Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels: YummY! - Nyonya Temptations @ Aunty Lee

Sunday, November 18, 2012

YummY! - Nyonya Temptations @ Aunty Lee

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YummY! Jotaro's Food Review
NYONYA TEMPTATIONS @ AUNTY LEE

Ujong Pasir, Malacca, Malaysia

The six of us were on a bike-packing tour to Malacca from Kuala Lumpur. On Day 2 of our biking tour (see Peranakan Bike-Packers Day 2), our biking buddy Siew Yung, who is local to Malacca, booked for us to have lunch at Aunty Lee.

But being of Nyonya parentage myself and coming from Penang, my standards for Nyonya food is a tad high. So let's see how Aunty Lee can win me over.

But when we reached the shop, I was in for a shock!

The entrance was loudly garish, and not looking like a traditional Nyonya foodie place.

It looks more like one of those colorful homes from the Portuguese Settlement.

Ok, let's reserve judgement first, as Siew Yung has been singing praises about the place - AND reservations HAD to be made.

When we entered, I was a bit disappointed by the ambiance. The indoors were equally loud in colors with not a hint of any Nyonya-ness.

Okay... okay... let's keep an open mind; Siew Yung wouldn't have made us cycle all the way here for trifles.

They brought the menu - at last something that looks Nyonya-ish.

Getting into the mood, we made our orders.

The cincalok omelet came first.

What's great about it?

Well, think of a regular omelet, but with some chilies thrown in and more importantly with cincaluk added too.

The cincalok brought out that slight tanginess and extra zing to it! YummY!

The assam fish curry looks good, with lady fingers, tomatoes and brinjals. All these together with the fish in a good helping of curry gravy made my mouth watered.

And it tasted very good! The fish was very fresh, the vegetable adequately cooked to soaked in the curry without getting too soft. The curry gravy itself was superb just adequately sour and just enough coconut milk added to give it that little creaminess.

Slurp! Slurp!

The otak-otak came looking like a slice of reddish bread, generously garnished with raw onions and chilies on top & cucumber slices at the sides.

For me it was a little bit hard and an important ingredient was missing - Daun Kaduk.

Cool it man... leave your Penang Nyonya-ness behind. This is Malacca!

Okay, it was still good, really!

But what I liked about it was that it was served in a nice Blue Ming Platter.

Oops, I got the pix upside down... but you get the picture... I hope.

What came next is a dish I was eagerly looking forward to - Ayam Pongteh!

This is definitely a Malacca Nyonya creation, as it is seldom found in Penang's Nyonya restaurants, perhaps in some home cooking.

Ayam Pongteh is chicken stewed in spices with good chunks of potatoes and slices of Chinese black mushroom.

The gravy is the most important part of this dish and I found it fantastic. It has seeped well into the chicken too.

I was looking for the kayu manis (cinammon) that goes with this dish and couldn't find any, but the hint of it's flavor was there in the gravy.

The sambal kangkong (Water Convolvulus) came next. This is kangkong stir fried in sambal belacan. Aunty Lee has done this dish well, a few prawns thrown in would have made this dish purrrrfect.

While waiting for desserts, I lingered off to the kitchen and met the lady herself.

Aunty Lee is a feisty lady with a warm smile. She was happy to meet a fellow Nyonya and we chatted in Malay with a sprinkling of English and Hokkein thrown in.

She reminded me so much of my grand-mother... oh... I am getting home-sick.

Dessert was Aunty Lee's Chendul. That's iced green pandan rice jelly noodles with red beans served with coconut milk and sweetened with Gula Melaka.

The cendul noodle themselves were nice pandan dark green, and the coconut milk fresh and slightly salty.

One added the Gula Melaka syrup to one's own liking. If they had made this syrup thicker it would have a stronger aroma and that would have brought out more of the coconut milk flavor.

Overall, it was a very good meal. One that is more like home cooking unlike many commercial shops that make their food overly tasty, overly strong.

Don't let the colorfully loud entrance or the simple interior mislead you, the food is delicious, very delicious. It was a worthwhile ride there as the food there would have tempt the Devil himself. Good call Siew Yung.

Aunty Lee has done a good job, I am impressed - my high Nyonya ideals satisfied.

The bill came to around RM130, that's about RM22 per pax; very reasonable for a good meal. I will come again.

Aunty Lee's Menu

Aunty Lee Drinks & Dessert Menu

I believe Aunty Lee accepts take-away orders too; there is a small door next to the front entrance. This small door opens to the kitchen. To one side is a menu (with pricing) stuck onto a shelf's side.