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