Saturday, July 21, 2007 Royal Malaysian cuisine By Jenara Regis Newman
ONE of the newest dining places in town is Vensh along Gorordo Avenue, offering “royal Malaysian authentic cuisine.” For those who eat only halal food, this is the perfect place for dining because all the food is halal.
Chef Munah Ismail describes Malaysian cuisine as a fusion of Arab, Chinese and Indian cuisine. It uses a lot of dried chili, turmeric, ginger, coriander and star anise. And also coconut milk, especially for curry, which Vensh makes in several versions, like beef (kari daging), goat (kari kambing), chicken (kari ayam) and fish (kari ikan).
Those familiar with Malaysian food will readily recognize nasi goring, which is stir-fried rice with green chili, prawns, chicken and green peas with a spicy, pungent taste from belacan, which is dried shrimp paste. Mee goring is a noodle dish with mutton, mustard leaves, green chillies and potatoes, with a spicy, tomato-based sauce, and topped with prawn fritters.
Kankung goring belacan is a spicy version of our adobong kankong, made more exotic in taste with the addition of belacan. An all-time favorite is daging (beef) rending.
If you see kitchap in the Vensh menu, it is not the Malaysian version of ketchup. It is a thick, black sauce made from beans, which makes it similar to soy sauce.
According to chef Munah, she can adjust the spiciness of the food to make it milder. In any case, most of these dishes are served with free drinks that can lessen the sting of spiciness characteristic of Malaysian food. Chef Munah says the diner has a choice of lemon ice tea, syruo (which is a sweetened pandan concoction) or bandung (which is pandan syrup with milk).
Vensh, says manager Azman Hamzah, can accommodate 30 to 40 persons, including outside seating, which, at the time of this interview, was being expanded to include a grill.
