I give up on the number of times where I tell outsiders that no, fried tomato noodles are NOT local spaghetti bolognese. Yes, there is such a thing as fried noodles in tomato sauce. Yes, tomato sauce. As in ketchup. And no, it is not weird. It’s one of the best things since kolomee, ok. You find it only in Kuching, it comes in various forms - crispy, limp, fat, kueh teow or beehoon. There’s usually fish cake pieces in it, fish ball, barbecued pork and a sprinkling of greens.
I found a cool variation of the Kuching tomato fried noodle just yesterday. Most Malaysian noodle aficionados are well-versed in the classic Cantonese style - the “wad tan hor”. Sometimes I can’t decide between a Cantonese style or a tomato fried. But I didn’t have to worry. This new place does a tomato fried Cantonese style noodle bonanza that’s above average in taste and gigantic in portion. The taste of tomato is pleasantly subtle; the egg adds a smoothness to the noodles and the overall slurp factor is pretty damn good.
Plus, the people are friendly, try very hard to please, and they’re a struggling new business. Worth checking them out. Their out at Green Road, right opposite Chonglin Plaza, and they’re called Sunshine Corner, next to Tay’s Drugstore. Open for breakfast and lunch.
Eggplant Salad_wordsmith
I used to hate eggplant. Brinjal, as we call it here. It was mushy and squishy, like a mashed up lizard or frog, or snail. And it was tasteless. And a yucky purple when cooked. Who eats yucky purple not-quite-vegetable thingies? So I grew up not liking it very much. Until I learned to like the taste of belacan. Then, I didn’t mind squishy yucky purple because anything cooked in belacan pretty much rocks, big time.
But then I came across this eggplant salad a couple of months ago, and it pretty much blew my mind on eggplant and its possibilities. Lightly grilled, tossed with cashew nuts, onion, stirfried pork mince, lemon, with a light sprinkle of dried chilli flakes and egg hard boiled to an orangey perfection; what really surprised me was the burst or flavour and texture. Kinda like a well-behaved, classy yet fun party happening in the mouth. My gosh. I was completely in love with eggplant. How is that possible?
Culinary creativity. Nothing beats the diversity that exists in Asia. I had this lovely little secret surprise in Bangkok, in a completely unassuming, almost mundane eatery where the waiters spoke no English. On that trip, the shopping was overshadowed by the quality of the food. I love the splashes of colour, tangy flavours, sour tones, spicy and light nature that pretty much characterises Thai food.
This eggplant salad is not quite typical Thai and yet is as Thai as you can get at the same time. All I can say is, viva la purple squishy almost-vegetables.
