Sambal has got to be North Ryde’s best kept secret. A Malaysian restaurant located right next to, (and almost hidden by the fluorescence of) the Golden Arches, it’s stylishly fitted out and is serving up what could possibly be the best Malaysian food in Sydney. Pardon the superlatives, but I haven’t had such a good feed-up in awhile. In fact, the last good Malaysian-style meal I had in this area was a couple of years ago, when my mom took me to a lunch venue illegally operated out of someone’s house. I think it has since been shut down by local authorities, but that’s another story for another time.

Tonight we were here for a quiet family meal. The first dish to arrive was the Belachan Eggplant, followed in quick succession by a Nonya Fish Curry, Joo Hu Char, and Inchee Kabin. The portions were generous and incredibly good value. Overall, while the food may have been well spiced and a little bit rich, it also tasted very clean and fresh on the palate.

The Belachan Eggplant was crisp on the outside, flecked with chilli shrimp paste and soft and creamy on the inside, like well cooked eggplant should be. B gave it a 3.5 on the eggplant rating scale. I think we also polished it off in 3.5 seconds! The Inchee Kabin, deep fried spiced chicken served with a special dipping sauce, could kick Col. Sanders’ Popcorn Chicken to the kerb any day. I wonder why KFC even needs to be in Malaysia! The dipping sauce is flavoured with worcestershire sauce – a colonial British influence – which incidentally is also known as ang mo tau eu, literally meaning “white person’s soy sauce”. The fish curry was so good I wanted to lift the bowl to my lips to slurp it up… but managed to restrain myself as there were three other people at the table wanting to drain the liquidy goodness from the bowl too.

There was no room for dessert, but that only gives us an excuse to return again. Next time, we will have to try the Ice Kacang (a shaved ice, fruit and syrup dessert), as I noticed the authentic Ice Kacang machine right behind the counter.

And if you go, maybe you can order the intriguing-sounding Vegemite Crab and tell me what it’s like!

Sambal Restaurant
Shop 7, 285-297 Lane Cove Road
North Ryde 2113.

There is a growing force taking over our fridge. It makes me flinch every time I open the fridge door. It’s not blue cheese, or even shrimp paste, but a particularly virulent strain of Kimchee (or Kimchi) that we bought from Tokyo Mart last month. It’s so potent that I have it wrapped like a mummy in countless layers of unenvironmentally-friendly plastic wrap, to try to stem the smell. But the leaves of fermented cabbage are probably silently burning holes in the container and the wrap, and just when the fridge is bulging with the scent, some poor soul opens the door in the morning, releasing the power of.. sniff sniff.. what IS that? Petrol?

Unfortunately, it’s also very good Kimchee. But somewhere along the line, something’s gotta give…

On the same day I made some fruit mince for tarts, I had some apples left over and decided to make a pie as well. The recipe was a first attempt from Rose Levy Berenbaum’s Pie and Pastry Bible. The apples were peeled, cored, thinly sliced and marinated in brown sugar and spices for about an hour. The resulting liquid was then drained from the slices, reduced in a pan until caramelly, then poured back over the apples. The pie crust was a wonderfully tender cream cheese pastry that held it’s shape really well and was easy to make in the food processor.

My sister and I used to love having butterfish for dinner, chased down with a large piece of apple pie. Always with a big scoop of vanilla ice-cream, of course. My french-canadian friend, Myriam grew up eating hers with a wedge of cheddar on the side. I can’t remember the last time I made an apple pie. It seems to have been sidelined these days for it’s more glamorous cousin, apple tarte tatin. But now it’s back to basics, and time again, I think, to cut myself another slice of this humble pie..