PappaRich Malaysian Delights - Macquarie Centre North Ryde NSW

Authenticity, integrity and flavour.   That is what most of us saviour, appreciate and enjoy in any of the world's cuisines.    For fusion cooking like in Malaysia, which stands at the cross roads of  varying cultures, religions and cuisines, to represent them adequately in a restaurant can be mind boggling, creative challenging and requiring constant monitoring.   The choice of sauces, the techniques practised to bring them together and to ensure the right presentation at the table can be a constant cycle of preserverance, care and instinctive experience.

Some dishes from the Malaysian cook book provide significant tests:

1.  Where the soups must uplift and the ingredients are supplementary.
Curry Laksa, with its strong sensations is at the opposite end of Ipoh hor fun soup.
Clear soups require subtleness, strong soups need good colour and harmony.

2.  Where the grill has to be just right in providing texture.   Charcoal fired meats are more yummy than those cooked in a oven but the choice is up to each person's preference.   Skewered meats are most yummy when eaten fresh from the grill and not pre-cooked before.  Not too much smokiness.  More important is the marinade  - PappaRich Satay has a lemon grass after taste like what you get in the home country.

3.   Where the curry has to be simply appetising.   There are several spices that make up the base for simmering in a curry pot.  The amount and nature of your spice used create different curries.   Red curry is the base of the standard Malaysian chicken curry.  The complexity of making Rendang is because of the many spices and ingredients.   More dilute curry for Roti dipping can be more challenging to make.

4.   Where the stir fry has wok heat and yet retains the right level of flavour.  This is most critical for your plate of the Char Koay Teow, where you can  sense the hand and style of different individuals in the finished product.

5.    Where sauces transform the final bite.   South-east Asians love their condiments, whether pestle pounded, ground with an electric whizzer or simply gently mixed by hand before serving.  Even steamed bamboo baskets of Dim Sim stuff and buns are accompanied by simple chilli sauces.

My recent visit to Pappa Rich near Macquarie University made me reflect on the following:

Food comes out fast, orders are received like clock work.  So how is the kitchen team faring, they must be under tremendous pressure to deliver.   This is not fast food but rather echoes home cooked and street food which require various steps in preparation.

Rush hour at Macquarie Centre means a pouring of customers, all hungry, at the same time.  They may be next going home, to the cinemas, having a break from chores or shopping and may already be stressed out themselves after a long day.

What is the difference between the other greater Sydney area offerings and those from the PappaRich chain?  There is Sedap, there is Hawker, there is Albee's.   This PR is the giant of it all, with set procedures, required steps and prescribed interior decoration.  It is a business that is replicated across many of its stores.  There are local ingredients in the cooking, but sauces have to be standardised and consistent.

With such an extensive menu, how does PappaRich manage to deliver it all?   Malaysian cooking rely on many common ingredients, so there can be scale of economy in such aspects.  The risk is in the assembly of the final dish.   Management control helps, but where is the room for creativity by different individuals?   Another significant outcome desired is the consistency in taste.   It is easy to produce the Rotis, but what about assuring each customer about each plate of Mee Goreng or Char Koay Teow?


My impressions of Papa Rich Macquarie Park:
Ambiance:  2.5 out of 5
Customer Engagement: 3 out of 5
Culinary Delight: 3.5 out of 5
X Factor:  3  out of 5
Overall:  3 out of 5


Recommended menu choices:
Steamed Chicken, whether it comes with rice, congee or egg noodles
Beef or Chicken Satay skewers with peanut sauce, cucumber slices and onion cuts
Beef Rendang - national dish of Malaysia
Nasi Lemak with curry mutton, fried chicken or curry chicken
Mee Goreng - that delectable plate of stir fried Hokkien noodles with a kick! 
Teh Tarik - a pulled tea concoction that has cinnamon and spice, served cold or warm.
Combination of fried rice with fried chicken wings and Satay skewers







Papa Rich Macquarie Park is located at Level 3 of the Macquarie shopping centre in North Ryde NSW, near Events Cinema Complex. Macquarie Centre is sited beside Herring and Waterloo Roads.
Opening hours are from 1030am to 930pm every day. 
Contact + 61 2 9870 8754

Paparich Australia operates in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Canberra, Brisbane and Adelaide.
Paparich has 20 stores in Australia and 70 in its home base of Malaysia.   
The business is also active in New Zealand, Taiwan, China, Brunei, the USA, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Indonesia at time of writing this blog post.

Albee's, Kingsford NSW

The wide variety of choices in Chinese Malaysian and Straits Chinese street food and cuisine, first consumed in Campsie,  is also now available in Albee's sister branch in the university precinct of Kingsford in greater Sydney.  This signifies a widening of options in the Malaysian food scene in Sydney. Previously options were confined to the north-west and there was much lament when compared to what Melbournians had. In the past several months, the variety was made more available in Sydney CBD and now in southern suburbs. When is commercial Malaysian food coming to Wollongong and the Central Coast - that can be a brave question.

Such cuisine can be construed around a five part meal, although any resident in and visitor to Malaysia knows that people there eat anytime around the clock.  With Albee's, I can have an entree of chunky vegetarian curry puff (with both potato and sweet potato mush inside and that distinctive one half of a hard boiled egg).  Another good starter is the good old reliable satay skewers with an uplifting peanut-based spicy and chili infused sauce. Then I sip my teh tarik whilst going into my mains - usually a clay pot of hot and aromatic noodles, Hainan chicken drumstick rice or a more exotic dish like fish head curry ala south Indian style.   Then it is time for some sweetening, and Straits Chinese fare (refer to picture above) are never regrettable. The only common thing about Chinese Malaysian desserts is its extensive use of coconut milk in the various petite creations.  I highly recommend the talam cake with its smooth white top and green underbelly. To top it all and then stagger from a Chinese Malaysian meal, wind up with ais kacang - laden with syrupy garnish and mixed with hidden bits of black jelly, cream corn and sago palm fruit.  At this juncture, I am thankful that Asian meals are usually communal based and meant to be shared with your fellow diners at the same table - so anyone does not have to eat it all and can sample more food for better variety.

My visit to Albee's in Kingsford for the first time gave me an opportunity to try their curry laksa. Any decent so-called Malaysian street food outlet has this iconic dish - perhaps popularised  by the Malay-Chinese chain around Sydney CBD in the  nineties, then with 20 cent paper bibs and all to ensure no staining of your corporate tie and suit.  I reckon this dish is a good measure of your evaluation of such joints on debut try outs, whether from Jackie's in Concord to Sambal in North Ryde to Temasek's in Parramatta.  The all important soup in a laksa should not be over rich with coconut cream but allow the other spices and ingredients to seep through and above any chili effect.  The next critical test comes with the texture, freshness and variety of the ingredients accompanying the noodles.   Diners should also be given options in what type of noodles and not just given the often standard mix of vermicelli and Hokkien yellow noodles. Personally I prefer Cantonese-fashioned egg noodles to go with my laksa.  Any al dente effect of the noodles you get on your bite from your served bowl is a bonus.

On this same visit, I encountered ice cold teh tarik, or latte tea with that cinnamon twist.  I took it as an ethnic milkshake, one that was both gratifying on the taste and also went well with the food at Albee's.
Service, as with the  Campsie cafe, was quick and friendly.  The overflowing number of menu items are also plastered on the surrounding walls but the read hand held menu has been modernised in graphics and presentation. This venue is a welcome place for a family or a group.  We did not feel people impinging on each other's space and Anzac Parade outside the door looked safe and suburban.
Albee's in Kingsford is accessible by easy bus routes from Sydney CBD.  Parking of your car is also more relaxed when compared to some inner city suburbs.  Why just go for yum cha meals on a lazy weekend arvo?  Try this Chinese Malaysian option when you can.

Papparich, Chatswood NSW

The kopi tiam of old Malaya has been revitalised into a modern setting, with dark brown panel surroundings, Australian sourced ingredients for classic dishes from street and home of another era, another place and another cuisine.  As immigration from Malaysia continues to flow into the Antipodes, the soul food of childhood and family for many of these arrivals are represented and repackaged for another generation.  Does this symbolise the infusion of more Asia into a continental island that is so close geographically and yet have remained for most years apart, culturally and politically? Australia offers a fresh start for the adventurous, disenfranchised and business dynamic from other lands - and in return it is enriched with new thoughts, new cuisines and new colours.

South Indian rotis, Cantonese noodles, Straits Chinese snacks, Eurasian cakes, Malay satay sticks, Indonesian nasi lemak, Western influenced breads, Hainan chicken rice and amazing drink combinations ( Ribena and water melon slices?) litter the interesting menus at Papparich outlets. The food is already a fusion from a few hundred years of demographic intermixing above the Equator - and now they arrive in another land of more than just a few racial groups. Australia will have a pride of its own evolving and distinctive cuisine in the future.  In the meantime, this nation absorbs, allows and experiments.  White coffee is mixed with milk tea (cham) and longans are dropped in soya milk honey.   Silken tofu is served cold and lightly laced with a palm sugar syrup.   Roti canai is provided  with chocolate, ice cream and banana cuts in a heady colonial era theme.  Bread slices coated with a coconut cream custard called kaya can be ordered at any time of the day and night, and not just at breakfast time.  The staff are mostly with East Asian and Indian faces, unlike those at Papparich branches back in the homeland.

On a cold weekend, I relished the comforts of a simple combo of soft congee with steamed chicken a la Hainan (photo above).  This most subtle of a meal requires great care in preparation, to ensure that flavours rise above the apparent plain look and that garnishings and sauces do not over whelm our palates but instead give us an overall warm feeling of satisfaction inside. Soothing, this can be looked forward by those sensing an impeding cold setting in or savoured by the elderly or their grandchildren without any hint of complications for digestion.

The plethora of street food familiar to most Australians these days - curry laksa, char koay teow and prawn mee - are available, but some with a twist.  How about curry laksa with cockles off their shell?
White coloured rice noodles can be served dry or stir fried in a wet rich gravy. Are you game for a Thai inspired dish utilising tamarind and flaky fish in the unusual soup - the assam laksa?  I am surprised that you can even order a plate of deep fried chicken skin, something so niche but great to accompany with beer.  And don't forget - you can have your yum cha offerings like dumplings and vegetarian rolls as well.  What a melting pot!

Temasek Singapore Restaurant, George Street, Parramatta - Western Sydney

Smooth and tender, a whole chicken is soaked in cooking stock, the chef conscious of delicateness and flavours that infuse the meat with skin on, before it is sliced for serving, with condiments made from ginger, sweet black soy and chili.

Joseph Chan did it again - organise a group of us to have a sit down dinner at Temasek, one of the most enduring places in the Sydney region to continue to provide  Malaysian and Singaporean fare and cuisine all these past 30 years.  This time we had eleven diners ( due to one apology, who was not feeling well) and the round table was graced by people from various origins - South Africa, the Philippines, Malaysia, etc. I was seated between my dear elderly aunt Laura and Greg from Castlehill.  The place was as expected abuzz with many other diners, with a sprinkling of Caucasian families and groups, all intent to delve into the fare found abundantly in the food courts, cafes and streets of Singapore and Malaysian conurbations.

Grilled chicken satay sticks are served with sliced bits of pineapple, cucumber and onions.  The true test of this street food dish is the quality of the accompanying peanut-based gravy.

My best nominations this time at Temasek were for the Hainan chicken rice and the grilled satay skewers (photos above).  It is true that the chicken stock flavoured rice has now come to represent Singapore's national dish, even if it originated amongst immigrants to the Kelang Valley, Penang, Kinta Valley and Singapore from Hainan island in the 19th century. Immigration to then British colonial Malaya (with the current Malaysian peninsular in political union then with the island of Singapore) meant a segmentation of trades and business to ensure that everyone  of the various races earned a livelihood. It is said that the Hainanese immigrants arrived too late for the tin mining rush - and that a strong understanding of niche specialisation arrangements already taken up by the Chinese immigrants from other provinces in southern China meant that the Hainan arrivals had to revert to commercial cooking.  I notice there is no such segmentation in modern day Australia, or is there?  These Hainanese arrivals turned out to have a forte with cookery and food outlets - and created the Hainan chicken dish now of legend in south-east Asia.

Fluffy and light roti, which are best dipped with a light and dilute curry and obviously of Indian origin.

 That evening I did find the Malaysian styled creamy chicken curry was a tad over salty and lacked the spiciness that I had hoped for.   I noticed that the sambal spinach (kangkong) was plainer than I wanted.  Have these dishes been modified for mainstream diners in multicultural Parramatta?
Tomato cuts stir fried with egg omelette may not be a Malaysian idea, but more of a Fujian concept, raised to extra tastiness using Australian sourced ingredients. The beef rendang is Malaysia's national dish and also available from Temasek.  What I enjoyed was the or chen, or oysters stir fried with omelette - a rich dish health-wise but Temasek has found the right level in serving this dish that is neither too creamy nor too burnt. Best picked up by chopsticks, the oyster  mix should melt in the mouth and release a hint of fresh seafood.

Beef rendang, normally more dry curry paste back in Malaysia.

For dessert, we had the opportunity to sample the red tortoise (ang koo), a snack normally reserved to celebrate the birth of a male infant or mark a special joyous occasion.  Bite sized, the red looking round cakes contain mashed and cooked mung bean paste inside, whilst glutinous rice flour is utilised to make the outer skin.  This Straits Chinese specialty is hardly made by many these days and was such a special treat.  The food of Malaysia and Singapore, as you can see now, comes from a fusion of cooking styles that synchronise with migration and history.

Nothing like smoked tea to down the oils and spices away.

Straits of Malacca - Melbourne CBD

Hot tea latte on a wooden table.

Please note that this restaurant has since closed from time of writing of this blog post.


With a wall mural literally a photographic snapshot of a Malacca heritage institution and a location in busy Swanston Street, I reckoned this must be a mecca for university students form Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.  It lies within the radius of the university precinct, also overlapping with tourist walkabouts and office workers looking for quick and easy snacks or meals.  It provides low sitting tables and easy, unassuming food presumably inspired by the cultural, trade and migration confluence that is, and was, Malacca.  Malacca, which once had an empire in South-east Asia and controlled the trade and shipping routes between East and West, has now been recognised as a UNESCO heritage site.

But that is just history.   The reality is that the Straits of Malacca restaurant offers their version of street food and strikingly simple lunch combination menus, with a food dish of your choice and a drink, usually the favourite teh tarik.  We chose the bee hoon siam and ayam masak merah (red coloured spice paste cooked chicken) to test out the place.  My Kuala Lumpur mate and I wondered if the food had been toned down to suit mainstream tastes or the increasing China market.  They were okay for a mid afternoon snack but we did indeed expect more. A Sydney mate later said, when listening of my encounters of Malaysian styled food in Melbourne CBD, that he heard that the good stuff in this cuisine had moved to the Melbourne suburbs, unlike not long ago.

Bee Hoon Siam, or at least the southern Malaysian Peninsular version of this dish. I did not find the vermicelli
chili hot but it was okay.

I noticed a particularly good serving of roti canai and curry on another table.  We heard much chatter in Mandarin and Cantonese. We sensed the presence of regular and repeat customers, people who need not even look into the menu and ordered their fav dish immediately upon sitting down. The customers want their food reliable, consistent and accessible.  The staff were friendly and the place, once opened, welcomes people any time until they close at night.  Sitting inside, you could look out at the goings-on on the main street, with trams, strollers and other traffic providing both the backdrop and activity that epitomises Melbourne itself.

The Ayam Masak Merah was obviously under, or maybe I hoped for more kick in the taste

When one badges a restaurant with associations of Malacca, I sort of half expected unique delicacies from this long established  port city.  The Straits Indians and Chinese of Malacca left indelible imprints, together with the Eurasian Portuguese community, the Dutch and the British.  I expected opportunities to savour Devil's Chicken,  satay celup and braised mutton, for example, but they were simply not there.  Haha, I reckon I was expecting too much.  Instead it was another outlet offering the usual street food menu from Malaysia - the Hainan chicken rice, the curry laksa, the fish curry and stir fried noodles.

Sydney CBD - Practical Eats

Charcoal grilled chicken ala Vietnam with tomato flavoured rice, veg and dipping sauce.  (The Naughty Chef, Hunter Connection, Wynyard precinct)

Penang-inspired char koay teow, the Malaysian cousin of pad thai and laden with stir-fried egg, bean sprouts, wok heat , prawns off the shell, crunchy shallots and chopped Chinese chives.  (Ipoh onYork, near the junction of King and York Streets, Town Hall precinct)

Cantonese inspired Ipoh Hor fan, with steamed chicken on the skin, served with rice noodle soup, plenty of bean sprouts, garnishing, soy sauce, garlic and chili pastes.  (Sayong Curry and Laksa Malaysian, Woolworths Food Court, basement at Woolworths Town Hall)

A nasi lemak combination set, with lusciuos looking chicken curry, hard boiled eggs, deep fried anchovies, sambal condiments, Lebanese cucumber slices, curried potatoes and coconut milk flavoured steamed rice.
(Ipoh onYork, near the junction of King and York Streets, Town Hall precinct)

Albee's Kitchen, Cabramatta NSW

Fresh from its success in Campsie, Albee's in south-west Sydney is packing them in at their new outlet in Cabramatta - at 2/44 Park Street.  Again, the dining place is not that large, but the menu is varied. although perhaps not as extensive as that in Campsie. The Cabramatta outlet competes with food from Vietnam and other parts of south-east Asia, even if the target market is the same. On my recent visit with four of us in a group on a Sunday, what stood out was the yong tau foo in soup and the Hainan chicken rice.  Yong tau  foo is simply goodies like pork and fish mousse stuffed in deep fried tofu pockets  with all swirling in a rich stock soup, replete with cut chilis and okra. My own favourites from Albee's remain the satay skewers, the South Indian mee rebus, the Fujian lobak rolls, nasi lemak, Marmite-flavoured pork ribs and the piping hot Kuching-styled but Cantonese-inspired clay pot noodles.

The tamarind-flavoured Thai-styled assam laksa (photo above) is an integral part and parcel of Penang Island street food.  The version we had at Albee's I reckon must have been modified to suit Sarawak cooking styles on the island of Borneo.  The white fat noodles used were larger than what we expected.  The garnishing of cut pineapple, mint and Spanish onions were there as tradition requires. Somehow the taste of the stock soup was different, perhaps they had used another type of fish other than the preferred mullet.  It did not have the rich intensity that can be found in the Penang and Thai versions.  We also figured out about the choice of black shrimp paste (har ko)  utilised that is quintessential to making the assam laksa that is craved by expectant mothers, immigrant adults and others who grew up with this niche dish.  Galangal, shallots, ginger  flower stalks, fermented shrimp paste (the belacan) and lemon grass are the key ingredients when making the required paste fresh.

Cabramatta remains an eating,  commercial and shopping hub for Sydney, with a variety and liveliness that is fascinating fro any visitor. We spotted pandanus plants on sale in the mall; had durian milkshakes; and pased by several fabric shops. Fruits eyes included the mangosteens and mangoes grown in Australia.

Nasi Lemak - Home Gathering

 

 

When I hear of  "nasi lemak", the suggestion of whiffs of aroma from pandanus leaves, fresh coconut milk, banana leaf wraps and steaming rice comes to mind.  To the neighbouring countries of  both Indonesia and Malaysia, this is a national icon, comfort food and a community treasure.  This dish was born around the equator, where coconut palms, useful and sweet smelling herbs and padi fields gave rise to a concoction that has been exported world wide by emigrants.  There are various versions of this dish, those made in Malay kampungs, Straits Chinese kitchens, Chinese commercial outlets and by transplanted families in Canada, the USA and Australia.  And not to forget by adventurous Caucasians who recall this particular snack or breakfast item with fondness on their back packing trips in South-east Asia.

 

What are the essentials of this dish?  Deep fried crunchy anchovies. Fresh slices of Lebanese cucumbers. The condiment that accompanies many dishes in a hot climate, the sambal.  Curry chicken in some instances, roast soya sauced flavoured chicken in others.   Eating with your hands, where the second and third digits become fascinating and natural excavators of food.  Having rose syrup drinks or the cinnamon laced latte, teh tarik.  Cuttlefish, spinach and pickled vegetables. Hard boiled eggs coated with an interesting chili based gravy (picture below) are appreciated - the telur sambal. Most Caucasians love the beef rendang to accompany the nasi lemak.  On occasion, you may get deep fried groundnuts or even an omelette.  Seafood is popular in Straits Chinese renditions of this dish, including my favourite tamarind flavoured prawns on the shell and fish fillets. (photo above).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cousins of this dish include the nasi dagang from the north-eastern states of Peninsular Malaysia (Kelantan and Trengganu); the nasi uduk from the Indonesian islands; and the nasi lemak kukus, a steamed variant.  The quality of the coconut milk used is most critical and how the rice is steamed to produce a fluffy result, not hard in texture nor overwhelming in coconut cream flavours.

 

Traditionally, nasi lemak is served in banana leaf packages, the bungkus. In the Sydney area, for commercial outlets, try this dish at Temasek Singapore Restaurant in Parramatta; the Kaki Lima Cafe in Kingsford (kaki lima literally meaning a "five foot way"; and Jackie M Malaysian Cuisine in Concord.  In Melbourne, Nasi Lemak House is a well known chain bearing the name of this dish.

 

Recently I had the pleasure of enjoying the nasi lemak made at home by Susan and Boo Ann Yap in Carlingford, NSW, where the accompanying pictures were captured.  Their version is more from my home island of Penang in Malaysia and I thoroughly enjoyed the seafood, roast pork and telur sambal that they came up with.

 

I reproduce, with copyright acknowledgement, the Rasa Malaysia Recipe of Nasi Lemak

Ingredients:
Coconut Milk Steamed Rice
2 cups of rice
3 screw pine leaves (tie them into a knot as shown above)
Salt to taste
1 small can of coconut milk (5.6 oz size)
Some water
Tamarind Juice
1 cup of water
Tamarind pulp (size of a small ping pong ball)
Sambal Ikan Bilis (Dried anchovies sambal)
1/2 red onion
1 cup ikan bilis (dried anchovies)
1 clove garlic
4 shallots
10 dried chillies
1 teaspoon of belacan (prawn paste)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
Other ingredients
2 hard boiled eggs (cut into half)
3 small fish (sardines or smelt fish)
1 small cucumber (cut into slices and then quartered)

Method:

1. Just like making steamed rice, rinse your rice and drain. Add the coconut milk, a pinch of salt, and some water. Add the pandanus leaves into the rice and cook your rice.
2. Rinse the dried anchovies and drain the water. Fry the anchovies until they turn light brown and put aside.
3. Pound the prawn paste together with shallots, garlic, and de-seeded dried chilies with a mortar and pestle. You can also grind them with a food processor.
4. Slice the red onion into rings.
5. Soak the tamarind pulp in water for 15 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind constantly to extract the flavor into the water. Drain the pulp and save the tamarind juice.
6. Heat some oil in a pan and fry the spice paste until fragrant.
7. Add in the onion rings.
8. Add in the ikan bilis and stir well.
9. Add tamarind juice, salt, and sugar.
10. Simmer on low heat until the gravy thickens. Set aside.
11. Clean the small fish, cut them into half and season with salt. Deep fry.
12. Cut the cucumber into slices and then quartered into four small pieces.
13. Dish up the steamed coconut milk rice and pour some sambal ikan bilis on top of the rice.
14. Serve with fried fish, cucumber slices, and hard-boiled eggs.'s recipe for their nasi lemak.

 

 

 

 

Food Gems - Klang Valley, Malaysia

McCurry Noodles in Shah Alam , the capitalof Selangor State, has the unique proposition of being run by a Scotsman, Colin James Mcculloch, and his Penang Chinese wife.  Their version of this fav street food in the Klang Valley (and also in Australian capital cities) has a spicy kick, a rather wholesome soup and niftly cut chicken pieces served on the bone that somehow draws the flavours better.  (Image above).

I also highly recommend their accompanying teh tarik, lightly tinged with an cinnamon aftertaste. I was taken to try this for breakfast one weekend morning by Yew Ting and his youngest son. The cafe is located at 7, Jalan Juruaudit U1/37 in Section U1 of Shah Alam in Selangor State.

Walking around the Gardens Mall in Kuala Lumpur, I was captivated by two stores, one providing Haagen Dasz ice cream flavours (the Austin Chase above) and the other looking as cottage prettty as it can be (image below, the Delectable Cakes).
Austin Chase originates from Seattle, the home of Starbucks as well, and its main product is of course coffee.   Austin takes pride on the human element it emphasises to produce never bitter and full bodied coffee using all Arabica beans and utilises the Apassionato roasting process.  They also have outlets in Singapore and Penang Island.  The Gardens Mall outlet is one of seven in the Klang Valley of Selangor State.
Delectable Cakes by Su has delightful names for its main product categories  - Fruitcake Parcels, Little Men, Merry Men, Brownie Parcels and Happinuts.  Su studied Construction Management at the UNSW in eastern Sydney but then went to the NotterSchool of Pastry Arts in the USA.

In the proverbial search for the most tasty soy stirred egg noodles in Malaysia, I can now identify with one along  Jalan Juruaudit U1/37 in Section U1 of Shah Alam in Selangor State.  Okay, what a mouthful! Take the easy route, go to the curry laksa mentioned at the beginning of this blog entry and stand in front of this cafe.  Walk across to head around 2pm on an imaginary clock and you shall reach this place that offers charcoal grilled char siew (  Cantonese barbequed pork).  This version here stands above the rest and is better than the ones I find in Sydney and Melbourne.  They make it more juicy because they allow a little bit more fat in the meat chosen, but also the charcoal thing does make a difference.  When accompanied by egg noodles (picture above), the result for the palate is just unsurpassed.
I also recall the lovely roast pork, with crackling skin and moist meat, served at the dinner with university classmates on Sunday, 3rd of June 2012. Yew Ting , Yue Nin, Yit Chan, Susie Cheng, Siew Ngor and Soh Wah had each provided me a lively conversation on various topics for a resident in contempoary Kuala Lumpur. We were seated in an established restaurant, the Oversea at the Armada Hotel in Petaling Jaya - the Oversea Group has a long running reputation serving Cantonese cuisine in both Malaysia and Singapore.  I also noted the quality of the char siew.   This restaurant is also known for its signature claypot dishes with goat meat and braised pork ribs. I also had opportunity to try the steamed fish that evening, unique in its intensity of flavours.  My university mates and I settled somehow settled into a pace as if I had never left for Australia, and that is a treasure I appreciate so much.
One Thursday evening, cousin Lai Han took her Mum and me to a delightful coffee shop outlet, the Sang Choi Kei, along Jalan Kuchai Lama, in the Taman Desa area of Kuala Lumpur.  This gave me a treat of the KL styled Hokkien noodles stir fried with black soy sauce. Rich in taste, slurpy and delicious, my memory of such a dish harks back to university days. This is a specialty of KL, although there are replications of this all the way from New Zealand to the USA.  The same place also served Marmite marinated deep fried chicken, which was a recent discovery of mine in Sydney.

On a Wednesday evening, Kay Bee, Angie and Swee Yuen caught up with me for a late dinner at Pantai Seafood, located in Petaling Jaya in Kampung Sungai Kayu Ara.  I absolutely loved the deep fried pork knuckle, a signature dish that is different from the German version but tasty in its own way!  Another menu item we had was the mantou, the Chinese bread to accompany savoury mains  and this was just perfect to eat with the pork knuckle pieces.

Other dishes of note from Pantai are the otak otak tofu (interesting combination of Chinese and South-east Asian, otak otak being my fav steamed spicy fish fillet mousse wrapped in petite banana leaf packages); the Hakka-styled braised duck; baked pork ribs; stir fried Japanese snails, garnished with dried shrimps and chili padi; steamed clams from Scotland, tempered with minced garlic;  and the baked Alaskan crab with salted egg yolk.  Pantai is operated by the Unique chain of restaurants, which are also in Ipoh, Perak State and other spots in the Klang Valley (Cheras, Subang and Section 13 in Petaling Jaya).

Ole Ole Bali, Empire - Klang Valley, Malaysia

Bali conjures images of sultry seasides, the lingering aroma of Keretek (cloves) and a place where time moves at its own pace. The air is humid tropical, the food is spicy and the living can be easy. One wakes up wrapped in a  sarung, that delightful wardrobe that does allow air to flow through. One views the moon in the evening through different eyes. Bob took me to the Empire one evening in early June outside Kuala Lumpur, near the suburb of Subang Jaya, where amidst the shops in a modern shopping mall, a restaurant called Ole Ole Bali beckoned. Ole with the same spelling has been used by J.K. Rowlings and Mark Twain.  It is also the expression used by Spanish bullfighters in the bullring.

I was not disappointed by the saffron coloured rice, the centerpiece in my dinner set chosen. (picture above) Surrounding this were a variety of concoctions and a generous serve of marinated chicken. There were crispy bites of crackers, bits of fresh red chili, a sambal sauce, deep fried garlic, fresh shallot garnishings, beans, stir-fried local spinach (kangkong) and a Hainan -inlfuenced condiment, all laid on fresh banana leaves.  The restaurant was full of diners on this Friday evening and we sat outside.  We both had fruity and refreshing drinks served with fresh mint leaves. I noted nearby tables had deep fried wings as part of their cumi cumi goreng ( fried snacks like calamari).   Another dish that caught my eye was the nasi kambing bumbu, a combination set like what I had in the pictures shown here, but served with goat meat or lamb cutlets. 

The prices asked are above average but the menu does provide variety.  There are standard dishes like soup buntut (oxtail) and the es campur (ice shavings with sweet shredded cocount strips, honeydew bites, jackfruit, sago and banana blends),  but do try the sate lilit, which is seafood on a lemon grass flavoured skewer, accompanied by two types of sambal.  Surprisingly, Ole Ole Bali also offers Western styled meals, including pasta, which echoes the predominance of tourists for many years back on the island itself.  For dessert, they also  have the interesting combination of ice jelly with the flesh of the rambutan fruit.

The same chain has outlets in Sunway Pyramid, Solaris Mont Kiara and Mutiara Tropicana in the Klang Valley of Selangor.  My impressions of the visit to Ole Ole Bali at the Empire Shopping Centre, Subang Jaya, are:

Atmosphere:  Crowded, suburban.

Location:  Shopping centre

Taste:  Interesting, not quite Sumatra or Java.

Service:  Quick

People Engagement:  Acceptable

Fav Dish Experienced: Nasi ayam bumbu.

Best Time to Visit:  Early dinner.

Would I Return?:  Yes.

On the Road, Me and You, and a Dog named Boo

Ah, the rather comforting accessories on any travel trip, if we can get them.  Australian accommodation notoriously do not provide toothbrushes and toothpaste, but most Asian countries pamper hotel and motel guests with them.  (picture above) For nutrition and health, always get the local milk and orange juice (below).

The camera is vital, whether you have it on an IPhone, IPad, compact or an SLR.  On arriving home, you then have the leisure to look out for things that somehow you did not see whilst you were actually there. (image below by Mr Yong Chung Shen) I reckon its is useful to back up your images and videos somewhere routinely along the route, so that you minimise the risks of not having them when you arrive home. Camera equipment can be a hassle to carry, but in the end it is just to have a picture record.

A most awaited and welcome scene at the end of a rather tiring but satisfying day out (image above).
Occasionally, you need to dress up for the unique shot or function, a rather contrasting change to the boardshorts, cargo pants, thongs and t-shirt unavoidable in practical travel gear (picture below by Mr Yong Chung Shen).

And before I forget, always have a great travelling companion.  Apart from the passport, tickets and money! At times, you do meet memorable mates along the way, like Lucy above in Penang.

Return to Malacca

Malacca offers a kaleidoscope of colours, tastes and images.  Sitting on one of the world's most important trade and travel routes, this city state has much to reveal below its current status. Its rather small physical configuration belies the vast amount of riches and political power that it once held sway over. You can catch glimpses of traditional houses built on stilts in the

Malacca Malay style,  the Catholic Church of St Francis Xavier and the Melaka tree. You feel the past grandeur of China Hill and suggestions of connections to China's Ming Dynasty.  Control of Malacca meant great influence in South-east Asia.  The Eurasian iconic dish Devil's Curry came from Malacca.  The Cheng Hoon Teng and St Paul's Church attest to racial and social harmony long before its modern transformations.  Above, my favourite Malaysian desert of cendol and below, the otak-otak, a fish-based savoury mousse often seen wrapped in banana leaves before being steamed.

We  had a most interesting encounter with durians (above), sitting on a pavement table, savouring the freshly opened delights, in this case, bitter-tinged creamy custard fruit surrounding small seeds.

I could not resist capturing an image of the ice shaving machine (above) along one of the narrow side streets in Malacca. The petite bowls are used to serve the ice kacang, a concoction of a dessert incorporating various bite sized ingredients heaped with syrup on an ice cone.  There are many delightful discoveries for the eye and palate as you take the time to explore hidden and open alleys and streets - and these include the fast depleting supply of furniture and porcelain antiques, the fast emerging display of modern plastic junk and the variety of food and drinks in between.

The highlight of our day was sampling the cendol, a sweet based dessert using a palm sugar that bears the name of the city itself - Gula Melaka. I was very pleased that we had chosen the version served at A Formosa along Jonkers Street. Cendol refers to the slippery green coloured bits of mung bean included in the refreshing summer time dessert which comes served with ice shavings, syrup and jelly bits. (image above)

You can take home small sachets of the organic sugar (picture below), which is utilised extensively in Straits Chinese, Malay and Indonesian cooking, especially for cakes, snacks and drinks. In the foreground of the picture below are bottles of dark soy sauce, important as condiments to accompany Hainan chicken rice.  Malacca's historic quarter is great for walking tours, where, once you are hungry, you can encounter good versions of curry mee, Taiwan sweets, Straits Chinese or Nyonya cakes (like ondeh-ondeh), southern Chinese baked biscuits  (usually with almonds and bean paste as ingredients) , oyster egg omelettes, satay celup and tamarind-infused savoury dishes.  We had a local coffee brew before we left Malacca - there was even another shop offering the best coffee mixes from each of the 13 states in Malaysia.  I did not get to the Portuguese Village to sample influences from Goa, Portugal and Malaysia.

Capitol Satay reputedly offers consistently tasty satay celup, which is a form of steamboat satay (satay here being meat skewers grilled over charcoal).  Ondeh ondeh is a Malay term for bite-sized green coloured balls coated with coconut shavings - the sweetness inside melts in your mouth due to its essential ingredients of Gula Melaka and pandanus flavours.

We spotted an Indian lady literally feeding pigeons in a Malaccasque version of the "Feed The Birds" scene straight out of the musical Mary Poppins. (image above)   This was in the city centre, within walking distance from Christchurch and Stadhuys complex, the Dutch built town square with all surrounding buildings now painted in deep red. I noticed that the maroon shades had faded since my last visit to Malacca. I understand that it was not the Dutch administration that offered this red colouring, but as life is more strange than fiction, the colours were decided from a misplaced perception of a British officer who truly believed that all Dutch buildings had to be traditionally in this colour. Did this well meaning chap visit Holland before, that I am not aware.

A Formosa provided the venue for lunch.  We had the chicken rice balls accompanied by roast chicken cuts, pickled vegetables, the otak-otak and cendol dessert. I was amazed that the chicken rice balls were no bigger in size than typical fish balls in Hong Kong.  Those served at the coffee shop near Sim Lim Square in Singapore were more small bowl sized.  There was a roaring stream of lunchers at this corner shop - I was not sure if the school holidays had anything to do with the crowd, or perhaps there was not much competition along Jonkers Street for this type of food.  A Formosa of course is the Portuguese name for the landmark fort deemed "beautiful", built during the time of Vasco Da Gama's voyages around the world in the first spurts of European adventurism, international trading and colonialism.

Would I return? Malacca has always captured my historical, architectural and cultural passion, being one of the fusion city states taking advantage of strategy and location and with traditions that have inspired many generations of travellers, wayfarers and adventurers. Today the city looks insipid, many shades below its past glory but you never know of its future. Located only around 148 km from the bustling metropolis of Kuala Lumpur, on the highway back, I mused as to why it was not chosen as the political and social capital of the emerging nation of Malaysia, after the British colonials left.   Despite UNESCO recognition and related funding, its heritage area, in the worst criticism, remains a maze of narrow alleys with unsophisticated retail, unrenovated facades and continued decay. There has to be more in store for Malacca after several hundred years of capturing the imagination and drive of men and women from Amsterdam to Fujian.  To make an impact on the heart of visitors and residents, it has to offer more than stereo-equipped trishaws, plastic river rides and bazaar offerings.   I saw the harbour on the calm straits - and thought of those individuals from the past who came from far and near to build the legend and reality of Malacca.