Thursday, 27 January 2011

A Malaysian Food Trail









A refreshingly cold drink on the hottest January day in about twenty years. This concoction, called the three flavours, is an ice shaving mix drowned in milk, black jelly strips and green coloured crunchy bits made from mung beans (cendol). Cendol is ubiquitous on the street food stalls in South-east Asia from Vietnam to Indonesia. A dessert that also serves as a quick teatime snack, it is a necessary tool of defence to cool down the palate, body and temperament, especially when temperatures soar above 30 degrees Celsius. It is also highly effective when taken with curries and deep fried foods. The concoction has to be stirred thoroughly before preferred through a large sized straw, to allow the bits and pieces to be slurped through, accompanying the drink portion. We had our share of cendol this time at Albee's along the main strip of Beamish Street in Campsie, south-west of Sydney CBD.







Joyce's Mum, Rosie, had just returned from Penang, Malaysia and we reckoned we should check out some parts of greater Sydney that was hardly frequented. I was fascinated by this unassuming mural (above) painted on a back wall beside a side street off Marrickville Road in the multi-ethnic suburb of Marrickville. The musical instruments depicted on this mural reminded me of some of the traditional instruments used in multi-racial Malaysia, except for the one with a duck shaped handle. You can spot Indian drums, Chinese pipas and Malay violins. The vegetables offered on display in Marrickville (below) seemed to be wilting under the harsh sunlight, but contribute to the variety of stir-fried dishes often complemented with condiments, garlic and ginger on the wok.























One of my favourite supper or lunch snacks back in my hometown of Penang Island is the Cantonese-inspired wat tan chow hor, soaking in a delicious egg-based gravy poured over an aromatic mixture of prawns, cut choy sum vegetable stalks/ leaves and stir fried wide flat rice noodles (hor fun). For this dish to have a kick, it has to be eaten whilst warm and with vinegar-soaked cut green chilli rings - and the wok used to stir fry the noodles must have been going for several hours. Home kitchens rarely produce a mean and really rewarding quality of this culinary creation. In my mind, this chow hor is associated with a fun trip with Papa and brothers, the kids in pyjamas, going for a special treat in a car in the latter part of the night, for a quick meal in Georgetown before turning into bed.








Mum makes the best mee rebus, and interpretations of this South Indian inspired dish can vary with different crunchiness of the battered shrimps, the smoothness of the potato-based gravy and the spiciness of the dish.


Rebus is to simmer, and yellow Hokkien noodles are preferred, with fried shallots used as the garnish.
The experience is heated up with an optional dollop of paste made from pounded chillies and shrimp. Above image, the dish made at Ginger and Spice in the Chatswood Chase in Sydney's upper north shore.








Friday, 21 January 2011

I Was Just Standing There

The sky above the horizon was changing colours - mild purple, relaxing pink and topped up by an on-coming grey. That evening,the Tasman Sea was benign and reflected the colours of the sunset.  It was past 8pm, and what transfixed us, along the North Gong Beach, was not a late summer evening's ambiance, but the fast changing eclipse of the full moon.

Smoky wisps of shadow gradually engulfed the largest lamp in our Earth's night sky -and just as fast as it came, the eclipse left in a huff, with the whole process taking just about 30 minutes. The event did not bother the wave and board surfers along the beach. Some diners in covered buildings were oblivious to this, what Nature can surprisingly throw up, but most pronounced and evident when it happens in that window of change called either sunset or sunrise.  Different cultures ascribe various and varying meanings to such eclipses, but to me it was just beautiful -and my group was just awe-struck.

At twenty six degrees Celsius, it is not that temperature hot, but recently the radiating heat felt has been more like what an Australian summer should be like.  What is lovely is the accompanying sensation of cooling breezes on the skin, standing beside water, standing at a look out point, or just looking out from your open house windows. I noticed an increasing preference for ceiling fans in several abodes visited in the past year.  I am not convinced that this pattern arose out of an urge to primarily save the environment. Maybe it comes from a more practical mindset and to be more financially sustainable.  As a Dave Soutter remarked to me, air-conditioning can be over the top for bedrooms when one sleeps at night, and all I may need is just a good circulation of air, like that experienced after winding down the windows in a moving vehicle.  Utility rates have gone up in pricing as well across Australia.

At a Hornsby, Sydney party, looking out at the balcony, we could hear the passing traffic below. I have not been to a residental high rise much lately, and the impact of  this lifestyle did rear up to my mind and imagination that evening.  We could see beyond the suburb, the bush at the Ku-ring Gai Reserve, the lights of Westfield and the railway line and station. The master bedroom has a walk-in wardrobe and en suite, but both the kitchen and laundry room have no windows.  The complex has two layers of security, one controlled by a resident guard and the other by buzzing the address button.  The lounge and bedrooms of the apartment we had a party in were rather spacious for a Sydney location.  There were proper garages in the basement.

We were hanging around, after a good spread for tea, and coming from Wollongong, it made me think.  Numerous facilities were nearby, but mostly man made. Standing near the open windows did make me feel the breeze, but not immediately from the ocean. Permission was required for things that stand alone house owners may have taken for granted. Neighbour Ann and her young daughter Karlina dropped by at the gathering - Karlina loved rolling around on the carpet and seemed to be aware of the limits of the balcony.

I may have missed the point, though -you can still view the full moon, maybe even better, and any lunar eclipses, from a high rise residence.  And talk of feeling, full on, of breezes at that  height!

Friday, 7 January 2011

My Big Day Out




Hugo's occupies a strategic corner of the Manly ferry wharf in Sydney's northern beaches.
Incoming ferry passengers disembarking from Circular Quay in Sydney CBD pass by its verandahs, lined with dark wooden tables, fresh aromatic pizzas and bay views.  On the evening I was there with mates,
a rather hot sticky Sunday had turned into passing showers after a blow-up of ocean breezes and the coming in of clouds.  Hugo's was chock-a-block, granted that this was a holiday weekend for New Year's and we could see other lines of people outside queuing to catch the boats back to the city centre.  There was no room at the inn, so to speak, and my group had to take dinner at the wood fired pizza outlet across the road.  We had kangaroo, vegetarian and prawn laden pizzas, amongst other flavours, and I also could not help tasting the potato and bacon version meant for youngsters Ash and Cait.

For me, Hugo's was the final stop on a busy adventure out, that started with passing by this uniquely named cafe along Victoria Avenue  in Chatswood, NSW - Hello Happy (image above).   It was a bakery cafe outlet, but the name of the business suggests targeting a market with demographics of teenagers, Japanese and HongKongers.  Chatswood remains one of my fav chillout and shopping destinations in the greater Sydney area - and my easy quick lunch combo there often consists of an  entree of KFC wicked wings, followed by a mains of Malaysian, and topped up by a cool cup of iced smoked tea from ChaTime.



My reliable carriage (above)  takes a well deserved rest in a Baulkham Hills home. I had accompanied a visiting aunt, her daughter and son-in-law to Castle Towers to partake Thai food at the Red Spoon.
As one entered this restaurant located at the piazza of this shopping centre in Sydney's north-west, I felt as if I was on a tropical holiday resort and specifically at its music lounge lobby.  Jazzy and easy listening music was being played.   We had eyed the barramundi listed on the menu, but it was not available that day.  So for mains, we settled for cinnamon roast pork belly (recommended), a lamb shank Massaman curry (a bit sweet for my palate) and banana flower salad graced with grilled prawns.




Our entrees (above) at the Red Spoon - pandan leaf flavoured barbecued chicken (left) and a dish that combined soft shell crab with salads.



I just love the set up (above image) of glass containers that hold the various exotic seeds and nuts, accompanied by snugly packaged choc products from Max Brenner.




I had some time to kill between appointments,so I dropped by the bookshops in Darlinghurst.

I was delighted coming across this wall mural that depicted cheerfulness trying to encourage a boy pre-occupied and self-obsessed with his problems.  Change the boy depicted in the mural to an adult, and I surely have come across various instances of such a scenario playing out on Sydney CBD streets.

Below, the lamb shank Massaman curry from the Red Spoon Thai restaurant.

On the Trail of My Favourite Dishes

My utmost culinary sensation would be blue cod grilled fresh from the catch, with bites dunked in a wake-up condiment, eaten with the ocean breeze blowing in my face, surrounded by mates enjoying the flow of the day and following to where the wave of unplanned holidays take us.

For Breakfast:  Nothing beats like a simple feitan chok, or broth flavoured by slices of the so-called thousand year old egg (often duck eggs cured with vinegar and preservatives). This has been the meal opener for many in southern China, and is available at Hong Kong styled yumcha restaurants around the world.

For a Pick Me Up: Pineapple salad, usually inspired by Thai cuisine, can be done in various degrees of hotness and sour tastes.  My preferred version comes from the Straits Chinese, with lots of complementing mint leaves, traces of finely chopped hard boiled egg and with onion slices to contrast with the sharpness of the fruit.

Snacks: On hot humid days in Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Hong Kong,  it is not easy to avoid the ubiquitous bak kuah, or freshly cooked pork or beef jerky, which  are best served sizzling from a barbecue grill and eaten slightly cooled down. One can see the burnt black bits on top of the moist oily surface of the usually square slices. Such fare are also available in most Chinatowns around the Western world.

A Quick, Delicious Dinner:  Try the tomato flavoured rice, looking light orangy, which can be accompanied  ala Vietnam by crispy skin roast chicken, or in true Indian inspiration, the comparable briyani is best eaten with a chicken kurma curry.  Both best eaten with unrestrained hands, the latter over banana leaves.

To Refresh: Nothing beats a long and tiring day like having a small ice-cold bowl of gingko simmered in a dessert concoction.  For most Lunar New Years, I have been able to savour those made by an elder cousin on Penang Island.

In South-east Asia, do not miss sampling the kiam hoo gulai, or curry with a kick of dashes of salted dried fish, and usually accompanied with long beans or other crunchy vegetables. The true stuff is appetising, is often not that chili-hot and basks in a more creamy-like gravy. Best eaten with white steamed rice, it should not make you unusually thirsty but just craving for more of this dish - it grows on your thoughts.

Power Meal:  Try salmon omelette, a feature of Aussie breakfasts, with a tinge of Japanese and New Zealand influences, but most pleasing to the palate. It can be a balanced meal, is even better when taken with your favourite dressing or salad.  No frozen stuff to be sued please, everything must be as fresh as the eggs.

And then there are Spanish roast suckling pigs, French duck con fit, Moroccan cous-cous, Italian spaghetti gambari, Japanese grilled unagi and hokey-pokey ice cream from the Land of the Long White Cloud.

Church

  Igreja is the Portuguese word for a church. In Malay and Indonesian, it is Gereja.  The Galician word is Igrexa.  The Sundanese islanders ...