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| Bihun goreng |
K and I set out to explore the jungle surrounding the garden. There is a discernible path up into the hills, either side of which a thick growth of various kinds of trees renders the rest impassable without a sizeable machete. Nature abounds here and it is typical to see monkeys, hornbills, kingfishers, and snakes on any walk, provided that one is quiet. The animals are afraid of humans but, especially in the case of snakes, can have a dangerous defensive reaction. We took a stick with which to beat the long grass and hopefully avoid any such encounters.
On our return, our host is excitedly preparing lunch and enlists our help in shelling petai - another bean that has earned itself the monicker 'stink bean' due to its powerful and lingering odour after consumption. Fortunately, unlike jering beans, this variety does not come with the additional frisson of potential renal failure. Writing this several days after consumption, I can report no ill effects, which leads me to believe that some people might possess an enzyme to metabolise the amino acid that causes the smell, much as certain lucky people are resistant to 'asparagus pee'.
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| Petai (stink beans) |
Liberating the beans from their twisty green pods was akin to shelling broad beans. They were destined for sambal petai, fried in a strong-tasting sauce of shallots, soy sauce, chilli powder, salt, and sugar.
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| Torch ginger flower |
Our host was also terribly excited by the acquisition of a small bunch of ginger flower buds, also known as torch ginger or bunga kantan in Malay. This flower blooms into beautiful red flowers but the delicate unopened buds are used in traditional cooking.
Our host prepared a kind of laksa with the ginger flower, adding orange sweet potato, daun kaduk leaves from the garden, pineapple, shallots, lemongrass (bashed and added whole for flavour only), coconut milk, and turmeric powder. He threw beaten egg in at flameout which scrambled in the hot soup. This soup would normally have prawns added.
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| Sambal petai and 'nyonya' laksa |
Unlike the usual strong sweet-sour-salty balance, this soup was more delicately flavoured with citrus from the aromatics, slight bitterness from the herbs, yet sweetness from the fruit and sweet potato. The flower added a unique flavour that was delicate and reminiscent of ginger without the heat, although this might just be a suggestion based on the name.
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| Orchid |
On a recommendation we took a taxi just north of Kuah to an orchid farm. This was a magnificent display of orchid varieties, including some I had never before seen. Dancing lady was one of my favourites.
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| Dancing lady orchid |
We were taken round by a very enthusiastic man, who explained the process of cutting and growing the various styles. Alongside dancing lady, there was a curly variety known as antelope, a primitive jungle orchid housed in a green coconut shell, and the familiar hybrid that is hardy and easy to keep.
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| Antelope orchid |
Although the orchids flower every few months and are staggered so that some are always flowering, we were lucky to see such a vibrant display that had benefited from the previous months' rain.
Langkawi is a duty-free island. Kuah, the capital, feels a little like being in a large airport, as all the shops seem to stock that strange selection of goods reserved for duty-free shops, which runs from large Toblerones, through Chanel perfume, to bottles of Johnny Walker.
Most residents on the island live in Kuah, but the area and its buildings have a dispiriting run-down appearance. Venues that look derelict and deserted come alive in the evening as the grimy fronts are shrouded by the darkness, leaving only the twinkling lights, which are much more attractive.
Before dusk, we marched along the front, which offered views out to the islands of Langkawi, as far as Eagle Square (Dataran Helang), so called for the giant eagle statue there.
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| Langkawi eagle |
Helang is Malay for eagle - shortened to 'lang' in the island's name, which since 2008 is officially Langkawi Permata Kedah (Langkawi the Jewel of Kedah). However, surrounding the enormous statue is more of the same duty-free shopping that has drawn many tourists to the island.
The jewel in the crown of this strange area of Langkawi is Legends Park (Taman Lagenda). The park is designed around a number of large sculptures that explain the myths and legends surrounding Pulau Langkawi and the other islands in the archipelago.
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| Fighting giants |
The park has great potential but, like the rest of Kuah, has an air of faded glory about it, like a disused theme park. However, the sculptures are still in good repair and we learned a great deal about the alleged formation of the two mountains Gunan Raya and Gunan Matcincang (formed from two fighting giants) and the origin of the name Kuah (meaning 'gravy', spilled by the families of the aforementioned giants).
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| Broken gravy pot |
The most bizarre tale is of a prince who ate partially cooked rice during a wedding feast and gave the names to two: Pulau Kentut Besar (big fart island) and Pulau Kentut Kecil (small fart island).
Many of Kuah's streets reminded me of Istanbul port side, dotted with small Muslim shops in archways, some even with Arabic signs. However, these shop's are interspersed with Chinese restaurants sporting's red lanterns. Our host met us in Kuah and together we went to Xin An, a Buddhist vegetarian restaurant.
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| Ginger 'fish' and tofu claypot |
Xin An serves classic Chinese dishes using mock meats and tofu of the kind we have not seen since leaving Vietnam. We had a tofu clay pot, fried ginger fish, and mutton curry. The fish was made from yam and a nori skin, served in a sweet soy sauce with fried ginger. The mutton I had assumed would be rolled tofu skin sticks, but had the fibrousness of real meat and was oddly authentic.
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