I keep on thinking that I still owe Essie a tag which had not been put up here. It had been "haunting" me because I couldn't do a write-up on it at the soonest. Furthermore, I don't like to let my friends down. Essie tagged me a couple of weeks back and it takes such a long time for the answers to appear here. Sorry about it, Essie. I might not have all 10 weird food but I'm thinking of listing what my 10 favourite food are.
Here we go at random :
#1
Cold dish consisting of "fish fingers", salted jelly fish , crab rolls and prawn cake has always been one of my favourites. Cold dish is always the first one to be served every time we have dinner at the local hotel. And this one was served on a small "junk" and off we went "sailing" away our hunger pangs!
I'm giving weird names such as "fish fingers" and salted jelly fish. What type of fish have fingers?!? Actually, it's made of fish meat mixed with flour and spices and formed into thin long pieces like fingers. It is fried before served. Whereas salted jelly fish is made from jelly fish that can be eaten. Before serving, the jelly fish has to be soaked in water to get rid of its saltiness. It is then sliced thinly and mixed with lemon juice, chillies, big onions, nuts and a little bit of sugar. It really tastes good! Over here, jelly fish is commercialised.
I can't resist the crunchiness of baby kailan (vegetables) fried with squids and oyster sauce. Fried onions and chillies are used to decorate it.
(Oops! Sorry, when I took the photo, I forgot to wipe the spilled sauce at the side of the plate.)
#3
Sea cucumber soup is said to contain medicinal value. I like the soup because of its taste. It is prepared using sea cucumber mixed with spices and thicken with eggs and corn flour.
#4
This is roasted chicken with prawn crackers. The chicken is roasted with 5 types of spices. It tastes better when dip into a sauce of 5 spices and dash of salt mixed with lime juice.
The fish is called "ikan sultan", literally translated the "king fish". It is steamed with many types of herbs and spices and served on a warmer with lighted candle under it. So, it's sizzling on the table.
If you like Japanese sushi, I presume you would like this dish of "umai", Melanau sushi. I am from the Melanau ethnic and this is one of our traditional food. It's made from raw fish, preferably high quality mackerel and pomfret, which are cut into thin slices and mixed with lemon or lime juice, a little bit of salt, big and small onions, chillies, ginger and coriander leaves. Chill the "umai" before taking it with rice or sago pellets.
#7
Taking this dish would make the body warm. It is duck's meat cooked with "kacang ma", a type of herb. Other ingredients are ginger, garlic, pepper, onions and salt. Women in confinement like to take this dish.
#8
Mutton in black pepper tastes good but have to watch out for its high cholesterol level. I avoid taking the fatty part of it because of its "goaty" smell.
This is Malaysian's favourite. It's called satay which is made of chicken meat or beef mixed with spices and skewed into a thin stick. Before barbecuing it, it is marinated over night. Satay is taken with peanut gravy (on the right).
#10
Lastly, this is longan and jelly in syrup. Ice cubes are added to chill it. It's really refreshing!
I hope no one is drooling but I am! If you wish to taste these mouth-watering food, come over to Malaysia.
To Essie, thank you for the tag and I hope you are satisfied with my answers. :)
* Acknowledgement : The photo of "umai" is borrowed from http://wikitravel/org/en/Sarawak
The rest are mine but poorly taken. I need to upgrade my knowledge in photography.
Do check out Essie's blog at http://sofreakinhuge.blogspot.com/
