Stomachs on legs are proud to present

Last weekend I hosted my friend Amrita's birthday party. Just eight people, seafood and drinks.

Amrita bought the centre piece of the party Nasi Kerabu

Despite her partner's comments that it looked like a Bangladeshi flood, full of rice, sticks, leaves and fish, it was not at all a disaster. Nevertheless we all liked the analogy so much it has now been renamed Bangladesh Disaster Rice.



Nasi kerabu bottom left

New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, has a few good bowls of noodles up its sleeves, especially those of the Malaysian variety - though we somehow didn't manage to fit in a decent laksa on our last trip there. We stopped at R & S Satay Noodle House on Cuba St before we began the nine-hour drive back up to Auckland. Erik's laksa was not too compelling - a few fish balls and bean sprouts floating a in a watery broth - but this 'Khmer satay soup' (pictured above) was rather tasty. In consistency, spiciness and lemon-tinged acidity it hovered somewhere between a Thai soup and a Malaysian laksa. There were plenty of al dente rice noodles and it was generously heaped with strips of tender white chicken flesh (no dodgy bits - not that I'm averse to a clump of skin or fat every now and then). The ground peanut was barely discernible except towards the end: it served mostly to thicken the soup.

Is this a genuine Khmer-style soup? Perhaps the Cambodian food experts on the Gut Feelings team can lay down the law.

Wellington's famous for at least two things. Music (rastas, the jazz school, Flight of the Conchords, dub fusion bands, Mu), and Malaysian food.

Above you see my best-friend-when-I-was-16's toyboy postman musician boyfriend, tucking into a rather average laksa at Rasa, a Malaysian-South Indian restaurant in Wellington, NZ.

I'd love to know the population of Malaysian people in Wellington: if anyone knows how to check that out, let me know.

Malaysian's been a staple takeaway food for Wellingtonians since the '90s. In some cases it's become totally kiwi-fied: I guess it's the only place in the country where you can get nasi lemak to go with a burger and chips. What I'm still dying to have is a super-hot egg sambal like I used to have when I was a teenage lacto-ovo-vege, from Bandong Country Kitchen. I tried to replicate it at home once: it worked out OK.

To keep the locals happy, nasi lemak usually comes with a coconut beef rendang type dollop on the side. I think I only found one place that does plain fatty rice with condiments and peanuts etc.

By the way, this site must get at least one google hit a day from a previous post titled Nasi Lemak Yo Mama's Pussy.

Nasi lemak:


Ring a ding rendang: (this was actually fiyah)



Whatever you do, don't Pay the Dosa-man (Pictured: Wellington rappers Erik Ultimate & Kidz with Gunz)

Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do, and saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway
But more, much more than this, I did it my way

OK, when it comes to our dining choices in NY I pretty much did it Sietsema's way. And in one particular case, it may not have been the BEST way. There was a tinge of regret when I made the mistake of checking up on Oversea Asian on Chowhound.com. On that website, the legions seem to prefer another Manhattan Malaysian joint. Which lead me to wonder for a moment, if I should've done it Skyway.

But then I thought back on the delicious sweet-sour mango chicken, the flaky, buttery roti canai (so it probably is pre-frozen, so what?), and the melange of nasi lemak flavours and I was at peace.



It IS still a lingering regret that we didn't have time to explore Sietsema's recommendations of Malaysian and other 'asian cuisines in the outer boroughs. I have a certain stubborn idea (similiar to Maytel and Hock's) that restaurants should be humble and obscure, that the 'real' and best Asian food would be found only in Queens or even New Jersey and never in Manhattan. (I have Sietsema to thank for this prejudice, too). So I have shovelled all regrets aside, since i figure Skyway is just another Manhattan joint, after all...

Must admit, I do find it bewildering and somehow irritating to broach the seething mass of conflicting ideas on Chowhound about which restaurant is 'best'... most of them write in a way that is so earnest and humourless and often seems so ill-informed.

Still, one is inclined to think that some of them must have a good idea about what's good to eat.

The brave legions of Chowhound posters have quite a task on their hands. In NYC (as in Tokyo) there are SO many places that are good to eat. Some of them are only good for one or two dishes, and some of them decline in quality within months while new ones pop up every day.

To try to define what is 'best' is a virtual impossibility, because when there are so many options, 'best' depends on what you feel like that day, doesn't it?

I found this blog whereby a person spent a year eating their way around the world, and then summed up their top fives in various categories. Some of the places and dishes sound worth trying out, but the lack of scientific approach and the profusion of locations and cuisines makes it all seem rather random. Since it could take decades of living in a certain country to become an expert on a cuisine, it is bewildering to see someone try to come off like an expert on Napolitano pizza just from having passed through there for a week or two. This, dear friends, is the nature of our day & age. Foodism, dear friends, is at work everywhere you look.

Anyways. No matter how you get your info, the main point is to find delicious meals.

There are two options in a big city like NYC. You could spend two weeks blocking out all the eateries from a certain cuisine and eating your way through all of them. Or you could make a virtual career out of trialing places that you've seen recommended on the web. For instance, I found this site by an enthusiastic eater who made a shortlist of places she wanted to try out in NYC culled from Sietsema's recommendations - and then cross-referenced with Chowhound and a cabbie food-blogger. I must say that we enjoyed every single meal recommended by Sietsema. But I suspect - foodism irritations aside - that if I lived in NYC I would resort to a similar strategy.

OK, so enough rambling. I am NOT an expert on Malaysian food. For some reason there is a lot of really good Malaysian food in Wellington, NZ, where I grew up. As take out it's more of a tradition among people I knew than Thai or even Chinese, so it reminds me of being 16 and eating searing egg sambal.

One of the things that impressed me about Oversea Asian was the freshness and tastiness of the vegetables that were involved. Mango chicken:





I wished the Nasi Lemak had been a bit less dry & a bit more coconutty (like the superb coconut rice we had at Village Mingala the night before - but that was a Burmese restaurant so I shouldn't confuse the matter! The achat (sweet/spicy/sour pickled veges) that came with it were great and the general confluence of tastes and textures was very satisying.



Above you can see Yeong Tofu, the dish that enticed us to Oversea Asian in the first place. Here is the description by Sietsema:
"It might be the name of a prime-time soap, set in an organic supermarket and featuring a cast of glib twentysomethings: Young Tofu. Instead, it designates a clay pot that sits steaming in front of you, a collection of stuffed objects in a curried coconut broth ($5.25). Bulging with shrimp-laced tofu paste, the okra, eggplant, and long green chiles sink to the bottom, while Venetian barges of fried and unfried tofu float lazily by. This liquid museum of curd would have made a complete meal in itself, had the bewildering, 150-item menu not tempted you to stick your neck out further."
(Read the full review here: it's from '04, mind)

The crispy fried tofu skin with the creamy broth was superb. (We chose half chicken broth and half laksa-style curry mixed). 'Yeong' in cantonese means to stuff. So Yeong Tofu means veges stuffed with tofu, and the dish also included pieces of eggplant welded with fishpaste that tasted a little musty like the back of the shelf in an old chinese supermarket: but in a good way.



The roti canai was very good, the accompanying curry with hunks of meat very tasty.

Overall, it was a delicious and over-the-top lunch (so much food!) washed down with plenty of tea and nice before strolling to Alife so Erik could buy a purple sweater.

It may not have been THE best Malaysian NYC has to offer, but it was very good, and it made me wish there were more Overseas Asians in Germany. I would be very happy if this restaurant existed in Cologne.

As a point of consolation for those of us who don't have the option of being in close proximity to the Italian food of the Bronx, the Asian spots in Queens and the Latin American food of Jackson Heights simultaneously, I just read the following inspiring comment by one Malaysian blogger:
"I used to drive 5 hours to find good Chinese or Singaporean or Malaysian food. Now I prefer to spend 5 hours preparing it myself."

If you, too, feel a dearth of Malaysian food in your life, this is a recipe for Yeong Tofu. Give it a shot!

A customer contemplates the qualities of a good nasi lemak:

Been fantasising lately about the killer Egg Sambal I used to get as a teen in Wellington (where Cuba St is to burning chilli & roti takeaways what Brick Lane is to tikka masala or vindaloo delites). Then I moved away and not sure what happened to that restaurant. Sounds like KK and Satay Kajang are the new kids on the block these days in Wellingtown.
For some reason Malaysia's erstwhile national dish, coconut rice, was never offered, but having heard about it from Han, I found a recipe online and will share it at the bottom of this post. I also took a recipe for dry egg sambal and beefed it up to approximate the nostalgic sambal I remember from my gory days, using onions, fresh tomatoes etc, and will post that soon. It worked. Yums!

Who better though to consult about the tang & the bang in Malaysian cuisine, than dj Han Baby?
Han Baby is well known in Auckland's shady ghetto-fabulous electro bass underworld as the ying to the Coco Solid pu-yangy, tuff on the outside but soft-hearted &creamy like coconut rice on the inside. He granted a rare interview divulging his fatty rice expertise.



What do real gangstas eat in KL?

Well, it's been years since i've been hustlin in KL, so i can't
really speak for the johnny-come-latelys, but back in the day, we
would eat anything. it kinda depends on the crew that you're bangin
with, really. as u know, malaysia is made up of 3 main races, the
malays, the chinese and the indians. so it goes with the turf, but a
multi-cultural OG like me run with all bangers. when i'm with my
malay boys, we're hitting the warongs (warong=malay for foodstall)
for satay (meat skewers, super delicious, but not like the ones u get
in western countries, it's smaller and grilled on charcoal before u,
and u have with peanut sauce) and ketupat (rice dumpling wrapped in
woven palm leaf pouch, very cute and kampong(village)-like, u also
have with peanut sauce). when i'm with my indian brothers, we're
kickin it at the local mamak (malay/indian mix foodstall) where u can
have all manner of rotis (roti=malaysian-style bread) with your
favourite curries. when i'm with my cousins, u can find us at 24-hour
yum chars talkin shit about other chinese families. it's totally ok
to cross turfs but u need to know people of the race turf so others
won't wanna pick a fight with u. the malays don't normally eat at
chinese establishments cos we eat pork and that's against islamic
beliefs.

Where can u get the best nasi lemak in Malaysia?

Boy, u got me thinkin. But my favourite has to be the joint in
senibong. senibong is a coastal village close to where i grew up in
johor bahru, by the straits looking onto singapore island. like most
coastal villages, there are many restaurants/collection of foodstalls
that are built on wood out to sea (can't remember word for it) where
u walk a length of wooden planks and eat out at sea. here u will find
cheap awesome food of all varieties. the straits is really dirty on
malaysian side so it's not really a tourist destination, only locals
go there. everytime i go back, i go with my best mate G to eat there.
they make the best nasi lemak i've ever tasted and so humble too. as
you're eating it, you're thinkin, "this must be what they serve in
heaven". you are high.

Here's a photo i found of us eating there, on the right is pot (G's
brother, G took the photo).



Does Nasi Lemak really mean rice with fat?

Literally, rice=nasi and lemak=fat (not verb, but actual food fat).
as u know, it's rice cooked in coconut milk, traditionally high in
fat, therefore, it's known affectionately as fatty rice.

Do u cook with that Belacan [shrimp paste] stuff in NZ?

Wow, how did you know about belacan? it's like the malaysian secret to
super awesome flavour. i must kill u.
ps. no i don't cos i'm too lame, but i frequent many places that do
in nz. pretty good too, i hook u up.

Where is the best malaysian food u have had in NZ?

Mang, ur asking some toughies. but i gotta go with kk on manukau road
in auckland. they cook awesome penang-style food (chinese). and when
you're there, u gotta order the kk special eggplant. it's eggplant
with (u guessed it!) belacan! best in nz i've had so by far. in fact,
i just had it the other day. this chick asked me out to dins and said
she wanted some malaysian, to which i replied, "are u coming on to me?"
ps. i didn't hear a "no".

What is the most gangsta-hot malaysian dish and what are the side effects?

Most malaysian dishes are hot to begin with, but u can always request
it to be made extra pedas (HOT!) and kick your party into overdrive.
side effects include driving your shit crazy and wishing u could live
life this much to the max all the time.

What wheels do gangsters drive in KL?

The last time i was back, the city was overrun by motorcycle gangs.
they be driving down the highway in the dozens, and i'm not talkin
harleys here, these are bad boy 120cc bikes terrorizing cars and
trucks and the like. these days though, u will probably find these
road warriors on a different highway, the information superhighway
(internet), such as u and your gang of misfits on your blog.
ps. everyone gets real flashy with their rides, but we're ghetto so
we just drive G's dad's car. whichever one has more petrol.

What is a hardcore malaysian diss?

"Pukimak" is a common malaysian one, it's means your mother's pussy,
kinda like "(fuck your) mother's pussy". the chinese say "kan ni na",
which literally means "fuck your mother's pussy". if you're in
berzerk mode, u say "cau cibai" (even the malays know this one),
which means "(your mother's) smelly cunt". seems like mums get a bit
of a beatdown in these parts eh.

What is the most common liquor in Malaysia for gangsters?

U know what, i can't stand drinkin beer in malaysia, but can't get
enough of it in nz. maybe it's the weather or somethin, but hard
liquor is the shit in malaysia. i love whiskey and johnny walker is
very popular. not just among the kids but also with business men at
karaoke bars. they be shy and shit but after a few drinks, they're
belting out their favourite ol-skool jams in front of everyone.
shameless.
ps. good luck with your cooking and all the best to your culinary
journey.