Malaysia it can be consumed as either sweet or savory, but for the purpose of dessert we had it sweet. It is normally coated with sugar that drips over the entire meal, however, the one Mamak served us lacked authenticity by barely having any sugar. Nonetheless, it was a decent meal to consume and play with after our long day of eating.

Roti Tisu served with 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream
or something else? ;)

What Roti Tissue SHOULD look like. Served
at Melissa and I's favourite spot in Malaysia
Kayu Nasi Kandar.

Your homie, Derwin