Expat Life covered an article on “Malaysian Cuisine: Peranakan Food” in the December/January issue last year. Recently, Kelab Malaysia of Thailand (KMT) with support from the Embassy of Malaysia organised the 2021 Penang Street Food Festival at the Holiday Inn Bangkok Sukhumvit.
The official opening was inaugurated by HE Dato’ Jojie Samuel, Ambassador of Malaysia to the Kingdom of Thailand and Dato’ Bobby Tai, President of KMT. The one day event displayed a total of 12 vendors, which specialised in authentic Penang cuisine coming together to offer their culinary highlights. The objective of the function was to promote Malaysian cuisine, especially dishes from the state of Pulau Pinang to club members and friends
Among the savoury dishes on were on offered include the island’s iconic delicacies such as stir-fried char koay teow noodle dish; mee goreng mamak (stir-fried fresh egg noodles with tofu, shrimp and peanut sauce); and chee choeng fun (steamed rice noodle rolls with sweet shrimp paste sauce). Other mouth watery signature dishes were nasi kandar (a platter of rice with side items); rojak buah (Javanese-styled spicy fruit salad); loh bak (crispy five spice meat roll); and the famous Penang White Curry Mee noodles. Dessert and beverage offerings included teh tarik (pulling milk-tea); cendol and cucur badak (sweet potato cake). Authentic local delicacies (such as nutmeg) and sauces from Penang were imported for this occasion.
Due to Covid travel restrictions, many Malaysians residing in Bangkok who have been missing their local food turned up on the day to sample the flare prepared by their countrymen. The 300+ foodies who were at the event included other international and local visitors in Bangkok and nearby provinces, who came as individuals, family and friends groups and left with bags of takeaways as well. Many left with a satisfying stomach and asking for the date of the next Penang!
