Cambodian Snack Food: Bamboo Sticky Rice

It's Girl Scout Cookie time where I live in Texas. When we moved back this summer from Malaysia, I was so grateful that an existing Girl Scout troop was able to squeeze in my daughter that I uttered the words, "I will do anything to help." That, in short, is how I ended up being the Cookie Mom, the person who coordinates this fundraiser for our troop. If you're not familiar with Girl Scout cookies, they are only available in an area for 4-6 weeks, and they are HUGELY popular, especially Thin Mints. Girls sell them at booths outside stores on the weekends, and some parents sell them at work. American expats in Malaysia will hopefully ask that friends send a few boxes over. Even hardcore foodies who have sworn off all processed foods make an exception for Girl Scout Cookies.

To get my mind off of American cookies, I am turning my thoughts to Cambodian snacks.

You've heard of street food. What about highway food? The highway between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh is lined with stands selling Krolan (Bamboo Sticky Rice).  It's very similar to a dish I've seen in Thailand and Malaysia. The smoke rising up from the charcoal brazier is what first caught my eye, and then I noticed what initially looked like scrolls of parchment paper in baskets on tables. No one seemed to have a very big operation, but the stands were plentiful.

Wild Color and Good Eats on Burano

If Venice is like a masquerade ball, mysterious and opulent, then Burano is like a backyard picnic, festive and full of simple pleasures. 

We spent one of our days in Venice exploring the outlying lagoon islands. After a long morning looking at hand blown glass in Murano, we again board the vaporetto water bus for the 30 minute journey to Burano, an island known for its lace making and fishing. Even from far away, I couldn't help noticing the wildly vivid colors of the houses standing out against a brilliant blue sky. Fishermen's wives supposedly painted their homes like this so their husbands could see them while out at sea. I certainly could. What comfort these bright buildings must have provided on a foggy day, acting as a visual tether for the fishermen as they went out on their boats for their daily catch. The leaning tower of San Martino Church rises up above the rooftops and acts as a landmark you can see from all around the village.

Penang Homecooking Class with Pearly Kee

I first met Pearly a year ago at her last-Saturday-of-the-month dinner when she invites the public into her home and nourishes them with both food and tales of growing up in Penang.  She's a guru of Nyonya cuisine, the intermingling of Chinese food with the spices of the tropics and hints of Indian and Malay flavors. It was fusion before fusion was trendy. Now, I wanted to learn how to cook these generations-old dishes in my own kitchen.

Family Trip Tips: Angkor Wat and Siem Reap, Cambodia with Kids

The kids explore Ta Prohm - The Tomb Raider temple

Siem Reap, Cambodia is #9 on TripAdvisor's 2014 Travelers' Choice Destinations in the World. Planning our trip was easy since so many expat families in Penang visit there that I could pick up a ton of suggestions while hanging out at the school playground. Knowing that many friends had successful family trips to Angkor Wat and surrounding attractions appeased any worries I had about taking the kids to such an exotic location in a developing country. In case if you don't have a cadre of travelers to Cambodia available to you, here are their ideas.

Baking the Perfect Loaf of Bread

Don't you love the smell of freshly baked bread? Tearing it apart and smearing it with softened butter. The way the crispy crust crackles and breaks as you take your first bite. Your mouth is flooded with the taste of fields of autumn wheat. Do you like hearty breads with a denser crumb, not the fluffy, white pillows that pass for bread at the supermarket?

I had a bread machine for a few years and used it constantly. I've found recipes on-line and tried them out. I even considered bringing Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Bread Bible back to Malaysia with me after a home visit, but the hefty weight of its hardcover and 640 pages precluded me from putting it in the suitcase.

My main problem is that while I can make a good loaf of bread, how to bake a great loaf of bread was eluding me.

It's that crispy crust that's my nemesis. I just couldn't seem to get it right. Merely putting the dough in the oven gave me one that wasn't crispy enough. My attempts to spray water on the loaf as it baked resulted in a hard outer shelf that made the bread ideal for a doomsday prepper bunker. Trying to compensate for Penang's high humidity made me worry as I added a half cup of flour more than the amount stated in the recipe.

On the plus side, the sunny, un-airconditioned section of my kitchen made a perfect place to proof the dough.

So, what am I supposed to do?

Take a Bread Baking Class at Irrawaddy Fine Foods.

Irrawaddy Fine Foods is a New York style delicatessen located in Penang. I've had excellent lunches there and even had them cater a poolside party I was throwing. Chef Tommes has his own show on the Asian Food Channel called Chalk and Cheese. I would tell you what the show is like but I seem to have stopped watching television ever since I moved here.

In other words, I knew that if Tommes could teach me how to make something close to what he serves at his restaurant, I'd be more than elated.

That's how I found myself in the kitchen above Irrawaddy Fine Foods for the six-hour lesson on How to Bake Real Bread.

The class began with a short lesson on the theories behind bread baking. Here's some food for thought from Chef Tommes himself:

"To make bread, you need patience, skills, experience and maybe even a sensual understanding of the process. Good bakers are silent, patient, and strong people. They can concentrate on their task ahead and let their hands create magic. 'A good loaf of bread let's cheeks turn red.' You can make people happy and children smile when you are the master of your dough." 

Hmm... silent and patient. Perhaps those are my problems because I am neither of those things.

Chef Tommes discussed how there's no general recipe for bread and that a baker has to customize it for each locale. If we followed the exact recipe of a Master Baker from France that produces the perfect loaf in Lyon, we'd be doomed because of the different environment and ingredients in Penang. The available salt, flour and yeast in Penang are not the same as what you can find in France — or America for that matter. Even using Penang's soft rainwater will affect the recipe. Also, as I pointed out, it's darn humid here. It took him months to refine the bread recipes he had been using elsewhere to produce a suitable loaf in Penang.

Bread baking is clearly not a paint-by-numbers operation. This class will hopefully help me understand the nuances involved in making a great loaf.

We started off nice and easy with a Rosemary Focaccia. It is a bread that doesn't require too much finesse or even a mixer. You can do it all by hand. With fingers slick with olive oil, we pushed the dough out on the pan and studded it with garlic and rosemary The group's first attempt turned out fantastic. It was a good start and gave us confidence to proceed to the harder recipes.

Creating an amazing Rosemary Foccacia

Interestingly, Chef Tommes does not use the supermarket variety dry yeast that I've been buying for years for some of his recipes. They instead call for a French-style starter dough to give the bread lift. His starter contains nothing but organic raisins, mineral water, and bread flour. The mix pulls the yeast from out of the air, and the sugar from the raisins feed the yeast. After a few days, you remove the raisins from the starter dough, give it a stir, and start using it in your bread recipes.

He says you only need to make it once in your life and then just pull off a bit for that day's bread while "feeding" the rest so it continues to grow. All the starter dough needs to live is more water and flour. It reminded me a bit of the Amish Friendship Bread people used to give me in America. Like a chain letter, you get a container of starter and a loaf of bread from a friend. Then, it's up to you to feed and grow the starter, use a little starter to make bread, then gift the starter and loaves to the next set of friends to keep the cycle going.

After the focaccia, our next recipe to attack is Laugenbretzel (German pretzel). No matter how many times I've attempted an Auntie Anne's copycat recipe at home or even bought the kit from the store, I can't get the perfect results. The key part that I'd been getting wrong is the alkaline solution you brush on the dough after shaping them but before baking. I'd been trying to make an alkaline wash in my kitchen out of water and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) instead of using sodium hydroxide which has a higher pH level. Since sodium hydroxide isn't readily available at the grocery store, Chef Tommes has it available for students to purchase. The finished pretzels tasted divine, but I need to work on speeding up how long it takes me to shape each one.

Chef Tommes carefully brushes the alkaline wash onto the shaped pretzel dough.

Pretzels fresh from the oven

We also bake a Sourdough Rye Bread that depends upon the starter dough instead of yeast to rise. Because the rye flour available in Malaysia is so much stronger than the European kind, Tommes had to fiddle with the proportions of rye versus bread flour. Luckily for me, this type of bread is almost impossible to overbake. It's done when you knock on the bottom and hear a hollow sound. The rye acts as a preservative, enabling the loaf to be good for a week, unlike many other breads which quickly go stale or mold in Malaysia's humidity.

One of the most interesting things we learn in class is how to knead bread. Tommes demonstrates pushing the dough forwards with the heel of the hand and then using the fingers to pull the back edge up and over to the front. He repeats this over and over again in a continuous motion until he achieves the desired "like a velvety soft baby bottom" texture. Kneading works the protein in the dough and is key giving bread its nice, chewy texture. He divides up the dough for all of us to practice. How well you master the technique clearly makes a difference. Even though we are all starting with the same material, some of us (ahem) end up with sticky, tacky dough whereas others get that baby bottom smoothness.

The class shapes the dough by smoothing our hands from the top to the bottom in a cupping motion while rotating it a quarter turn until we have a round mound of dough. For smaller rolls, we cup the ball of dough, palm facing downwards, and make a wide, circular motion on the table to form it just right. We let the loaves and rolls rise in the proofing oven (30 degrees Celsius) until it has doubled in size. To help the steam escape, we quickly score the bread after placing it on the the baking tray.

Slashing the dough helps the steam to escape.

Then comes the best part. Tommes slides the tray into the preheated oven while one of us stands ready with a mug of water. Working fast, he grabs the mug and slings the water across the oven floor causing a giant, hissing cloud of steam to form. He rapidly closes the door to keep the steam contained and then instructs us to not open the door for the first 10 minutes of baking. Moisture is the secret to great crust. Some commercial ovens even have a built-in water mister for this purpose. For the home cook, he suggest placing a bowl or pan of water on the oven bottom before preheating it to create steam. Another alternative would be to have a baking pan already on the bottom rack to quickly pour water into after putting in the dough. I suppose that my old method of spraying water on the dough was too much of a good thing. The water simply needs to be in the air, not directly on the bread.

Chef Tommes explains that moisture is the secret to good crust.

Over the two-day baking course, we also learn to make Sesame Seed Bread, Semolina Bread, and Oregano Bread. These all involve both the starter dough and dry yeast. Since these three loaves have similar recipes, we divide into groups and focus on making just one. We have a little fun, too, experimenting with making large loaves, small rolls, pull-apart rolls that almost look like flowers. Someone even makes what I think must be an armadillo.

By the end of the second day, a little over four hours each, my feet ache from standing on the concrete floor. However, I've learned how to make phenomenal bread. We proudly display our finished goods on the table before us for a group picture. Then, it's time to pack up our share in paper bags to bring home for others to enjoy. Frankly, we produced quite a lot, and I ended up having to freeze some of the loaves to eat later.

Sesame Seed bread, Semolina rolls, pull-apart Oregano Rolls, dark Sourdough Rye and Pretzels

If you're living in Penang, and you want to know the secret to how to bake the perfect loaf of bread, I highly recommend enrolling in one of Irrawaddy Fine Foods' monthly classes. Spaces are limited, so you may have to book a few months out. Along with many loaves of delectable, baked goodness, you'll bring home a recipe book, starter dough, and an apron. A few times a year, Chef Tommes also offers a 6-hour advanced class that covers French baguettes and English muffins.

In addition to bread baking, Tommes teaches a Saturday Kitchen 101 class focusing on different Professional Skills for the Home Cook. My friends who have attended them come away raving. These classes include:

• Knife Skills
• Salt and Seasoning
• Cooking with Eggs
• Meat Mysteries
• Fish
• Potatoes
• Veggies
• Oil, Water and Butter
• Clean, Quick and Safe

Contact Information for Irrawaddy Fine Foods 

Website:  www.irrawaddyfinefoods.com 

Emailing: info@irrawaddyfinefoods.com 

Telephone: 04-228-6360

Address: 54a Jalan Chow Thye, 10050 Penang; Open Monday-Saturday 10AM-5PM


This post is part of Foodie Tuesday on Inside Journeys. Check it out for more delicious inspiration.

Up on Penang Hill

Sweat is pouring off me. I raise my feet, climbing step after step, upwards on Penang Hill. At least the jungle all around me provides a natural shade canopy, shielding me from the tropical sun. Why am I doing this? Because it's there. Because my fit friends do it and seem to enjoy the trek. Because my son does it, and I feel the need to literally go over the hill to prove that I'm not metaphorically over-the-hill. Because it's a way to experience the island while getting away from the hustle, bustle, and traffic that is George Town.

Gratuitous monkey photo

Jungle Trek

My friend and I are taking the stairs leading upwards from the Moon Gate along Waterfall Road near the Botanical Garden. Other people ranging from athletes going on a trail run to senior citizens with trekking poles are out this morning as it's a popular hike for those looking to exercise outside. Steps are cut into the trail, keeping us from slipping on the muddy parts. Breaks in the trees give us little glimpses of the city below, showing us how far we've climbed. Monkeys look down from the branches, hoping that we'll get distracted so they can steal our water bottles. One time, a tree root suddenly starts slithering away a split moment before I realize that it's actually a long snake crossing the trail. At Station 5, a group has apparently hiked up to play mahjong or use the exercise equipment. Tea and water are available from volunteers who have carried up the supplies.

Mahjong players at Station 5 rest area on Penang Hill jungle trek

Hiking up the Jeep Trail

When my son and husband go with the Boy Scouts, they take the paved 5 km Jeep Trail starting at the Botanical Garden parking lot. It's not a public road, so it's ideal for hiking. Two stations along the way provide refreshments and toilet facilities. Keep in mind your personal fitness level. My boy can make it to the top in about 90 minutes. Some other friends of mine took 4 hours to complete the same hike and couldn't walk for 2 weeks afterwards because their muscles were so sore. Other hiking trails start at Air Itam Dam, the Youth Park, and Hye Keat Estate.

Fun Time Riding the Funicular Train

By far, the most popular way to ascend Penang Hill is to take the funicular up from Air Itam. This way only takes 10 minutes and leaves you far less out-of-breath. On the other hand, it isn't free. (Tip: No matter how hard you try to speak Malay and pass yourself off as a local, they will still ask for your MyKAD card to get the discounted rate. Some expats have had success saving money by showing their visas.)

The train carries 100 people and departs every 15-30 minutes, depending on the crowd. Try to get a window with a good view of the tracks for the most excitement. There's one scary point mid-way when you swear you are about to crash into the oncoming train until they both suddenly shift to the side to avoid each other.

Newly refurbished funicular carriage

When you reach the top, you'll be at the most developed, touristy peak called Flagstaff Hill (Bukit Bendera) which was named after the flag that was raised there whenever the British post had arrived. At 823 meters (2,750 feet) above sea level, it has scenic vistas of George Town, the Straits of Malacca, and the mainland on a clear day. In the late 1700's when Penang was a British colony, the cooler climate up at the top encouraged the British to turn it into a hill station resort and clear land to grow strawberries. Best of all, it was free of the malaria sickness infesting the lowlands at the time.

Welcome to the Top

The main plaza near the top showcases a variety of entertainment. I've seen everything from symphonic quartet concerts to paying to have your picture taken with a giant, yellow and white, Burmese python wrapped around your shoulders. Take time to explore the rickety, wooden, funicular carriages of yesteryear that are on display. There's an Owl Museum, but frankly, everyone I know who has visited has rated it as boring, so we've never bothered to go in.

Main plaza at top of Penang Hill's Bukit Bendera

Follow the road around to the right, and you'll come across stairs leading up to an area with a playground, Hindu temple, and mosque.

Banana tree and the only Hindu temple on Penang Hill

The Bellevue Hotel is a bit further along the road with an onsite Aviary Ginger Garden that you can pay to explore. It advertises itself as the "World's First Detergent-Free Hotel." What does that mean? I don't know. Walk through the hotel to the back where the cafe has a panoramic view of the northern side of the island. Oddly, there's also a geodesic dome in honor of Buckminster Fuller who once stayed here while helping to design what is now KOMTAR.

Looking over the northern edge of the island towards Straits Quay from The Bellevue Hotel

You Take the High Road

My favorite section at the top of Penang Hill is taking a stroll along the Summit Road extending around to the left from the main plaza. Century-old heritage bungalows originally built for high ranking officers of the British East India Company line the road, and some of them will make you think you've stumbled upon a little cottage in jolly ole England.

Brownhead Bungalow where the well-to-do can escape to cooler air

It's a long but easy walk. Most people hitch a ride on a buggy which are for hire at the base of the playground stairs near the main plaza for RM30-60.

Hire a buggy if you don't want to walk.

A viewing platform by the side of the road has one of the best views from the hill. Keep an eye out for the red post box with the VR (Victoria Regina/Queen Victoria) insignia on it. It's supposedly one of the oldest in Penang and certainly on the Hill.

The oldest postbox on Penang Hill

Carnivorous Plants

Near the end of the Summit Road, about a 30-40 minute walk, you'll find the Monkey Cup Garden. These carnivorous pitcher plants are said to be nature's answer to how monkeys quench their thirst. I think they only resort to this when their efforts to steal tourist water bottles fail.

Monkey Cups
See the spider inside the one on the bottom left?

There's not much razzle dazzle to the garden, but my girl and I were satisfied by looking at the over 100 varieties growing here along the mossy ground trying to figure out which ones were having success at trapping insects. And silently in my head, I kept singing the songs from Little Shop of Horrors the whole time.

A leaf frog, traditional instruments, Venus flytraps, and enjoying the swing

Spend the Night on the Hill

One of the Boy Scouts' favorite places to camp on the island is at the Nature Lodge of the Methodist Centre located off Upper Tunnel Road West. Although the price is a bit too dear for single family camping, it's a great location for a group event. A sheltered area beneath the building provides protection from Penang's frequent rainstorms. There's an ample lawn for pitching tents. Best of all, a few thatched huts on stilts constructed by the orang asli (natives) occupy the property, too. Hubby says that these stay surprisingly dry in a rainstorm, too. If you plan on camping here, you can hire a jeep from the Bellevue Hotel to carry your equipment up.

Feed Me

All that walking around makes my family a bit hungry. At the very least, the promise of ice cream has kept the kids going when they'd rather lay down on the road and refuse to move. The cheapest eats are at the Cliff Cafe at the 3-story building at the Main Plaza. Numerous hawkers offer Assam Laksa, Char Koay Teow, Ais Kacang, and other local delights.

Cold Ais Kacang (Bean Ice) is refreshing on a hot day.

The cafe at the back of the Bellevue Hotel is a scenic spot to enjoy a cocktail. Watch out for pit vipers in the trees, by the way.

The fanciest restaurant is on the hillock near the upper funicular station and is called David Brown's Restaurant and Tea Terrace. I imagine that many Penang brides must dream of having their wedding reception at such a romantic spot. While the setting was idyllic, I found the Western food to be pricey, and I didn't think that the taste measured up to the upscale meal they were aspiring to offer. Next time, I think I'll just plan on having appetizers or dessert here instead of a full meal.

Romantic David Brown's Restaurant

Back Down Again

Your options for getting back down to the base are about the same as the ones to get up Penang Hill. Some people mix it up by running up and then taking the train down. (Penang Momma, I'm talking about you). My boy is most in awe of a friend who longboarded down the Jeep Trail. Please make sure you have good insurance before you try this X-Games-style stunt. If you hike back down to the Moon Gate, reward yourself with a tall, cool glass of freshly squeezed juice or coconut water (nature's Gatorade) at the Juice Stand across the street.

If You Go:

• Find more information on jungle trekking trails at Forest Explorers or Penang Trails. Trails are not marked, so for the first few times, you may want to go with someone who is experienced hiking these routes. Otherwise, you can end up at the base far from where you parked the car, as my son's friends discovered. 
• RapidPenang bus line 204 takes you to the bottom funicular station.
• If you are driving to the funicular station, follow the signs to "Bukit Bendera."
• Current funicular train schedules and fares can be found at the Penang Hill webpage.
• The menu  and contact information for reservations at David Brown's Restaurant and Tea Terraces can be found on the webpage. Open 9AM-9PM.
• Aviary Ginger Garden at The Bellevue admission is Adults RM8 and Children RM5. Open 9AM-6PM.
• Reservations for The Methodist Centre Nature Lodge can be made at the Bellevue Hotel.

This post is part of Travel Photo Thursday on Budget Travelers Sandbox, "Oh the Places I've Been" on The Tablescaper, Sunday Traveler on Ice Cream and Permafrost, and Travel Photo Mondays on Travel Photo Discovery. Check them out for more around-the-world travel inspiration.

Dine with Pearly: Homecooked Nyonya Makan Meal

Pearly Kee is one of Penang's doyens of Nyonya cuisine. Numerous friends have raved about her cooking classes, so I was quite excited when she invited me to be her guest at her new venture, Dine with Pearly. Once a month, Pearly opens her home so guests can savor delicious Nyonya comfort food cooked by her. Some dishes are simple to prepare but with outstanding flavor while others take so long to make that there's no way she could include them in a cooking class. What sets Dine with Pearly apart from a regular, never-see-the-chef, restaurant dining experience is that you have Pearly playing hostess regaling you with tales of her life in Penang.

What is Nyonya Cuisine?

Baba men and Nyonya women are Peranakans, the descendants of early Chinese immigrants in Malaysia and Singapore's old Straits settlements. Centuries before fusion food became trendy, these immigrants adapted their traditional, homeland recipes to incorporate ingredients commonly found in the new, tropical climate. With a bit of intermingling with their Malay neighbors, Nyonya cuisine was born. For those who do not have their own Nyonya grandmother or mother to teach them family recipes, Pearly Kee is the person to turn to.

Feasting on Homecooked Food

Pearly and her helpers worked in her kitchen for two days preparing all the food for the dinner. The yummy dishes were laid out on her veranda with helpful signs and explanations accompanying each platter.

Achat Awak - Mixed vegetables cooked in a spicy sauce

I enjoyed the crunchy vegetables and spiciness of this Achat Awak. Carrots, cabbage, pineapple, long beans and sesame seeds provided contrasting notes. Pearly was so kind as to pack some up at the end of the meal for me to take home for the next day, too. After marinating all night, the vegetables really did have quite a hot kick to them.

Chap Chai Char - Stir-fried vegetables, glass noodles and black fungus cooked with bean paste

The Chap Chai Char was my favorite dish because it reminded me so much of the homecooked dinners I've enjoyed in my Chinese aunt's kitchen in Texas. It was like the scene from Ratatouille  where the critic takes one bite and is suddenly transported back to his childhood. I've always enjoyed the crunch and flavor of woodear black fungus, and the glass noodles made of mung beans soaked up the flavorful sauce.

I also went back for seconds of the Kari Kay (Curry Chicken and Potatoes) with Roti Jala (batter drizzled across the griddle and cooked into a net-like crepe). I must have been so overwhelmed with all the delightful offerings because I forgot to take a picture of it. No time to snap photos! Must.eat.now. The Steamed Egg with Minced Pork came in individual bowls and had a salted egg yolk nestled inside. Nasi Kunyit (Sticky Yellow Rice) rounded out the offerings for the the main part of our meal.

Gandum - Wheat Porridge with caramelized tapioca tidbit

My husband said the dessert of Gandum (wheat porridge) reminded him of the very Western bowl of oatmeal he had for breakfast that morning except not as sweet.  I had to ask what the caramelized chunk laid on top was because I couldn't quite pinpoint the taste. When my table companion said it was tapioca, I didn't believe him because I'm so accustomed to eating it in its highly processed form of pearls from a box boiled into tapioca pudding. This tapioca was in its more natural state of just being cut off the tuber. While researching this blog post, I realized that tapioca is also called cassava which I'm very familiar with through all the Filipino food I ate growing up.



Kuih - traditional Nyonya cakes made of steamed glutinous rice

These kuih also reminded me of the Chinese Filipino dishes served at parties and special occasions during my childhood in Texas. The blue comes from soaking bunga telang (blue-pea) flowers in water to extract their vibrant color. A little dollop of sweet kaya (coconut custard jam) topped each one. The green and orange kuih on the right are steamed inside decorative molds to get their special shape. They are soft and shake "like a bowl full of jelly."

Sliced starfruit and guava were the other dessert course offerings. Once again, I was reminded of my Texas home as my mother in Houston used to grow guavas until an usually long cold spell killed off her trees.

Dragonfruit drink

A concoction of dragonfruit juice and Sprite sated our thirst. I was definitely gulping it down when I sampled some of the spicier dishes.

Relaxing with Conversation

While we dined, Pearly told us about Nyonya food and culture. In the olden days, families would have elaborate dinners to show off their unmarried daughters. The eligible girls would dress up for the guests and hold silk handkerchiefs up in front of their mouths while politely nibbling on tiny morsels of food. Only an uncouth young woman would dare to gnaw on food without shielding her mouth from view. Bite-size Inche Kabin (Lipstick chicken) was perfect for polite eating, not even mussing up their lipstick while they ate. Other stories were more personal about growing up in Penang. If you're very nice, she may let you take a sniff of the aptly named Chicken Poo leaves from her garden.

Pearly, in the red shirt, attentively listens to the other guests at the dinner.

The dinner turned out to be a very enjoyable experience of good food and delightful company. The group the night I attended in May was mostly local Penangites, a few good friends of Pearly, and a couple tourists who weren't able to fit into her cooking class. While I had feared that it might turn into an awkward dinner where we dashed after staying the obligatory amount of time dictated by decorum, Pearly's friendliness set everyone at ease.

She holds these Dine with Pearly dinners at her home once a month and charges RM50 per person. Her website lists the upcoming months' buffet menu which change for each dinner, but she sometimes makes additions if the she feels to urge or if someone has a special requests. Private dinners may also be arranged if she has time in her schedule.

A Nyonya Inheritance, Pearly's new cookbook

Her New Cookbook

Pearly recently released a cookbook of 35 favorite recipes entitled A Nyonya Inheritance. I've already bought a few copies to give as gifts when I return to Texas. She tells you a little bit about growing up Nyonya and gives a background about the cuisine. You can also take an armchair tour of the local wet market with pictures and introductions to the vendors she meets while shopping for ingredients.

The recipes themselves are well written, and I really like that she breaks the complicated ones apart with separate ingredient lists for the different components instead of running them all together into one long list. Pictures accompany each recipe, and she sometimes includes pertinent tips, too. She's realistic in that she illustrates the 11 steps of making coconut leaf parcels for Otak-otak (fish mousse) but ends it with an "if you're feeling lazy" alternative. Pearly gets extra bonus points for choosing spiral binding so that the book stays open while I'm cooking. Click here to get your own copy of the book on-line or while you are in Penang.

If You Want to Attend

• Dinners are the last Saturday of the month and begin at 7:30 p.m. at her Pilau Tikus home
• View each month's menu at Dine with Pearly as it changes each time
• Full cost is RM50 per person with a RM10 deposit at booking time
• Make your booking at the bottom of Pearly's Keep in Touch page.

Related Posts:
Penang Homecooking Class with Pearly Kee
Penang Cooking Schools
Dining Like a Local
Malaysian Dining in Houston, Texas
Mystery Fruit: Dragonfruit

Picky Eating in Japan

"I don't want to eat it" are words a parent dislikes hearing at the dinner table. Taking your child who is a picky eater to a foreign country with unfamiliar cuisine is probably one of the concerns for traveling parents. But this isn't one of those blog posts packed with tips for eating globally with your kids. What if your meal suddenly causes you to reevaluate how you view your own self?

"I don't want to eat it." That's all I could think as I gazed down at my plate.

It was my own fault I was in this situation. After a long day of sightseeing in Tokyo, I dragged my family of picky eaters to a yakitori restaurant. Yakitori is grilled, skewered chicken. What could possibly go wrong with that? I hungrily waited for them to bring out our food and watched them set down the platter in the middle of the table.

Almost everything on this yakitori plate looks yummy.

Neat skewers circled the plate. Succulent thigh meat, tasty white meat, chicken wings, and — wait a minute... what's that — chicken innards. Lying innocuously among the morsels that would probably suit my family just fine without complaint was a single skewer with a chicken heart, liver and gizzard. In general, I like a wide variety of foods and consider myself an adventurous eater. But I find offal just awful. (Sorry, couldn't help myself with that pun.) I can take my chicken liver in pâté form, and I've been known to enjoy a deep fried gizzard, but this slender spear didn't look at all appetizing to me. I knew that if anyone else got it, that'd be the end of the meal for them. So, like any good mama taking a bullet for the kids, I grabbed it.

"Eat it," I told myself.

Suddenly, it was as if every single argument my kids had ever given me over food came flooding back to me. All the points I've ever countered with came back, too. My psyche split in half and began a heated debate with each other.

"But I don't like it."

"How do you know you won't like it?

"Because I didn't like it the last time I tried it."

"Well, try it again. It's been a while. You might like it now."

"No, I really don't want to eat it. "

"Sometimes, it takes trying something 20 times before you start to like it."

"No way am I trying this offal stuff 20 times!"

*************************

Traveling in a foreign country brings out a childlike sense of wonder in me as I gaze at unfamiliar surroundings. Not knowing the language, I'm reminded of my early days before I learned to read. I gain a better appreciation of the huge knowledge leaps we constantly ask of our young kids. Apparently, international travel also brings out the rebellious child in me, too.

After moving to Malaysia, we encountered tons of unfamiliar meals when dining out. As the foodie risk taker in the family, I was charged with the task of tasting dishes, identifying what was in it, and then predicting whether it fell within my family's preferences.

My husband once summed up the differences in our reactions to strange culinary offerings. I'm afraid that if I don't try it, I'll miss out on something good. His assumption, on the other hand, is that it's probably something bad, and it's better to be safe than sorry.

Sometimes, my willingness to try new foods gets me into trouble. I vividly remember my first taste of sushi. It was a California Roll, a rather safe initiation into the world of sushi eating. I took a few bites before the food allergies kicked in. My throat began to close up, and my ear canals itched like crazy. I had to stop eating. My reaction didn't reach the level of requiring an EpiPen, but it's always in the back of my mind when we eat at Japanese restaurants.

Perhaps I'm a pickier eater than I thought and just didn't know it. As the Queen of the Household, I'm the one who sets the menu at home, does the grocery shopping and cooks the meals. When I flip through recipes, I bypass the ones that don't interest me and pull out the ones that seem tasty. Basically, I'm never in the situation that I constantly put my kids in. You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit.

My sense of self was beginning to break apart. Am I really who I think I am? Is this the heart-thumping dread my kids feel each time I glibly tell them, "Don't be so picky"?

What if I'm not as adventurous palate-wise as I consider myself to be? How else can I explain why I've always declined my dad's offer of balut, a Filipino delicacy of partially developed duck embryo boiled in the shell, cracked open and swallowed whole. There's something about the tiny beak, semi-formed eyes and miniature, claw feet pressing up against the yolk sack that really turns me off.

Do you push your food boundaries when you travel abroad? Would you fancy a glass of horse milk the next time you're in Paris? Could you match Andrew Zimmerman with his "beating frog heart moments" on Bizarre Foods?

*************************

It was time for me to take my own motherly advice. Time to stop throwing my silent, mental tantrum.

I slowly took a bite of the heart. Chewy. Gross. Disgusting. Can't spit it out, certainly not in front of the kids. Swallowing it, I pulled my best Meryl Streep, smiled at the kids, and remarked, "Delicious!"


Related Posts:
Japanese Vending Machines
A Lost Tooth, Black Eggs and Japan's Hakone National Park
Epic Day at Tokyo Disney


This post is part of Travel Photo Thursday on Budget Travelers Sandbox. Check it out for more around-the-world travel inspiration.

Mother's Day Brunch at the Shangri-La Rasa Sayang, Penang

Beautiful cakes at the Shangri-la Rasa Sayang's Mother's Day Brunch Buffet

As the mama of the family, most of the household responsibilities fall on my shoulders. That's how I ended up being in charge of booking my own Mother's Day Brunch last year. In my opinion, I deserve the very best. Right? So, I reserved us a table at the Shangri-La Rasa Sayang's Spice Market Cafe which turned out to be fantastic. It is by far the best buffet I've had in Penang, even beating out Christmas Day brunch at the E&O Hotel. I'd even say it's one of the best buffets I've had in the world because of the abundant, high quality food, the service, and the extra child-friendly touches that kept my kids from asking when were we going to leave. The effort they put into keeping the kids entertained was truly a bonus on Mom's special day. The boxed takeaway cake decorated with "Happy Mother's Day" that greeted me at the table was also a nice touch. Why mess with success? We'll be dining there again next week for Mother's Day 2013.

One of the things I really like about the Shangri-La chain is their commitment to the environment. They've decided to eliminate Shark Fin Soup, a Chinese delicacy, even though many of their guests demand it. Instead, they offer Mock Shark Fin Soup. While I'll tell you outright that it doesn't come close to duplicating the cartilagenous crunch of real shark fin, no sharks had their fins cut off, leaving them to sink to the bottom of the ocean to die. That's a win in my book.



Mock Shark Fin Soup with Crabmeat

The rest of the buffet covered the varied cuisines of Penang — Malay, Chinese, and Indian — plus Western food and freshly made Japanese sushi. The selection was huge. Luckily, the buffet lasts 3 hours, so you can cover a lot if you pace yourself and don't care about calories.

Dagin Temasik, Itik Kerisik, and Deep Fried Prawn with Ginger Chili

With so much food on the tables, I tried to prioritize and pick out what was truly special at this buffet. That's why I skipped over the roti which I have every week and made a beeline for the chilled seafood station.

Yabbies, or Crawfish as we Americans call them

Slipper Lobster

If you are thirsty, the buffet includes free-flow house wine, beers and soda. They also offer a variety of fresh juices to refresh your palate. I always like mixing them up in my glass into new flavor combos.

Juice Bar

If you know anything about me, you realize that desserts are my downfall. I am a sucker for a good dessert bar, and the Rasa Sayang did not fail me.

So much chocolate, so little time
Skewered marshmallow twists and dried apricots for dipping

Made-to-order Crepes with berries, apples and peaches as filling options



Cotton Candy or Candy Floss, depending on who you ask

This one lady was making all the crepes and cotton candy while also scooping ice cream for the sundae bar. I'm hoping they hire her a little help this year.

As I mentioned, the child-friendly touches are what really made this place stand out. They brought in Birthday Castle Entertainment to handle everything. (If you need someone to plan your kid's party, these are the people to ask.) A happy clown went from table to table creating balloon sculptures. A small area outside had a kids' movie showing on TV for when the children were finished eating but their mamas still wanted to linger (remember the free flow wine and the chocolate fountain). They even had table where children could create a "World's Best Mum" sash to adorn their dear mother.

What balloon creation would your child request?



An adult supervised the kids watching the telly.



My boy is grinning devilishly because the sash has an anagram that reads "World's Bum Stem."

I've already booked us a table for May 12, 2013. Perhaps I will see you there. Bonus: The family is so stuffed from brunch that mama can skip cooking dinner, too.

Mother's Day Brunch at the Spice Market Cafe, Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort
Batu Feringgi, Penang
Noon to 3 p.m.
RM120++ adults
RM60++ children
Includes free-flow house wine, beer and sodas and bracelet making for the kids.
Call 04-888-8788 to make reservations (essential)

Regular Sunday Brunch if you can't make it Mother's Day
RM98++ adults
RM48++ children
This does not include free flow drinks.
A clown entertains the kids every Sunday.

Freakishly Excited about Wendy's

Oh how we've miss you, Wendy's.

If we were living in America, dining at Wendy's wouldn't warrant a blog post. But that's not where we live. In the entire 18 months that we have been in Malaysia, we had never seen a Wendy's here. Sometimes, I start longing for the ease of grabbing a salad at the drive-thru. It's strange what you begin to miss about home when you are an expat.

In March, we decided to take our second trip to Kuala Lumpur. While visiting the Petrosains Museum in the KLCC Suria Mall, my oldest son noticed that someone had left behind a balloon with the Wendy's logo emblazoned across it. Surely there must be one nearby! Armed with nothing more than that small clue, we began to search the mall for a Wendy's when dinner time rolled around. We rounded the corner and saw it. "Freakishly excited" is really the only way to describe our reaction.

Our eyes darted back and forth across the menu to see what the Malaysian version of this American restaurant would offer. Frosty's, chili, baked potatoes, burgers, fries, chicken nuggets... There were lots of familiar items on the menu. We also saw some local offerings like the Fried Chicken Homestyle Rice. Well, I'm assuming it's local. After all, it's been a long time since I've been in an American Wendy's.

In the end, we ordered the food that we've been missing. The Kids Meal bag with instructions in both English and Spanish, not Malay, was quite amusing. They just use the same ones that are printed in the USA. This dinner reminded us of America and was such a welcome treat.  Seasoned with a dash of homesickness, my baked potato with chili and cheese sauce has never tasted better.


This post is part of Friday Daydreamin' at R We There Yet Mom? Head over and check it out for tons of other around-the-world travel inspiration.

Malaysian Dining in Houston, Texas

While I'm living in Penang, I constantly long for good Tex-Mex and Texas BBQ and dedicate my home visits to getting my fill. After I move back to Austin for good, I know that I'll start craving all the delicious Malaysian food that I've tasted since I landed here. Luckily for me, there's an authentic Malaysian restaurant in Houston's Chinatown called Banana Leaf. It's popular enough that they opened up a second location across the street from the first one. Last summer, a group of my younger cousins, my kids, and I dined at Banana Leaf so they could sample the cuisine.

The kids and I agreed that the flavor was very authentic and representative of the hawker centre food you can get in Penang. The downside was that the prices were definitely American, not the ridiculously cheap US$2-3 meals I get in Malaysia. We went for a very late lunch, so the restaurant wasn't busy at all. My daughter was excited by the sections named after various Malaysian towns like Ipoh. My sons thought the place was different from a typical hawker center in that this restaurant had a) air conditioning; b) good quality napkins; c) clean bathrooms; and d) no stray animals running through.  All plusses in my book!

My favorite dish, Char Kway Teow, was spot on. Yay!! I'm so glad that it won't be exiting my life once I'm back in Texas.



Stir-fried Flat Noodle (Chow Kueh Teow)
Malaysian famous stir fried flat noodle with shrimp, calamari, bean sprouts, egg, soy sauce and chili paste.

When the Roti Canai came out, one of my cousins the same age as my kid bit in and started saying, "Mmmmm... this is soooo good."  She'd dined here a few times before and was quite eager to accompany us there this summer day. It was a little bit more buttery than what I am accustomed to in Penang, but I'm a butter lover, so I won't complain.



Indian Pancake (Roti Canai)
All time Malaysian favorite, crispy style pancake served with curry dipping sauce

My picky-eater daughter gobbled up the Sweet and Sour Chicken. I like to think of it as her broadening her horizons from just the Chinese-American version of this dish to trying the Malaysian style, too.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

My oldest boy ordered his hawker centre standard, Curry Mee, and gave it a thumbs up.

Curry Seafood Noodle
Egg noodle served in curry broth with seafood and bean sprouts

Banana Leaf Curry Chicken
Chicken cooked over low heat with lemongrass and chili paste and simmered in thick coconut gravy

Malaysian Shredded Roasted Duck
Very similar to Peking Duck



Singapore Fried Rice
Fried rice served with shrimp, calamari, BBQ pork and vegetables

Water Spinach (Kang Kung) Belacan
Sauteed convolvulus with spicy Malaysian shrimp paste sauce
(Note that the menu says "convulse" but this is a misspelling and no convulsions should occur.)

The menu at Banana Leaf is quite extensive and representative of typical Malaysian cuisine. Despite the name, this isn't true banana leaf dining since everything was eaten off of plates with cutlery.

There's another Malaysian restaurant in the same strip called Mamak which I'm sure I'll enjoy, too, when I get back to Texas for good. Asam Laksa on the north side of Houston is another place I'll have to try.


Banana Leaf I
9889 Bellaire Boulevard, Suite 311
Houston, Texas

Banana Leaf II
9896 Bellaire Boulevard, Suite A
Houston, Texas

Click here for the website for both Banana Leaf restaurants.