On our most recent trip to Malaysia for a Tourism Perak x Masters of Malaysian Cuisine (MOMC) collaboration, our team had the opportunity to visit a number of coffee-serving establishments. 

This included Niang Republic and Chang Jiang Kopitiam (organised by Roselyn Lim of the Perak Tourist Guide Association) and Cascada by Magical Beans and Kong Fu Kopitiam (organised by Ben Yap of IpohTreats.com).

So what’s the difference between regular Malaysian kopi and Ipoh white coffee? It’s to do with the roast, actually – Ipoh coffee beans are a less dark roast compared to what you would find elsewhere – hence the “white”. 

This makes the coffee taste smoother and less bitter – which, as a non-coffee snob I’ve not paid much attention to in the past, but have now come to notice and appreciate every time I order kopi in Ipoh. 

Also, the beans used in Ipoh are typically a blend of Liberica (Malaysian), Arabica, and Robusta, slow-roasted in palm oil/butter/margarine.

In this demo, Michael Tan, the owner of Cascada by Magical Beans, explains the process of making Ipoh White Coffee – 

It’s clearly a better option to drink Ipoh White Coffee in Ipoh itself, but if you can’t wait, here’s the recipe extracted from Michael Tan’s explanation and re-jigged for a 2-cup serve at home – 

IPOH WHITE COFFEE HOME RECIPE

Adapted from Michael Tan, Cascada by Magical Beans, Ipoh

INGREDIENTS:

70g coarse-ground Ipoh White Coffee Powder

270ml boiling water

190ml evaporated milk

65g condensed milk (iced) or 35g (hot)

METHOD:

1. Bring water to a full rolling boil.
2. Place coffee powder into a coffee sock (or cloth filter bag) set over a heatproof jug.
3. Pour the boiling water over the grounds. Cover and steep for 15 minutes.
4. Lift the sock and let it drain. 
5. For hot coffee, warm it gently before adding milk – don’t reboil. For iced coffee, proceed straight to the next step.
6. Add evaporated milk and condensed milk. Stir well, or pour back and forth between two jugs tarik-style to blend and aerate.
7. For iced coffee – pour over ice. For hot coffee – pour and serve.

Condensed milk quantities are a starting point. Adjust to taste, and if you’re making iced coffee, remember the ice will dilute as it melts – lean slightly sweeter than you think you need.

Next time you visit an Asian grocery store, see if you can track down Malaysian coffee powder to get the best results. Here’s an example, from the factory we visited – they come in different varieties eg. 3-in-1 (coffee plus sugar plus creamer), 2-in-1 (coffee plus sugar), or just straight up coffee (which is what you want if you’re using the recipe above) –

To make kopi O (black coffee, Malaysian style) from the same base: dilute 50/50 with hot water, add sugar to taste, or leave it unsweetened as kopi O kosong.

By the way, at almost every place we visited, we were offered Ipoh White Coffee served with a piece of butter – which looked very cool and added a silky, slightly savoury hint to the coffee. 

I was told this was a throwback to the early years of Chinese migration to Southeast Asia, which has made a comeback in recent years (and nothing to do with the Bulletproof Coffee craze).

Next time you visit Ipoh, here are the places you should absolutely check out, not just for their Ipoh White Coffee but also for their food – 

Cascada by Magical Beans PT8299, Jalan Johan 2/6, Kawasan Perindustrian Pengkalan 2, 31550 Pusing, Perak Tel: +60 13-580 8825 Hours: Daily 9am – 6pm

Chang Jiang White Coffee 7, Jalan Windsor, 30250 Ipoh, Perak Tel: 05-253 8896 Hours: Daily 8am – 6pm

Kong Fu Kopitiam 39, Jalan Panglima, 30000 Ipoh, Perak Tel: +60 17-733 1928 Hours: 9am – 5pm, closed Wednesdays

Niang Republic 14, Jalan Bijeh Timah, 30000 Ipoh, Perak Hours: 11am – 5.30pm, closed Tuesdays

Want more recipes, eating guides and articles? Grab your copy of our latest Truly Malaysian by MOMC digital magazine here – it’s completely free –  (click here to download or view the magazine) – 

The post How to Make Ipoh White Coffee At Home (And Where to Drink It In Ipoh) first appeared on Jackie M..

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I’m an EX-restaurateur – I closed my Concord establishment nearly a year ago, and even when it was open it was only ever open 3 nights a week and it wasn’t around for that many years either since I initially took up the space purely for the production of the food I sell at farmers’ markets and online and kept it closed to the public for years and years (yes, I like long sentences).

Nonetheless people still associate me with my restaurant and still try to book tables and it’s frankly getting a bit old.  The reality of the matter is in the 15 or so years I’ve been running my business, I have and continue to do a thousand other Malaysian food-related things (all of which are covered on this site – take a look!)

One of the hats I do wear is as the founder and curating editor of my Truly Malaysian : Food | Travel | Culture digital magazine.  It’s currently only available on iPad but my team has been tasked with getting it redeveloped to be Android-compatible soon, so sit tight for the announcement.

In the wake of the MH370 tragedy (my heart breaks for all the passengers, crew and families and I continue to pray for them), I’m frankly bewildered at the amount of misinformed opinion and conjecture displayed by the mainstream media about my home country.

Speaking as someone who’s lived on three continents, I remain passionate about Malaysia and what it has to offer – it has some of the best food in the world, it’s one of the safest countries in Asia, the people are friendly and helpful, we all communicate with some level of English, and, did I mention the food?

It frustrates me that the world at large still to some extent displays a great lack of knowledge about Malaysia.

Because of this, I’m making my App a FREE download – I initially announced on social media that it was free until the end of this week but I’ve decided to extend it to the 7th of April 2014, after which it will go back up to its still-cheap download price of $1.99.

Now to the question – WHAT’S ACTUALLY IN IT?

1) Ghosts

Did you know I was in 5 episodes of a Malaysian paranormal reality show called Seekers last year? (I wasn’t kidding when I said I wear many hats). It was the highest-rated show on NTV7 that season – which I’m sure had absolutely nothing to do with my guest stint – but I’ll take the accolades anyhow, thanks.

So it includes articles by myself about my experiences during the filming of the show (including a lot of stuff that didn’t make it to air)

My co-star in the show, Robb Demarest (former lead of Ghost Hunters International and creator, co-producer and lead of Haunting: Australia) is actually a frustrated writer at heart – he contributes an article that has received more feedback than any of the others in this issue – called Ghost Hunting in Penang.

I also interviewed Jufri Rayyan, one of our castmates – an Aryan-looking Aussie based in Malaysia who speaks English with a Malaysian accent (true story).

Prolific blogger M.R. Danial has an article about the Chinese Ghost Festival – uncovering superstitions about the event that even I as a Chinese growing up in Malaysia never knew about.

2) Travel

One of my favourite Australian bloggers – The Food Pornographer (contrary to popular opinion I don’t dislike ALL food bloggers, though a lot of them are annoying as hell) – has a great write-up about the wet market scene in Malaysia.

I cover Bukit Bintang which, to me, beautifully represents the beating heart of Kuala Lumpur – and give a rundown of places to check out in the area.

3) Malaysians Abroad

My talented fellow-Malaysian Samantha Low tracks down a bunch of Malaysians who have relocated overseas – and interviews them about how they ended up where they are, and how their lives have changed.

4) Food

Of course.

There are 12 recipes, some with video –

all popular Malaysian breakfast dishes (h/t – I don’t eat pork, so none of my recipes feature it) – think Chee Cheong Fun, Woon Chai Koh, Nasi Lemak, Roti Bakar + Kaya and lots more

I tackle the ongoing debate about Penang vs Ipoh as to who has the best food.

I cover Malaysian Pantry Ingredients – a (hopefully) handy guide for those starting out with Malaysian cooking.

There’s even a reader contribution by Linda Dean from halfway around the world who has only ever interacted with me via Google Hangouts (ie. where I show people how to cook Malaysian food – visit http://youtube.com/jackiemsydney and subscribe to catch the uploads) – she adapts my Otak-Otak recipe via her own video submission.

There’s lots of other stuff in this issue, so do check it out – and SHARE with all your friends and families.

To Download – Search for TRULY MALAYSIAN in iTunes from your iPad (not iPhone – yet).

I’m on the lookout for content for the next issue so let me know if you’re interested in being featured – especially if you’re a Malaysian Abroad (that’s an ongoing column) or can write about Malaysian travel destinations and food.

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to this first issue – talented photographer and friend Ian Chow for the videos, Magnus Azami who I tracked down via his Flickr stream and who kindly allowed me to use his photos for the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival, not to mention Sarah Shrapnel for the App’s design and interactivity and Jennifer Jenner for art direction, editing and pulling all this together.

Don’t forget to SPREAD THE WORD – and even better (assuming you like it) – leave a Review on iTunes

The post Free Download – Jackie M’s Truly Malaysian Digital Magazine (iPad) first appeared on Jackie M..

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As a perennially sleep-deprived and exhausted business owner, I’ll admit to occasionally getting a little (alright, a lot) caustic when dealing with customer questions.

So on my one day off I figure it’s time to repair my Curry Nazi image and put together a list of FAQs and comments I’ve encountered at my many events and answer them minus my usual snark.

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Do you do Pad Thai?
No, but I do a kickass Pad Malaysian. I like to call it Char Kway Teow (CKT) but that’s just me. You can ask for a Pad Thai and still get a CKT, but that will be a dollar extra. The dollar goes towards the court-ordered anger management classes I’ll be required to take when I finally snap and hit the next person on the head with my wok shovel.

Is your beef rendang a red curry or a green curry?
Sadly, we Malaysians are not quite as creative as our friendly Thai neighbours when it comes to colour-coding our curries. It may have something to do with the fact that Malaysian curries come in varying shades of brown. If it’s any help though, I’ve given deep thought to this and have come up with my own colour-coding system.

So here is my handy guide to ordering my curries next time you visit –
Dhal & Vegetable Curry – light brown | Chicken Curry – medium brown |Beef Rendang – dark brown |Lamb Curry – brown brown

I’ve travelled to Bangkok for 30 years, I know my Malaysian food.
I can only assume your travels there are for academic research purposes, and I hate to be the one to break it to you – but Bangkok is not in Malaysia. And those go-go dancers at the bars you frequent for your academic thesis? Not Malaysian. So sorry, dude, I really am.

My best mate’s married to a Thai lady.
Good for him.

My sister-in-law is Thai.
Good for her.

Asian women make the best wives. They’re so caring and attentive.
Huh? Sorry, I wasn’t listening.

What does your Nasi Lemak come with?
Well, according to the menu that’s six inches in front of you, it comes with coconut-flavoured rice, cucumber pieces, a mixed vegetable pickle (acar), fried anchovies, sambal and boiled egg. So if I were to hazard a guess, I would say it comes with coconut-flavoured rice, cucumber pieces, a mixed vegetable pickle (acar), fried anchovies, sambal and boiled egg.

Do you do Fried Rice?
Funny you should ask and I can see how the non-existence of a Fried Rice menu at my stall would cause confusion.  Sadly no, I don’t in fact do fried rice, but I have resolved to clear this confusion by printing menus of things I DON’T do, so people can be perfectly clear about what’s NOT on offer.

Do you do Spring Rolls?
Nope, no spring rolls either – another Malaysian classic that begs to be added to my Things I Don’t Do menu.

Do you do Nazi Goreng? (http://dictionary.bhanot.net/csvsearch.pl?field1=goreng)
Come on, now – World War 2 was 70 years ago and the Germans have come a long way; no need to hang on to the past.

I know your menu says the Otak is $4.50 each, but I count 4 of them in the picture. So how many do I actually get?
I can see how the word “Each” is cause for confusion, and I blame my photographer for taking pictures that have more than one unit of any item in them. Artistic licence is so overrated, I agree.

(In response to whether they want their food served on a plate or in a takeaway container) – Which is better, plate or container?
Don’t let the “Are you kidding me?” look on my face put you off – it’s unintentional and shows how stumped I often am at the depth of the questions I’m faced with. I would suggest in reply, much like the Blue Pill vs Red Pill dilemma faced by Neo – do you see yourself as a plate person, or a takeaway container person? Go with the plate if you like plates, and with a takeaway box if you like containers. A really, really tough call and I sympathise.

Which is better – seafood CKT or chicken CKT?
Same as above but replace plates/takeaway containers with seafood/chicken – sorted!

Is it good? / Is it any good?
Don’t let my sarcastic rant about quitting my high-paying career to cook inedible crap for the unsuspecting public, followed by threats to poke your eyes out, throw you off. It’s just my over-tired brain trying to come to grips with the existential intellectualism displayed in your question – Are we talking about good as in Good vs Evil? Philosophy has never been my forte – it’s not you, it’s me.

What’s good, and don’t insult my intelligence by saying “Everything”?
Haha, you got me there, Captain Mensa! I WAS just about to deadpan “Everything” until you stopped me in my tracks. Let me FLATTER your intelligence in that case – Nothing is good; everything is crap, that’s why I quit my high-paying career – just so I can spend long, unforgiving hours in the kitchen to serve you CRAP! Now where are my chopsticks so I can poke your eyes out?

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Well, there you have it – next time I snap at you when you ask me a question, do reflect on this post and be comforted by the fact that after a full 8 hours’ sleep, I AM capable of imbuing my responses with patience, warmth and grace. You’re welcome!

The post Curry Nazi No More – 16 Answers to Jackie M’s FAQs first appeared on Jackie M..