One of the first, most exciting things we did was have satay at my Aunty Rainy’s house in Kuala Lumpur. Her husband, Uncle Roy, is a Datuk (a lord) and she is a Datin (a lady)! They are Muslims, which is great for me because I don’t eat pork! They have a huge extended family – children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so on – and thus their house always has a wonderful, homey and comfortable feeling. The children are so supercute!


My cousin and his daughter. Whatta cutie!

Anyway, on to the Satay Man. I think that the concept of the “Satay Man” is foreign to Australians. And by the way, if you don’t know what satay is, it is Malaysian style skewered chargrilled meat. And shame on you for not knowing!

So, when Aunty Rainy wants satay, she calls the satay man, and he comes around to her house with his cart and grills up a storm of chicken and beef satays. They are served with loads of peanut gravy, cucumber, red onions and these rice square things (cooked rice formed into cube shapes). The atmosphere was amazing! Just all of us standing around at her gates, talking and eating loads and loads of the most delicious, tender, chewy, juicy, charred satay ever! The wonderfully inviting smoky smell just wafts through the air and lets everyone around know that we are eating satay.

It’s quite scary the amount of satay that can be eaten in one sitting. 20 sticks is practically NOTHING.


Satay Man


Satay man fanning


That's us eating (my bro on the left hand side)


More eating - Uncle Roy standing, my Dad sitting


Mmmm... that's my satay!

We have just returned from a month in Malaysia, eating our way through. Here is the first in a series of posts about the food we ate.

Malaysian food predominantly a mix of Malay (i.e. Malaysian Muslim), Chinese and Indian food, although, of course, there are other influences (e.g. British colonialism etc).

But the most important thing (for me, anyway) about eating in Malaysia is not necessarily what you eat, but how you eat. People eat 4-5 times a day. There's breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner and supper... and that's not including snacks and little treats (of which there are many). There are always food shops open. Even at 3am in the morning, you will be able to find a curry shop, or a little kopitiam (coffee shop) in which to have a drink. All social events revolve around food, and when you meet a friend, the common greeting is "Have you eaten yet?". Sharing food itself can be a social event, and in the case of the older relatives especially, sharing food is sharing love and friendship. And it's cheap! So so cheap!

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur at about 10pm (that's 1am Australian time), and after dumping our bags at our cousin's house, went straight to a local (southern) Indian shop for Roti Canai! That's flaky Indian bread, cooked on a hot griddle, served with curry for dipping and eaten with the hands. The best roti is crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and definitely cooked all the way through!


Mee & my Roti - first night in Kuala Lumpur

What a great way to start our trip!