Chili Crab – Wong Eats

Malaysian Meals 3

I recently came back from a month-long trip to Turkey and Southeast Asia, and I managed to spend a week in my birth land, Malaysia, with my parents and relatives. This trip back was a great opportunity to catch up with my folks as well as to gorge myself with dishes that I missed most from my growing up years in this part of the world. After running around from one eating place to another and savoring the home dishes my Auntie Shirley cooked over the course of the week, here is the run down of the Malaysian gastronomic delights that not only sated my stomach but also warmed my soul. This posting is a continuation of the series on Malaysian Meals posted a couple of years ago (see blog links in above menu).

Malaysians really love their breakfast, judging by the crowds in eating places including roadside stalls at the early hours. One item that they are very fond of is Soft-boiled Egg which you will find to be a common order. A whole egg has been poached to the perfect state of opaque egg white and a barely cooked viscous yolk. A touch of white pepper (not black) and some salt or soy sauce complete this simple yet satisfying starter. Usually, it comes with a side of Toasted Bread, cut from whole loaves and not presliced, toasted but still quite pale, slathered with some margarine (not butter – only time an exception for me here) and some Kaya, a sweet coconut jam. This sweet sandwich is perfect with some hot Teh Tarik (pulled tea) or the strong Kopi-O (Malaysian coffee) to wake the eater up with its rich sweetness. I didn’t mind ordering two eggs with toast morning after morning since they get it right in this part of the world, and concern for my cholesterol level went out of the window with each delicious bite.

Another fairly mild breakfast item is Chee Cheong Fun. It is steamed sheets of rice dough rolled up to look like its moniker that translates as pig’s intestines noodle. No meat is involved here. It can be eaten with a combination of sweet and sour spicy sauces, and a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds. But most eaters would add a myriad of toppings called Yong Tau Foo. Stuffed tofu skin, fish ball, and stuffed puffed tofu cake are favored at this time of the morning. This was a favorite of mine when I used to visit my parents, and my Mum would stop by the stall during her rounds in the open wet markets, a place where great breakfast can be found.

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This Chinese breakfast item is also a noodle – Wanton Noodles in Sauce. Most of us know this dish as a noodle soup with floating pieces of wanton dumpling. Here, we have a version in which the cooked noodle is mixed in a sauce of soy, oyster sauce, and dark caramel soy sauce, a version that I rarely find outside of Malaysia. I prefer this type since it is not too hot for consumption in this sweltering part of the world, as well as its slight sweetness from the dark sauce and sour from some pickled green chilies. Customarily, a bowl of wanton soup is served with the noodles. But my parents usually add some other protein like Barbecue Pork (Char Siu) or my favorite, Braised Chicken Feet. Yumm.

Another fairly mild Chinese breakfast item is Rice Porridge or Congee. Grains of rice have been cooked with lots of liquid until they have lost their structural integrity, resulting in a thick gruel much like loose oatmeal. Without anything else, this porridge tastes of nothing. Hence, the bowl I had in a hot steamy coffee shop was topped with fried dough crullers, slices of pork, and crispy fried pig intestine. The dough crullers and pork added the savory and textural elements to this bowl, as well the intestine bits that also imparted a touch of funkiness. Probably my mother’s instruction for the cook to add an extra serving of intestine was a bit overkill. But nevertheless, I enjoyed this porridge especially having not savored it in so many years.

People in this part of world have been conditioned to seek spice in their food. Hence, there are some breakfast items that fit that bill. Roti Chanai and Murtabak are savory pancakes of South Indian origin, and their presence is indicative of the sizable Indian community here. The former is a simple grilled flaky pancake whereas the latter is the same pancake but with a stuffing of meat, egg or onion. For one breakfast, I chose the egg and onion version. The spicy element can be found in the different sauces that accompany this rather mild dough: fish curry, dahl lentil curry, and Sambar (a sour spicy sauce). It is not uncommon to find a Malaysian tearing off pieces of the roti or murtabak with their fingers and dipping it into the various sauces. No matter the cultural background, all Malaysians love this breakfast, as far as I know, with no exceptions coming to mind.
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Another spicy breakfast standard is from the Malay culture – Nasi Lemak. Its name refers to the rice that has been cooked with coconut cream to elevate the starch with some richness and fragrance. The usual toppings are crispy Whitebait fish, roasted peanuts, a hard-boiled egg, and sweet spicy Sambal sauce. The banana leaf wrapping is traditional and commonly seen, lending some vegetal fragrance to the whole mix. I have eaten versions with curry chicken and beef rendang. But I prefer mine pared down to its bare simplicity and devoid of meat, like the above, especially at the early hours of the day.

For lunch, Malaysians tend to gear towards noodle dishes. The following dishes are from the Baba Nyonya /Peranakan culture which I belong to. Penang Shrimp Noodle Soup is a dish with noodles in a spicy stock bursting with shrimp flavor as a result of frying the shells before making the stock. Pieces of chicken, shrimp, egg, and fried shallots complement the rich broth as well as adding some protein. As if it were not spicy enough, a side of cooked chili paste is usually added to each chopstickful of noodles. An appetizer ordered that day was Lor Bak. Tofu sheets have been stuffed with a mixture of minced meat and shrimp along with the secret ingredient, five-spice powder. The side of sour chili sauce is de rigueur with its chili heat as well as acid to balance these rich meaty bites..

Again, the following lunch dishes are from the same culture as above. Asam Mee is also from the Penang region, pointing to the Siamese influence with the use of sour elements. A spicy tamarind broth has been cooked with various root aromatics and Mackerel fish to produce a flavorful broth that is key to this dish. Toppings of cucumber, lettuce, pineapple, raw onions, mint, and fresh chili result in a melange of textures, temperatures, and flavors, making this dish a must-have in my books. A side order of Kueh Pai Tee brought back memories of eating them with my grandmothers. Fried dough shells looking like top hats, hence its other moniker, have been stuffed with a savory mix of jicama and meat, and topped with egg, fried shallots, sometimes crab meat, cilantro, fried shallots, and a dollop of sour chili sauce. Rarely is one stuffed shell fulfilling, but I had to make room for the above noodle dish.
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Another Penang Nyonya dish I ate was Mee Siam that was cooked by my Aunt Shirley. This recipe was handed down by my maternal grandmother, and I requested my aunt to cook it because I missed it very much and I wanted to fine-tune the recipe I copied down years ago. Rice stick noodles have been stir-fried in a chili-shallot-garlic-dried shrimp mix before tossed with shrimp, bean sprouts and Chinese chives. The usual toppings are slivers of egg pancake, fried shallots, fried garlic, sweet chili paste, and fresh lime juice. A sweet fermented bean paste sauce is added according to the diner’s whim. As you can see the preparation list is quite long, hence, no other dish is cooked or served along this monumental dish. The result is a delight of sour, sweet, spice, and salty, as well as the different fragrant elements from the dried shrimp, chives, fried shallots and fried garlic. With such a wonderful dish, there is never a request for anything else but more of this heavenly treat.

This Nyonya noodle dish, Curry Laksa, is from the Malacca region, which my father’s side hails from. Noodles are covered with a rich broth make with chili, root aromatics, and enriched with coconut milk. The usual bowl partners are chicken, fish cake, tofu cakes, fish ball, bean sprouts and some long beans. A squirt of lime juice is the necessary citrus hit to cut through the creamy broth. Not only is this bowl filling with all the different elements, but truly satisfying with the strong flavors and the rich coconut based soup. Not an everyday lunch order, but worthwhile once in a while.

A road stall lunch order one day was Minced Fish Noodle. This is a take on the traditional fish ball noodle soup dish. But here we have a version that is made with a sweet fish bone broth that is made even sweeter with tomatoes and cloudy with evaporated milk, which was completely novel for me. The fish cake was not the usual bouncy fish ball consistency that I was used to, but one that was rather airy and light with the slightly rough texture from fish meat that had not been overly minced. The soft rice stick noodles was the right starch to go with this delicate dish, which was a nice break from all the spice. A mild noodle dish but not tame after all.

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The last noodle dish is usually served in coffee shops or roadside stalls – Char Kueh Teow. Flat rice noodles are wok-fried with a dark sauce, shrimp, sometimes Chinese sausage, bean sprouts, egg, and usually cockles. This dish is difficult to replicate at home due to the high temperature needed to char the noodles slightly to give that je ne sais quoi. However, as of late, I have been rather disappointed by stalls that take short cuts with the ingredients, like cockles and crispy pork lard, and the lack of wok char from cooking it at a lower temperature. To make matters worse, I have not found any cook in the city using pork lard as the starting element, which imparts lots of flavor to each bite. Another favorite of mine, but I’m easily disappointed by what is served. Oh well, the quest continues.

For dinner one night, my parents and I had Hainanese Chicken Rice. A whole chicken is gently cooked in which the collagen in the flesh is still intact, producing a silky smooth and moist flesh. The rice is cooked with the broth and some chicken fat, tasting savory from the liquid and rich from the fat, good enough to be eaten by itself. The chicken in this order was from the “kampung”, a free-range bird that was nearly devoid of fat and tasting far superior than the supermarket kind. The side of ginger chili sauce is the obligatory sauce with the poultry. An order of Ipoh Bean sprouts was the perfect accompaniment to the mild-tasting Chicken Rice. Bean sprouts have been stir-fried with slivers of salted fish that have been made crispy by frying in very hot oil, imparting its fishy saltiness to the rather tasteless sprouts. What makes these bean sprouts unique is its short length and its distinctive flavor from the lime water in the Ipoh region. Our order was quite late in arrival, but it was worth ingesting every morsel indeed.

A meet-up with a former schoolmate from my English days warranted feasting on what Malaysian cuisine is also known for – seafood. The first order was Frog Legs (water animal, right?) which was cooked with ginger and green onions. The sweet flesh was paired well with the pungent ginger and green onion and brought together by a light sauce. Another dish was Crispy Shrimp. Large pieces of the shellfish were fried in very hot oil until the shell was brittle and edible while the flesh remained moist. A light coating of fried fresh chilies and green onions provided additional flavors to these tasty pieces. The final dish was Chili Crab, a perennial favorite of most Malaysians. Large pieces of fresh crab were coated with a thick sweet chili sauce that was enriched by some egg. The idea is to lick the sauce off the shells, crack them open to dip the flesh in the sauce, and to dunk pieces of toast into that heavenly sauce. Yes, that sauce is good enough to lick off the plate, making it a hot item on the menu.

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A lunch meet-up with some relatives was regaled with a couple of Chinese classics. The first was Braised Pork Knuckle. Pieces of pig hand or feet have been stewed in a dark savory sauce for hours before being paired with some fresh vegetables and Chinese mushrooms. What I enjoyed was the tender pieces of pork that has been stewed long enough for it to become fork-tender and full of flavor, as well as the chewy pieces of fish maw that I found quite interesting texture and taste-wise. The other classic was Sweet and Sour Pork. Eating it was refreshing for this diner, a far departure from the usual renditions found in inferior establishments. Here was a dish made with small pieces of pork that were not too heavily battered, paired with pieces of fresh cucumber, green onions, onions, pineapple, and red chilies, and brought together by a thin sweet and sour sauce that was not nuclear-glowing by red coloring. When done right, this dish is worth ordering and revelatory to anyone. Staying with my auntie, I requested a couple of vegetable-based dishes that I had not eaten for quite some time. Chow Moo Choy is made with pickled vegetables cooked with pieces of pork. The leafy vegetable has been dried with salt and sugar, and these same flavor elements permeate the whole dish, making it quite irresistible. The other is Chah Choy. Fresh cabbage-like leaves are cooked with leftover chicken or pork, whole dried chilies and tamarind slices until the leaves are very tender, tasting savory, spicy and sour at the same time. I had missed these two dishes, and I am grateful that my auntie went out of her way to bring back these dishes to my taste buds.

A couple of dishes that I ate on this trip reminded me of my grandmother and her cooking. Kow Yoke is a braised dish with alternate layers of taro root and pork belly covered by a thick sauce. The melting quality of the dish evokes a sense of comfort while elevated by the five-spice in the sauce. This was definitely a dish that I missed dearly. The final dish that the same auntie cooked for my parents and me was Ayam Kacang Putih. This Indian recipe was handed down from my grandmother’s sister after having learned it from her father-in-law’s Indian chauffeur. Here, pieces of chicken have been marinated in red chili powder before being fried and paired with fragrant curry leaves, perfumy anise powder, red chili, shallots, and crunchy roasted baby garbanzo/chick peas. This dish is a definite explosion of flavors that brings back memories of Grandma cooking this signature dish. Again, this was a trip down Memory Lane that was worth every chicken morsel and every drop of the sauce.

Whew, that was only part of what I consumed in the course of one week, frantically trying my best to cover as much ground within a short period of time. Malaysians, I included, are some serious foodies who not only enjoy the local offerings but also obsess about them and plan their daily lives around the meals. With such gastronomic delights that abound in this part of the world, no wonder food is in the forefront of their mind. By what you have just seen and read in this blog, I think you can understand why.

Malaysian Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner1

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Man cannot live on Noodles and Rice Dishes alone (see last blog), at least not for most Malaysians. Malaysia sits on a geographically strategic location in which historically it has received influences from different parts of the world due to trade from all directions and also stemming from being part of various empires, notably the South Indian Cholan and the Indonesian Srijavan empires, as well as its position as a Chinese vassal state for many centuries. Blessed with humid tropical climate in which literally anything will grow just by placing it in the soil, Malaysia is abundant with vegetables, fruits and herbs/spices that are incorporated into the cooking of an equally abundance of seafood, poultry and meat. Needless to say, Malaysian food is full-flavored, unique, and rather exotic even to some fellow Malaysians themselves. Here are the different breakfast, lunch, and dinner dishes that I managed to delight in during my recent visit to this part of the world.

1) Roti Chanai – This South Indian dish is a breakfast staple not only for the Indian community but for most Malaysians. Layers of finely stretched dough have been separated by clarified butter or margarine, much like an Asian version of Puff Pastry. After spending time on the flat griddle, it is usually served with some cooked dahl lentils and a light vegetable or fish curry. This dish brings back memories of stopping by roadside shacks and having this along with some hot pulled tea. A spicy start to the morning.

2) Ayam Buah Keluak – This dish is quite exotic even for some of my relatives as it hails from the Melaka Peranakan culture that traces its roots to Chinese migration to the area beginning in the 15th century. It is a stew that pairs chicken with the Keluak seed that grows in the island of Java. The seed is toxic in the raw form, but it produces a dark chocolate-like flesh after being cooked for some time. It can also be cooked with pork ribs, which my family prefers, or a firm flesh fish. I relish eating it when I am visiting my family since I do not get it anywhere else. This is soul food for me, despite its odd sounding description.

3) Asam Ikan – Again, like the above, this dish has its roots in the Peranakan culture, a subculture minority group that my family belongs to. It is fish that has been quickly simmered in a spicy and sour gravy made with tamarind along with a myriad of fragrant herbs and spices. The use of okra (Malaysia – “lady’s fingers”) is customary as well as eggplant at times. This reminds me of our weekly serving of this dish as I was growing up with my grandmothers, and the sipping of the sauce which we could not get enough of. Spicy and Sour flavors dominate many Peranakan dishes, as in this one.

4) Pongteh – A classic Peranakan dish. Pieces of Belly Pork are paired with potato and simmered in a rich fermented soybean paste sauce that is made fragrant with tons of shallots and garlic. This dish takes on many variations according to the cook – my paternal grandmother used to add bamboo shoots, and my maternal grandmother Chinese mushrooms. This was the must-cook dish that we were served by my auntie when we used to go down to visit her in my father’s village in Melaka. The dish brings back lots of memories and nostalgia when it is in my presence.

5) Yau Chow Kwai/Deep-Fried Dough – This breakfast dish literally translates as “Deep-fried Devils” since it resembles someone squirming in pain as the dough puffs and grows in the hot oil during the frying. This is a typical Chinese breakfast staple that is usually bought at the morning markets in the various neighborhoods in Kuala Lumpur, much like a slightly salty churro. The crispy exterior and soft inside make it the perfect vehicle for dunking into some strong chicory-brewed coffee. Another favorite way of eating it is by slathering some coconut jam (Kaya) on it. Or it is just perfect as it is.

6)Sambal Ikan – Again, this fish dish hails from the Peranakan culture, which shares a close affinity with the Malay group. Here we see a Malay style dish in which fish, in this case fresh mackerel, are fried with a spicy concoction of dried chilies, shallots, garlic, shrimp paste, and candlenuts to produce quite a fragrant and fiery dish. The use of tamarind in the paste adds the sourness to elevate the dish beyond piquancy. I can recall my grandmother eating this with her hand, the traditional way, as she pried the rather firm flesh away from the whole fish.

7) Woo Tau Koh/Steamed Taro Cake – Another Chinese (Hokkien) breakfast staple. It is basically taro root (“yam” in Malaysia) that has been steamed with a flour mixture to produce a smooth potato-like savory cake. The seasonings are fried dried shrimp and shallots, with a topping of sweet hoisin and spicy chili sauces. Like most breakfast, this can be bought at the neighborhood morning market, which my mother would do on her frequent trips during the week.

8) Chinese Crispy Fried Chicken – this sumptuous poultry dish is the result of a whole chicken that has been evenly wok-fried to produce a crispy skin while keeping the meat moist and succulent. It is customarily served with both a white pepper/salt combination and a sweet plum sauce. The clouds of prawn crackers around it mimic the same crispness of the chicken skin. This is definitely restaurant fare and I thoroughly enjoyed it with my uncle’s and cousin’s families.

9) Steamed Fish – Seafood plays a prominent role in Southeast Asian diet, especially the fresh kind. Matter of fact, no one buys any of the frozen kind, maybe the odd foreigner living there. One of my joys of going back to Malaysia is to go to the open markets and look at the abundance of seafood that come from the local waters. The Chinese prefer to have their fish simply steamed with a few aromatics like ginger and green onions, along with a light sauce made of soy sauce, sesame oil, and some rice wine – this was the case with this dish when I sampled it.

10) Chili Crab – this is the classic way of cooking this crustacean that has become a signature dish of the region. When I visited a seafood restaurant with my uncle and cousin, there were large tanks of seafood being displayed from which the live creatures were scooped up and whisked off to the kitchen. Everything served in that restaurant was alive just a few minutes before. The crabs here are cooked in a slightly spicy and sweet sauce that is enriched by the use of egg. Upon service, it is customary to lick off the delectable sauce from the shells before breaking them open to get to the sweet flesh. A side order of bread is provided to mop up every drop of that wonderful sauce.

11) Poh Piah/Fresh Spring Rolls – My maternal grandmother used to make this labor-intensive dish for our Saturday lunches. On this trip, my auntie was gracious enough to cater to my request for this dish that traces its roots to the immigrants from the Fujian region of China. It is basically a fresh spring roll that is not deep-fried like the version most people know. The skin is a very thin sheet of dough that is completely cooked, and it is stuffed with cooked jicama along with some Chinese sausage and pieces of cooked shrimp, and the occasional crabmeat. The sweet sauce and chili paste on the other end of the crepe acts as the glue to seal the roll. I remember as kids, we would hold a competition to see how many we could roll without breakage and how many we could scoff our faces with. Unfortunately, I’m not able to consume as many, but not without the same amount of joy of yesteryear.

12) Hai Chou/Fried Pork, Fish and Shrimp Balls – During this last trip, I wanted to document some recipes that my maternal grandmother used to cook for us with the help of my auntie. One of the dishes was this surf and turf dish. It is basically meatballs consisting of minced pork, minced fish, and diced shrimp that have been rolled up into large sheets of tofu skin, steamed, and deep-fried. The use of cilantro, carrots, green onions, and water chestnuts adds crunch and fresh fragrance to the dish. It is customary to serve them with a sour chili sauce that cuts through the rich-tasting morsels. Eating this dish immediately erased its absence of 25 years from my diet since my grandmother last prepared it.

13) Leong Yee/Stuffed Fish – Another dish that was on my list of documenting my grandmother’s recipes was this fish dish. A delicate process has to be taken to remove the spine without tearing the fillets while keeping them intact on the fish. The fillets are scrapped of the flesh, minced with some pork, mixed with aromatics, then stuffed back into the fish cavity, and fried until fully cooked. The whole fish is simmered in a soybean paste, garlic and ginger sauce until it is tender and has absorbed its savory flavors. Like the above offering, tasting this took me back 25 years when I last had this dish when grandma was still alive. Lots of memories, indeed.

A second installment on the rest of the dishes will follow soon. Hopefully, this blog has whet your appetite for more Malaysian delicacies and the myriad of wonderful dishes.