The gastronomic capital of Malaysia

The fusion of nationalities and cultures can be fully appreciated on the island of Penang. Cultural communication is not worth doing on an empty stomach, so for a start it is worth evaluating all the gastronomic wealth of Penang.

Arabic and Chinese, Indian and Malay - you can taste dishes of these and other cuisines of the peoples of the world in restaurants, cafes and in the night markets of Penang. Let's go for a tasting!

Oddly enough it sounds, but in the night markets of Penang I met mainly Chinese, less often Indians and tourists. Arabs have their own separate market - halal.

In the top photo, you saw two drinks that are traditional in this part of Malaysia: mixed cane and lime juices with salted plum (milky color), as well as the juice from the outlandish fruit of an ambarella or mombin (ambula) with a plum (green color). I liked the first juice more, it was at least sweetish. The ambarella juice was sour.

From the series “But I Didn’t Know”: it turns out that nutmeg is a bone! In Malaysia, they also eat the fruits of nutmegs. The fruits are very fragrant and fragrant, rich in essential oils, so they need a little to make a drink. Be sure to dilute with water!

When I looked at the fish, I wanted something meat.

I could not help but get past this curiosity.

I heard a lot, but never tried before this moment.

Meet: jellyfish skewers! It is very easy to cook them: you need to lower them into boiling water for literally 5-10 seconds. If you forget the jellyfish in boiling water, then it will simply dissolve in it. It tastes like tasteless jelly; it is eaten with bite from wasabi.

While Indian girls carefully and lovingly pick the best tea leaves for you at dawn, Malay entrepreneurs carefully and lovingly pick the freshest vegetables manually for you to prepare a special dish: assam-laksa.

Preparations for laksa.

By and large, Lux is a noodle soup. At Penang, they make fish soup, add noodles and fresh vegetables.

Assam-laksa is distinguished by the fact that, in addition to fish, sour fruit tamarind is added to it, which makes the soup acquire a characteristic sourness.

Here, in fact, is the finished dish.

It is noteworthy that in 2011, assam-laks soup was included in the list of the 50 most delicious dishes in the world according to CNN Go.
This soup seemed too sour to me.

Soon the fairy tale affects, but not soon the thing is done. While foreign tourists timidly ordered coconuts "to warm up", your humble servant, not sparing his stomach, tried one muck after another.

With the words "oh, what is it in your jars?" I ran to the next counter. Super Secret Penang Rojac Sauce. It includes soy sauce and shrimp. There is also some “secret ingredient” (as in Coca-Cola) that they refused to disclose to me.

But the owner of a small family business with his own calloused hands prepared the rojak dish of the same name.

With the words "eat, daragha, from dyusha!" I put it on the table.

Looking ahead, I want to note that I liked this. Hostesses, write down the rojac recipe while I’m kind: we mix the green mango, cucumbers, pineapples and fried bread together. Top with rojac sauce and sprinkle with crushed peanuts.

Gastronomic orgasm guaranteed!
There is a whole gamut of tastes: from sour and salty to sweetish. That evening I ate two servings of rojac and I did not feel bad!

Dried squid lies in piles on the shelves. Dedicated to lovers of beer and snacks.

Dried and dried fish is also present and has been tried.

It is interesting that the dried and dried seafood here is slightly fried on the grill, I do not know why, but it was definitely delicious!

I had durian for dessert, but I ate it with both hands, and then ran around the market for a long time and looked for where to wash my hands, so there would be no pictures of durian.