A few months ago my dad got a new job and one of the first things they did was send him to Malaysia. This is a man who likes to travel about as much as I like to moisten stamps with my eyes.
I tried to think of any possible reason to cajole my way into tagging along – you know corporate espionage decoy, emergency marrow donor, nightlight- but nothing quite panned out. (Apparently if you don’t work for the company you have to pay for yourself and make your own travel arrangements. Like that’s going to happen.)
I love my dad and all but he’s not what you might call an adventurous eater. He’ll pretty much try anything once, but if left to his own devices he tends to gravitate toward bologna and white bread. So I kept having these horrible visions of him. A stranger in a new world of taste, texture and smell; set afloat in an ocean of foreign delicacies and delectables- watching it all pass by from behind the plate glass window of the Bennigan’s in the lobby of the Anglo Express Hotel.
Luckily for both of us this was not the case. He actually had a wonderful time and didn’t recognize what he was eating for the vast majority of it. And being the thoughtful man that he is, he brought me home a great Malaysian cookbook since char kway teow tends to stain if left in one’s pockets for too long.
Most of the ingredients are exotic to a lot of America, but through the blessings of the gods, I live in a town with multiple gour-mega groceries and a plethora of thriving ethnic markets. So it wasn’t that difficult to track down the goods for one of the simpler recipes. I’m a big tempeh fan, so I started with a spicy-sweet, fried tempeh dish.
The mise en place looks, oh, exactly like this.
Cubed tempeh, kecap manis, palm sugar, oyster sauce, tamarind juice, minced shallots, garlic, hot peppers, and ginger. I also added some choy sum because I thought it would be good. I gather that traditionally it would be served on the side. I’m such a jerk. Geez.
Anyway, it’s really, really good. Seriously. So good. So tasty. Lick the screen. It’s great. I promise.
L. Pants
