Thursday, April 29, 2010

A NASI LEMAK STORY

Salam to all food lover's


SIZZLING THE MOOD FOR MALAY FOOD

In Malaysia, it is considered food heaven by most either locals or foreigners. The melting pot of various races in its own unique way had created many mouth watering dishes that one would hunger for more. The Indians popular with various curries especially the mutton curry that create ‘finger licking’ feeling. The Chinese with their various types of noodle either stir fried ‘a la minute’ or swamp in a nice garlic fragrant gravy. While the Malays always associated with the coconut based dishes which includes ‘masak lemak cili api’ or the famous ‘ikan patin’ with ‘tempoyak’ gravy.

Doesn’t matter which origin the dishes originated from yet they are enjoyed by all. Believe it or not the 1Malaysia concept lauded by the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak would come in handy to be practiced through food culture. The multi races themselves would be the herbs and spices for the country to be deliciously enough in attracting foreign tourists.

It is normal scene in Malaysia that one will not miss a ‘mamak’ restaurant in almost any corner of the towns. Chinese restaurant like the Dragon Pheonix, Tai Thong and others are always at the lips of Chinese food enthusiasts. However, one would think hard to name a famous Malay food restaurant. The most that come in mind would be The Rebung by Chef Ismail.

Does malay food need to be re-brand or may be we do not appreciate enough of it.

An appealing package for malay food need to be developed and presented in a different way. It has to be something that would be able to keep the malay food sizzles at all times. One simple dish that the Malays prepared long before the Sultanate of Malacca era, like the boiled banana or ‘pisang rebus’ served with sugared grated coconut would be a hit if we Malaysian appreciate more the history of malay food culture. It is not simply any banana would do it, but a nice ‘pisang abu’ or its scientific name Musa acuminata Colla would be the best to make the ‘pisang rebus’. The banana as the source for carbohydrate in that era was easily cultivated and abundant in supply. The Malays which for the most of them were farmers, get the energy source from banana as rice was scarsely available during that time. The grated coconut made as the right choice in a happy marriage in preparing the boiled banana. Only at later stage, sugar was introduced to enhance the taste.

Just recently, the nasi lemak has been put up to a new level by Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa. A restaurant that serves nasi lemak as the main item in the menu. Nasi lemak as a must breakfast item for many has treated differently and does not having the same fate like the boiled banana. The evolution of nasi lemak which was branded as a ‘kampung boy’ for a lenghty period of time is now become succesfull and having a good life in hotels and big restaurants. However, it is still needed higher appreciation to keep it sizzles. Its is without doubt that the best nasi lemak can only be found in small villages, cooked with real coconut milk and fragrance with fresh ‘pandan leaves’ or screwpine leaves [Pandanus amaryllifolius]. Cooked over charcoal fire or rubber wood create a sensational smell that would wakes up the whole family members to fare the scrumptious nasi lemak for breakfast.

Nasi lemak is not complete without its life partners which are the sambal, cucumber, fried groundnut, fried anchovies and a slice of hard boiled egg. In some variations, prawn sambal, salted fish, chicken curry, beef serunding is added as accompaniment. Most of the time, the best nasi lemak is packed in a piece of banana leaf. The steamy hot nasi lemak when scoop onto the banana leaf will scorch the leaf and produced a uniqe smell. Those nasi lemak and the banana leaf aroma could hypnotize one’s mind and make the stomach hungry.

Nice nasi lemak is difficult to find nowadays when most of the sellers doing acrobatic acts to cut short method in preparing the real nasi lemak. Coconut milk is used sparingly and some avoiding it due to higher cost. Without the appropriate amount of coconut milk in the making of nasi lemak, the original taste would be very hard to achieve. Health conscious individuals also give a bad reputation to the original nasi lemak as unhealthy food to consume. The quality of nasi lemak is no longer important to sellers as they concern more on profit. This is actually giving an alarm for food enthusiasts to act and promote the appreciation for the good old days nasi lemak taste.

At the balcony of my little condominium, I always ask myself if I could go back to the olden days and be able to sit with my late ‘tok wan’ or grandfather, chatting over coffee with ‘pisang rebus’ become the nicest meal for the afternoon I would also ask myself if I can still savor the smell of real nasi lemak coming through my window from the kitchen of my neighbour just like when I was a ‘kampung boy’. I would knock the door and ask the ‘makcik’ for some mouth watering nasi lemak with a nice sambal. How do we appreciate the malay food these days? One need to sizzle the mood for malay food. Knowing the history of malay food culture would be as interesting as Marco Polo brought noodle from mainland China to Italy and it is now famous by the name of ‘spaghetti’.
Zafarul Aswad

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