Flavours of Southeast Asia

Have a taste

I know I said we would not be doing another food-related post after how we suffered during the Japanese food post. But I feel we would be doing a great injustice to my fellow Asian neighbours, for allowing us to zig-zag through their countries, if we did not pay tribute to their scrumptious cuisine. So here goes nothing.

Roti Tisu – this very thin flatbread is one of my personal favourite dessert in Malaysia. This particular one is coated with butter and sugar, the best topping in my seasoned opinion.
Dishes from the hip and funky Merchant’s Lane café in Chinatown Kuala Lumpur. The food is a fusion of Malaysian and I-don’t-know-what, but the important thing is, it’s all amazing.
Succulent mangosteen and longan fruit generously given to us by Captain of Sri Lovely Organic Rice Farm in the northern tip of Malaysia. A beautiful team is there spreading love and teachings of organic rice farming.
Roti Tisu – topped with chocolate sauce and coco powder. An inferior topping in my opinion but still tasty.
Smelly beans – we picked up this bundle of flat green beans in Malaysia out of curiosity. They are literally everywhere. However, they did not stay with us for long. As their name suggests, they have a powerful odour. It is apparently tasty when cooked.
Char kway teow - stir-fry flat noodles in Penang. We were very content in Penang. Very content. We dined our heart out. The corner of Penang road and Lebuh Keng Kwee is a place to be.
Laksa - is a spicy noodle soup consisting of rice vermicelli and/or wheat noodles with meat of some kind, in this case prawns. A typical Peranakan food (first wave of Chinese settlers in Malaysia and Indonesia).
Nasi Lemak – the national dish of Malaysia.
We tried many versions and the best, hands down and hats off, is from Sri Weld food court in Penang. You will not want to try others after eating the ones they make there. They appear in my dreams at times.
Sri Weld Food Court is another amazing place to hang in Penang. There are many food stalls to enjoy yourselves with, like this noodles dish with wonton that I do not know the name of.
Seafood is abundant and my true love, a close contestant after Henning.
In Penang, one restaurant we frequented more than we can count and at different hours of the day, because they are open 24/7, is Restoran Nasi Dalcha Kassim Mustafa. This Indian Muslim restaurant sells the most amazing food! Their roti canai in the morning for breakfast is to die for...
...and their dosa can cause a riot between passionate lovers.
Karaikudi Restaurant in Penang is another must visit place to experience the most mouth-wateringly delicious Indian food. A little more on the expensive side, in the grand scale of Malaysian food prices, but worth every penny. Here we have curries with three different kinds of naans.
One of my favourite features of Thai food is the freshness of their spice. Unlike the Malaysian spice, which is creamier and fish sauce based, Thai spice consists of flavours of fresh chillies, lemongrass and incredible dark magic.
Food in general in Thailand is delicious but one restaurant that really stood out for me was Khaothong Terrace on the west coast, a few kms north of Krabi. Everything I put in my mouth was as if I had died and gone to heaven. From their appetiser of raw prawns in chilli sauce...
...to their curries...
...and finally mango sticky pudding, every mouth was as memorable as the previous one. The flavours also appear in my dreams sometimes to torment me.
Stir-fry pork belly dish with rice and fried eggs topped with fresh chilli and onion on Koh Phangan, Thailand. A simple yet juicy meal. Don’t forget to wash it down with fresh coconut juice.
Mango Sticky Rice – is our staple food in Thailand. The combination of the perfectly sweet, ripe mango with warm sticky rice drizzled all over with coconut milk and then topped with crisp yellow mung beans. I hear music playing in my ears whenever I eat this. The best we’ve had is the night food market on Maha Chai Road and surprisingly Bangkok airport.
Yummy chicken satay skewers on the night food market on Maha Chai Road.
Breakfast at Hia Tai Kee in the heart of Bangkok was not just a delicious experience but also interesting from a historical point. This is a traditional Chinese-style coffee house where the local dinners are descendants of Hakka (or Kejia) Chinese immigrants. The food, though yummy, is not the Chinese food I normally associate with, but it feels strangely like home somehow.
Kralan – is a common street food in Cambodia that is sweet sticky rice cooked with coconut milk and soybean in a bamboo tube. It is simple but highly addictive.
Kralan – is a common street food in Cambodia that is sweet sticky rice cooked with coconut milk and soybean in a bamboo tube. It is simple but highly addictive.
Naem – I think this is naem anyway. I was tempted by its banana leaf cover, as food often packed in such a way contains yummy goodies. I was fooled.
This one we bought in Laos turned out to be a fermented pork meat delicacy that I wish I had not taken such a big bite from. Its sour taste did not agree with me. I became sceptical of food wrapped in banana leaf from then on.
Nam ren or Cha gio – is the classic fried pork sausage wrapped in rice paper in Lao cuisine. It is very delicious! On top of rice noodles and spicy sauce is even better.
Yaw Khao – fresh spring rolls that consists of wrapping fresh salad and herbs with meat and rice noodles in paper-thin rice paper. Don’t forget to dip it in spicy sauce and crushed peanuts before stuffing it in your mouth. Tantalising to the taste buds.
Thai grilled lemon fish with coriander and garlic and chillies is another staple food of ours while we were in Thailand. I can just taste the lemon twang and fresh chillies on the tip of my tongue as I write this. What a torture.
Tom Yum Goong – another classic dish of Thailand. This spicy cream soup never gets old. I think we drank more of this than water.
Stir-fry vermicelli noodles with seafood.
Coconut dessert from Thailand

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