First published on 26 Sep 2011. Updated on 27 Sep 2011.
Why is Malaysian cuisine so popular at the moment?
Malaysian cuisine has received a lot of media exposure lately, due in large part to the global Malaysia Kitchen campaign launched by the Malaysian government to help promote awareness of Malaysian food among the general public.
What makes Malaysian cuisine unique compared with other Asian food styles?
Malaysia is a nation of immigrants and its cuisine is an early form of fusion food – taking the best elements and cooking styles from a population that includes Malay, Chinese, South Indian and to a lesser extent, Indonesian, Thai, Portuguese and other settlers.
What are your favourite Malaysian food ingredients?
My pantry is incomplete without garlic, shallots, lemongrass, coconut milk, oyster sauce, shrimp paste, ginger, a meat and a fish curry powder mixture, tamarind extract and soy sauce. These core ingredients are more than enough to get you started towards cooking Malaysian meals.
What can people expect from the Malaysia Kitchen BBQ Madness event?
A display of some well-known and not-so-well-known Malaysian snacks and dishes cooked on BBQs – including roti canai, roti murtabak, otak-otak (grilled spicy fishcake in banana leaf) and lots more!
What advice would you give to the home chef wanting to cook Malaysian food?
1.Don’t be afraid to use shortcuts – too many recipes out there call for a laundry list of hard-to-get and obscure ingredients – what many people don’t realise is that the average Malaysian cook uses commercial curry mixes rather than grind their own spices – they then boost their flavours by simply adding garlic, ginger and shallots/onions to them during the cooking process.
2. Malaysian cooks generally do so by taste – exact measurements are a rarity, so don’t hold the quantities listed in a recipe as set in stone – if you think a recipe needs 3x the amount of salt called for, don’t be afraid to add it.
3. If making soup-based noodle dishes, always blanch the noodles in a separate pot of boiling water and not directly in the soup.
4. If using curry powders and other powdered spices, mix them to a paste with water, then fry until oil separates. Never add curry powder directly into a pot of water.
5. Cook stir-fries in small batches to maintain a high heat level during the cooking process, or your noodles or vegetables etc. will just end up stewing.
How does Sydney-style Malaysian food differ from that in Malaysia?
Sydney’s proximity to South-East Asia means we are better off than most of the Western world in terms of the availability of ingredients used in Malaysian cooking.
Having said that, import restrictions with some items means we do have to adapt and improvise, so for example, with a Char Kway Teow (stir-fried fresh rice noodles), instead of cockles (which are at best hard to get over here), you might find it served in Sydney with chicken or other kinds of seafood.
Also, Australians are generally uncomfortable about eating meat or fish on the bone, so you’d be more inclined to find chicken or fish fillets used here than in their Malaysian counterparts.
We also use canned/packet coconut milk as opposed to the freshly-squeezed variety still readily available in Malaysia.
What are the three golden rules of cooking Malaysian dishes on the BBQ?
1. Wrap seafood in banana leaves for flavour and to keep them moist during cooking.
2. Cut meat in thin strips when used for skewering to facilitate cooking.
3. Baste meat with lemongrass dipped in oil for extra flavour.
What's the 'must-eat' dish in Sydney's Malaysian food scene?
Char Kway Teow – stir-fried rice noodles with garlic, egg, chives, beansprouts and (nominally) seafood or chicken – it is universally appealing and uniquely Malaysian so it’s a great dish with which to introduce someone to Malaysian food.
What Malaysian cookbook would you recommend to the novice chef?
Charmaine Solomon has a dedicated following here in Australia and her recipes demonstrate her commitment to authenticity – hard to go wrong with her cookbooks.
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