Culinary Delights in Kuala Lumpur& Indonesia

[hwinpp]

The reason I haven't been in the Port for over a week is that I had to go to Indonesia for work.

After a stopover to pick up my mother, who happened to be in Kuala Lumpur, we continued on to Jakarta, Surabaya and Denpasar on Bali, after which we returned to KL, where I stayed on for 2 nights.

After reviewing the photos I took, I realised that 99% were of food, hence the title.

Enjoy!

The first photo of my mother, after not seeing her for 18 months
Her favourite snack, tau fu fa, an extremely silky version of tofu, with syrup. Eaten hot and cold.



More snacks, we picked the curry puffs and a taro 'pudding', with fried shallots.



After walking around an area called Brickfields for two hours, comparing it to what it looked like 20 years ago, we sat down for more, cold, snacks.

I ordered a cendol, shaved ice with green noodles, red bean and palm sugar.



My mother had ice kacang, shaved ice with coconut milk, red beans, corn, agar agar and something else, the grey stuff under the red beans could be lotus paste.



After that I had a helping of 'kon lo' won ton noodles, ground beef on thin yellow noodles with a small bowl of clear soup and three won tons. As you can see, I'm a miser, especially with cigarettes



Dinner was at a Tamil restaurant behind the YMCA (where we stayed, my mother had booked it, never again...). KL is still unbelievably cheap.



I had a thali with mutton curry, dhal and a fish cutlet (no idea why it looks purple) with a chapati, and when that was finished I ordered a roti chanai (paratha) and a vadai.

[imec]

Great stuff HW! (I'd pick the curry puffs too!)

[bixaorellana]

I did enjoy!

Apr 3, 2012 9:47:49 GMT hwinpp said:

tau fu fa, an extremely silky version of tofu, with syrup. Eaten hot and cold.

Never was a food better named. "Tau fu fa" sounds like your description, & I don't even know what it means.

cendol & ice kacang ~~ really, really exotic items!!

Apr 3, 2012 9:47:49 GMT hwinpp said:

After that I had a helping of 'kon lo' won ton noodles, ground beef on thin yellow noodles with a small bowl of clear soup and three won tons. As you can see, I'm a miser, especially with cigarettes.

"After that..." -- you ate dessert first?
That selection looks wonderful. Are the cigarettes a cut-rate brand, thus the miser remark?

All of the above was in Kuala Lumpur, correct? That means we can look forward to some Indonesian delights as well, yes? I'm hoping for a picture of you & your mother beaming at the camera, too.

[Deleted]

Great stuff, HW. I haven't been to KL for a long time, but I can't wait to unearth my photos one of these days for a view of bygone times.

I regularly buy frozen paratha at my Chinese supermarket and it just reminded me that it is yet another thing that I need to experiment with for the "wrap" thread in the food section!

[hwinpp]

Thanks to all. Yes, this was on 24th, we continued on to Jakarta on 25th.

The connections between Cambodia and the rest of the world are so crap that we used 4 different airlines for the whole trip. Most flights just 60 minutes.

Apr 3, 2012 15:14:43 GMT bixaorellana said:

I did enjoy!

Apr 3, 2012 9:47:49 GMT hwinpp said:

tau fu fa, an extremely silky version of tofu, with syrup. Eaten hot and cold.

Never was a food better named. "Tau fu fa" sounds like your description, & I don't even know what it means.

cendol & ice kacang ~~ really, really exotic items!!

Apr 3, 2012 9:47:49 GMT hwinpp said:

After that I had a helping of 'kon lo' won ton noodles, ground beef on thin yellow noodles with a small bowl of clear soup and three won tons. As you can see, I'm a miser, especially with cigarettes.

"After that..." -- you ate dessert first?
That selection looks wonderful. Are the cigarettes a cut-rate brand, thus the miser remark?

All of the above was in Kuala Lumpur, correct? That means we can look forward to some Indonesian delights as well, yes? I'm hoping for a picture of you & your mother beaming at the camera, too.

I don't know what the 'fu' means either, I suppose I could ask somebody? Tau fu is the Cantonese word for tofu.

;D ;D ;D

Yes, we had the snacks first and then I decided that I needed something more nourishing.

Re the cigarettes. I refuse to pay 5EUR or 10USD for a pack of cigarettes. So every time I go overseas, I take a whole carton of Cambodian cigs with me. A carton costs 2.75USD
I just can't go to Singapore. They're so strict, I can only take an opened pack with me!

So here the journey continues.

The next day we took a very early morning flight to Jakarta. We arrived at the hotel at 11am, so we couldn't check in. But as this area is full of malls we just did some walking around, had a simple lunch and then slowly walked back, bridging the time.

That evening I wanted to treat my mother so I decided on a Tae Chew restaurant. The Tae Chew are from Northern Guangdong province, on the coast, just south of Fukkien. In Hong Kong they're known as the Chiu Chou and usually gangsters. But their food is good, and one particular kind for which they're famous is rice porridge. With an enormous choice of side dishes. Their rice porridge is unseasoned, so the sidedishes are what gives the meal its kick.

Of course we ordered too much, my mother just wouldn't stop ordering so that I got a bit worried (just a teeny, weeny little bit though) and told the waiters we wanted small plates, not medium or large ones. Here's what we had.

Top row: red braised (boiled?) intestines, fried, salted fish, fried okra with sambal trasi (a chilli sauce with fermented shrimp paste)
Middle row: loempia (which we couldn't really figure out and the waiter couldn't explain, some mashed root veggie with tofu maybe), fried lap cheong (Chinese sausage), steamed minced pork with a salted egg yolk, stir fried baby kailan with mushrooms, red braised pork belly over taro
Bottom row: a dip, stir fried broccoli with chicken and pork trotters braised in black vinegar



And in more detail, the right half.



The left half.



The middle section.



For anybody interested, the place is called Furama and is in North Jakarta at Jl. Hayam Wuruk No. 45.

[Deleted]

OMG!

[hwinpp]

That was for two, and of course I had to finish it off. Blame my mother for too big eyes.

In the end I couldn't finish the loempia, the sausage and the intestines ;D

[bixaorellana]

How was that steamed minced pork thing? It doesn't look all that great, but was probably delicious. Did your mother just want to try all those things, or had she had them before & wanted to seize the opportunity to try them again?

Loempia = sweet potato, maybe. Looks dense.

Which were your favorites?

[tod2]

HW - that spread looks amazing! Enough for a family of 6 really

What I notice also is the fact that the dishes are all presented at once, and there are no burners (the ones with the little candles) to keep the food hot.
I have experienced this in most Chinese/Thai restaurants with the exception of the more posher places which bring the 'hot gadgets' before the food even arrives.

In our little local Chinese restaurant they serve a 5 course dinner, but its one dish at a time, I like that as you don't feel you have to hurry before everything gets cold - or are some of those dishes in your photos served cold anyway? I would love to know what your views are.

[hwinpp]

That minced pork thing was my favourite actually, and the pig trotters.

My mother knew all of this stuff from when she was a child and her mother would prepare these dishes. Her favourite was the pork belly over taro.

Just checked Wiki for loempia. What we had wasn't spring rolls. It was a dense paste, sliced and then deep fried. Could have been sweet potato. No 'skin'.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumpia

You'll see a Chinese style fresh spring roll later. Quite different from the Vietnamese ones that Kerouac and I have shown before.

[Deleted]

And now I have to go and buy some pork belly.

[bixaorellana]

Yeah, I tried looking up loempia, too, and google helpfully turned it into a different word.

Those porky treats really call out to me. The kailan with mushrooms looks like a good accompaniment. That was a meat-heavy meal!

Can't wait for more, more, more.

[hwinpp]

The next day I had work to do the whole day and in the evening I went out to meet a friend for the first, proper Indonesian meal. I've posted these photos before but for the sake of completeness I've put them in here as well.

My friend choosing the fish. He's been living in Indonesia for decades and speaks the language, so negotiations were quick and to the point.



The sauces/ dips/ condiments.



The fish, half filleted and then grilled on both sides.



Lousy photo but it shows the fish soup we ordered.



And finally the fish roe, which wasn't very special due to it tasting like the vinegar it was served in.



And here's Surabaya! Indonesia's second biggest city. I like going there and it's had a special place in my heart since I was four.

My parents had a Kurt Weill/ Lotte Lenya record which included the song 'Surabaya- Johnny'. The melody is quite haunting and the story was too difficult and mysterious for me to understand but it's stayed with me ever since.

Surabaya Johnny

I was young, I was just sixteen then,
when you came up from Burma one day.
And you told me to pack up my suitcase,
and I did, and you took me away.
I said, "Do you work nice and steady,
or do you go sailing and roving out to sea?"
And you said, "I have a job on the railroad,
and baby, how swell it's all gonna be."
You said a lot, Johnny. It was all lies.
You sure had me fooled, right from the start.
I hate you when you laugh at me like that.
Take that pipe out of your mouth, Johnny.

Surabaya Johnny. Is it really the end?
Surabaya Johnny. Will the hurt ever mend?
Surabaya Johnny. Ooh, I burn at your touch.
You got no heart, Johnny, but oh, I love you so much.

Thought at first you were kind and gentle,
'til I packed up and went off with you.
And it lasted two weeks until one day
you laughed at me and hit me too.
You dragged me all over the city,
up the river and down to the sea.
Now I look at myself in the mirror
and some old woman looks back at me.
You didn't want love, Johnny, you wanted money.
I gave you all I had. You wanted more.
Oh, don't look at me that way.
I'm only trying to talk to you.
Wipe that grin off your face, Johnny.

Surabaya Johnny. Is it really the end?
SurabayaJohnny. Will the pain never mend?
Surabaya Johnny. How I burn at your touch.
You got no heart, Johnny, but oh, I love you so much.

When we met I forgot to ask you
why they called you that funny name,
but in every hotel on the seacoast
I found out, and I loved you all the same.
I'm tired. I'm worn out.
The sea's pounding in my ears.
And I reach out my arms to hold you.
You're not here and who even cares?
You got no heart, Johnny. You're just no good.
You going now? Oh, tell me why.
I love you after all, Johnny, like that very first day.
Don't laugh at me no more, Johnny.

Surabaya Johnny. Is it really the end?
SurabayaJohnny. Will the hurt ever mend?
Surabaya Johnny. Oh, I burn at your touch.
You got no heart, Johnny, but oh, I love you,
I love you, I love you so much.

Surabaya at dawn.





Next meal, again ikan bakar, grilled fish, but this time Eastern Java style.
Starting with the sauces, most were quite hot.





The fish. It was basted with a chopped onion/ chilli mix, very aromatic but not too hot.



Fried, flat and broad rice noodles, I wanted a change from rice ;D



Cauliflower with... toadstools! They turned out be be normal mushrooms though, lucky!



Prawns in butter sauce.



Water convulvulus/ kangkong/ water spinach/ moring grory, stir fried with squid.



Drinks, water for my mother, Bintang for me ;D



For dessert, otak- otak, a fish paste that is served grilled here.



And here the actual specialty of the restaurant. They hadn't been delivered when we arrived, I saw these on the way out.



After a short walk back to the hotel we felt we deserved a dessert and settled for these

[imec]

Fantastic stuff HW! I get SO jealous of you and your seemingly never ending dining tour of SEA. Thanks for sharing - again!

[hwinpp]

I get out of Cambodia about 6 times per year, usually twice to Indonesia and (since recently) twice to Vietnam. Those are the markets I handle. They also happen to be two places who's food I like ;D

[hwinpp]

Bali, here we come.





The big specialty on Bali is babi guling. Whole roasted pig. They claim it is suckling pig but I've never seen pigs that big still being suckled. No matter, it's one of the great foods in Indonesia.

I had it twice, in little hole- in- the- wall places, but there are 'famous' places too of course. Tripadvisor has a whole list of 'secret ' places to have it

Unfortunately, I don't have any pics.

It's served with rice with fried onions, some chopped up vegetables, rendered fat, crackling. A portion costs 20k IDR, about 2.20USD.

Instead I have some pics of room service Caesar's Salad and pizza!





Nachos at the bar.



The Band!



And the airport!



Hang in there though, the trip ain't over yet

[bixaorellana]

Great stuff, HW, as always!

Thanks for re-posting "the first, proper Indonesian meal" pictures. I loved them over in the What's for Dinner thread, but as time goes by, it gets hard to find things there again.

Are those volcanic rock dishes in the Surabaya meal photos? If so, are they used as mortars? And did you actually remember all the words to the song, or did you have to look it up? That basted fish and the greens with squid look so delicious.

Love that photos of Bali from above & of course the exotic food pictures. ;D

I'm hanging in here ~~ bring on more trip, please!

[Don Cuevas]

Apr 4, 2012 5:23:39 GMT hwinpp said:

That was for two, and of course I had to finish it off. Blame my mother for too big eyes.

In the end I couldn't finish the loempia, the sausage and the intestines ;D

If you'd invited us, our plates would have been licked clean.
Question about the ice: I assume it's made from purified water?

[Don Cuevas]

Nachos. In Bali. What's this world coming to?
It looks as though it came with some frijoles refritos, covered in sour cream, plus a small dish of guacamole.

[hwinpp]

Apr 6, 2012 14:51:53 GMT bixaorellana said:

Great stuff, HW, as always!

Thanks for re-posting "the first, proper Indonesian meal" pictures. I loved them over in the What's for Dinner thread, but as time goes by, it gets hard to find things there again.

Are those volcanic rock dishes in the Surabaya meal photos? If so, are they used as mortars? And did you actually remember all the words to the song, or did you have to look it up? That basted fish and the greens with squid look so delicious.

Love that photos of Bali from above & of course the exotic food pictures. ;D

I'm hanging in here ~~ bring on more trip, please!

The dishes looked like granite to me, very heavy. Isn't volcanic rock pretty light?

And no, they're serving dishes, not mortars.

I have always remembered some words of the song but I know the refrain best. I always wondered why this guy with a pipe, the only other person I knew who smoked a pipe was my father, was so bad to the just 16 year old girl.

Apr 6, 2012 23:50:55 GMT Don Cuevas said:

Apr 4, 2012 5:23:39 GMT hwinpp said:

That was for two, and of course I had to finish it off. Blame my mother for too big eyes.

In the end I couldn't finish the loempia, the sausage and the intestines ;D

If you'd invited us, our plates would have been licked clean.
Question about the ice: I assume it's made from purified water?

Yes, in Indonesia it is.

Apr 7, 2012 0:10:39 GMT Don Cuevas said:

Nachos. In Bali. What's this world coming to?
It looks as though it came with some frijoles refritos, covered in sour cream, plus a small dish of guacamole.

Ah, now I know all the other things too, thanks, Don C!

Small break now, my internet at home's not working. Have to wait until Monday or Tuesday.

[Deleted]

Apr 7, 2012 0:10:39 GMT Don Cuevas said:

Nachos. In Bali. What's this world coming to?
It looks as though it came with some frijoles refritos, covered in sour cream, plus a small dish of guacamole.

The best tex-mex meal I ever had was in Bali.

[hwinpp]

Here's a nice Chinese dinner after we got back to Kuala Lumpur.

I took two days leave after work in Indonesia so we had Saturday to Tuesday morning together.
This place is about 10 minutes walk from my cousin's house and it has all the favourites.

Yi mee soup. The noodles are fried before being dunked into the soup. The main meat is liver and there's a poached egg on top.



Won ton soup, no noodles, extra veggies.



Popiah, southern Chinese fresh spring rolls. Very different from Viet fresh spring rolls, the filling is vegetarian.





And everybody's favourite, fried Hokkien noodles. Thick yellow noodles in a black sauce (mainly the thick, sweetish soy sauce). My favourite extras are rendered lard and shrimp paste chilli sauce ;D

[Deleted]

I didn't have breakfast this morning and now my stomach is growling after seeing those dishes!

[tod2]

They all look so healthy!! HW - you no fright for lard blocking arteries la ;D

[hwinpp]

;D ;D ;D

I have to admit I don't eat very healthily all the time, make up for that by smoking a bit less...

Coming to the final now.

This was just a small lunch at a TGIF outlet at a mall, not bad but the staff can kill you there. They won't let you eat in peace!



And the final dinner

I can't leave KL without having at least one Indian meal.





And fish heads for the fish head curry.



And that's it.

On Tuesday morning I took a taxi to the airport at 4am, arrived in Phnom Penh around 8am and went straight home and to bed.

We both enjoyed the trip, I came back laden with goodies from both KL (glutinous rice dumplings) and Germany (Haribo).

[tod2]

Glad you took my teasing with a smile HW! That curry looks mighty hot.
I notice the steel table is covered in a sheet of plastic lining or similar and I can see why So much splashing going on while the cooks are dashing. Gordon would have a fit if he was there

[hwinpp]

It does look sloppy, doesn't it? Especially the second last photo.

But there was a long line of people before and after me so they were dishing out the food in acceleration mode.

[lugg]

Really enjoyed your report and photos. There are a couple of dishes that I would not let within 300yds of my mouth ( cauli - blech) but lots look absolutely yummy- the pork belly, fish and prawns as does the tau fu fa. Years ago we used to go to a small Indonesian restaurant in Worcestershire run by English woman and her Indonesian husband, fantastic food. This post prompted me to try to find out if it still is in business, sadly it appears not .

[Deleted]

Frankly, the least appealing meal is the one at Friday's.

[Kimby]

Sad that HW's passing is what caused me to discover this thread.
RIP HW. You packed a lot of living into the time you were given, and still had time to share your adventures with others you never met. We will miss you.