MEE GORENG Malaysian noodle topped with BBQ pork

Among the countries in Asia, Malaysia has to be one of my favorites, though before the trip I took this month, I had never been to Malaysia in my life. I simply love its diverse cuisine, not only in taste but also in textures and variety.

Since the pandemic, I have been watching this bone-setter from Kuala Lumpur, Master Chris Leong. Bone-setting is a kind of folk medicine engaged in joint manipulation. I’d watch him for hours every day to the point where I knew already what he would do to cure certain bone stiffness issues. Having issues with my wrist, shoulder, back, and knee, I was interested in visiting him. But an appointment is not easy to get. So, out of frustration, I just booked with one of his senior assistants.

Blessed as I am, I was able to book a schedule. I was excited for the treatment but I was also very excited about discovering authentic Malaysian cuisine. I have tried many dishes of Malaysia in Vancouver, Singapore, Manila, and other places but never in Kuala Lumpur.

We arrived on a Monday morning, took an airport taxi to the hotel (Never do this—“harang,” the cabbies often charge you unreasonably more), dropped off our bags, and set off to explore the hawker places. Just walking around the hotel, we stumbled upon a cluster of food stalls with a variety of offerings. I ordered something I was familiar with—char kway teow. These are white flat noodles dressed in sweet chili soy sauce with Chinese sausage, oysters, and some bean sprouts. I also ordered half a dozen crispy chicken wings. Both were good but I guess we entered the wrong cluster of food stalls.

The next day, I did more research. I was told that, at a mall not too far from the hotel, was a food court of about 10 restaurants. The stalls, carefully selected, are top hawker stalls that have been in operation in Kuala Lumpur.

I love it when the vendor talks with an accent. It makes the experience more authentic. I ordered a noodle dish called mee goreng, topped with BBQ pork. OMG! Noodles were dry, firm, spicy, salty, and sweet. That came with a bowl of piping-hot wanton soup. From another stall, I ordered steamed chicken siopao and rojak. Rojak is a dish made with crispy pork, cucumber, pineapple, ground peanuts tossed together in a sweet, sticky, a bit funky sauce. Also so, so delicious. I love dishes that surprise me. This most certainly did that. We ended with Indonesia’s version of our halo halo—cendol. A dessert of shaved ice over brown sweet coconut, beans and green rice flour jelly served with gata or coconut cream, it’s a refreshing and perfect to end for a mildly spicy meal. We were so happy we were already planning to go back the very next day.

And so we did. We tried to get there before the lunch crowd. This time, I got the char kway teow, a carrot cake, and rojak.  The char kway teow was far better than the one we had the previous day and the carrot cake was good but tasted similar to the char kway teow.

NASI LEMAK Malaysian national dish consisting of rice, dilis, peanuts, and fried chicken with sambal or chili sauce

Nasi lemak used to intrigue me. I had seen this dish many times but I had never really given it a chance. But it’s considered a national dish in Malaysia, so I was sure there was something to it. So we tried it and it was the bomb! I combined the rice, dilis, peanuts, and sambal or chili sauce with the crispy fried chicken and I wondered no more why nasi lemak is considered by many as their national dish. It was so good I dreamed about it that as soon as I landed in Manila. I even tried it at a restaurant here—boo! So frustrating! For dessert, we ended with what is called ais kacang, which literally means “ice beans,” or more commonly as ABC, a thirst quencher made of red beans, jelly, sugar syrup and shaved ice. Also very satisfying. I most certainly should be back armed with more research. Food here is much better than all the places I’ve tried in the past.

My session with Master Chris was perfection, eased away a lot of my physical aches and pains, but thanks to first trip to Malaysia, initially medical in purpose, I also experienced first hand why Malaysia is a foodie destination. All in all, it was a wonderful gastronomic experience I hope to do again.
Happy eating!