Ikan Bakar, Kuala Lumpur & Langkawi

Sorry for the massive delay with posting. We’ve recently just bought our first home- in fact it happened a few days after getting back home from Malaysia and ever since things have been a bit hectic!
Here’s the final Malaysia post; the promised Ikan Bakar. I did actually try to do this post about a week ago but Tumblr decided it wasn’t happening and killed the page just before I tried to post.
Our experience of ikan bakar actually happened in two halves. Regrettably as we were shortly to catch a flight back to KL we didn’t have time to eat at the roadside restaurant just next to Langkawi airport where these photos are taken. A few days later, back in Kuala Lumpur, after a bit of research we headed a few stops down the Kelana-Jaya line of the LRT to Dato Keromat station where we found a small local wet market. The Ikan bakar spot we were looking for was Mat Teh Ikan Bakar. We managed to find it fairly easily despite the torrential downpour that was going on as there were huge crowds of people huddled around a smoking grill of banana leaf wrapped fish. After a bit of smiling, gesturing and pointing we had a spot at the shared tables, were slurping on fresh mango juices and watching our fish being grilled (all while trying to keep feet dry!)
We were served a  bowl of rice, a lovely plate of mixed herbs and vegetables and bowls of a fiery tomato dip- very similar to salsa before our fish arrived. We had ordered the ikan pari (stingray) and another fish (a mackeral type) peeled back the smoky banana leaf wrapper and got stuck in.
The fish was incredibly fresh, flaky and very delicate. Both fish had a light marinade that included a lot of turmeric and spices which was still very subtle in taste. The stingray was particularly good- meaty and bone free and it went beautifully with the herbs and spicy dip.
It was a fantastic way to end our food adventures in Malaysia.

Preparing young coconut for sale at Pudu wet market, Kuala Lumpur. I took this as part of our photo-tour- look out for many more amazing food images of our journey!

Making coconut milk at Pudu wet market, Kuala Lumpur. I took this as part of our photo-tour- look out for many more amazing food images of our journey!

Biryani at Hamza Bistro, Jalan Tun Sambanthan, Kuala Lumpur

If ever there was a lesson in writing things down at the time, this would be it. It’s two weeks since our visit to this Indian cafe in Brickfields and I have literally just spent 2 hours searching Streetview, 4square, tripadvisor etc. for this bloody place! I eventually found it via Facebook by identifying the colour of the tables!
I now know it’s a new place, having opened in March and hasn’t made it’s way onto Google as yet. Here’s the link to the FB page though- Restoran Hamza Bistro.
We ate mutton biryani which was served with poppadom, pickle and some sauces. The biryani was perfect, lightly spiced, not too oily (I avoid eating oily food where possible) whilst the mutton was rich and tender. Some sweet elements came from the sultanas, creating a nice balance and the lightly pickled crunchy vegetables provided contrast in both taste and texture. I was less keen on the lime syrup drink, which somehow I managed to inhale (not recommended!!). The plastic trays, known as thali are on my purchase list- we ate off them regularly in Malaysia.
We ended up here at the recommendation of Kerry, our guide for our photo tour of Pudu Market and also an impromptu trip to Brickfields (also known as Little India). Hopefully you’ve liked seeing some of my images of Pudu market over the last few days. I’ve spared you some of the grislier ones such as heaps of chicken feet being ‘manicured’ and half pigs heads. That aside, it gave us a fantastic opportunity to see a real market at work and people going about their daily lives. We also had the chance to go inside a working Hindu temple dedicated to Hanuman and then go behind the scenes to see craftsmen at work, carving, moulding and painting the new extension to the temple. Hearing music, we popped outside and witnessed the consecration ceremony for the breaking of the ground as the first pillar was driven into the soil for a further temple extension, complete with sacred cows.

An emotive picture; shark for sale at Pudu wet market, Kuala Lumpur. I took this as part of our photo-tour- look out for many more amazing food images of our journey!

Fresh leafy vegetables at Pudu wet market, Kuala Lumpur. I took this as part of our photo-tour- look out for many more amazing food images of our journey!

Pungent dried squid at Pudu wet market, Kuala Lumpur. I took this as part of our photo-tour- look out for many more amazing food images of our journey!

Crates of limes at Pudu wet market, Kuala Lumpur. I took this as part of our photo-tour- look out for many more amazing food images of our journey!

Fresh fish at Pudu wet market, Kuala Lumpur. I took this as part of our photo-tour- look out for many more amazing food images of our journey!

Fresh mangoes, dragon fruit and rambutan at Pudu wet market, Kuala Lumpur. I took this as part of our photo-tour- look out for many more amazing food images of our journey!

Fresh blocks of tofu at Pudu wet market, Kuala Lumpur. I took this as part of our photo-tour- look out for many more amazing food images of our journey!

Lady selling petai/sator (stink beans) at Pudu wet market, Kuala Lumpur. I took this as part of our photo-tour- look out for many more amazing food images of our journey!

Fiery chillies by the crate and long beans at Pudu wet market, Kuala Lumpur. I took this as part of our photo-tour- look out for many more amazing food images of our journey!

Fresh rhizomes, herbs and beautiful torch ginger at Pudu wet market, Kuala Lumpur. I took this as part of our photo-tour- look out for many more amazing food images of our journey!

Limes & Chillies at Pudu, Kuala Lumpur

Limes and chillies, Pudu wet market, Kuala Lumpur. I took this as part of our photo-tour- look out for many more amazing food images of our journey!

Chicken Rendang & Nasi Lemak at the Old China Cafe, Jalan Bilai Polis

This place features on all the ‘must eats’ in KL pages and frequently crops up as an essential place to try Nonya food. After a lot of wandering around the rainy streets of KL’s Chinatown and gesturing with local shop keepers we found the restaurant which sits in a traditional and historic Chinese shop house.
It was quiet when we arrived which surprised me given it’s prominence on the web and we quickly discerned it was more of a tourist spot (though still a very attractive and low- key atmosphere).
We ordered the lobak to share (fried beancurd sheets stuffed with carrot, turnip and pork) which was served with a spicy/sweet chilli jam- these were hot, crispy, salty and very moreish. I went for the Nonya chicken rendang which was very similar to a Thai red curry which surprised me; I was expecting a dish with more spices and fewer herbal/citrus notes. It was rich and creamy from the coconut milk and came with several chunky pieces of chicken. I wonder whether being chicken, the spice paste is lighter/fresher than the richer aromatic paste used for say a beef rendang? I’m certainly not an expert in Malaysian food by any means so would be more than happy to hear your thoughts. My husband settled on the nasi lemak for his meal, which was beautifully presented and came with the usual assortment of ikan bilis (fried anchovies), peanuts, boiled egg, cucumber, sambal, some of the chicken rendang and some puffed crackers. The beautiful blue colour of the nasi kerabu speckled throughout the rice is a natural colouring from a flower. The textures within this dish are incredible; soft, crunchy, chewy with huge contrast between the very salty and the sweet.
The food (excluding drinks) bill came in at 34MYR (about £6.50) which was good value for the quality of food, presentation and ambience. It’s perhaps not the best place to eat if you are looking to eat where the locals eat but for beautifully prepared, tasty food in an interesting building, it’s a great choice.

Durian experience on Jalan Alor

Here we are with the durian post, a little later than planned but we’ve just got back from Langkawi and due to unknown wifi connection I decided not to take my laptop. So continuing on with part 2- the durian ‘experience’ formed the ‘dessert’ to our meal at Jalan Alor. We had already walked past several durian stalls on the way in with whole fruit of various sizes all lined up and pre packed parcels such as the above ready for purchase. We chose our poison- at 20 ringgits you’re looking at about £3.50 which isn’t especially cheap but we are in a tourist area of a major city.
If you haven’t had the pleasure of encountering durian before it’s certainly unforgettable both in look, smell, texture and taste. It’s a full sensory experience. You can smell them upon approach, they’re easily recognisable with their huge spiky cases about the size of a rugby ball and the taste can’t be compared with anything else.

We sat down and there was some anticipation seeing that there were disposable gloves on the table for protecting your fingers from lingering smells; let’s not forget durian are banned on public transport and in certain public buildings in Thailand!
Despite the infamous reputation durian has, I decided to go in with an open mind. Texture- a mushy overripe avocado immediately came to mind, particularly one which has those stringy bits in. Taste- for the first few seconds- best compared to a mild white cooking onion that has been forgotten at the bottom of the sack and has gone off, after that it seemed vaguely reminiscent of juicy fruit chewing gum (which isn’t too surprising as the durians cousin; the jackfruit is the flavour inspiration for juicy fruit).
So, in a nutshell I probably won’t be rushing back to eat durian again but having said that; it was a fun experience and was nowhere near as bad as it has been made out to be.

Jalan Alor, Kuala Lumpur

Okay, so I’ve finally had chance to sit down and put something together; in our first 2 days we’ve had so much food I think I already have enough to cover a month of posts; we’ve eaten Indian, Nyonya, Malay, Chinese and even Japanese (with Vietnamese to come tomorrow too).
Our first evening’s introduction to KL, as indeed every travellers should be was the street food of Jalan Alor. The air in the street was hanging heavy with the smoke of grilling skewers of meat and fish and mingled with frying garlic, chilli oils caught in your lungs, making us splutter and at one end of the street; the pungent hum from the durian stalls was potent (more to come of that in a later post)
We ate at Charn Kee Tasty Corner run by Elang and her team which is a regular favourite of my Uncles who we’re staying here with. We ordered up a range of chilli laden dishes which arrived quickly and in quick succession:
Chickenfish (middle photo) deep fried, crispy skinned and meaty and came with a delicious tangy spicy dipping sauce
Stir fried chilli frog- whole frogs pan fried in a light chilli broth, slurp on the soft meat and removing the tiny bones as we went.
Gai Lan (Chinese kale) leaves stir fried in a soy/oyster sauce mix, smoky with wok breath and a ton of sliced garlic.
Chilli chicken- deep fried chicken stir fried in a rich red chilli paste with spring onions
Fried rice- this was a meal in itself- full of shrimp, omelette and vegetables with a soy/chilli dip
we eventually left, very full, very happy and headed off for our first experience of durian… (to come in part 2)

A whirlwind few days but have loved our first full day in Kuala Lumpur. Full post tonight but as a round up today has involved roti cennai, thosai plantar, sushi, chicken fish, fried frog and the fabled durian!

Thank you :)

Just logged in and seen I’ve hit 1000 followers overnight. Thank you so much to all of you guys who follow ‘I wish I was in Thailand food blog’. Be back next week with food whilst I’m travelling in Malaysia!