1) Asam Laksa:
It's a sour noodle soup cooked with flaky white fish, tamarind stock, pineapple and cucumber. The fishy smell and flavor, while beloved for the locals, isn't so palatable for us.
2) Fish head curry:
A whole fish head stewed with vegetables in coconut milk doesn't sound exciting and not surprisingly, doesn't taste exciting either.
3) Cendol:
Kidney beans in a dessert? Can you imagine? This is a dessert made of glutinous rice, jelly, palm sugar, shaved ice, kidney beans, creamed corn and coconut milk. Even TV food show hosts cannot fake it after having a taste of it.
4) Otak-otak:
It is fish paste mixed with coconut milk and spices, wrapped in in banana leaf and steamed/grilled. Otak means brains and the dish is named so as its texture resembles that of a brain, soft and squishy.
5) Ais Kacang:
It is a dessert consisting of red beans, peanuts, agar gar, grass jelly and evaporated milk served with ice cream. The combination is similar to that of Cendol.
6) Belacan and sambal:
More than dishes, they are actually condiments added to a vast variety of Malaysian items. Belacan is fermented shrimp paste whereas as sambal is a chili based sauce consisting of shrimp paste and fish sauce along with other spices. Both, when added to any food item, give a nasty fishy taste to the dish, a taste which may or may not be acquired even after years of trying.
7) Durian-flavored ice cream:
This is ice cream with the flavor of Durian, the national fruit of Malaysia. It resembles a jack-fruit and is sickly sweet, but extremely stinky. Its odor can even be felt miles away from it.
8) Kuih:
It is of many varieties and flavors. Basically it is glutinous rice mixed with palm sugar mixed with peanut paste/ tapioca/ sweet potato/ kaya / coconut milk/ etc.
9) Fishcake:
If you have the fishcake that they serve in Western countries, you might enjoy them since the fish used is freshwater fish. And obviously, us Bengalis love our Machher Chops. But here the saltwater fish makes the cakes (called Pempek) smelly and often, inedible.
10) Asam Pedas: This is sour and spicy fish curry cooked with belacan, local spices, tamarind sauce and okra. Not a great combination, I say.
2) Fish head curry:
A whole fish head stewed with vegetables in coconut milk doesn't sound exciting and not surprisingly, doesn't taste exciting either.
3) Cendol:
4) Otak-otak:
5) Ais Kacang:
6) Belacan and sambal:
More than dishes, they are actually condiments added to a vast variety of Malaysian items. Belacan is fermented shrimp paste whereas as sambal is a chili based sauce consisting of shrimp paste and fish sauce along with other spices. Both, when added to any food item, give a nasty fishy taste to the dish, a taste which may or may not be acquired even after years of trying.
7) Durian-flavored ice cream:
8) Kuih:
It is of many varieties and flavors. Basically it is glutinous rice mixed with palm sugar mixed with peanut paste/ tapioca/ sweet potato/ kaya / coconut milk/ etc.
9) Fishcake:
If you have the fishcake that they serve in Western countries, you might enjoy them since the fish used is freshwater fish. And obviously, us Bengalis love our Machher Chops. But here the saltwater fish makes the cakes (called Pempek) smelly and often, inedible.
10) Asam Pedas: This is sour and spicy fish curry cooked with belacan, local spices, tamarind sauce and okra. Not a great combination, I say.
isn't otak-otak like paturi?
ReplyDeleteNot exactly. Paturi uses marinated fish pieces while otak otak has fish paste mixed with other ingredients.
Deleteok....fish paste sounds horrible :|
ReplyDelete