—————————————-

The following is a separate media release by Tourism Malaysia Australia regarding my new series which airs Sundays 9pm Aust EST | 7pm Malaysia | 1pm Europe (CET) & South Africa | 12pm UK starting 19 September 2021

PRESS RELEASE

Tourism Malaysia (TM) and Jackie M – Malaysian born, Sydney-based hawker food expert – and her group of culinary experts took Australian online viewers and explored the street food scene of eight Malaysian states in Series 1. Now, Series 2 continues their journey across the remaining states of Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Perlis, Sabah, Negeri Sembilan and Kelantan. 

Series 2: An engaging combination of on-the-ground interviews, how-to cooking segments and an exploration of the unique food culture in each state, this 6-part series aims to teach viewers how to recreate signature Malaysian flavours in their own kitchens.

Each episode will include valuable travel tips for each state or territory, which will be presented by either Shaukani Abbas, an award-winning Malaysian tour-guide, or one of the guest travel contributors. All the recipes, travel articles and content will be summarised and presented in an eMagazine that accompanies the series. 

Jackie M said, “My team and I are excited at the success of Series 1 and look forward to showing more insights into Malaysian food through Series 2”. “We can’t wait to share internet sensations like the The Jetlag Warriors and Mark O’Dea who will be virtually exploring Malaysia’s rich cuisine and culture” says the show’s host and producer Jackie M.

She continues, “International Border closures means we have to wait a little longer before we can travel again, but this additional series gives everyone a virtual experience to plan one’s travel to Malaysia”. 

Director of Tourism Malaysia in Sydney, Mr Tuan Razali said, “I am excited how well Series 1 was received by online viewers and can’t wait to see how Series 2 unfolds for Malaysia”. “I am sure everyone agrees that Malaysia is a foodie’s paradise”.

He continues, “Did you know that KL’s Curry Laksa ranked number two in the world in Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Eatlist and Penang Assam Laksa has been recorded in CNN’s list of World’s 50 best foods, so what better way to experience Malaysia if not through one’s senses”. says Tuan Razali.

Street Food Journeys: Malaysia Series 2 will start airing on multiple platforms on Sundays at 9 PM AEST/AEDT from the 19th of September. 

Episode 1: Kuala Lumpur (19 September)

Episode 2: Perlis (26 September)

Episode 3: Kelantan (3 October)

Episode 4: Negeri Sembilan (10 October)

Episode 5: Sabah (17 October)

Episode 6: Selangor (24 October)

Share and Enjoy.

For more information about this series, reach out to Jackie M at +61 (0) 425 797 718 orjackie@jackiem.com.au. 

For more information on Street Food Journeys, contact:

Jackie M.

P: +61 (0) 425 797 718

E: jackie@jackiem.com.au

For viewing live episodes of Street Food Journeys, visit:

www.MalaysianChefs.com

www.YouTube.com/MastersOfMalaysianCuisine

www.Facebook.com/MalaysianChefs

www.YouTube.com/Jackiem

www.Twitch.tv/JackiemFood  

About Tourism Malaysia

Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, also known as Tourism Malaysia, is an agency under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture Malaysia.  It focuses on the specific task of promoting Malaysia as a preferred tourism destination.

For more information on Malaysia, contact:

Tourism Malaysia Sydney

P: +61 (0) 92863055

E:   mtpb.sydney@tourism.gov.my

W:  http://malaysia.travel

The post Tourism Malaysia and Jackie M take to the Streets of Malaysia in Series 2 first appeared on Jackie M..

I prefer my Hainanese Chicken Rice with roast rather than “white” chicken, though my recipe actually calls for it to be deep-fried, since it produces a crispier skin (it’s a personal preference, folks, I know that’s not how most people make it). Here’s my take on Hainanese “roast” chicken rice; I’ll post a new update down the track, especially if I have the chance to try roasting it in an oven.

Hainanese Roast Chicken Rice

INGREDIENTS:

a)
1 whole chicken, about 1.6kg
3L water
2 TBSP Thick Soya Sauce (aka Cooking Caramel)
2 TBSP chicken powder
2-inch knob of ginger
150ml thin soya sauce
Oil for deep-frying

b)
½ cup white vinegar
2 TBSP maltose

c)
2-inch piece of ginger
10 cloves garlic
½ brown onion
1 Tbsp chicken powder or ½ Tbsp salt
⅓ cup oil
3 cups jasmine rice
5 cups chicken stock (approximate)

d)
⅓ cup ginger pieces
1 tsp salt
4 Tbsps oil

e)
5 large chillies
2-inch piece of ginger
¼ cup water
1 tsp salt
½ tsp sugar

f)
3 Tbsps sesame oil
3 Tbsps oyster sauce
4 Tbsps soya sauce
⅔ Tbsp sugar
1 tsp chicken powder

METHOD:

a)

• Combine water, thick soya sauce, thin soya sauce, chicken stock powder & ginger in a stock pot and bring to a boil.
• Lower whole chicken in the water; make sure it’s fully submerged.
• Reduce the heat to a very low simmer for 10 minutes, with lid closed.
• Turn off the heat and leave chicken in covered pot for 20 minutes.
• Remove chicken, drain and place on an airing rack (I use a poultry roasting rack to get 360’ air circulation on it) with a tray underneath to catch any juices.

b)

• In a saucepan, dissolve the maltose in vinegar over low heat. Ladle the mixture over the chicken evenly.
• Repeat with the same mixture 2 more times (ie. pour the sauce from the tray back into the saucepan and ladle it on the chicken).
• Allow the chicken to air-dry for at least 3 hours.
• Heat enough oil to submerge the chicken to about 170’C in a tall pot.
• Tie chicken securely with string and tie the other end to a wooden spoon that can straddle the width of the pot. Gently lower chicken in the oil, and suspend it with the wooden spoon. Fry for about 10 minutes or until evenly browned and skin is crispy. Remove and allow to cool, then cut into pieces or fillet it.

c)

• Mince ginger, garlic and onion in food processor.
• Fry with oil until aromatic.
• Season with chicken powder.
• Add rinsed rice and mix well.
• Transfer into rice cooker or saucepan. Add chicken stock and/or water to cover rice to about 2-3cm above its surface. Cook until done. I used an Optimum Induction Pressure Cook Pro and cooked it for 18 minutes on the rice setting.

d)

• Mince ginger in food processor.
• Saute with oil and season with salt.
• Allow to cool before storing in jar.

e)

• Combine chilli, ginger, water, salt and sugar in blender.
• Blend until fine.
• Store in refrigerator for up to one week or in freezer for 3 months.

f)

• Combine all sauce ingredients in saucepan.
• Simmer until sugar and chicken powder are dissolved.
• To serve, assemble rice and cucumber slices on plate, drizzle sauce on chicken and serve with ginger relish and chilli sauce, plus some chicken broth (lightly seasoned with chicken powder and white pepper, and sprinkled with coriander and green onion), on the side.

The post How to Make Hainanese Roast Chicken Rice first appeared on Jackie M..

That gesture has stuck with me, not just for the Chee Cheong Fun, which tasted delicious, but because it encapsulated the passion and pride that Penangites hold for their food.

I’ve also come to realise that local crowdsourcing is a much more efficient way to sample the best street food that each destination has to offer.

You see, one of the most frustrating aspects of my past hunts for Southeast Asia’s good eats, was the hours and days spent trying to track down famous hawker stalls when you’re on a deadline. Sadly, not all stalls have clear – or, sometimes, any – signage, plus there were occasions when I showed up only to find they were shut for the day, or they’d sold out of their signature dish, etc.

Thanks to Ken’s initiative, I’ve decided to run street food masterminds as part of my Wok Around Asia web series.

I’ll be travelling to Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Siem Reap, and at each location, I plan to meet up with groups of foodies, bloggers and chefs, and get them to bring their favourite street food from their favourite hawker stalls for us to sample, discuss and most importantly, educate you on where you can buy them.

All this will be captured on video and shared on my digital platforms.

If you know someone who would be interested in joining these gatherings – I’m calling them the Jackie M – Jom Makan! (Malay: let’s eat) masterminds – please get in touch; places are limited, so don’t wait until it’s too late!

The schedule at this stage is –

Penang – Saturday 13 January 10.00am – 12.30pm
Kuala Lumpur – Wednesday 17 January – Evening
Siem Reap – tba (I’m there 19-24 January)

Here’s a copy of my press release about this event (feel free to share it with your network) >>

Wok Around Asia is a project by Jackie M in partnership with Tourism Malaysia.

It is supported by:

• Penang Global Travel
• Traders Hotel Kuala Lumpur
• Courtyard by Marriott Siem Reap
• Parkroyal Penang Resort.

The post Jom Makan! Wok Around Asia Street Food Masterminds first appeared on Jackie M..

We wanted to do side-by-side comparisons of some of Penang’s famous dishes – Kway Teow Th’ng (fish ball noodle soup), CKT, wantan noodles etc. but it didn’t really pan out.

It was hard with our limited schedule to try and visit 3-4 stalls selling the same food in the one morning when they’re spread out across the island and are only open for fairly short trading hours. It was also hard to figure out (you’ll come across this problem with most hawker food hunts) until you show up, whether the particular stall would be closed that day.

I have to admit I was a little hamstrung by the fact that I don’t eat (because I don’t like) pork, so I had to navigate a bit cautiously with some of the food; I also missed out on tasting some of the dishes in their entirety (eg. the wantan noodles).

Here’s the highlight video of our little Penang food adventure –

Some of the places featured in this video –

Pitt Street Koay Teow Th’ng
183, Lebuh Carnarvon,
10100 George Town,
Penang, Malaysia
Phone:+60 17-479 3208
Business Hours: Tues – Thur 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
(Closed on Sundays & Mondays)

Kedai Kopi Soon Yuen
No 25 & 27, Jalan Kuala Kangsar
Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia
Business Hours : 7:00 am – 12:00 pm
(Days off not fixed)

Kafe Evergreen
11, Hutton Lane,
10050 Georgetown,
Penang, Malaysia
Business Hours: Thur-Tues 7:00 am to 1:30 pm
(Closed on Wednesdays)

Excellent Cafe, Ayer Itam
39-B Jalan Air Itam (at Jln Empat),
11500 Penang, Malaysia
Open daily 10:30 am – 7:00 pm

Wantan Mee House Pulau Tikus
Jalan Burma, Pulau Tikus,
Penang, Malaysia
Business Hours: 7.30am till 3pm
Phone: +60 017-479 8075
(Closed on Thursdays)

Lorong Macalister’s Cendol
Junction between Lorong Macalister and Jalan Burmah
Business Hours: 12:00 pm – 4:30 pm
(Closed on Sundays)

The post Penang Food Adventure with Fay Khoo first appeared on Jackie M..

This was what I sent her – it was very quickly thrown together so there are likely lots of places that slipped my mind at the time of writing. Steph specified she wanted hawker food and traditional offerings which is why I’ve deliberately left out some other places that would otherwise have made the list. I thought I might reshare it here as a blog post for others planning to travel a similar route on their next visit to Malaysia. Let me know in your comments if you’ve got any suggestions of your own

========================================================

Recommended tour guide – Mr. Shaukani Abbas – twice winner of Tourism Malaysia’s tour guide of the year.

Eating Guide – Kuala Lumpur

1) Kampung Baru KL – a Malay enclave in the middle of Kuala Lumpur – with lots of Malay and especially Kelantanese food (Kelantan is the northernmost state in Malaysia and borders Thailand)

 – Suraya Seafood (Kelantanese restaurant) – (every dish we ordered was delicious)

– Nasi Lemak CT Garden (I was brought here because apparently it’s much better than the other, more well-known Nasi Lemak place also located in Kampung Baru)

2) Jalan Alor, Bukit Bintang

The oyster omelette at this place (sadly I don’t know the stall name) is quite different; it’s thin and crispy instead of the gooey, soft version you may come across in Penang –

There are a number of outdoor “restaurants” along the Jalan Alor strip – the tables are filled by a mix of Western tourists and locals and they’re generally all pretty decent. Go local with dishes like frog in ginger and shallot sauce, anything with salted egg yolk sauce, kangkung belacan, butter prawns etc. Don’t do what most Western tourists do, i.e. order sweet & sour pork, lemon chicken and that sort of stuff.

3) Brickfields (a.k.a. Little India)

Look for Visalatchi’s (which is located in a back street rather than the main strip in Little India) – it does Banana Leaf Curry but it’s Chettinad-style (that’s like a sub-sub-sub Indian immigrant group in Malaysia) and it might just be one of the best meals you eat in Malaysia) –

 

4) Petaling Street (a.k.a. Chinatown)

There’s a pseudo wet market there in the morning along with food stalls serving breakfast dishes like rice noodle rolls with yong tau foo (tofu and vegies filled with fish paste). Petaling Street comes alive at night with its street market and more food stalls. This is frog with ginger and shallots from my Petaling Street supper –

5) Jalan Imbi

Breakfast at this place –

Restoran Win Heng Seng – was pretty good – they had those rice noodle rolls with yong tau foo as well, along with a few other dishes. These types of “restoran” i.e. restaurants are really like mini food courts – you’ll find a number of different hawkers subletting spots within the premises and they all sell different dishes.

This is those rice noodle rolls and stuffed tofu/vegies I mentioned –

For dinner, Fatty Crab is a well-known seafood restaurant (you’ll have to catch a cab/Uber there) and their food is very reasonably-priced.

Eating Guide – Penang

1) Pulau Tikus Wantan Mee –

This place has a number of different offerings (also from different hawkers in the same building) but its claim to fame is the wantan mee i.e. wonton noodles.

2) Char Kway Teow at Excellent Cafe, Ayer Itam

This place has my favourite CKT. This is the husband/wife team (so look out for them) –

3) Pitt Street Koay Teow Th’ng –

They’re famous for their fishball noodles in clear broth (breakfast).

4) Line Clear is a famous Nasi Kandar (Indian-Muslim rice/curry buffet) restaurant in Penang –

5) Ayer Itam Laksa is famous for its Penang Asam Laksa –

6) Kedai Kopi Genting (Genting Coffee Shop) –

Lots of great food in this place (various vendors). Especially look for this dish –

It’s Penang Pasembur (vegetable salad with sweet potato sauce) but Chinese-style, which is lighter and has jellyfish strips in it. 

Also, Richard Poi (based in Sydney; ex-assistant director of Tourism Malaysia Sydney) – ricpoitc@gmail.com– is running a 5-day (I think) foodie tour of Penang in May. I think price is around the A$890 mark and covers 4-star accommodation plus guided food tour for the duration, if that’s something you want to consider (assuming his dates correlate with yours).

Eating Guide – Ipoh

TBH I haven’t spent enough time in Ipoh to give specific recommendations; I was given Mark Ng (pron. Erng) from http://www.simplyenak.com/  by Tourism Malaysia’s PR agency as someone to contact re: Let’s Do Coffee when we talked about filming in Malaysia. It looks like they do walking tours (quite expensive by local standards but may be worth checking out).

Eating Guide – Melaka

1) Definitely check out Amy’s Nyonya Restaurant – best Nyonya food I’ve ever tried – you have to call at least a day or more ahead, and she only takes about 30 guests per lunch or dinner (everyone else gets turned away) and the food will take at least 45 minutes to prepare.

Address: Bandar Hilir 75, Jalan Melaka Raya 24, Taman Melaka Raya, Melaka, 75000, Malaysia
Phone:+60 6-286 8819

2) Melaka is also famous for its Ikan Bakar (grilled fish) and there are a number of coastal restaurants that come alive at night that sell this. It’s a good drive out of town so you’d be best advised to have a guide to take you there. We went to this place –

Where we got Ikan Bakar in MelakaFLASHBACK: One of the coastal restaurants in Melaka where they serve Ikan Bakar.

Posted by Jackie M. on Tuesday, March 1, 2016

– which was great, but it wasn’t the first choice for my guide (his favourite restaurant was shut that night).

FYI Melaka is Shaukani’s hometown so even if you only use him for the Melaka leg it’ll be well worth it.

                

The post Street Food Recommendations For Your Next Trip to Malaysia first appeared on Jackie M..