SETH: Leslie, Penny.

LESLIE: Hi, Seth.

Welcome to Malaysia Kopitiam.

SETH: Thank you so much for having me.

I'm excited to be here, and I see these beautiful ingredients that are arrayed here.

What's this going to help prepare?

PENNY: Okay.

We're going to help to make our signature Nyonya Curry Fish Head.

So it has a very good symphony of roots, and flowers, and leaves.

SETH: Well that sounds like it's going to be delicious.

And Penny, you are the chef, correct?

PENNY: Yes, sir.

SETH: Great.

So should we get to making the Nyonya curry, and Leslie, we'll meet you back out at the table?

LESLIE: Yes.

Okay.

Thank you.

PENNY: Okay.

Good.

SETH: So how do we get started here?

PENNY: Okay.

We'll put some oil first.

Okay.

Heat up the oil, the onion and garlic, make it fragrant.

And then this is a fennel grain.

This is poppy seed.

And that's some chili.

SETH: You got a little bit of heat for the dish as well?

PENNY: Yes.

So turn it down and then we'll put some galangal flower.

This is a very typical ingredient that you'll find in nyonya cooking.

SETH: And this is the flower of the root?

PENNY: Yes, yes.

This is the root itself, and then this comes like a flower.

It has a very unique flavor that no other flowers or plant can replace.

SETH: Yeah.

I don't think I've ever smelled anything quite like that.

And this is going to make it very aromatic dish?

PENNY: Oh yes.

In the past 20 years, we don't have all this.

I have to get my sister ship it every week, but right now we can have it here.

SETH: So you used to have to be shipped all the way from Malaysia and now you can just get it in the local grocery store?

PENNY: Yes.

Yes.

It can't replace anything else.

This is truly a flavor by itself.

That's a curry powder, and we put some coconut.

SETH: Oh yeah.

It's already getting a beautiful color.

PENNY: Oh yeah.

You need some extra liquid.

And then the final touch will be some of the leaves.

SETH: And what type of leaves are these?

PENNY: In Malaysia we call Laksa leaf.

They find it throughout all Asia.

Let me show you the fish.

SETH: Okay.

PENNY: Okay.

What we using today is a cod fish head.

SETH: Wow, yeah.

You weren't kidding.

This is a fish head dish, and these cod fish heads, are these just going to go right into the broth?

PENNY: Some other people will do it, but for the restaurant we'd rather blanch it first so it's less fishy that way.

SETH: Well, I will let you get to blanching the fish heads.

I can't wait to see what sort of flavor and texture they bring to the dish, and we'll try it back at the table.

PENNY: Very good.

SETH: Thanks, Penny.

PENNY: Okay.

LESLIE: This is the Nyonya Curry Fish Head.

SETH: Oh wow.

All those fish heads have cooked down and the bones are all in there?

PENNY: Yes.

Yes.

You've got to be careful.

SETH: I can see a lot of them kind of start to break apart.

LESLIE: Yes.

Here you are.

SETH: Perfect.

Perfect.

Oh, there we go.

Okay.

PENNY: This is a nice piece.

SETH: Oh, a full fish head in there.

Well, I can see what you mean by the challenge of eating it because of all those little bones.

LESLIE: Yes.

All the bones.

PENNY: This is good.

Try this.

SETH: The flavor, the flavor is fantastic.

PENNY: The cheek of the fish.

LESLIE: That's the best part.

SETH: It is such tender meat.

I guess that only comes from that little hard to get area right there in the head.

LESLIE: Yes.

Once you get used to it, it's a delicacy.

PENNY: That's why we make it different features like the whole fish and the filet.

SETH: Okay.

PENNY: So it's, it's more like, easier for a lot of people to eat, but the fish head is still is best for a lot of Asian people because it's the gelatinous that they like.

SETH: Yeah.

That gelatinous, that sort of fullness and richness, I got that.

But maybe the fish filet is a little bit more my speed.

PENNY: Good.

SETH: As long as you're getting the flavor of that broth.

LESLIE: Yes.

They are all the same flavor to it.

PENNY: This is very popular.

SETH: I think I'm going to try my hand at the filet over here.

Get that onto my plate so I can sop up all this deliciousness.

Okay.

Nicely crispy, no bones to contend with, and I love all the colors that are on the table here.

This is kind of representative of different parts of Malaysian cuisine?

LESLIE: Yes.

Yes.

Like this is Chinese food.

This is Indian food.

And then this is Malay food.

SETH: You're getting that sort of over time when the different cultures merge, that's what's led to this?

PENNY: Yes.

LESLIE: Exactly.

PENNY: Yes.

SETH: Did you find that drawing people out here after all the time you spent in DC, were people still able to find you guys?

PENNY: I believe whenever there's food, people, if you're good, people will... LESLIE: Especially good food.

PENNY: Yeah.

People will go and look for you.

SETH: For some people, Centreville is kind of a long journey, but it's definitely worth it.

And considering where I started the day, not really knowing too much about Malaysian cuisine, I can already see how all these different flavors are coming together.

The Nyonya Curry, delicious.

Thank you so much for sharing.

PENNY: Very welcome, Seth.

SETH: Thank you.

PENNY: My honor.

My pleasure.