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Review: The Real Food Festival 2010 - Earl's Court | The London Insider

2010-05-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

Review: The Real Food Festival 2010 - Earl's Court | The London Insider

Malaysia says its local dishes 'hijacked

2009-09-18T10:18:00.000-07:00

Malaysia says its local dishes 'hijacked': report

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Malaysia will lay claim to its signature dishes like laksa and chicken rice which are being "hijacked" by other countries, the tourism minister said according to a report Thursday.Skip related content

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Those on the list include the fragrant coconut milk rice 'nasi lemak', spicy soup noodle 'laksa' and pork ribs herbal soup 'bak kut teh', Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen said according to the Star newspaper.

"We cannot continue to let other countries hijack our food. Chili crab is Malaysian. Hainanese chicken rice is Malaysian. We have to lay claim to our food," she was quoted as saying.

"In the next three months, we will identify certain key dishes (to declare as Malaysian). We have identified laksa... all types of laksa, nasi lemak and bak kut teh," she added.

Ng said her ministry will announce a strategy on how to brand the dishes as Malaysian.

"That is Part Two. We cannot reveal it yet, but we will let you know soon," she reportedly said.

Does Thai and Malasyian cusines fits into the British lifestyle?

2009-03-17T03:41:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed a rise in interest in Thai and Malaysian Food?

The interesting trend in the past years have been the raise of Thai and Malaysian cuisines and the use of these ingredients in modern British cooking to increase the taste, flavours and spiciness of home cooking, mainly due to the adventurous Brits travelling and backpacking in Asia during gap years. Whilst, those visiting Australia have started to use Thai & Malaysian ingredients to flavour British dishes, such as Thai Green curry paste mixed with yoghurt to use as a quick marinade for roasting chicken legs.

What are the most popular flavours?
Thai Green and Thai Red curry. Malaysian Rendang and Kapitan and our Laksa (soup flavours)

How do you think Thai and Malaysian cuisine fits into the British lifestyle?
The Thai and Malaysian cuisine fits into the British hectic lifestyle by allowing tasty, quick meals to be created from leftovers or overstocked items in the fridge that are near the end date.

Firstly, due to the time constraint and budget constraints of recent time, it makes the weekly food shopping lasts longer. One meal could be a roast chicken dish with roast potato and veg, the next day would be the left over chicken and diced potato and veg used in a Thai red curry dish. Another example is the use of cheaper cut meat that needs to be cook for longer but still quick to prepare - oxtail, braising steak cut in Rendang flavours that is slow cook for over an hour but tastes better the next day and can be freeze for future meals. Though the prep time is about 12 mins so leaving plenty of time to do other household chores or chill out with a glass of wine and a favourite TV show whilst the dish slows simmers.

Secondly, we found the Laksa range, which is the noodle soup flavours, creates great quick meals for parties without having the stress of cooking for different people and their dietary requirements. The soup base is quickly simmered in a pot. On the side are the cooked noodles (spaghetti is quite acceptable substitute if it is easier to get or already in the kitchen), chicken (breasts or legs), beef, seafood, vegs all on separate plates and dishes. So each bowl of noodle soup is created by the individual according to their taste and appetite. It means you can be as creative as you like and the separate ingredients are not wasted and can be used as curry dishes the next day.