Tan Kim Hock Durian Candy - $1.90

Some shop in Yong Peng, Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia.

You’re gonna get a kick outta this post… Durian Candy! From a shop I normally visit to get Otak-Otak (I’ll post about that some time later) in Yong Peng, Johor. It’s about 125 miles from home, but whenever I go to Singapore I’d stop by Yong Peng for some otak-otak on my way home.

At $1.90 a pack with probably 20-25 pieces inside, it’s pretty expensive by Malaysian standards. This is also not the best durian candy I’ve tried. I’m no fan of durian but I’d at least like durian flavoured products to taste a bit like actual durian.  So no, this candy doesn’t have a strong flavour, doesn’t leave you smelling like durian after, there’s just nothing outstanding about this.

So in an effort to make this post worthwhile I’ll add some more pics from the night BEFORE I bought the durian candy. Stayed a night in Johor Bahru for the fun of it and bought the following for dinner: nasi lemak, keropok ikan (fish crackers), A Capricciosa pizza slice from Monty’s, and otak-otak.

You should know about nasi lemak by now, except this is the other way you find it; in a wrapped triangle. Banana leaf inlay and paper under that, wrapped into a little triangle, usually no more than 1-2 ringgit depending on size. This one I paid RM1.50 for, so $0.50 cents. But notice the serving is not exactly a full meal by your standards.

Nor mine of course, hence the Capricciosa pizza slice. I’m not gonna say much except that it’s a whole lotta bread and not enough toppings, I remembered it being much much better the last time I had this over 1.5 years ago, but that was the morning after some heavy drinking so maybe that’s why.

For sides I also got some keropok ikan or fish crackers, deep fried of course. Sorry for the lousy pics I was half high on a cheap bottle of Highland Park 12 year old scotch, and also starving so that’s the only pic of the keropok I got.

Anyways, last thing I got was some otak-otak. That’s basically blended fish and I’m assuming some spices cos it’s usually very slightly spicy. The typical way of serving it as you can see is to wrap it in between 2 banana leaf folds stapled on ends and grilled over charcoal fire. If I’m not wrong this is an authentic Malaysian dish, a Peranakan invention from north Malaysia. I think. It’s good shit. Fun fact: otak means “brain” in Malay, and in the language the same word said twice with a dash usually means plural…. So otak-otak would mean brains.

The end.

Dolsot Bibim Bap from So Gong Dong Tofu House - $9.00??

3307 West Bryn Mawr Avenue, Chicago, IL - (773)539-8377

I think Dolsot Bibim Bap loosely translates to something like "hot stone bowl of mixed rice." You can also order a plain Bibim Bap which is the same thing but doesn't come in the heated stone bowl.

If you look at the picture closely, you can see steam coming off the rice. The stone bowl is piping hot when it arrives and you can hear the rice cackling from the heat. Eventually, this will sort of burn the rice slightly and add a slightly crispy texture to the dish.

The little dish on the left is chili paste and is usually added into the rice bowl and you mix around all the contents within the bowl which included a raw egg (that cooks from the heat of the bowl), lettuce, beef, bean sprouts and some other vegetables I can't seem to recall right now.

The other little plates are what is called banchan. Banchan is basically a collection of side dishes that come with your meal. This is standard for most Korean entrees, I believe. In our case, we received what looks like four varieties of kimchi, a fish, and some sesame oil concoction. Suffice it to say, this was a pretty crappy banchan relative to other Korean places I've been to (I'm used to more variety than just different kinds of kimchi).

As for the dish itself, it was good, but not great. I liked the touch of crispiness from the rice burning against the stone bowl but the flavor wasn't doing anything for me. Maybe I was expecting too much because my sister prepared me by saying it's her favorite Korean dish, but even she wasn't awed by its taste. Either way, I wasn't impressed enough to make a return trip to this restaurant.

Nasi Lemak from Pinang Asian Cuisine - $7.00

218 Louviers Drive, Newark, DE - 302.368.2298

I posted the environmentally friendly version of this dish here. If I'm not mistaken, this is basically the staple dish of Malaysia. Just as the Thai have their Pad Thai or how the Americans have their burgers, the Malaysians have their Nasi Lemak.

My favorite portion of this dish, believe it or not, is the anchovies (upper left corner). They're coated with some sweet syrupy sauce that pretty much hides the anchovy stench with which you might be familiar.

I don't know what to say about the vegetable concoction on the left, except that it compliments the dish favorably. And I'm a die hard fan of both beef (upper-right) and eggs, so those work for me. That brings me to my least favorite part - the cucumbers. They really feel out of place in this dish. But if you think about it, this dish is a strange assortment anyway.

All in all, it's something I would order again, especially if I was getting them at these prices.

Green Nasi Lemak from Pinang Asian Cuisine - $8.00

218 Louviers Drive, Newark, DE - 302.368.2298

Not sure what's "green" about it. Maybe it's environmentally friendly (Go Green!) Personally, I think the regular nasi lemak with the white rice was better - not to mention that the regular one is $1 cheaper.

This one has a striking similarity to Korean fried rice - at least in appearance. I ate this a while back, and I think it tasted like Korean fried rice too (meaning it contained sesame oil). I don't know. I was pretty unimpressed, especially considering how much money I dropped for this. I expect either better quality or more quantity.

Nasi Lemak - +/- $1.50

All over Malaysia.

Pack of joy.

This here is nasi lemak, one of the most popular Malaysian dishes around. I dare say it can qualify as the national dish, if there was such a thing. I mean, it's bad for health, cholesterol, fat, sodium, you name it. Heck even the name literally means "fat rice". Its trademark packaging is in brown paper like the first pic suggests, layered with a banana leaf cutout (on the inside), and depending on the size and content the prices vary from $0.20 to $1.50 on average. If you're paying any more than that, you're getting ripped off.

All laid out.

In its basic form, the contents are fragrant pandan rice, roasted peanuts, dry fried salted anchovies (ikan bilis), slices of cucumber, a hard boiled egg, and sambal. In the 20 cent packs, you get about 4 spoonfuls of rice and little bits of all that i've mentioned. It's more of a teaser than a real meal then. But who's complaining. The "deluxe" way of enjoying nasi lemak, is to include curry and rendang of all sorts. In this entry, I've got beef rendang, curry chicken and sambal in its own bowl.

Before the destruction.

So I like to throw on all my extras and pour on some curry, and that's also how most restaurants would serve it too, if it was a la carte. Since it's all curry and rendang, the closest comparison I know of would be indian food, more specifically indian rice, and as far as that goes, it's not as spicy but I think it's much tastier, and flavourful.

Shrimp & Asparagus Risotto from Olive Garden - $14.75

1279 New Churchman's Road, Christiana, DE - (302)731-5430

The Oliver Garden site's description of this dish is "Large sautéed shrimp served over creamy parmesan risotto with asparagus." That pretty much sums it up.

Personally, I think this is too pricey for what it is. It tasted okay, but I'd rather pay a lot less and make Uncle Ben's Rice instead. The shrimp and asparagus are both good, but not good enough to pay that much for cheesy rice.

The dish also comes with a soup or salad (I chose the minestrone soup) and breadsticks. The minestrone soup had too much bean for my tastes. The breadsticks are awesome, but you only get two when you get the order to go, whereas it's unlimited when you dine in.