A treasured gift

A young lady friend of ours handed us a post-holiday gift, a much welcome addition to our culinary library. It is a hard-bound cookbook focusing on Malaysian cuisine, authored by the respected Chef Wan, popularly known as a host of the Asian Food Channel. What makes this gift special is the fact that this friend of ours requested someone to buy it in Kuala Lumpur, have it autographed by the author, and hand-carried to Manila. Thanks, Nana! 

It is a beautiful book – “The Best of Chef Wan, A Taste of  Malaysia” – which has, for  each recipe, a photograph in  full color. This makes us want so much to duplicate these dishes in our own kitchen. We have always associated Malaysian cooking with that of its neighbor Singapore, and farther away Indonesia, because of the common spices used in most of their dishes, which are quite spicy. But this cookbook leads us to discover that there is much more to rendang and spicy sauces. 

Chef Wan has an unassailable record as a culinary guru, having started cooking at the young age of 13. He is multi-awarded and was the Culinary Ambassador of Malaysia in 2010, a recipient of  the Lifetime Jury Award at the 2007 Prix La Mazille and the Best Celebrity Chef citation at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in 2009. Glowing testimonies indeed in the impressive resumé of an amiable-looking chef.                

Wan says Malaysian cuisine is about the country’s multi-cultural heritage, with each ethnic group contributing its own unique cuisine, but with the varied flavors blending perfectly. Family-style dining also characterizes a Malaysian meal.

As we have noted in past experience and in our writings, the basic technique includes marinating ingredients and serving each dish with a special sauce or spice paste. These are all detailed in each recipe.

There is much use of shrimp paste, peanuts, sesame seeds, oyster sauce and sugar. The cookbook also includes some recipes from Thailand and Indonesia, two countries that use similar spices in their respective cuisines. We will do some of the recipes – especially those of fish and vegetables.

We are particularly pleased that the glossary includes photographs of herbs, spices and vegetables. We did not know until now that the English name of sigarillas is four-angled beans. We are not sure if this book is available in local book stores. We will check and advise our readers in a subsequent column.   

Going Japanese has become very popular among food suppliers. The French Baker chain has introduced their Hokkaido bread while a young entrepreneur, Aileen Tan, has opened a patisserie called Honey Bee in West Gate Center, Filinvest, Alabang (tel. 511-0931). Her Hokkaido is a raisin loaf and has become her bestseller. Another popular product is takoyaki, filled with octopus and takoyaki sauce.

The former Magnolia site on Hemady street in Quezon City has been converted into a mall. It is now called Robinsons Magnolia. We have beautiful memories of the ice cream plant where we would get their products, especially the pinipig crunch. Robinsons did a very good job in building an impressive, very modern complex. One gets into the entrance from the garage and will be tempted to sit down and sample any of the food offerings from a string of restaurants. From the main entrance, the atruim lobby is a sight to behold, with a lighted staircase and all-glass interior.

We had a peek into the supermarket, refreshing with a green color scheme, where we got pork for sinigang (fleshy bones without fat) at P203 a kilo, chicken at P124 a kilo. They have this fish that looks like apahap, called by the name of a very infamous lady, which we did not bother to get.

Now Quezon City has a lovely, convenient place to shop. Enjoy!         

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