Southeast Asian trip via Aseana Food Village

Earlier this year I returned from a few weeks’ travel around Asia, including Southeast Asia. My general view is that one week in a country is never enough to really experience it, let alone just a few days in a couple of cities.

But ready yourself for a whirlwind tour of Southeast Asia when you step into Aseana Food Village in Randwick, which serves Malaysian, Singaporean, Burmese and even some Chinese dishes to the locals and lots of Southeast Asian customers it seems.

Teh tarik (front) and ice teh with condensed milk (back) from
Aseana Food Village, Alison Road, Randwick

With vouchers and hungry Sunday night appetites, we parked easily and entered the clean, spacious, spice-fragranced restaurant featuring matching dark wood furniture with tissue boxes on the tables.

Drinks were an easy choice to start on: mine a sweet, warm, frothy and milky teh tarik, ‘pulled’ from mug to mug to incorporate a head of air bubbles; while the other is an iced milk tea with condensed milk for sweetening.

Choosing food from the menu of appetisers, rice, noodles, mains and vegetables took a little longer, as we had some serious ‘want list’ culling to do first.

Rojak – Singaporean/Malaysian fruit salad

The rojak was a last minute order addition, requested to arrive first, although everything following arrived all at once at the not-quite-big-enough table (including our other appetiser).

A ‘junk’ fruit salad was a sweet and refreshing start to the meal, and included gorgeously ripe pear, crunchy green apple, cucumber, bean sprouts and pieces of Chinese fried dough sticks or yau tiao, heavily smothered in a dark, mildly spicy and mildly fishy sauce, all covered in crushed peanuts.

Crispy roti canai and chicken curry set

I can’t go past roti on a menu, especially plain roti canai – here served as part of a set with chicken curry. The flat breads arrive perfectly round – which leads me to think that they’re not made in-house – but they’re so much fluffier than the frozen packet versions you can buy in Asian supermarkets that I’m not so sure.

But it doesn’t matter. Crispy on the outside with buttery layers within, the roti tears easily and is the perfect mop for the small bowl of quite thick curry.

Chicken curry

In the bowl sits a gargantuan chicken drumstick – the largest I’ve seen in quite some time. One dig with the fork reveals a seriously succulent leg, juicy and fairly well flavoured with the curry spices. The monster drumstick shares the bowl with a huge chunk of potato that’s so soft it’s almost mash.

Htaw baht rice set – Burmese buttered rice, served with Burmese tomato gravy pork,
pickled vegetables and spicy fried shrimp

It was hard not to be tempted by one of the Burmese offerings scattered throughout the menu. The htaw baht rice was listed as Burmese buttered rice, served in a set with prawn crackers, strips of crisply pickled vegetables, deep fried shrimp much like ikan bilis and a few fatty chunks of pork in a spiced tomato sauce.

The rice wasn’t what I expected, but thankfully not overly oily, dotted with crispened bits of rice probably from the bottom of a buttered-up wok.

Burmese tomato gravy pork

The flavour from the pork’s tomato sauce was sensational and perfect to gobble up with rice. The pork was mostly tender, some bits very fatty, offset nicely by the pickled carrot and cucumber strips – but on the whole, a hearty, filling dish.

Lee’s stewed duck with Hokkien noodles

The duck appears on the menu a few times: with rice, with noodles or as a main in itself. We go with the Hokkien noodles, and are fairly impressed when the rich, dark brown duck-topped bowl arrives at our overflowing table.

A deboned breast, with wing, presents itself as “Lee’s stewed duck”, sticky and sweet from its time in a stewing sauce. In fact, the sauce was so strong that the entire dish with noodles was almost overpoweringly sweet, but the tender, gamey duck was still a standout.

Sambal kangkong

The necessary vegetable fix came in the form of kangkong, also known as morning glory or water spinach; an inexplicable favourite of lots of people I dine with.

Stir fried with a not-too-spicy sambal sauce, I still find the stems of the vegetable a bit on the chewy-stringy side, and the taste quite like any other Asian green.

Ice cendol

We grab a couple of takeaway boxes to try and leave stomach space for dessert. It’s a struggle, but we decide to share an ice cendol – that colourful favourite of Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and indeed, even Myanmar and Vietnam.

The ice is shaved from a cool, old-school contraption that spins in several places and makes quite the restaurant-filling noise.

Cendol noodles and red beans beneath the shaved ice

Neatly patted down then drowned in gula melaka palm sugar syrup and coconut milk, the icy dome reveals a centre of red beans and bright green pandan flavoured strips which are a little firmer than I’m accustomed to.

Nonetheless, it’s a sweet, though not too sweet, close to the meal and our evening tour of Southeast Asia. And as ever with travels, we end the trip feeling somewhat heavier than when we first arrived but richer for the experience.

Mmm-Fest

This wondrously warm weekend just passed saw the 20th Malaysia Festival (or MFest) in Darling Harbour, organised by Malaysian university student from all over NSW. The promise of scrummy food and colourful entertainment was not broken, while the heat and traditional music set quite the realistic atmosphere.

Dancers perform at Malaysia Festival, Darling Harbour, Sydney

I was thoroughly impressed with the number of stalls, all well spaced and most with a proper kitchen set-up behind the stall too. The crowds came out to take advantage of the superb weather on the lush green grass of Tumbalong Park and it was enticing aromas every which way you turned in the busy round park.

The crowds fill Tumbalong Park at Darling Harbour

The queues varied in length and time of wait throughout the day, although the wait was almost never too long. A quick walk-by the stalls showed the prevalence of traditional Malaysian fare: nasi lemak, satay skewers, roti, mee goreng as well as a number of regional delicacies, sweets and drinks.

Satay chicken from Jimmy's Recipe

We start on the nearest and shortest queue we could find at the time, Jimmy’s Recipe. Now I’m not sure how people were managing to eat laksa at an outdoor festival, but we opted for an easier route with satay chicken skewers to start – requested to be drenched in satay sauce.

The sauce is more red and much less lumpy with peanuts than I’ve come across before, but with rich and nutty creaminess offsetting the gentle heat. The chicken was rather lukewarm and our skewers varied wildly in sizes, but it was a satisfactory start.

Otak otak from Jimmy's Recipe

Inside otak otak

I’m not entirely sure what texture or flavour otak-otak is really meant to be, but I’m assured that this variation is not quite on target. Nonetheless, I’m a fan of this light fish paste; almost mousse-like yet firmly so. Wrapped in banana leaf and grilled, the otak-otak is redolent with lemongrass and quite subtle where I was expecting a bigger chilli hit.

Roti making at the Mamak stall

We should be accustomed to queues for Mamak by now, although I wonder what it really is that people are willing to wait 20+ minutes in hot sun. The roti show; the brand; a new level of value-eating? In any case, there were constant long queues here and I suspect there will be at their new soon-to-open Chatswood store too.

Roti canai from Mamak

I line up for the roti. My perennial favourite is the plain old roti canai, and it’s a beauty just like it would be in the store. Perfectly puffed into a ball and served with two curry sauces and a sambal, it’s flakey on the outside and just a little softer than I expected on the inside. As ever, one of the curry sauces is like a little kick in the throat while the other is significantly more subdued; the sambal heavy with belacan (shrimp paste), chilli and oil and perfect for the alternate dip.

Roti telur from Mamak

We also have the roti telur with the same dipping sauces and sambal. Served flat with egg cooked within, it’s a slightly more substantial serve equally soft inside and blistered brown on the outer surface – all best eaten with fingers.

Cans of 100Plus

The summery day meant the $1 cans of 100Plus were very popular. An isotonic drink which, I’m told, is like the national drink of Malaysia and bought by the pallet load. With the heat and consequent perspiration in that hotter climate, it’s no surprise. It helps that it’s not too sweet in its citrussy flavour.

Rojak from Aseana Food Village

Before this, I had only ever tried rojak at Mamak, and looking at the dish presented by purveyors of the curiously named ‘Milo Dinosaur’, Aseana Food Village, it’s apparent that there are many varieties of the mixed fruit and vegetable dish. This mostly fruit offering was doused in a dark, thick, sweet sauce that had unexpected (for me) hits of chilli and belacan, and was topped with a wealth crushed peanuts.

I liked the sauce combination with cucumber, fresh pineapple, pineapple, bean shoots and green apple but not so much with the very sweet pear and the hardened yau ja gwai or yu tiao bits – the Chinese fried long dough sticks commonly eaten with congee.

Muar chee from Aseana Food Village

On sample and frontline production here was muar chee, a glutinous rice cake that starts in a long strip and is quickly chopped and coated in crushed peanuts and sugar – almost like an easier, inside-out version of a Chinese sweet called cha gwo.

The 'tank' of Malacca cendol from Sydney Kopitiam Restaurant

Malacca cendol from Sydney Kopitiam Restaurant

After the semi dessert of the rojak, dessert proper followed with an all-round favourite of cendol – pandan flavoured noodle worms swimming in a gigantic tank of coconut milk, ice and liberal additions of palm sugar syrup. The latter rendered the drink/dessert extremely sweet, but not quite to the point of toothaches; more to the point of wanting another serve.

Cassava cake from Sydney Kopitiam Restaurant

We also picked up a couple of pieces of cassava cake – a not entirely attractive, slightly gelatinous cake made with cassava starch, palm sugar and desiccated coconut. After these slices, there was no more heading back into the fray for more food despite after-lunch specials – the sugar had finished the job.

Other stalls at the Malaysia Festival were Abang Sam (a great, casual place in Kensington) and Café Katsuri – both with halal offerings; Chinta Ria; Hometown Recipe, Jackie M Malaysian Cuisine, Kaki Lima, Penang Hawker, Sydney Kopitiam Restaurant and Wan’s Ayam Percik. Shame my stomach wasn't big enough to fit in something from every stall.

Satay at Abang Sam

Nasi lemak at Jimmy's Recipe

Traditional karipap (curry puffs)

Gorgeous, perfect buns from Papparoti

As the afternoon sun continued to beat down, the afternoon's entertainment was a good way to wind down the festival. The colourful traditional dresses and smiling dancers were a sight to see - and they all looked like they were enjoying themselves - especially the guys.

Dancers performing in the afternoon

Such vibrant outfits

Congrats to the organisers on such a great event - I think we'll all be looking forward to next year's with eager stomachs. Click here for the festival website.