Every place has a history. There are rough times when people leave their homes in large numbers and all of those people end up somewhere trying to build a better life. For as long as humans have existed there has been a continuous swirl of migrating peoples around the globe and this makes for some very interesting cultural blending. One manifestation of this is the way people make food, and tasting that food can be a fun way to expose myself to those cultures and learn a little bit about how the world came to be as it is. It’s actually one of the main motivations for me to travel, along with snorkeling, of course.
A recent example of this was something we encountered in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. There is a beautiful older section of the city which is the main tourist zone. We were staying at a place a little bit outside of that zone which was nice because we could walk to see the historic district but we were actually in a normal neighborhood, and sometimes the normal everyday things are just as interesting as the tourist attractions. We did a fair amount of walking and saw a lot of decayed British Colonial architecture and very ornate Indian and Chinese temples in the old quarter but when it came time to eat, I generally just looked right around where we were staying which revealed some fantastic local food.
The Indian fried chicken, rice, and curry medley that we had in Kuala Lumpur turned up again and it did not disappoint. The Indian-Malaysians running these places also displayed a certain warmth and friendliness that I have to admit is somewhat uncharacteristic for Malaysia. Another nice surprise occurred on our way home one night when we slightly adjusted our course and suddenly we were surrounded by food carts and people having dinner. Here’s Fern in her patiently-waiting-for-Jim-to-take-a-photo stance.
One of the biggest treats happened to be right next to our hotel. At first I simply had no idea what it was and they were closed during the afternoon so we walked past it countless times but overlooked it. Eventually I became curious and looked it up on the internet which sealed my commitment to try it.
It’s called bak-kut-teh, something I’d never heard of, probably because it doesn’t exist in very many places. Settlers from Hokkien, a small region in southeastern China, came to the Malaysian peninsula and created this food to provide inexpensive but hearty nourishment for poor hard-working members of their community. There is a huge Chinese influence in Malaysian food and there are countless Chinese noodle and seafood establishments but bak-kut-teh has such a specific heritage that it stands out to me as something rare and unique, not just your typical Chinese-Malaysian food.
It’s also definitely my kind of food. A rich, heavy, savory broth made from pork bones, Chinese herbs, dark soy, and just a touch of warming spices like cinnamon, clove, and anise. When presented with the menu, we chose what would go in the soup – pork spare ribs, some kind of mushrooms, stomach (not tripe, but a meatier cut), and beef tongue. There were other organ meats and some soy products that could also go into it. On the side it came with a generous amount of minced garlic and chili pepper to dress it up. We also had a pungent pickled vegetable soup to round things out. This type of food traditionally was eaten for breakfast, I’m guessing because the laborers worked all day without a much of a break, and that’s how we had it. Despite being so rich, the quantity wasn’t overwhelming so it really was a great way to start the day.
If the opportunity ever presents itself again for me to enjoy some bak-kut-teh, I’ll definitely go for it, appreciating the rich flavors and textures, as well as the unique cultural chemistry that created it. I think it can be found in other places but it will always remind me of the international melting pot of George Town.
jim@snorkelbandits.com