Back to the Motherland

If there’s one thing that reminds me I am well and truly back in the Motherland, it’s that first breath of hot & sticky 33°C air coming out of the aiport terminal. It’s been almost 1 & a 1/2 years since the last time I was back, yet the heavy and humid KL air still has that unmistakable familiarity about it.

As is customary, it was straight off the plane and onward to what is probably my favourite meal of any trip home… the first reunion dinner with the family. And there it was in it’s full glory on the home dining table: a compilation of Nyonya cuisine’s greatest hits.

Fish Maw Soup (‘Hoo Peow Th’ng’)

Deep-fried Shrimp paste Chicken (‘Belacan Kay’)

Stir-fried julienned Turnip with Lettuce (‘Jiu Hoo Char’)

Salted Fish Bone Curry with Shrimp, French beans and deep-fried tofu (‘Kiam Hu Kut Gulai’)

Best of the lot was the Kiam Hu Kut Gulai (Salted Fish Bone Curry), probably one of my favourite Nyonya dishes of them all. The combination of the fragrant lemongrass based chilli paste, sweet pineapple and savoury kick from the salted fish yields an incredibly complexed curry that delivers layer after layer of fan-fecking-tabulousness. After this home-cooked feast, I think it’s safe to say I am now properly warmed up for the foodcrawl that’s to come in the days ahead.

Dearest Belly of mine, please forgive the calories that I’ll be sending your way over the next couple of weeks…

G.