Paulaner Appreciation Dinner

Members of the media were treated to an Oktoberfest Appreciation Dinner recently by the folks at GAB and Paulaner at Boathouse in TTDI. Authentic German "kampung" Food as one of the GAB staff put it and traditionally prepared following old family recipe's. 

The five course meal was sumptuous and insightful as the history of Oktoberfest was explained. This celebration initially started as wedding celebration in 1810 to commemorate the union between Crown Prince Ludwig (who later became King Ludwig I) and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen at Theresienwiese (translated as Therese's meadow / field) – it is for this reason that Oktoberfest is referred to by Germans as ‘die Wiesn’ or ‘the field’. 

Through the years, Oktoberfest celebrations have had a number of different elements and activities, including horse races, street parades (in traditional costumes), live music, dancing and of course the appreciation of authentic Munich-brewed beer. All Oktoberfest beers must be brewed within the city limits of Munich and must also conform to the Reinheitsgebot or Bavarian Purity Law which strictly governs the production of beer in Germany by limiting the ingredients that can be used. Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier, like all Oktoberfest beers are approximately 13% proof (about 6% alcohol), meaning they are a little bit stronger than their “non-Oktoberfest” variants.

Currently, Oktoberfest is a truly global celebration with almost 7 million visitors consuming over 7 million litres of beer and more than half a million chickens throughout the celebration (based on 2011 figures), which lasts between 16 – 18 days from the middle of September to the first Sunday of October. For 2013, the Oktoberfest festival proper will run from 21 September 2013 to October 6 2013 – a total of 16 days of culture, cuisine and beers.

#Eatsomethingnice 17 (final) - Sup Kambing

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image credit: Veronica Ng

Imagine tender chunks of mutton, bones, shanks or ribs slowly simmered with aromatic herbs and spices then garnished with fried shallots and fresh cilantro, and served piping hot with Roti John or steamed rice.

If for some inexplicable reason you have not tried it, this hearty and flavorful soup - surprisingly earthy, satisfyingly meaty, elegant even - will forever change the way you view soup.

Sup kambing is a very hearty, spicy and aromatic broth traditionally made of goat bones and meat and that is cut into bite-sized chunks and stewed in spices, then served hot. This dish is always associated with the Indian Muslim community in Malaysia.

Kambing is Malay for “goat”. As mentioned earlier, Kambing soup is a rich broth made of goat or mutton stewed for hours and flavored with spices such as coriander, fennel, cumin, star anise and cinnamon. Although mutton is primarily used, chicken and beef are sometimes added to enrich the broth.

The meat is taken off the bone and diced into bite-sized pieces. It is then braised in curry powder before it is cooked. The greenish-yellow hue of the broth comes from the spices used while the meat adds a unique sweetness.

The soup is served piping hot and topped with coriander leaves and deep fried sliced shallots, accompanied by toasted bread on the side. In some parts of Malaysia, it is served with traditional Indian bread or roti Bengali.

It is believed that the younger the goat, the more tender the meat. Therefore although mutton refers to the meat of an older sheep, good sup kambing is usually produced from the meat of a younger goat or sheep. Some sources suggest that this dish evolved from the famed mulligatawny soup imported from British India into Malaya.

As with most Malaysian cuisine, variants abound and examples include the sup internasional (Malay for “international soup”), which is made of beef and mutton while sup ayam (Malay for “chicken soup”) is a lighter version made of chicken stock.

Sup urat is made of beef tendon while sup perut uses ox tripe. Other odd parts of the ox are used to make the soup and can be consumed separately, such as sup lidah (ox tongue), sup ekor (ox tail) and the rather famous sup torpedo (bull’s penis).

Reputed to have aphrodisiac qualities, sup torpedo usually sells for RM15 upwards. Another version of this is known as sup torpedo campur grenade (torpedo soup mixed with grenade) ie. bull’s penis with goat’s testicles. These variations are served the same way as ordinary sup kambing with slices of bread.

Sup tulang (bone soup), traditionally made of the bone marrow of goats, is also often referred to as sup kambing but the addition of tomatoes and different spices give this dish a completely different look and taste.

Finally, Hainanese mutton soup, although also made of mutton, is not related to the Indian Muslim sup kambing as its origins and ingredients are Chinese.

#Eatsomethingnice 16 - Satay

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image credit: Veronica Ng

Satay, those little skewers of grilled meat served with peanut sauce and accompanied with ketupat (Malay rice cake), cucumber and onion slices is a very popular dish in Malaysia. 

Satay may consist of diced chicken, mutton, beef, lamb, fish, rabbit or even ostrich grilled or barbecued over a wood or charcoal fire.

Walk down any street in the country and the mouthwatering aroma of satay exudes from practically every corner you pass: roadside satay stalls, hawker centers, pasar malam (night markets), kopitiam (Chinese coffee shops), and even high-end restaurants.

Satay is universally loved across Southeast Asia. It’s commonly believed that satay is the region’s distant cousin to the Middle-Eastern kebabs, thanks to the spice route and the culinary influence of the early Arab traders.

Its close cousins are yakitori from Japan, shish kebab from Turkey, shashlik from Caucasus, chuanr from China, and sosatie from South Africa. Satay is listed at number 14 on The World's 50 most delicious food readers' poll complied by CNN Go in 2011.

Each country of course has their own interpretation of satay, influenced by their own unique food culture and distinct palate. For instance, Indonesian satay tend to be sweeter because of kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) while the Thai satay is slightly less sweet since coconut milk is used instead.

Our very own satay is made with ingredients and spices commonly found in Malaysian cooking; shallots, lemongrass, kunyit (turmeric powder), and coriander powder. The basic recipe calls for the cook’s meat of choice to marinate for many hours or even overnight so as to lock in the flavor.

There are a number of well-known satay outlets in Kajang, Selangor which is dubbed the Satay City of the country. Satay Kajang has become a generic name for a style of satay where the meat chunks are bigger than normal, and the sweet peanut sauce served along with a portion of fried chilli paste.

Given its popularity, satay Kajang is now found throughout Malaysia. Stalls and restaurants around Kajang offer not only the more traditional chicken or beef satay, but also more exotic meat such as venison, rabbit or fish, as well as gizzard, liver, and a number of other variations.

Another version of satay is the satay lok-lok from Penang and sate celup (dipped satay) from Malacca. Both are Malaysian Chinese fusions of the hotpot and the Malay satay.

Pieces of raw meat, tofu, century eggs, quail eggs, fish cake, offal or vegetables are skewered on bamboo sticks. These are cooked by the customers themselves by being dipped in boiling water or soup stock. The satay is then eaten with a sweet, dark sauce, sometimes with chilli sauce as an accompaniment. 

There are usually no tables or chairs near street vendors, so customers tend to gather around the mobile food van.

If the satay is eaten with satay sauce, it is called sate lok-lok. If the satay is cooked with boiling satay peanut sauce, it is called sate celup. Both dishes are available from street vendors or in restaurants, and the majority are non-halal.

#Eatsomethingnice 14 - Sabah's famous beef stew (Ngiu Chap)

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image credit: blogger Royce, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

No trip to Sabah is complete without sampling its famous Beef stew delicacy known locally in the Hakka language as Ngiu Chap. It is a noodle dish made of beef slices, beef balls and innards which have been slow-cooked with white radish and various Chinese herbs and spices.

This tender, juicy and flavorful dish is served with a choice of rice vermicelli, yellow noodles or flat noodles. You can also have it in the wet form, where the noodles and meat are entirely drenched in soup, or the dry version, where the noodles and soup are served separately.

This Kota Kinabalu favorite with a home cooked style and flavorful broth is not overly greasy yet still powerfully beefy.  It tastes like the beef has been simmered for hours with radish, onions and the other aromatic herbs.  One of our favorite things about the clear soup is the handful of fresh herbs (in this case cilantro and green onions) garnishing the dish.

Though it is basically a beef soup, the main stars of the dish are the thumb-sized tender chunks of beef and the clear flavorful broth. The rice vermicelli is slightly different from the normal version as it is thicker but surprisingly very smooth. The meat is soft and springy to the bite. We can clearly see how Ngiu Chap rates highly as a comfort food among the crowd in Sabah on a wet rainy night.

Be sure to try the extra-hot chili sauce to complement your meal. Made from bird’s eye chili (cili padi), it’s so good that the coffee shops have now bottled it to sell to those who want to bring the fiery experience back home with them.

The beefy taste of Ngiu Chap may be a little too ethnic for Westerners who aren’t particularly adventurous with their food. High sodium and MSG levels in certain coffee shops may also be a health concern for some.

Although similar beef noodle stews are also available in Kuala Lumpur at locations in Lebuh Ampang, Jalan Silang, Petaling Street, Jalan Alor, Hartamas and Taman Tun, Sabahans rightfully claim that their home state’s version is still the best.  

#Eatsomethingnice 14 - Sarawak's Ayam Pansuh

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image credit:  Chai Chin Heng, Kuching, Sarawak

Manok Pansuh or Ayam Pansuh is probably the best known and loved chicken delicacy in Sarawak. Cut chicken pieces, mushrooms, lemongrass and tapioca leaves are stuffed into a bamboo cylinder and cooked over an open fire.  This natural cooking method seals in the flavors and produces an astonishingly tender and juicy chicken with a gravy perfumed with lemongrass and bamboo.

Apparently pansuh is originally Iban word and the dish is most commonly prepared during festive occasions such as Hari Gawai.

The uniqueness of using the bamboo stem to cook is that the bamboo imparts a special aroma and texture to the food which is impossible to achieve using other cooking methods.

By employing this method of cooking, free range locally bred chicken which normally has a chewy texture will tenderize under the steam pressure that accumulates and circulates within the bamboo.

For us city slickers where the luxury of cooking on an open fire and with bamboo is out of question, one can still try to emulate the taste, aroma and texture of the traditionally prepared ayam pansuh by cheating and using a conventional slow cooker or cooking in a heavy bottomed pot under low heat for a longer duration. Whatever method you employ, the trick is to cook the chicken with a minimal amount of water without it getting burned in the process.

With some help from our friends at the Tribal Stove Restaurant in Kuching, Sarawak (more about them here) we will attempt to describe how to prepare the traditional ayam pansuh.

You will need a lemang bamboo, a whole chicken, bunga kantan, pounded garlic, lemongrass and shallots, diced turmeric leaves, salt, preferably organic Bario Highland Salt and a banana leaf. Despite the deceptively simple ingredients, you’ll be amazed at the final results.

First things first. Before using the bamboo, fill it with water for half an hour to an hour to clean the inside, and encourage the water to seep in. Then slightly char the chicken over a fire to enhance the yum factor.

You can have it cooked through if you prefer. While waiting for that, you can dice the bunga kantan into small pieces. Once the chicken is done to your preference, dice it up into desirable pieces.

Mix all the other ingredients together and marinate the chicken pieces Empty the water from the bamboo and stuff in the marinated meat. Don't compact all the meat but leave it loose. Ensure that you have some tapioca leaves left to cap the bamboo later on.

If you want pansuh soup, add in a cup of water. Capp the bamboo with tapioca leaves and proceed to cook over a pit fire with your bamboo standing at a 60-80 degree angle.

Your pansuh is cooked when the water starts to gurgle at the cap. Be careful to take note of the color change on the tapioca leaves to determine if it is cooked.

You are now ready to serve your own home cooked ayam pansuh by transferring the fragrant juicy and tender meat onto a plate. It is best taken with hot plain rice. Enjoy!