Skip to main content

Ramadan fine dining

Guest blogger Jehan Mohd had her first taste of Malay fine dining at a berbuka puasa (breaking of the fast at sunset) event hosted by Commercial Radio Malaysia. Ibunda, the venue for the evening, offers a delicious mix of traditional Malay cooking dressed up in the trappings of the gastronomic equivalent of haute couture. Here are her thoughts on her experience.

Our starter served in four bowls -- there was (from the left) lemang (glutinous rice soaked in coconut milk and cooked in bamboo over a slow fire) and rendang (stewed beef in coconut milk), rojak mamak (Indian Muslim style salad with peanut sauce), some really nice fish in unidentified yummy sauce and bubur lambuk (savoury rice porridge).The rendang had a strange aftertaste but the fish and bubur were lovely! Also in the picture are my first air sirap bandung (a concoction of rose syrup water and evaporated milk) for the year, a vintage glass bottle of ice-cream soda (!) and dates dished up in a boat-like porcelein plate.

Our main course -- this dish is enough for three (hence three of everything) -- fried fish on the left, fried chicken at the bottom, keropok (fish crackers) and prawn curry. All round, these taste good, the prawn was so big, I ended up having to peel the shell off with a knife rather than the usual spoon.

The rice portion of the main course comprises nasi kerabu (a traditional rice dish from the northern states of the peninsula), keropok (fish cracker), curried mussel and a scoop of lentil and okra. I avoid mussels so mine ended up going to someone else but the rest of the fare is what you might expect from a high-brow restaurant, not the type you would eat at mum's.

Traditional Malay kuih (sweet cakes) dressed up like pastries from a high-end bakery in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. Taste-wise, it's what you would expect from these desserts normally. I still prefer to get my sweets from the roadside vendors (not sure if they are legit) in any Malay area such as Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.

The interior of Ibunda is homey, reminiscent of a traditional Malay house -- only high-end with air-con.

The quintessential berbuka puasa (breaking of the fast) drink much loved by all Malaysians -- air sirup bandung (a concoction of rose syrup water and evaporated milk) and a vintage bottle of ice-cream soda (another local favourite). I love this combination of sweet stuff when breaking fast!

Labels

Labels:
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Earning your second chance

People rarely get second chances. When we make a serious mistake we seldom get an opportunity for a do-over. Those we have hurt will remember our transgressions for a long time. Maybe forever. Published accounts remind us of the agony of former prisoners and rehabilitated drug addicts who are denied jobs, housing and other services on account of past convictions. They want desperately to clear their records of past crimes however minor these might seem. They want to take a path towards a new start that will help them improve their circumstances. Quite simply, they need a second chance. They want to have a shot at a normal life. But there are conditions attached to the privilege of being bestowed a second chance. Offenders must take full responsibility for their actions and honestly regret what they have done. Islam's concept of taubat  (repentance)   states that wrongdoers must demonstrate sincere remorse, sorrow and guilt, promise not to repeat their mistakes and do g...
Post a Comment
Read more

No sugar, please

Cut down on our sugar intake. That is my response to the sugar price hike in Malaysia. The Malaysian Government raised the price of sugar by 20 sen (US6 cent) per kilogramme beginning January 1, this year. Endocrinologist and Monash Malaysia academic Professor Dato' Dr Khalid Kadir warns that one in five adults in this country will develop diabetes this year. Eating less sugar reduces the risk of obesity which is said to be a major factor behind the increase. Giving up sugar in your diet won't be easy. Still, there are useful tips on how to do so. TIPS CUT DOWN SLOWLY . Forget going cold turkey. Therein lies failure. Instead, if you normally have two candy bars a day, cut to one a day. Then next week, one every other day. The following week, one every three days, until you're down to just one a week. If you normally take two 2 of sugar in your coffee, use the same routine, cutting down to 1 1/2 teaspoons for a week, then 1, then 1/2. Eventually, g...
1 comment
Read more

In the waiting room

People are always waiting for something. They could be waiting for the train, an opportunity, promises to be fulfilled or the return of a loved one. But "what does waiting mean in our lives and what is life without waiting?" That question was posed by Danny Castillones Sillada in his article "What is Life without Waiting?" (The Metaphysics of Waiting). The passing of the old year demands another round of gloomy introspection and Sillada's article came at the right time, given the value of waiting in our lives. "Waiting," he explains, is "an emotional and mental state, which is preconditioned to anticipate someone or something to arrive at a particular time and place". Sillada tells us that there are two types of waiting: empirical and metaphysical. The empirical form of waiting is "where the certainty of the waited and the occurrence of event are tangibly expected to happen within a particular time and place of the waite...
5 comments
Read more