If you’re on the hunt for incredible food that you’ve never had before, you must get yourself to Penang, Malaysia. Other destinations in southeast Asia have their own allures, but Penang reels you in with its unparalleled foodie paradise. After three weeks we are still finding and enjoying new delights. Today’s focus is on one topic: nasi kandar. This northern Malaysia take on Indian food is not to be missed, if you like richly textured, flavorful dishes.
Through our membership in Servas we met up with a great local guy named Tommy and his fiance Cecilia, who spent several hours showing us around George Town, the historic district of the island of Penang. A major highlight was an impressive mid-afternoon meal at Deen Maju Nasi Kandar. The restaurant opens at 2:30 PM, and long before that the locals who are in-the-know start lining up for their turn at the food counter.
There are 2 restaurants in Penang that get this kind of adulation: Deen Maju, and a great Chinese restaurant named Tek Sen. Tommy’s mom Jennifer and friend Leena took us to Tek Sen on another day, so I have to tell you that this family treated us like royalty. I have no problem standing in line for great food, and you know we were richly rewarded for waiting.
When you get to the server he will prepare a plate of rice and then pile it up with the foods of your choosing. Without Tommy’s help this would have been a daunting task for us, since we didn’t know anything about this food. In our later attempts at other nasi kandar places we’ve found that we could ask for our new favorite items and/or ask the server to assemble “a variety of things”. Tommy picked a plate full of winning choices for us. The rice was then laden with a variety of curry sauces that played nice together on our palates.
Okra is called “lady fingers”, and it’s not slimy like okra back home. The seeds have a nice little pop texture to them.
The most unusual thing on the plate was squid roe. These small packets of squid eggs were not what I expected. In flavor and texture they were very mild, very much like spaetzle dumplings. There wasn’t even a hint of fishiness. I’ve since ordered them again, I like them that much.
In our later visits to other nasi kandar restaurants we learned that we should point out a chicken dish (fried, or curried), some other dish (fish, squid, squid roe, or mutton/goat/lamb), and a veggie, and ask for “kuah campur” to get the variety of splashes of curry sauces. Prices are generally not posted in advance, and the server totals up a number and writes it on a piece of paper. The total runs around 10 to 18 ringgits per plate ($2.50-$4.50), with the higher cost applied if any shellfish, squid or squid roe is requested. The one prawn I have had was amazing, so I don’t mind paying for it. If you let the server select your meal you’ll want to specify the meats if the cost is any concern to you. Then you order your drinks and that gets added to the paper. (Mango juice is my favorite.) After you eat you present your paper at the register and pay for your meal.
After this big meal we went sightseeing and then stopped at a renowned dessert cart, Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul. We shared two shaved-ice treats. Who knew that corn and kidney beans went so well with sweet treats?
The green “noodles” were startling, but it turns out they’re extruded sweet jelly treats.
At the end of the afternoon we were fully stuffed with amazing food, and it was time to go rest up. After all, more good eats were waiting for us out there in Penang.
What a splendid culinary adventure.