Penang cuisine result of many external influences<\/p>\n
Andrew Catchpole, Guardian News Service\/Penang, Malaysia<\/p>\n
Eating \"C'n'G\" (cheap and good) is a national pastime in
\nMalaysia.<\/p>\n
Locals boast of eating six or seven times a day. Such is their
\nfood obsession that excellent street stalls and canteen-style
\neateries are rarely more than a short stroll away, but foreign
\nvisitors often find the experience bewildering. Where do you
\nstart?<\/p>\n
Our Malaysian Chinese friend Lian gave us a quick beginners'
\nguide. \"Grab a table at the kedai kopi (coffee shop), but you'll
\nhave to look sharp,\" she said. \"The British obsession with
\nqueuing never really caught on here. Then once you've got a seat,
\nyou can order from any stall you like.\"<\/p>\n
Armed with a crumpled note covered with the hastily scribbled
\nnames of a few must-try dishes, my wife and I headed for
\nGeorgetown's New Lane, where a kedai kopi spilled its tables out
\namong the raucous hawker stalls.<\/p>\n
Staking our claim on a battered melamine-topped table, we
\nbegan peering through the smoky clamor for vendors of fried
\noysters and eggs, duck char kway chow (a twist on a fried noodles
\nclassic) and gee chap chuk (pig innards congee or rice porridge).<\/p>\n
Around us, makeshift notices on neon-lit street carts
\nproclaimed each hawker's speciality while the hissing and
\nsizzling of cooking gave up tantalizing aromas to the muggy night
\nair.<\/p>\n
Cheery crowds milled about, happily munching on spicy satay
\nand tender balls of chee cheong fun, a Chinese speciality of
\nsteamed dumplings filled with pork or prawn. Oliver, our blond
\nand blue-eyed baby of eight months, also proved an immense hit,
\nhis toothy grin attracting his own admiring crowd, effortlessly
\nbridging any cultural divide.<\/p>\n
In New Lane, for a smattering of ringgit (Malay currency), we
\nfeasted on a succession of superb dishes, each brought to our
\ntable on a medley of plates, bowls and banana leaves only moments
\nafter leaving the wok. Even the subtle and slithery tripe-infused
\ncongee was too good to pass on.<\/p>\n
Gastronomic diversity<\/p>\n
Malaysia has a gastronomic diversity unrivaled among Asian
\ncountries, with Chinese, Malay, Indian and Thai existing
\ncheek-by-jowl as well as the Peranakan cooking of mixed Chinese-
\nMalay descent.<\/p>\n
The reason for this diversity is not hard to find.<\/p>\n
The following morning, buoyed by traditional Malay breakfast
\nfavorites of nasi lemak (rice, crisp anchovies and eggs) and roti
\ncanai (an Indian paratha bread), we took a short stroll from the
\ncolonial splendor of the Eastern & Oriental Hotel to an overgrown
\ngraveyard on Jl. Sultan Ahmed Shah.<\/p>\n
Here, the modest headstone of Captain Francis Light stands
\nquietly under a tangled canopy of trees. It's an oddly low-key
\nplace of rest for the man who, more than anyone, was the catalyst
\nfor the multicultural flavor of modern Malaysia.<\/p>\n
In 1786, when Light established Georgetown as the first
\npermanent British settlement on the Malay peninsula, he must have
\nfrightened the life out of the handful of Malay fishermen who
\nlived on the island. He apparently had the wonderfully eccentric
\nidea of firing off canon shots of valuable coins into the dense
\njungle to help persuade early settlers to clear the land. Canny
\nChinese merchants followed close behind.<\/p>\n
Reminders of the wealth these merchants accrued can still be
\nseen in the graceful old mansions on Lebuh Leith a short walk
\nfrom Light's grave. Many are now sadly dilapidated, though the
\nCheong Fatt Tze Mansion at No 14, with its striking blue facade,
\nhas been beautifully restored. You can rent gorgeous rooms there
\nat very reasonable prices.<\/p>\n
While the British and Chinese traded spices, tea, fabrics and,
\nlater, tin, timber and rubber, indentured Indian workers were
\ndrafted in to work the land. Each ethnic group held on to its own
\ntraditions, religion and food.<\/p>\n
We had arranged a tour with Din, a knowledgeable and food-
\nloving guide, who promised to show us durian, nutmeg and clove
\nplantations in the island's fertile interior, before returning to
\ntown for another encounter with the hawker stalls. Appropriately,
\nwe met at Georgetown's bustling wet market, a short cab hop away
\non Jelang Penang.<\/p>\n
Heaps of fruit and vegetables<\/p>\n
Among the heaped vegetables and exotic fruits, glistening
\nfresh fish and baskets bursting with herbs and spices, we stocked
\nup on heavenly scented mangos, rambutans and mangosteens for
\nOliver, plus dense slabs of tamarind paste and dark palm sugar,
\nand bags of ikan bilis (dried fish).<\/p>\n
Din introduced us to durian, a stinking, spiky green monster
\nof a fruit considered a sublime delicacy in this part of the
\nworld. \"To tell if it's ripe tap it with your finger,\" he
\ninstructed. \"A solid noise means it's under-ripe, a 'tap' noise
\nis good, so dive in.\"<\/p>\n
Personally, I can take or leave durian, with its over-ripe
\ncheddar scent and cloying, creamily-fleshed texture, but Asians
\nconsider it a powerful aphrodisiac.<\/p>\n
Din drove us out past the popular northern beaches and resorts
\nof Batu Ferringhi, where in May and June, during the height of
\nthe durian season, hotels offer \"eat all you can\" durian
\npackages. Din said that enthusiasts came from as far away as
\nAustralia and Japan.<\/p>\n
We took a break to lunch on stuffed chilied squid and a
\nsnapper curry at a Malay canteen near the Batik factory near the
\ncharming fishing harbor of Teluk Bahang.<\/p>\n
The British brought nutmeg and cloves to Penang and the island
\nis still highly regarded for the quality of its spices. Both
\nstill grow in the cooler heights of the interior, along with the
\nimmense durian plantations.<\/p>\n
In the shady light, these trees stood up to 30 meters tall.
\n\"When the fruit are ripe they fall to the ground. These are the
\nbest, the B29 clone, which is a real bomba!\" said Din.<\/p>\n
Apparently, different durians are named after bombers -- easy
\nto understand when you hear the heavy thump of armor-plated fruit
\nhitting the ground.<\/p>\n
Good to his word, Din then delivered us back to Georgetown,
\nleaving us with his recommendations for the best dishes at the
\nfamous hawker stalls on Gurney Drive. At the northern-most end we
\nfound a table, and we peered at the signs on the stalls.<\/p>\n
Appetites whetted, we set about ordering aromatic asam laksa,
\nthe subtle noodle dish of prawn mee and Penang's mixed fruit
\nspeciality rojak, combining the tangy flavors of guava, pineapple
\nand cucumbers with spicy peanut sauce and lime.<\/p>\n
They certainly tasted like the best in Penang.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/penang-cuisine-result-of-many-external-influences-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }