I hadn't even heard of Nyonya cuisine until my last few trips to Malaysia. Mum was on the hunt for cookbooks, and I remember looking out for them when wondering into book shops.

I never thought I would be able to cook any Nyonya recipes, but after seeing a tempting curry on a recent episode of Poh's Kitchen, Hamsley and I were both dying to try this particular curry.
I didn't add all 20 chillies as listed, as I didn't know how spicy Hamsley could handle; as Nyonya food is usually quite on the spicy side.
It seemed easy enough on the show, but the recipe on the website failed to include tumeric in the ingredients list. It did list tamarind pieces, but failed to say when to add them. So I got the end of my cooking then released I didn't add them in.


I ended up shelling the prawns as I knew Hamsley wouldn't really be a fan of getting his hand all icky whilst eating, but left a few shelled for presentation. I found the prawns that stayed shelled to not be as spicy as their un-shelled companions.


Unfortunately our "blender" didn't grind my spice mix as fine as I would have liked, but it did a good enough job. I'll be picking up a Sunbeam foodprocessor/blender sooner rather than later after that experience. 

The smells coming from the kitchen as I fried the spice mix were amazing! I was immediately transported back to Malaysia. The taste was also fantastic. The spiciness of the chilli, mixed with the sweetness of the pineapple; which helped to bite through the spiciness; then all brought together with coconut cream. So lucious!

Can't wait to cook this for my family when they come down from the motherland!

 To learn more about Nyona: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peranakan

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You know when your mum has had a really really tough day at work, when you get home and she is at the door waiting for you to arrive home to announce you are all going out for dinner... on a Tuesday. This is the kind of thing I would expect on Friday, or a Thursday; so I was quite surprised we were dining out on a Tuesday.
So I quickly ducked inside, put down all my stuff and, of course; grabbed my camera!

I had been to Straits a few times before but wasn't a fan. I didn't like the fact that they used what we started calling "plastic prawns". You know the prawns that are precooked and looked like they have been soaking in chemicals. I hadn't returned for a few years, but Mum had returned recently and was so impressed, she was looking forward to going again.

We ordered 3 dishes between the 3 of us. Penang char kueh teow arrived first, but Dad found this mild version to be too hot; and thus we ended up ordering a 4th dish to keep him happy. It was rather good, but I wanted more of a wok taste to it. This was still, one of the better ones I've had outside of Malaysia.


The seafood curry laksa wasn't like a normal curry laksa. It had more of a sweet taste to it. I was wondering if it was a dominant lemongrass flavour, but Mum just said it was just sweeter than we were used to. Plenty of seafood, and I still enjoyed the flavour.

The sar hor fun was the most authentic dish of the night. It had a delicious gravy and a real wok flavour. So, so, so good!

The Hainanese chicken rice was the 4th dish ordered and it was just perfect. Delicious sauce, very tender chicken; I could have eaten it all.

I am looking forward to going back and trying another one of my favorite dishes; mee goreng.

Great for take away or dining in. I'm so glad that I've finally found some good Malaysian food in Melbourne. The best part about it is, it's close to home too!
There is also a Straits Cafe in Doncaster, but I cannot say if it is as good as the Studfield restaurant.

A cooking post tomorrow my fellow lovers of food!

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As you may have seen in a previous post, a few of us went out for flaming crepes a few weeks ago. Before having dessert we wanted to have some dinner, so we went to a Chinese / Malaysian restaurant just a few doors down.

I had the curry laksa which was very very bland. I had to request for some soy sauce. I added so much soy sauce, and there was still no flavour! I was very disappointed as I was really looking forward to a nice spicy soup with lots of noodles and chicken.

Rob had the Ipoh Ho Fun, which was not what was I was expecting it would be. It was still a delicious looking noodle soup for a cold wintery night. Rob said it was a little bland as well, but not as bad as the curry laksa.

Flaky tofu and a vegetarian fried kway teow were enjoyed by the vegetarians. No complaints of blandness about either dish. The flaky tofu, looking a bit like a creme caramel looked very delicious.

In my opinion, I probably wouldn't go back. I'd be willing to give it another try, but from what I had, it wasn't very authentic. Service was pretty good, prices were reasonable but not that cheap being in South Yarra.

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A while ago I tried a place in Camberwell that I had walked past quite a few times and always wanted to go in.
Being half Malaysian, I'm usually craving some kind of Malaysian cuisine, usually curry laksa! So Nerdy Rob and I headed down to give this place a go.

We wondered in for lunch about 45 minutes before they were due to close, but they still welcomed us in and service was good.

We started with what my mum makes really really well, Pie Tee. Whilst these looked delicious they weren't as good as my mum's! A different filling to what I'm used to, and topped with cold prawns and scallops. If they weren't cold the dish would have been better.


This is a dish I used to order ALL the time when I was younger. I'm not sure what it was but I always enjoyed it and always ended up covered in soya sauce by the end of the meal. These were delicious, a good sized serve full of seafood.


And I finally got my curry laksa and it was everything I wanted it to be. Good soup, which some people can easily screw up, plenty of noodles and fish cake. I will be returning here if I'm in the area and want laksa again.

Monk and Me is a lovely place with big doors that open up to the pavement during the hotter months. A good menu and decor, with great service. I can't wait to go back to try more dishes!

Monk & Me
9 Evans Place
Hawthorn East VIC 3123

Tel: 03 9813 3261
Fax: 03 9813 1151

Web: http://www.monkandme.com.au

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