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| Cita Rasa Malaysia: An Indonesian's Take on Malaysian Food! | |
by Natali "Adhe"
Ardianto 
(8-Sep-2004) | Readers Say |
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 August is an especially important time of the year for some countries as their independence day falls during the month. My country Indonesia, for one, recently celebrated its 59th year of freedom from the Dutch on the 17th. Just across the seas, neighboring Malaysia held its 47th Merdeka day on August 31st, honoring their independence from the British. In an effort to boost awareness about Malaysia in Indonesia and to show appreciation of our countries' bilateral relations and common independence month, the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta launched Cita Rasa Malaysia, a tasty food fair that was to last the entire month of August. The fair gave Jakartans the opportunity to sample a bit of Malaysia through Malaysian signature dishes. To ensure authenticity, Malaysian chefs were flown in to cook and teach their Indonesian counterparts on how to prepare these flavorful and spicy Malaysian dishes. Among the few restaurants that participated in the Cita Rasa Malaysia program, I chose Red Ginger in Citos (Cilandak Town Square) in my quest to acquaint my palates with Malaysian food. I was instantly swept off my feet when I was warmly greeted by its manager, Mr. Benny, who was very accomodating and helpful throughout my visit and casual documentation. Benny was so helpful, in fact, that I was almost expecting him to help me gobble up my lunch too! Fortunately for me, this was not the case. I was left to sample a bit of Malaysian heaven through the generous offering of an appetizer, two main course dishes and a dessert. Much to my delight, Benny insisted that these were on the house! Can life be any grander? Here is my two rupiah, err, cents, on my debut Malaysian delicacy discovery. Appetizer: Roti Jala with Chicken Curry Roti jala is an interesting rolled-up weave of pancake, named so for its web-like texture. To avoid being overcooked and appearing burnt, roti jala is cooked on a large flat pan over a slow fire after the batter is swirled and nozzled through a special kitchen apparatus which gives it that web quality and appearance. The roti jala I had was soft and chewy to the taste and touch; it almost felt like I was eating pudding. The accompanying chicken curry on other hand was so hot and spicy (at least for my untrained taste buds!), it tasted and felt just as intense as Japanese wasabi. For all you hot and spicy lovers, this chicken curry was truly not to be missed. Curry amateurs, I dare you! Main Course: Nasi Lemak Malaysia Malaysian nasi lemak (rice steamed in coconut milk) is almost like Indonesian nasi uduk. The difference is that it has a stronger taste. We Indonesians just love food with distinct taste, and so this nasi lemak is a perfect match for our taste buds. The ginger flavor was quite dominant as well. Maybe it's because I ate at a restaurant called Red Ginger, or perhaps Malaysians like ginger a whole lot. By the way did you know Malaysians call ginger halia? It's quite different from the name Indonesians use to refer to the spicy root: jahe. The next best thing in my nasi lemak dish was the anchovy side dish, or ikan teri. Now Malaysians call anchovy ikan bilis, so there's another language differentiation trivia for all you linguist nerds. The mini-sized fish was slighty crispy after being fried, and definitely had a salty yet savory taste. They weren't too overcooked though, which was a relief. I certainly wouldn't want to cut myself from chewing burnt ikan bilis with its pointy fins jabbing away mercilessly on the insides of my mouth! The sambal (chilli paste) was just a wonderful companion to
the hot steaming rice, and the fried chicken was just delectible. Who
doesn't enjoy eating fried chicken, honestly? That's some good chicken
there, Malaysia! Main Course: Mee Goreng India This is the dish of the day! Just when I thought I had eaten and tasted every single kind of noodle known to mankind, this species of noodles came tumbling into my life and onto my plate! This is mee goreng India (spicy stir fry egg noodle), or mee mamak as it is commonly known among Malaysians, coloring the Malaysian food landscape with its many sources of multicultural origins. It tasted so delicious that I had to literally control myself from spooning the noodles into my mouth too quickly. I was the picture of famine the minute I allowed these noodles to touch my lips; if breathing wasn't a necessary bodily function, I wouldn't have let my mouth and jaws rest for even just a second. Usually, I'd raise the white flag on spicy food, but just for this one day, I devoured every strand of my mee mamak like my life depended on it. The shrimps were cooked half-done, so they were really succulent and juicy. There were generous strands of chicken as well in the noodles, almost mimicking them. I bet you wouldn't have been able to differentiate between the noodles and the chicken strands without biting and tasting them. Lord, the chicken was really tender. And the garnish! Oh my goodness... Nope, I wasn't that hungry. So I left them alone. Well folks, this mee goreng is a must for you who stop by Red Ginger. I'd give this dish eight thumbs up ... if only I had eight thumbs! Dessert: Air Batu Campur (ABC) After a stomach full of appetizer and two main course, dessert comes gallanting to my table like royalty. I was then facing a bowl of what Malaysians refer to as ABC (ay-bee-see, not a-be-che!). This is hardly anything like Indonesian es campur, although if you could relate them, they'd be what I call cousins. In my humble opinion, ABC contains the things you would only eat if you were a vegetarian or a serious legume lover. ABC starts out by being just a bowl of shaved ice, which is then generously slushed with all sorts of condiments such soya beans, red beans, nata de coco, lycee, black cincau (type of jelly), raisins, corn and lontar (coconut flesh) with evaporated milk, rose syrup and a cherry to top it all off. Heck, the dessert probably contains enough sugar to make your dentist consider early retirement. Those somewhat odd ABC ingredients didn't stop me from consuming the odds and ends that make up the chilly dessert. I am now forever changed for my views that beans and corn are deemed unsuitable to become dessert have been negated. Now I can tell my mom that I have eaten vegetables :P Thank You After reaching a point where I could no longer claim to have a bottomless pit for a stomach, I surrendered my cutlery and saluted Mr. Benny (pictured above) and his wonderful staff for their heartwarming welcome and complimentary introduction to Malaysian cuisine. Last but not least, thank you Fairy for informing me of this fantastic food program. She definitely has to go bring me eat mee mamak now when I come to visit Malaysia!
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Indonesian Facts!
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RELATED STORIES:
 Natali
"Adhe" Ardianto is a (recently converted) mee mamak monster
living in Depok on the outskirts of Jakarta. He is a proud graduate from
Universitas Indonesia and has just entered the real world (oh you
poor thing hehe. - Fairy).
Thank you also to Adi Wahyu for informing us at MyIndo.com of the Cita Rasa Malaysia fair. About Red Ginger: For a complete list of menus and food prices, visit Pesan Delivery. |
| WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT Cita Rasa Malaysia: An Indonesian's Take on Malaysian Food!: |
#38. I had dinner in Plaza Indonesia's Penang Resto yesterday. Let me take the bills and write down my order  1. Claypot Rice 2. NAsi Lemak Set B Posted by SuperGay on 29-Sep-2008, 02:54 MYT
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hix...kalian yg orang malaysia bisa nemuin makanan enakmu di Indonesia, aq yang lg di Malaysia ga nemu bakso enak...ayo dong...expand jg jajanan Indonesia d Malaysia..biar seri getto... 
tapi masakan2 malaysia mungkin agak2 mirip sama indonesia kali ya? kalo mee mamak nya ga tau deh ada yg mirip apa ngga di indo.... 
