langkawi magazine
Reviews SECTION
A Culinary Adventure in Langkawi Malaysia
I'm delighted when VJ arranges a dinner on Langkawi Island in an ancient virgin rainforest.
"You might see our flying lemurs and long tailed macaques," he says. "Possibly wild boars or giant water monitor lizards." I'm ready. We fly northwest to Langkawi Island, where dense rainforest fringes intimate beaches, rural villages, thundering waterfalls, caves, and rice paddies. The island is postcard perfect.
At the luxurious Andaman Datai Bay resort, I meet a monitor lizard. As I paddle languidly in the resort's pool undulating through the rainforest, it begins to rain. Gentle at first, then a magnificent downpour. I take refuge underneath a bridge arching over the pool. Sir Monitor and I are eye-to-eye. A beautiful footling creature, his sticky tongue darts out to taste me. We become friends.
At sunset, Warren and I walk the lighted rainforest path along the Andaman Sea. Ghostly white crabs scuttle across the beach.We arrive at The Gulai House, a thatched roof open air Malay Kampung longhouse on stilts. Bowls of white orchids and gamelan music beckon us inside where we meet Chef Zabidi Ibrahim. His awards for "Hot Cooking" in the Malaysian Culinary Competition 2000 have established The Gulai House as one of the country's top restaurants. Our menus are elegantly handwritten in silver ink on pillow-sized Mengkudu leaves.
Chef Zabidi sends out an appetizer tray, stunning as an Impressionistic painting, arrayed with chicken satay, fish cakes, samosas, and crispy prawns.
Whole crabs make their appearance, nestled in a soup of green chilli, ginger, oyster sauce, and lemon grass. Lobster Lemak spills out from a bright red shell, seasoned with lime leaf, coconut cream, turmeric, and red and green chillies.
The finale: asparagus with scallops in chillies, and a grilled beef dish complete our Gulai House feast.
We marvel over dessert, an ice bowl filled with rice flour dumplings stuffed with dates and cashew nuts.
Retracing our steps through the rainforest, the moon rises over the Andaman Sea like a slice of lemon. Crabs scuttle across the trail, reminding me of the best crab soup, and the most impressive 50 million year old rainforest dinner, I've ever enjoyed.
The next evening, VJ lures us, "Are you ready for amazing Chinese hawker stall food?" At Restoran Makanan Laut Teo, near Langkawi Island's Eagle Square, Chef Teo creates a fanfare of dishes from his tiny open-air kitchen; downstairs from the house he shares with wife Liaw and three children.
He works magic with several industrial sized woks, dodging splattering oil and half-a-dozen roaring flames. An eight-armed octopus, Chef Teo masterfully combines fresh ingredients with spices and herbs artfully arranged in tiny white dishes. Fifteen minutes later, our patio table groans with whole steamed grouper (mouth open, fins flying), crispy fried chicken, bean curd with prawns and calamari, black mushrooms, prawns in chilli sauce.
"A little different from luxury resort dining, yes " beams VJ, diving into the fried chicken and steaming rice. Platters empty, we're astonished when our bill is merely $10 per person. Chef Teo proudly bows, then returns to his kitchen.
We fly back to busy KL, sad to leave exotic Langkawi Island and her amazing Chefs.
Langkawi 2003
