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Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

Living well in the urban village

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Sambal

October 19, 2009 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

samb 001

We recently had dinner at Sambal, a Malaysian restaurant in Sydney’s North Ryde.

I adore Malaysian food. The spices and flavours are so appealing to me that I could eat them for every meal of the day. I’m not sure if it’s the coconut milk, or the prawn paste or the tamarind, but just typing these words can make my mouth water.

The meal was made all the better because we were dining with Marty and Joyce and their ravenous offspring.  Pete and I lived with M & J when we were in our early 20’s and thankfully, joyously, very little has changed over the years.  Getting together for a meal with them is like dining with your wolf pack on a communal antelope – if you’re slow off the mark, you’ll go hungry.

There was so much food at dinner – which usually happens when we let Joyce order – but I only managed to take a few photos.  As with most Asian cuisines, the food was shared at the table, and when you’re eating with M & J, it doesn’t stay in a pristine, photogenic state for very long.  My pleas of “don’t touch it until I’ve taken a photo” went completely unheeded.  In the end I resorted to dragging the dish in front of me and defending it with a fork while maneuvering the camera with the other hand.

The photo above is of Gulai Tumis Fish – white fish cutlets cooked with okra in a spicy, tamarind sauce.  It has that wonderful sour assam flavour so unique to Malaysian dishes.

Belachan Chicken – which Marty kept referring to as KFC, in an attempt to induce the kids to eat it (they didn’t need any encouragement) –  chicken pieces coated with shrimp powder and deep fried until dark brown, then served with Worcestershire sauce.

samb 002

Kapitan Chicken Curry – this delicious, yet simple, chicken curry  was prepared with fresh herbs, coconut milk and a little lime juice. It was perfectly matched with Nasi Lemak, plain rice cooked in coconut milk.

Did you know that Nasi Lemak is a standard breakfast dish in Malaysia and Indonesia?  How cool would it be to have coconut rice and curry for breakfast every morning?  Sigh.  I would be a beached whale.

samb 003

By the time dessert arrived, everyone was slightly less starving, so I managed a couple of decent photos.

Ice Kachang is a large, impressive dish, but deceptively so, as the bulk of it is just shredded ice.  It also has black grass jelly, corn kernels, palm seeds and red beans, along with a generous splash of evaporated milk, rose syrup and gula melaka (palm sugar).

samb 007

And while Ice Kachang is probably my favourite, this Sago Pudding is a close second – the sago (tapioca) pearls are boiled until clear, then moulded. It was served with coconut milk and gula melaka syrup.  Doesn’t it look like a cluster of frog eggs?

samb 008

Sambal
Shop 7, 285 – 297 Lane Cove Road
North Ryde  NSW  2113
(02) 9889 7997 or sambal@iinet.net.au

Note: There is parking at the rear of the restaurant – turn in at the McDonald’s entrance and drive around to the back.

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Posted in Food & Friends | Tagged belachan chicken, Gulai Tumis Fish, Ice Kachang, Kapitan Chicken Curry, Malaysian cuisine, Malaysian flavours, North Ryde, sago pudding, Sambal restaurant, Sydney Malaysian restaurant | 8 Comments

8 Responses

  1. on October 20, 2009 at 8:05 pm Marty

    just a standard order, one and a half mains per head then add three extra
    …a simple formula that seldom fails to satisfy and still leaves plenty of room for dessert!


    • on October 20, 2009 at 8:11 pm figjamandlimecordial

      Yep. Nothing ever changes. Gotta love that. :)


  2. on October 21, 2009 at 5:03 am Kitchen Butterfly

    Thanks Marty, thats a very useful formula to know. Celia…you do know how to pick your friends!


    • on October 21, 2009 at 8:15 am figjamandlimecordial

      I don’t get to pick my friends, Oz. Like all things in my life, they’re an undeserved blessing. :)


  3. on October 25, 2009 at 4:40 pm Tracey

    I’ll have to try that one, Celia. We’re all fans of Malaysian food – we love our visits to Sabah, but this is considerably closer! Hope you’re all well.


    • on October 25, 2009 at 5:17 pm figjamandlimecordial

      Maybe we should organise to have lunch there next time you’re down, Tracey..


      • on October 28, 2009 at 10:25 pm Tracey

        Good idea!


  4. on January 10, 2011 at 6:06 pm MamaVix

    Yum! This sounds like a great place to meet the husband for work-day lunch…thanks Celia.



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