Sydney's Broadway - Another Malaysian Food Trail

There are now more than a few cafes and restaurants providing the roti canai and murtabak in Sydney CBD. In India and South-east Asia, they first emerged as handy and viable backpacker food to the throngs of Western visitors from the seventies to the nineties. They are delicate, airy and appetising to fill up any one's hunger pangs. The roti can be eaten plain, or dipped in light vegetarian, dhall bean or meat curry gravy. Above, the serving at the Mamak Village cafe along Glebe Point Road near the junction with Broadway.

I was especially taken with the anchovy-based condiment above at Mamak Village.

My accompanying mates who live nearby in this precinct have so much choice and variety of food that they may not have been as enthusiastic as me for this mamak cuisine.

Above, a balcony with a view upstairs at Mamak Village in Glebe, reminding me of a comparable scenery from the Lee & Me Cafe along Crown Street in Wollongong CBD. Below, an authentic tasting teh tarik, to accompany the meal.

Below, the lobak spring rolls, in a unique version originating from my home island of Penang in Malaysia. I found the accompanying condiment different - instead of just a hot and sweet chili sauce found in Penang coffee shops, Mamak Village prepared their own mix. The lobak was a bit over the top in saltiness that day.

Malacca Straits Restaurant (above) , inside the Quadrant Building at 66 Mountain Street, Broadway, is best accessed from George Street, opposite the branch of the Notre Dame University. We saw a neighbouring table order what looked like succulent chicken-on-the-skin for Hainan chicken rice and a serving of the murtabak. They also have available the Penang kapitan curry, Thai crying tiger (marinated BBQ beef fillet served with hot chili sauce) and the curry fishhead (AUD 20 per piece). As our visit was only meant as for an arvo tea time snack, we chose their stated signature dish - Kuala Lumpur styled curry laksa. (below)

To an ex-Penangite like me, the soup was tasty but smacked of salted fish flavours, but it did have a strong and appreciated spicy and herbal sensation as one took it with the chicken slices, deep fried tofu squares and sliced vegetables.

To round up the evening in Sydney CBD, but this time beyond Broadway, another set of mates joined me at World Square's Malaysian Indian outlet, situated along a passageway that shouts out "Eat Drink Enjoy Share" if you are coming from inside the open air plaza.

Otherwise, appraoch this passageway from Liverpool Street, with an entrance along the road between the Meriton Serviced Apartments and Zozo. To our disappointment, the resident Nepali fresh roti maker had alreday retired by the time we arrived, and we had to make do with two curry choices served with steamed white rice - mine was tamarind flavoured hard boiled egg curry (unusual) and red chicken curry. (above). Their rotis are worth a try - and you can watch them make it right in front of you. The Mirchis Indian outlet across the passageway does not make such fresh roti pancakes.

After all that spicy food on this Malaysian food trail, I would recommend a hearty fresh mixed fruit juice pack from Three Beans Cafe at the Broadway Shopping Centre. (above) This place epitomises the benefits of location, location, location. It is at the confluence of different market groups with regular purchasing patronage - university students, CBD residents, the twenty to thrity something yuppies and frequenters from outside exploring nearby Chinatown, Surry Hills and Newtown.

Home Made Curries

My delight after a busy day is to dabble in curry cooking. I simply savour the mixing of different spices like cumin, cinnamon bark, star anise, cardamom, fenugreek, coriander seeds, cloves, galangal and more.

When stirred on a hot wok with simmering cooking oil and pounded / blended garlic and ginger, this first step to the making of home made curries gets all my senses going and exciting combinations of flavours both come to mind and transform into reality in front of my eyes.

I cannot wait to taste the curry with basmati rice (above).

Whether to have the meat fillets or on the skin (as above) is perhaps more of what you have grown up with.

Most of my Aussie mates prefer no skin, but my South-east Asian friends relish the different taste when skin is still intact. The colour of the gravy captures the eye's imagination and gets the taste buds going even before you get to eat.

My recently cooked salmon fish curry (above).

To finish up the creative cooking process, you have a choice - Thai kaffir lime leaves, Indian curry leaves or simply understated bay leaves all offer an extra garnishing and flavour to your curry. I love my tomatoes when I especially cook fish and prawn curries, but they do have an added zing even with meat, except not with lamb or beef. Believe it it or not, I also add powdery potatoes to my curries.

Above, a south Indian inspired version of prawn curry.

The Making of Cendol Dessert

When the throat is parched, and the palate longs for a sugary fix, with gobs of creaminess, consider the cendol dessert. This is also known as che banh lot in Vietnam. Both names refer to the squiggly green coloured crunchy yet soft strands you see in drink combinations all over Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia - and in some Asian cafes in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Once you have fresh cendol strands made, you can have a free rein of choice as to what you next add - fresh or canned lychees, cooked red beans, grapes, nuts, ice cubes or shavings, light coconut milk, gula Melaka syrup, bits of black coloured jelly from Asian grocery shops and more. (above) The idea is to create texture, variety and compatibility for taste, presentation and bite.

Cendol strands are made with green pea flour soaked for at least an hour in water.

Concurrently do set aside sufficient time to prepare the liquid pandan leaf extract.

This can be an involved process involving cut leaf strips of fresh pandan leaves to be liquidised in a blender, then set aside to be added with a tabelspoonful of alkaline lye water. (not more, as the lye water can be toxic in bigger quantities - lye is popular in very small dosages to be added in making Hokkien noodles and the like as well).

After an hour, mix both portions into a saucepan for controlled simmering - with continuous stirring and conscious flame size control - until you obtain a transparent glazed look and thickened shiny surface (above).

Always ensure not to overcook this resulting dough mixture.»

Now comes the fun part - with a firm but small potato presser, press the cooked dough mixture (above) through a wooden or aluminium cendol-maker frame, with quick short strokes into a basin ideally just six inches or 15 cm below and filled with iced water - this recommended distance will prevent the resulting cendol strands from becoming too long.

Allow for the resulting strands to rest in the iced water basin for around ten minutes.

Below, the gula Melaka syrup is freshly made by simmering the palm sugar cubes with water and flavoured with cuts of pandan leaves.

Above, the residue remaining after filter straining the liquidised pandan leaves.

Below, all ready for making the dessert combinations according to your taste.

Best served chilled and get the participation of your guests in making the final serving.

Thank you, Marta!

Singapore - Palio Restaurant at the Hotel Michael Sentosa

Scallops, prawns and tomato cherries under the dimmed lights for fine dining at the Palio.

http://www.rwsentosa.com/language/en-US/ShoppingDining/Dining/DiningPalio

What is a special treat to me has always been the Singapore Sling cocktail (above, right).

Basic ingredients are grenadine syrup and gin (each in half ounce portions) to mix with equal parts of sweet and sour combos and club soda. Top up with another half ounce cherry brandy and garnish with a pickled cherry.

Memories of Penang Present

Bungalows by the sea shore, beside an ever shallowing Straits of Penang and the larger Andaman Sea.

Bamboos, ferns, any plants with good foliage - they are all treasured in residential gardens

on the island, already getting packed with bland high rises, crowded commuter traffic on its narrow roadways and constructions made on recently reclaimed land.

The classic tiffin carrier, utilised to effectively carry hot luncheons, soups on inner bowls and dessert cakes, originated from both southern China and India. Floral designs were the norm of the day in the 19th and early 20th centuries before the outbreak of World War 2. Above, a heritage enamel version that has not resisted some rusting but which has seen more than its fair share of Straits Chinese dishes.

Above, taking a ride in the trishaw, which was once ubiquitous in most of South-east Asia, China and India.

The Georgetown version ( rambling along a Chinatown street with an umbrella for its rider) were used for short trips carrying groceries, prostitutes and schoolchildren. Now mainly treasured by foreign tourists, each vehicle provides a comfy leg parking area and reasonable cushions for tired bums. Think of it as a forerunner of today's business class seat on an aircraft, except that passengers are still firmly moving on the ground.

Fish ready for spice condiment stuffing, deep frying or steaming at a restaurant in Paya Terubong, near the central foothills of Penang Island.

A well preserved dark blue kaya (coconut-based egg jam) steamer (above).

The psychology of bargaining for tourists and locals alike at the

Batu Ferringhi night markets (below) near the beach hotel strip.

Above, two types of favourite coffee choices at the typical Georgetown coffee shops, popular anytime for breakfasts, snacks, lunches and suppers - the thick black version (background) and the ice milk coffee mix (foreground).

Live terrapins on offer at a Saturday market - I was not sure whether they were bought to be symbolically released at temple ponds or for some other purpose.