My Malaysian Epicurean Adventures : Jackie M

It’s finally here, the last week (week 4) of my Malaysian Epicurean Adventures for the Malaysia Kitchen Blogger Summit. Over the last few weeks I have visited a number of great Malaysian restaurants in the Sydney area, and I know there are so many more Malaysian restaurants out there that I want to try. Over the last couple of weeks I have been given recommendations for a number of restaurants, but there was one name that came up quite a few times, and that is the restaurant I decided to visit this week. Jackie M in Concord.

Jackie M is a Malaysian restaurant that was started by Malaysian-born owner and chef Jackie Shonquist, who moved to Australia at the age of seventeen from her childhood hometown, Seremban, located to the south of Kuala Lumpur. Shonquist, who was wanting to recreate the flavours of her childhood, started her business around five years ago using the current premises initially only as a prep room for her curry pastes and sauces (made using only Halal ingredients) that were sold at various Sydney markets. About a year ago, the restaurant was opened to the public on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights as well.

With such limited opening hours, I made sure to pre-book. Taking no chances, we arrived early on a Thursday night (having been turned away the previous week due to a fully-booked restaurant) and stepped inside, where we were greeted by a smiling face guiding us to our table. While we contemplating over the scrumptious-sounding menu I ordered myself a Durian smoothie, which I know is not for everyone, as it is known for its unique taste.

The first dish to arrive was the Ayam Goreng, and when it arrived we were faced with four huge deep-fried chicken wings marinated in a delectable blend of spices. The chicken was lovely and moist on the inside and the spices were delicious. All the chicken wings disappeared off the plate quickly and the mixture of spices (including garlic, ginger, turmeric and galangal) coating the chicken made my mouth-water.

Next to be served was the Popiah, meaning “fresh wafer” that was absolutely amazing. Popiah is made with a thin pancake/crepe that is then filled with varying ingredients. At Jackie M, the Popiah is filled with a shredded yam bean (sarkot), minced dried shrimp mix, egg, lettuce & cucumber, but other ingredients can be added such as tofu, Chinese sausage or fried pork lard for those in non-halal settings.

Not having salads at any of the previous venues, I decided to try one of those on offer at Jackie M, and chose the Rojak, which is Malay for mixture. This particular Rojak was a Penang- style fruit and vegetable salad including fruits such as pineapple, cucumber, and yam bean with a prawn-paste dressing, also used in the dish was Yow Char Kway (fried dough stick), crushed peanuts and toasted sesame seeds. The sauce was thick, and a balanced mixture of sweet, sour and spicy and the Yow Char Kway added a wonderful soft, doughy texture to the crunchiness of the fruit.

The mains that we ordered were all dishes that were recommended to me either by friends, customers and/or staff. From our viewing of the menu, we both specifically wanted to try the Ngau Lam Fun, which is beef brisket slices on a bed of rice noodles with salted veggies, roasted peanuts and toasted sesame seeds, served with a side of beef broth.

Speaking to the waitress, we were told that the Ngau Lam Fun can be a little bit salty for some peoples tastes. Not to be deterred, we decided to order it anyway both liking salty foods, and sharing a love of brisket. While the Ngau Lam Fun was a little on the salty side, for me, this was a good thing and the beef brisket was delicious, and actually paired well with the Durian smoothie as well.

Next to arrive was the Hainanese Chicken Rice, made from poached chicken slices served with garlic-flavoured rice, cucumber, ginger chilli sauce & ginger spring onion relish with a side of chicken broth. This was a wonderful dish, with soft, moist, boneless chicken and when paired with the broth brought a comforting tone to the to the dish that my partner almost finished the dish on his own.

Last but not least was the Deluxe Laksa Nonya, made Nonya style with Vermicelli & Hokkien noodles in a spicy coconut-based soup with egg, tofu, shredded cucumber, fried shallots and laksa leaves. This was amazing. The combination of creamy and spicy flavours paired with the shredded cucumber which added a freshness to the bowl which I have not experienced in a Laksa before. The cucumber brings another element to an already fabulous dish and is something I will certainly be incorporating into dishes for the future.

As always, my favourite part of the evening was the desserts, and although they tasted fantastic, that wasn’t the reason why. This was the first time that I have been able to see Roti being made fresh for one of my desserts. What a momentous occasion! Both Roti dishes, the Banana Roti and the Roti Kaya, sounded mouth-wateringly delicious, and I eventually decided on the Roti Kaya and headed into the kitchen to see how one was made.

Spreading the dough thinly across the work bench, Jackie then placed a pan under the dough folding it on top of itself with spreading with coconut jam as she went. The end result of this process was a light, fluffy roti that was sweet, delicious and quite probably the best Roti that I have had so far.

Once again, I tried the Ais Campur, now a favourite of mine. The wonderous mixture of palm sugar, rose syrup, and evaporated milk served with red bean, creamed corn and grass jelly was again amazing. I will need to start making these for myself soon, as I believe I may have started a small addiction.

All the dishes I tried at Jackie M were fantastic and fresh, with the savoury dishes being adequately spicy. There was a great variety of Malaysian dishes available on the menu, where you can almost taste the love and memories of a childhood spent in Malaysia.

There are so many incredible dishes in Malaysian cuisine that have been influenced by the many different cultures that have come to Malaysia, and have been intermingled to so that Malaysian cuisine is unique. With all these influences there is no wonder that Malaysian can provide something for everyone. I’m sad that my Malaysian adventures for the Malaysia Kitchen Summit are drawing to a close, but I can’t wait for my next Malaysian adventure to start, and as they say Selamat Makan (eat well).

Natalie Manning dined as a guest of Malaysia Kitchen.

Jackie M
85 Majors Bay Road
Concord, Sydney, NSW
+61 2 9743 0390