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It was late by the time our transport pulled up to the Ocean Wing lobby of Shangri-la Rasa Ria where our arrival was greeted with the sound of traditional gongs. There are 2 Shangri-la resorts in KK, and Rasa Ria is the secluded one 45 minutes out of town. It also has its own Orang Utan sanctuary. The Shangri-la brand is known for its luxury, and the Rasa Ria takes the concept of opulent escapism to a whole new level.

We visited the orang utan sanctuary the next morning, then spent some time enjoying the hotel’s amenities before we were picked up by our tour guide for the day’s itinerary.

It was another packed schedule that included a 90-minute drive to Kawa-Kawa for a river cruise to see proboscis monkeys followed by sunset at the estuary, then dinner and finally, a nighttime firefly cruise with a group of Chinese tourists who kept saying “wah” at the sight of the blinking lights.. I had to explain to my befuddled collaborator that “wah” is Chinese for “wow”.

We had opted to skip dinner at the hotel the night before thanks to having already eaten at the seafood restaurant, and I’d be damned if we were going to skip it again on our second and last night at Rasa Ria.

Estuary sunset cruise.

We had already had dinner as part of the river cruise, so Robb had to be persuaded to have a second meal at the resort. I promised I’d just have one quick plate of food from the buffet and that would be it. (I ate so quickly I didn’t even have time to take photos.)

 I immediately regretted making the commitment. The food was sensational – I’ve raved about Malaysian hotel food in the past but this was really something else – plus they had more Sabah vegetable – cooked to order. I was hooked but Mr. Demarest was clearly in no mood to cut me any slack. I reluctantly called it a night but made a silent promise to come back to Rasa Ria another time when I’d be able to fully enjoy all the resort has to offer.

Our final morning consisted of a visit to a temple, then a highly enjoyable lunch with the team from Tourism Sabah – we couldn’t stop talking about food – then it was time to leave. It was a very short trip – way too short – but in that little time I came away thinking if ever I were to set up a base in Southeast Asia, Sabah would rank at or near the top of my list of places I could see myself living in.

I’m hoping to make it back there to shoot our show in the not-too-distant future; in the meantime I’ll be dreaming of the Shangri-la Rasa Ria and seafood and Sabah vegetable.

The post Travel Diary Sabah (Part 2) first appeared on Jackie M..

This particular version by Chef Chai at Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort, Penang, is more reminiscent of the version I loved in Seremban; the flavours are more subtle and less overwhelming than others I’ve tried in Penang.

There are quite a few steps involved in the making of this dish as you’ll see in the highlights video here, but the recipe as supplied by the resort is a definite keeper; I can’t wait to apply the techniques in making the crackers and the fritters in my own cooking.

This video was shot by Mediaprima during our filming for Asia:Food.Travel.Mystery and it involved Chef Chai doing a demonstration cooking class for resort guests and two prominent specially-invited Penang bloggers, Ken Hunts Food and Shelyn Ooi.

Thanks to my very busy schedule I only managed to spend a few minutes with the guests after the demonstration but Ken was very, very kind to have brought along a “tapau” (takeaway pack) of Chee Cheong Fun Penang-style (ie. with prawn paste sauce) but with a peanut-sauce twist added to it. It was fantastic, so thank you so very much Ken

Pasembur

Portion: 6-8 Servings

Ingredients –

200g cucumber, julienned

200g yam bean (sengkuang), julienned

1 boiled egg, deep-fried

200g boiled potato, deep-fried

100g prawn fritters

50g prawn crackers

100g beancurd, deep-fried

120g jelly fish

Sauce –

500g sweet potato, peeled and diced

100g shallots

600ml water

50g crushed, roasted peanuts

100g bottled chilli sauce

150g tomato sauce

10g salt

50g sugar

10g kurma powder

Method –

For Pasembur Sauce –

1. Steam shallots and sweet potato until soft.

2. Add water and blend until smooth.

3. Bring to a boil over medium heat; add in the rest of the ingredients.

For plating –

1. Arrange all ingredients onto centre of plate.

2. Top with prawn cracker and ladle sweet potato sauce over it.

3. Sprinkle with some crushed peanuts and serve.

Recipe Name: Prawn Fritters

Ingredients –

100g prawns with shell on, cut into pieces

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 egg white

150g plain flour

1 Tbsp corn flour

1 Tbsp rice flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 Tbsp cooking oil

150ml water

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

2 Tbsp spring onion, chopped

2 Tbsp onion, sliced

1/2 Tbsp chillies, sliced

1/2 cup beansprouts

Method –

1. Mix flours with baking powder.  Add seasoning.

2. Add water followed by prawns and all other ingredients.

3. Deep-fry on low-medium heat. Remove and serve.

Recipe Name – Prawn Crackers

Ingredients –

50g plain flour

50g rice flour

5g baking powder

25g tapioca flour

25g corn flour

220ml water

70ml cooking oil

4 peeled prawns

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp chicken seasoning powder

Method –

1. Mix flour and baking flour.

2. Add prawns and water and mix into a smooth, runny batter.

3. Heat oil for deep-frying to 180C. Heat wok ladle in oil (about 15 seconds).

4. Remove wok ladle from oil, place about 2 TBSPs batter with prawn on ladle, then gently lower into oil.

5. Deep-fry on high until done; about 90 seconds (the cracker should loosen from the ladle naturally; tap with spoon to help it along if required).

4. Remove and serve.

The post How to Make Penang Pasembur Salad first appeared on Jackie M..

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This article by one of Australia’s best-known food bloggers Cynthia, aka The Food Pornographer, first appeared in my digital iPad App, Truly Malaysian, last year. This is reprinted with permission as a lead-up to my series of upcoming recipes and videos from my own visit to Kuching, Sarawak recently. All photos in this post are the property of Cynthia.

About The Food Pornographer –

Migrating to Australia when she was 10 years old, Cyn is now a proud Western Australian – but will always be Malaysian in heart and appetite. She likes her prawns bursty, egg yolks gooey and and when it comes to food she will give most things a go. Cyn takes photographs and tells stories about food and travel. Check out Cyn’s blog at http://thefoodpornographer.com/ Follow her on Twitter – http://twitter.com/TFPtweets

Morning at the Wet Market

As a child in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, I used to go with my mum to the wet market early in the morning before school. I woke up at half-past four, stumbled from bed in the dark, brushed my teeth and pulled on my school uniform. My motivation was the promise of a hot breakfast.

I dreaded walking through the seafood market on the slimy, wet, fishy floor and I slipped more than once. I was secretly repulsed by the meat market with its overpowering smell of raw pork and chicken and a tiled floor splattered with blood and guts. But after buying our groceries and before heading to school, we’d stop by the hawker stalls for noodles.

Now as an adult visiting Petanak Market in Kuching, I feel conspicuously far away from my adopted home in Australia, but I’m vividly reminded of my childhood fears of the raw meat market and perilous fishy floor.

I recognise only some of the fish species, and they all look so fresh, shiny and plump, plucked from the net not so long ago. At every stall is a collection of items used for the different steps of the fish cleaning process; recycled plastic tubs, buckets, strainers – and at least one well-used heavy wooden chopping block.

At the meat section a large sign hangs from the ceiling listing porky parts for sale. There are slabs of meat hanging from hooks or piled on wooden planks, flattened cardboard boxes stained with blood and juice. I recognise ribs, trotters, jaws with teeth intact; a hanging pig’s head, slack like an empty mask, speared through the snout with ears drooping. Wherever you walk, there are pink bits of flesh and fat on the floor and despite the warm conditions there’s no refrigeration to be seen, but this is routine for the sweaty, knife-wielding Chinese butchers and their customers buying meat for dinner.

It’s a comfort to escape the slippery floor and lose myself in the dry goods section. Everything there is just as evocative though; the smelly dried anchovies in sacks, bags of colourful little gem biscuits, pink bottles of cincalok made from fermented shrimps. Vegetable sellers are exchanging jokes and gossip, a woman sitting in the corner on a stool is smashing her cleaver into prickly coconut husks, a vendor is solemnly doing calculations in his dog-eared notebook; wherever I look, there’s so much life to see.

Whether you’re a photographer, people watcher, or traveller – and even if you prefer to shop at the supermarket – the local wet market is an honest, sensory wonder that’s well worth experiencing.

Cynthia Chew

The post Petanak Wet Market, Kuching, Sarawak first appeared on Jackie M..

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Most Westerners who’ve travelled to Malaysia will almost invariably have covered Penang, so they’re often surprised to find they know the place better than I do. I have to admit being a “southerner” – I was born and raised in Seremban, 40 miles south of Kuala Lumpur – Penang has always been a little outside my radar.

My recent trips back to Malaysia have allowed me to spend a bit more time up north, and I hope to build on that with future visits. During my shoot with Mediaprima’s Asia:Food.Travel.Mystery, we were hosted by the Shangri-La chain of hotels, including Penang’s Rasa Sayang Resort.

Unbeknownst to me, it was a big selling point when I put the word out that I was looking for a nanny/PA to travel with me for the entire duration; the candidate Chrys’s eyes positively lit up when I rattled through the accommodation arrangements and Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort came up.

Is anyone old enough to remember the 1973 movie, Lost Horizon? I loved it as a kid, but didn’t draw the connection until I checked into my suite and saw a copy of the James Hilton book on the dresser – it is about a utopia called Shangri-La.

We arrived very late at night and I could see once we stepped inside the lobby, why it’s held with such a high degree of reverence  among Malaysians I’d spoken to prior to my departure. Such an elegant, old-world charm that instantly makes you feel like you never want to leave. Much like this (fast forward to the 27-sec mark) –

Sadly we only had 2 days at the resort (plus 2 days at its sister property, Golden Sands), and a jam-packed filming schedule, starting first thing after breakfast the next morning. We filmed 2 segments with Rasa Sayang Resort’s Chef Chai, plus several others for the show we were making.

We ate some wonderful food during lunch at the resort. The Mediaprima crew gravitated towards steak, whereas  I stayed faithfully Malaysian –

One of the segments we shot was of the show’s presenters ie. Syai, Robb Demarest and myself, attempting a game of Sepak Raga on the beach behind Shangri-La Golden Sands Resort next door.

A behind-the-scenes outtake from one of our Penang segments –

My thanks to Chrys Voon, my PA and baby Noah’s nanny during the trip, for taking most of the photos/clips I’m posting.

Next up – recipe and cooking segment with a fellow Hakka – Rasa Sayang Resort’s Chef Chai

The post Jackie M’s Travel Diary – Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort, Penang first appeared on Jackie M..