The October 2022 Enak! arranged by Lisette and Melinda, took place in a small trendy Malaysian restaurant in Bangsar called Tsuka, a real gem on Jalan Telawi 5. We were greeted upon arrival by Ms. Zee (Zaidah) who opened the restaurant with her business partner Datin Sri Dr Maison at the end of 2021.
We were with a lively group of 20 Enakers and everyone loved the food served. We heard that there was a lot of praise for all the various dishes.
Our starters consisted of both Rojak and Cucur Udang.
Rojak is a local salad of mixed vegetables and fruits, coated in a sticky black sauce and garnished with chopped peanuts and fried beancurd. The mark of a good rojak is its sauce, made up of fermented prawn paste, sugar, lime and chilli paste.
Cucur Udang is the Malaysian version of prawn fritters, a hugely popular street food. It has a crunchy exterior when fresh from the wok, with a soft interior filled with various vegetables. Ours included whole prawns inside. The servings were more than generous (to say the least) and I think many of us ate more than just one or two. They were incredibly delicious.
Before the main course was served Ms. Zee spoke to our group about herself, her (believe it or not) ‘Italian ties’, her international family life, her love of cooking, her use of family recipes here at Tsuka and her favourite chef who she coaxed into coming to work at Tsuka from another restaurant.
We also met her chef Mr. Lim, who Ms. Zee told us could cook Italian like an Italian mama. She was amazed to find that it was Mr. Lim cooking amazing food in an Italian restaurant when she met him. He was one of 18 children – so a lot of cooking was done in his family.
Ms. Zee’s passion for cooking may start seeing her giving cooking classes at some point in the future. Wonderful news!
The main course, served on individual plates, was a ‘work of art’ in colour and textures. We had ’Nasi Kerabu’ – a blue pea rice served with fried chicken and percik gravy and sambal at the side. Nasi Kerabu is a Malaysian cuisine (originated from the East coast) rice dish, a type of nasi ulam, in which blue-colored rice is eaten with fried chicken, crackers, and raw vegetables. The blue colour of the rice comes from the petals of flowers, which are used as a natural food colouring in cooking it. The chicken was fried to perfection – crunchy skin and juicy meat. It was a true feast.
For dessert we had a choice of either:
– Leng Chee Kang (Sweet herbal-like soup) or Sweet Corn dessert. Leng Chee Kang is a dessert consisting of a variety of pre-cooked ingredients like lotus, dates and other fruits, mixed in a syrup. It is considered to have “cooling” properties, and it may be served warm or cold with ice cubes.
Lisette and Melinda received beautiful hats made by Lam Lai Meng (we love them) and also yummy cookies as a thank you for organising the Enak! meal.
A group photo was taken and more photos are available on the MCG photo album link.
Some of the diners even ordered different foods off the menu to take home with them and all vowed to return again sometime soon with friends or family to enjoy more of Tsuka’s delicious food.
We heard that the last Enakers left around 3pm so we would consider this a successful Enak! lunch.
Sincerely Lisette and Melinda