Cooking lessons in rural Malaysia

One of my goals has been to take a couple cooking classes while we're traveling.   Wouldn't it be great to perfect a spicy peanut satay sauce or learn how to properly cook fish?  From the beginning, I've been keeping my eyes open for such opportunities.  Problem is, any lessons I've come across have been a little steep for my taste.  And I had something different in mind than a bland cooking class at a five star hotel...

Sue and Lili

In a small restaurant in Kuala Tahan we loved the food so much we wanted to lick the plates clean.  I got to thinking:  Why don't I ask if one of the chefs would teach me a couple things?  If they said no, so be it.  I approached the kitchen in the middle of the day and explained my request to the group of women who were sitting around visiting & chatting. Here, restaurants are almost always a family affair; mothers and daughters and aunts serving tables, cooking, or even looking after children.  At first, because of the language barrier, there was some confusion but one woman, Lili, spoke some English.  It turned out they were flattered and eager to accommodate my somewhat strange request.  Did I want to come back tonight for the dinner hour?  What did I want to learn?  

Later that evening I went back to the kitchen and Lili enthusiastically invited me in.  She introduced me to her mother-in-law/lead cook, Aka.   I should mention that Aka did not speak any English.  She knew a few words, mainly food related, such as "fried rice", which is also the extent of my knowledge of the Bahasa Malay language.  But this made it even more of an interesting adventure.  It turned out we could communicate without saying a whole lot.    Between Aka's pointing and demonstrating, and Lili's occasional explanations, I was able to learn a fair bit about various ingredients and techniques.

frequently used condiments

Every good cook has their favorite implements, like an old wooden spoon or a lucky saucepan.  Aka's was a huge wok, battered and blackened with use.  The kitchen space was extremely rustic; there were no fancy stainless steel appliances to be found.  Yet order and logic prevailed.  Commonly used seasonings, such as sugar, salt, curry powder, and soy sauce were in wide-mouthed containers within arms reach of the stove, the vegetables were gathered in one place, and chili peppers had been minced ahead of time.  Isn't this what the French call "mise-en-place"?  I watched as Aka first poured some oil into the heated wok, then turned to slice some ginger.  She knew exactly how many seconds she had to spare before the oil would start to smoke.   I was curious about what type of oil she preferred, so I asked Lili, who said it depended what was available at the local market.  One week it could be coconut oil, the next it might be peanut!  A similar approach is taken with the fruits and vegetables.    

Green Curry soup with lemon grass

Once we were finished the evening's cooking, I was invited to come back another time.  And the next day turned out to be much more hands-on.  Under Aka's watchful eye, I was in charge of the wok and prepared her version of nasi goreng (fried rice), mee goreng (fried noodles) and sayur campur (mixed stir-fried vegetables).  But the highlight was a rich green curry soup with fish and lemon grass.  One of the secrets I learned is to very briefly toast the curry powder in the hot oil to bring out the full depth of flavor.  I scribbled copious notes after the two days - though there are no measurements for the recipes, just a dash of this and a handful of that.  But sadly, would you believe that we didn't take any photos - not of me in the kitchen, nor of our culinary creations.  Just to give you an idea, though, I've included a photo of the curry soup that our friend Arindam ordered in Bali.  It's very similar to the one we made and believe me, it tastes better than it looks.

I'm glad I asked for the impromptu cooking lessons and am looking forward to trying out the recipes at home.  We all had plenty of laughs, and I will never forget the warm welcome I received from these friendly women.  Lili summed it up for me: "When you're with us, here in the kitchen, you're family!"