The Flavors of Penang

In his novel “Lost Horizon”, author James Hilton described Shangri-La as an exotic place, brimming with Asian mysticism and absolute tranquility. Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa is no different from the literary Shangri-La, and with their celebrated restaurant, Tides, overflowing with Asian delicacies, the mysticism so apparent in the novel is interpreted and transformed into reality by their experienced chefs. Even more so when the restaurant imports its chefs from another country as exotic and as beautiful as ours: Malaysia.

As part of Shangri-la’s thrust to help promote Malaysia, the resort is presenting its guests with a one-week-only offering appropriately called “The Flavors of Penang”, available at Tides Restaurant until Sept. 25. The food festival showcases the multi-cultural cuisine of our Asian neighbor.

As with most Asian countries, tea drinking is often an integral part of a meal. In this case, the preparation of the traditional teh tarik is as important as its consumption. Roughly translated as “pulled tea”, Malaysian tea master Sharizan Saaban mixed, or rather “pulled” the tea and milk together using graceful movements, first pouring the milk in one pot into the tea in the other, then slowly moving the pot up and away from the other. He repeats this process several times until it results in a highly frothed mixture of tea and milk, then he deems it fit for serving.

Several kinds of salads, such as the kerabu mangga, very similar to our green mango salad, were served as a preview of things to come, although the shrimp salad called Kerabu Udang, with its slightly tangy and somewhat lemony flavor, provided a very welcome change from the usual tossed greens.

Malaysian cuisine seems very similar to Filipino cuisine in that coconut milk is used in a lot of the recipes. Perhaps the main difference lies in the spiciness of the cuisine: Malaysian food is spicy, ours is not. A perfect example of this is the Beef Rendang Mamak, a very tasty concoction made by boiling the beef in coconut milk, mixed with curry powder, chili paste and other kinds of spices: this mixture is kept heated until the coconut milk is boiled down to a mushy paste, much like a reduction, leaving the beef well flavored. Another dish definitely guaranteed to take your breath away would be the Ayan Rendang. Basically, it is the same dish as Rendang Mamak, though made from chicken. People not used to spicy foods may complain that Malay food is too spicy for their taste. Perhaps it is best to remember that it is all relative: Malaysians may find Pinoy food to be too bland for that matter.

Acknowledged as the culinary capital of Malaysia, with its fusion of Malay, Chinese and Indian cuisines, Penang will definitely give serious foodies a thrill. As for yours truly, the opportunity given by Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa to indulge in the Flavours of Penang was greatly appreciated. And as most Penangites would say, “Chiak Si Hock!”

This article appeared in the Sun.Star Lifestyle section

No Pretensions

NO reservations? No problem. You don’t need to be on any list, guest list, A-list or whatever, to indulge in this kind of food. Membership in a gastronomic society isn’t mandatory either; no unpronounceable French names are used here. While experienced sauciers may recognize the typical street food sauce as a roux, it’s ingredients and preparation may leave them a bit boggled, shocked or both. No fancy vinegar worth almost a hundred grand a liter is involved, only ordinary local coconut or cane vinegar with garlic cloves, onion bits and crushed red peppers. 300-dollar bottles of wine are also noticeably absent, just beer, soda or water.

Anthony Bourdain, host of Travel & Living’s No Reservations, would definitely enjoy this kind of cooking, and Bourdain, being Bourdain, thrives on this kind of thing. This is adventure. This is cheap thrills. This is cheap food at its finest, street cuisine if you will.

Puso – This is a small serving of steamed rice packaged in coconut leaves, very popular in the Visayas and Mindanao regions of the Philippines.

Chicken intestines – Popularly called “IUD” for some bizarre reason, chicken intestines are among the more popular beer matches in the country. Skewered on slender bamboo sticks and grilled, it goes best dipped in spicy vinegar and paired with a very cold bottle of San Miguel beer. In some regions of the Philippines, grilled pork intestines are also popular beer matches.

Pospas – Eaten as it is, or with a slice of chicken or beef, or goto (pork innards), or sometimes with a boiled egg, the pospas can probably be considered the quintessential Pinoy food: simple, inexpensive, easy to prepare yet delightfully tasty and filling to boot. Foreigners can probably recognize it as rice porridge.

Tempura – Not to be mistaken for the Japanese tempura, though also deep-fried, this local favorite can only be described as a white, floury sausage. Made usually out of fishmeal, flour and spices, skewered onto bamboo sticks and dipped in vinegar or a sweet and spicy sauce, it’s a popular snack among people from all walks of life, from students, loafers, and office workers to scions of wealthy families. Almost always sold from pushcarts, together with fish balls and squid balls, they can be found on many a street corner in the city.

Balut – Perhaps the most famous Pinoy street food of them all, the balut is not for the faint of heart. A boiled 16- to 18-day old duck’s egg, it contains a tasty broth, yolk and a half-formed duck embryo (forget about the hard white stuff, you’re not supposed to eat it). There’s also a particular way of eating balut, much like a three-course meal, only messier, and definitely more barbaric, but hey, street food ain’t gonna be called street food if dainty, hoity-toity manners are needed to eat it.

To eat a balut, tap open a hole at the slightly wider end of the egg and sprinkle some sea salt into the opening. Slightly shake the egg to mix the salt with the broth, and then drink from the hole. Once you’ve drunk the “soup” inside, break off the eggshell little by little until the yellow yolk is exposed. Sprinkle either salt or vinegar on the yolk and bite it off. It usually breaks off cleanly from the rest of the contents of the balut. Now for the best part. Again, sprinkle salt or vinegar or both onto the half-formed duckling. Slurp the embryo into your mouth, then, depending on the age of the balut, swallow directly or chew a bit first. It sounds disgusting but it’s definitely worth a taste. Oh, you can try eating the hard white thing but I wouldn’t suggest it.

With the Pinoy’s fondness for eating, it’s no wonder that Pinoys have taken eating to the streets. Quail’s eggs, considered a luxury item in some countries, are actually sold on the streets of Cebu and Manila. Weirder items such as blood chunks, chicken feet and day-old, deep-fried battered ducklings can also be found, as well as the more ordinary lumpia, barbecued pork, chicken tail and sautéed or boiled peanuts. Of course, one should always be careful when eating anything new, not just street food, but then again, what’s life without adventure?