My Malaysian Epicurean Adventures: Malaysia O’Town Kopitiam

Selamat Datang (or welcome in English) to the second week of my Malaysian Epicurean Adventures for the Malaysian Kitchen Bloggers Summit. This week I am looking to try a few new dishes and, while I’m at it, to further my knowledge about Malaysian cuisine. For this week’s adventure I have decided to visit Malaysian O’Town Kopitiam in Croydon, NSW, which specialises in Malaysian hawker style food that would normally be served at a Kopitiam.

Kopitiam’s are coffee shops, popular in South-East Asia, and is derived from the Malay word for coffee, Kopi, and the Hokkien word for shop, Tiam. In Malaysia, Kopitiams are normally Malaysian-Chinese coffee shops that will exclusively serve Malay Chinese cuisine. Normally serving breakfast foods, Kopitiams also extend to serving lunch and dinner as well with common dishes being served including Char Kuay Teow, Hokkien Mee, and Nasi Lemak.

Malaysia O’Town Kopitiam, opened a year ago, is the baby sister to the original Kopitiam Cafe, which was established in 1990 by owner/chef Peter Chan. Peter drew on his Malay-Chinese background to open both the Kopitiam Cafe, and the Malaysia O’Town Kopitiam, after arriving in Australia 30 years ago from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Walking into Chef Chan’s restaurant, instantly you feel the the relaxed, family atmosphere with Peter’s nephew greeting us at the door and showing us to our table.

As Kopitiams are traditionally a coffee shop, I decided to start my evening with a traditional Malaysian tea – Teh Tarik (pulled tea). This Malaysian tea is frothed by pouring from mug to mug (or in this case jug to jug) and is served warm and milky with a little sweetness on the palate.

Once again my eyes were bigger than my stomach, but how could I restrain myself when everything was sounding so delicious. For our entree we ordered both the Sate (Chicken Satay) and Tauhu Bakar Sumbat (beancurd stuffed with cucumber and bean sprouts). The Sate, consisting of moist marinated chicken, was served with a side of peanut sauce. The sauce was a combination of both smooth and crunchy textures, with a chilli aftertaste that creeps over your tongue, refreshing the palate from the heavy peanut flavours.

The Tauhu Bakar Sumbat was incredible. A crispy outside, flowing onto the soft centre of the bean curd, both a little salty, then on the next bite you get the crunch of the sweet, watery cucumber and bean sprouts as well as a little added chilli to balance out the flavours. I quite easily could have eaten the whole plate, but I knew if I did I wouldn’t be able to finish the rest of my meal. Lucky I did as the mains started arriving at our table shortly after.

The first dish to arrive was Nasi Lemak, which is also considered to be the national dish of Malaysia, meaning “fatty rice”, which comes from the cooking process where rice is soaked in coconut cream and then steamed, and normally is served with cucumber slices, small dried anchovies (ikan bilis), roasted peanuts, a hard boiled egg, and a hot spicy sauce (sambal) at its core. When our dish arrived it was accompanied with chicken and beef, and was delicious. The saltiness of the anchovies, mixed with the sweetness of the cucumber, and heat from the chilli combined together for a perfect combination. It was easy to see why this is the national dish with so many fantastic flavours.

Next to arrive was the Char Kuay Teow, meaning fried flat noodles, is a popular dish in Malaysia made from flat rice noodles that are stir-fried over very high heat. The dish was first served by fishermen, farmers and cockle-gatherers who doubled as char kuay teow hawkers in the evening to supplement their income. This simple dish made from a combination of light and dark soy sauce, chilli, prawns, and bean sprouts was immense.

Chef Peter Chan, advised Char Kuay Teow is all about “Wokhei”, a word meaning taste of the wok, or how you cook, not just the ingredients used. The taste of Char Kuay Teow can vary dramatically depending on a person’s Wokhei and this dish had great Wokhei.

The King Prawn Laksa, which I was advised is what they are most renowned for, was the next dish. I am a big fan of laksa and was interested to see how this would compare to others I had tried. Well this did not disappoint. I love the rich sauce made with a coconut milk base, and although I could have had more chilli in my bowl, there was no need to add more as the symmetry of the laksa was impeccable.

Beef Rendang and Belacan Buncis were the next to arrive at the table. The Beef Rendang was moist, and fell apart in your mouth. Added to this were flavours of coconut milk, lemongrass, chilli and candle nuts (buah keras). Candle Nuts are typical in Nyonya cooking and adds a creamy texture, as well as thickening the dish. The combination of ingredients in the Beef Rendang provide a rich, thick sauce with undertones of coconut that permeated my taste buds.

Bean Buncis, or fried green beans with a spicy prawn sauce, were served still semi-crunchy (a must for me), and were coated with the scrumptious chilli and oil flavours of the sauce. The mixture of the crunchiness and softness of the beans themselves, was added to by the extra crunch and spice from the prawn sauce. Even when my savoury stomach was reaching its capacity I still couldn’t stop picking at the beans on the table in front of me.

I love sweet things, so of course desserts are a must. I decided to order both the Ice Kacang and Malacca Cendol. On arrival, I couldn’t decide where to start so I did what any normal girl would do, eat both. My first mouthful was of the Malacca Cendol a dessert made with coconut milk, palm sugar and shaved ice. Added to this was pandan jelly, jelly made with the essence of the Pandan leaf (a tropical plant in South-East Asia), which are the green noodles in the photo. Sweet, delicious, and tasting of coconut, it was like my mouth had escaped to a tropical island party.

Not to be outdone was the Ice Kacang. Ice Kacang is a delicious Malaysian dessert that is made from shaved ice flavoured with grass jelly, agar jelly, red bean, sweet corn, evaporated milk, rose syrup and palm sugar. Together they made a kaleidoscope of colours and flavours which when combined turns into a nectar of the gods, an ambrosial taste in my mouth. So many fantastic flavours and textures, I didn’t ever want to finish my bowl.

With the mouth-watering delicious flavours left in my mouth, and two weeks into my adventures, I am off in search of the next gem in my epicurean trail. Already I am starting to learn a little bit more about the importance and diversity of Malaysian cuisine, but I am sure that there is still much to learn before my adventures come to an end.

Please feel free to let me know of any Malaysian restaurants in Sydney that you think need to be explored.

Natalie Manning from Inside Cuisine dined as a guest of Malaysia Kitchen.

Malaysia O’Town Kopitiam
21 The Strand
Croydon, NSW, 2132
+61 2 9745 2858