6.331 Nasi Lemak

6.331

2 (Wed) December 2015

Nasi Lemak

3.5

at Rebung

-Kuala Lumpur-

with meeting participants, staff and temporary advisors

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Rebung is a Malaysian buffet restaurant, specializing exclusively in traditional foods, as prepared by national culinary hero Chef Ismail.

Mission to Malaysia, Day 4 (see previously 6.330 Assorted Fruits Skewer).

In Kuala Lumpur.  Here to facilitate a regional workshop on restricting the marketing of foods and non-alcoholic beverages to children, Tuesday to Friday.  Arrived Sunday evening.  Flying back Saturday.

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Chef Ismail honored us by proudly providing historical explanations of the food and his cooking philosophies.

When our counterparts at the Ministry of Health had proposed to host a dinner on the second day, we graciously accepted the generous offer, though personally I was disappointed that the venue would be a buffet, given my general aversion to buffets, no reason to expect that Rebung would be anything but a typical one.  Secretly, I planned to eat light then slip out afterwards for some “real” local eats.

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As mentioned in yesterday’s post, the nutrition team is mandated at these official functions to label each dish with calorie information; they brought along a printer to make the labels, from an extensive database of food items maintained for this purpose; a secondary benefit, at least for foreigners, is that the labels also provide the names of the dishes.

Won’t dare to try describing the mind-blowing array of foods on offer.   Too immersed in the experience to remember, much less document, any details — as it should always be, I suppose, though the “occupational hazard” of this blog regrettably compels me to adopt a clinical perspective in most cases.  The photos, though they fall way short of doing full justice to the individual items or to the spread as a whole — didn’t take shots of everything, and I’ve chosen not to post all the shots that I did take — will have to speak for themselves.

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Laksa Penang (3.0) — the local version of laksa turned out to be fishy and spicy, distinct from the smooth and creamy coconut-based laksa from Singapore, much more agreeable to a Korean palate; a strong contender for the featured dish of this post.

Amazing meal.  Not only because the food was thoroughly local, but more important because everything was good.  Perhaps the best buffet meal that I’ve ever experienced.  Certainly the most memorable and meaningful meal that I’ve had as part of an official mission.

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The nasi lemak was excellent.  Perfect blend of sharply fishy and sweetly spicy and delicately fragrant, slightly bittersweet, crunchy and crispy and squishy.  Representing the Chef Ismail’s masterful execution of the extreme-yet-balanced flavor juxtaposition that characterizes Malaysian cuisine.

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Despite the complete absence of booze — MOH also doesn’t allow alcohol at official functions, both for health and religious reasons, no problem — everyone, including the chef, sang and danced for hours after the sumptuous meal, apparently drunk on the ambiance and camaraderie.  Good times.

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