Malaysian Food

Jan 16, 2008 | Post by: Phil Lees 8 Comments

A sea of tea

I know very little about tea, apart from what you learn by osmosis from your Anglo-Australian grandparents. I can make a decent cup of black tea but tend to regard it as a sort of beverage bycatch; something that fits well alongside pho or yum cha or fruitcake. I have

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Jan 11, 2008 | Post by: Phil Lees 2 Comments

The Wok Hei Economy

One of the great mysteries of eating in Penang is the economics of the hawker center. A group of vendors cluster around a kedai kopi, a cafe serving drinks and work almost independently of the cafe. Some pay rent, others are owned by the cafe, some seem to have agglomerated

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Jan 09, 2008 | Post by: Phil Lees 1 Comments

Triangulating Gurney Drive

Searing satay at Gurney Drive Hawker Center. Gurney Drive’s Hawker Center is a roughly triangular lot encircled (entriangled?) by the most diverse set of street food vendors that you’ll find anywhere in Malaysia, alongside the mudflat-facing promenade. The road was named after Sir Henry Gurney, Malaya’s High Commissioner whose brief

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Dec 24, 2007 | Post by: Phil Lees 4 Comments

Assam Laksa: The power of sour

A few years in Southeast Asia has me captivated by sour. I literally can’t get enough tamarind paste. In Cambodia, I’d buy it by the kilo block from the Russian Market and suck the piquant pulp straight from the seeds whenever I felt like an overwhelming sour kick. Lunch without

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Dec 17, 2007 | Post by: Phil Lees No Comments

Three feet high and rising

Cook me a roti three feet high then slather it in honey and condensed milk. No, really. The above roti tisu (occasionally, “roti tissue”) is both the silliest and tallest thing that I’ve ever attempted to eat and succeeded. It came from the roti grill of Kayu Nasi Kandar, my

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Dec 12, 2007 | Post by: Phil Lees 4 Comments

Jolly Shandy

“Brewer”: Carlsberg Before people had the option of deadening their palate while getting their booze on with a premixed wine cooler, there was shandy, half beer mixed with half lemonade. It is one of those drinks manages to ruin two otherwise perfect drinks when you make it. I’d first heard

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Dec 11, 2007 | Post by: Phil Lees 2 Comments

Malaysia is sweet

I’ve left Thailand for Malaysia and am running a little behind on writing. More sweet eating to come from Penang, Cameron Highlands, Melaka, Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Terengganu, Kota Bharu and more.

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