♪ >> This beautiful Moon Kite is a national symbol On a clear and windy day, it makes an inspiring sight over Kelantan.

Kelantan sits on the East Coast of the Malay Peninsula.

It is called the Cradle of the Nation and a treasure chest for folk arts and crafts.

Hey, what about this beautiful traditional kite?

Wow!

In the old days, traditionally, after a good harvest, they'd play a game of kite.

Let's find out next on "Taste of Malaysia with Martin Yan."

♪ ♪ ♪ >> "Taste of Malaysia with Martin Yan" is brought to you by... >> ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ >> Circulon cookware.

Circles for life.

>> Monogram.

A full line of professional appliances designed for food and entertaining enthusiasts.

♪ ♪ By Melissa's.

The freshest ideas in produce.

By Granite Expo.

Offering a wide selection of cabinet and countertop solutions.

And by B&G Group of Malaysia.

♪ Building Malaysia's tomorrow.

♪ >> Good morning from Kota Bharu.

Early birds catch the worms, and early shoppers get the best bargains.

This is the Central Market of Kota Bharu.

It is busy all the time, but busiest in the morning.

Shoppers come early for the best selections.

The place is huge with several floors, each one selling different things.

It is like a huge department store for the common man.

This is, perhaps, the most exciting, interesting, and colorful market.

Everything is under one roof -- fresh produce, fresh herbs and spices, salted fish, pickle, chicken.

Everything you need is right here.

It is so colorful.

It is my favorite market in Malaysia.

♪ Anything that I have used through my tour of Malaysia -- everything is here.

To appreciate the full scale and dimension of the market, you have to go up.

Look at all this food.

In Asia, you shop, and you eat at the same time.

You shop, you get hungry -- hey, you come over and eat.

Look at it.

This is another wonderful local favorite -- Nasi Kerabu.

You serve the rice, which is cooked with a blue flower.

And then you serve with this mixed chopped vegetable.

Okay?

And then you can top it with all kind of stuff -- big, jumbo prawn... or beef or squid -- anything, your choice.

And then you use this wonderful fermented fish paste.

Mmm.

Delicious.

♪ I was looking at all of these cows' innards -- tripe, stomach, intestine, liver, spleen, tendon -- everything.

And I order a wonderful stew.

This is wheat flour noodle.

And look at this.

This is all the innards.

This is liver.

Mmm.

Along with the broth.

Mmm.

Mm.

Delicious.

♪ Oh, thank you.

Terima kasih.

Ah.

Laksa.

Look at the broth.

Look at this broth right here.

Mmm.

Very, very tasty, delicious, fish-flavored broth with curry.

I'll taste the noodle.

Made with rice -- This is rice noodle.

Mmm.

It comes with a hard-boiled egg and some vegetable.

It's a one-dish meal.

Absolutely delicious.

This is the very famous Laksam in Kelantan.

This... also fish paste.

But with an aromatic coconut flavor and aroma.

Rice noodle like a little sausage -- slice it into thin slices like this.

Serve along with a broth.

Absolutely delicious.

♪ Hey, here's another very interesting section in this market is the snack section.

Here you have peanut, taro root -- Ah, Tapai.

We'll open it up, we'll check out what it is.

Wow.

This is rice inside.

Actually, this is glutinous rice -- fermented for a couple days, wrapped in rubber leaf, and steam it.

And then let me taste it.

♪ I can smell the rice is fermented.

Mmm.

Partially fermented glutinous rice.

Get into it more, it turns into wine.

It's called Tapai.

♪ One of the most important ingredients -- Malaysian palm oil.

They sell it like this -- a whole package, one kilogram.

for all our cooking.

♪ This is the Thai Reclining Buddha Buddhist Temple.

Here we're so close to the Thai border, so a lot of the local food has very strong Thai influence.

Mmm.

This is a dish they call Som Tam.

It's green papaya salad.

Delicious.

Very, very appetizing -- tangy, sweet, and spicy.

It's the character of Thai cuisine.

This, I think they called it Khao Jam.

Khao Jam is basically -- Look at this.

It's rice topped with a lot of shredded vegetable.

Here is pandan leaf, rice with all the green herbs.

The combination of baby shrimp, vegetable, and rice.

Mmm.

Fresh herbs and spices.

Absolutely delicious.

This is Thai-style ice cream inside a coconut.

Wow.

Look at the color.

And also topped with a tiny bit of chopped peanuts.

So you got texture, smoothness, and sweetness, and aroma.

Let me taste.

Mmm.

Absolutely delicious.

♪ This is a premier school offering a special MBA program.

I have a B.S.

degree from university, but I need to study to get an MBA degree.

In this special school, they offer the one and only MBA program in the world.

"MBA" stands for "Monkey Business Assistant" Program.

Mm.

So I can start my own monkey business.

I better rush.

♪ Hi, Mohammad.

How are you?

This is my good friend Mohammad.

He is the headmaster of the Monkey Training Academy.

He trains all these monkeys to be in the workforce in society so they can make a living.

All of these monkeys are specially trained in a monkey school.

It takes them a couple years to train them.

The owner, the trainer, really takes good care of them -- give them good nutrition, egg and chicken, and then, of course, special drink to give them energy so they can climb up and pluck it.

First they start on the ground to train them, and then they let them go up the tree.

For hundreds of years, this area, just like many places in Thailand, they train the elephant, here they train the monkey to pick the coconut.

It's amazing.

Hard worker.

Gonna learn something from them.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

[ Chuckles ] ♪ The East Coast of the Malay Peninsula provides quite a contrast to the bright lights and big city of the West Coast.

There you can see endless stretches of white, sandy beaches, stunning, beautiful mosques, and charming small towns and villages.

This is actually the Cradle of Malaysia.

So today, I'm gonna show you how to do something everybody can do at home.

Now, lamb is probably one of the most popular, most widely used protein among the Muslim, and they, in Malaysia, a lot of places you go to, they have lamb -- the whole -- grill the whole lamb.

And today, we just braise it.

So, the first thing I'm gonna do is, we'll make a special korma.

This is actually like a curry, but it's not hot and spicy.

A lot of cumin -- plenty of cumin, and then also use shallot.

Cut it into bite-size pieces.

Okay?

And I put it right here.

And then garlic and ginger.

I...crush the garlic, chop this up a little bit.

Garlic I can also crush a little bit, and I push it right here and go, "Hey."

And this all garlic and ginger.

And then, also candlenut.

So I also lightly crush this a little bit.

Okay?

And then I put this over here.

And I put it right here.

And then lots of cumin.

Okay?

And then I put a tiny bit of water.

Okay?

And then we will turn it on and chop it.

[ Whirring ] Done.

That's how fast is it.

And take it out, and then put it in a bowl, and I'm going to pour this out.

Look at this.

Very flavorful.

A lot of cumin.

This is not very hot.

You can do all kinds of thing with this.

So -- and then I slice some of these and set aside.

One whole.

The whole thing.

Okay?

And then the shallot.

I cut it -- score it like this, the whole thing.

And then I have some ginger.

Set aside.

All of these together.

And then curry leaf.

And when you use it, you just go from one end to another and just the whole thing comes out like this.

Okay?

Then we have pandan leaf.

Pandan leaf, you tie a little knot like this -- fresh, long.

And then you can tie a knot so they will not fall apart.

Okay?

And then we'll put all of these -- all of these, stir-fry this.

Okay?

We have cardamom.

And, also, star anise.

Spices.

We have cinnamon.

And then we have pandan leaf.

Ginger.

Garlic.

Shallot.

Put it all together.

Stir.

Now, this is the foundation of this particular lamb korma.

It was introduced to me by a mother and daughter.

And they have a restaurant, and this is their particular favorite item on the menu they share with me.

And then when this is done, put the curry leaf -- also stir it in.

A tiny bit of extra ginger.

More ginger.

And then I put the lamb.

Now, look at this.

Sauté it -- all this lamb.

Big chunks.

Stir.

And then I use garlic -- lots of garlic.

Love garlic.

Lots of garlic.

When this is all nice and golden brown -- smells so good.

And then you put coconut milk.

That's what makes Malaysian food so unique.

Okay?

And then put in a tiny bit of water and let it braise.

Okay?

Just let it braise.

We cover this up and let it braise.

In the meantime, I'm going to also put this in.

This is the korma.

This is a lot of cumin.

A lot of cumin.

I use almost one-third of a cup of this.

This is gonna be so delicious.

And we'll bring it to a boil, and then we'll look at it inside.

I think it's almost ready.

Look at this.

Then I'm going to put the shallot, put the chili.

Green jalapeño -- also put it in.

This will enhance the flavor, but not too hot because I put it in towards the end.

And when this is done, we are ready to serve.

And then when it's almost ready, all you have to do -- add a tiny bit of seasoning.

Put a tiny bit of salt.

Put a tiny bit of sugar.

Sugar's good.

Sugar cuts down the spiciness.

So you think it's too much cumin, sugar really tones it down, and it mellows it down.

And you are beautiful... Now look at how beautiful this is.

Since I put the chili right in the last minute, it does not change the color too much.

And this is beautiful.

And then we'll serve.

Look at it bubbling.

You take it over here, and you serve.

Okay.

Here with some rice.

Because this -- the color's pretty boring here.

So I have to have some rice and also serve perfectly with rice or noodles, spaghetti, or any linguine.

Put it right here.

Look at that.

This is so beautiful.

crush a tiny bit of red pepper right on top.

Curry leaf on the side.

Okay?

And then -- look at this.

Here is the Lamb Korma.

This is amazing.

Lamb may be underused in the West when compared to beef, but it is definitely not underappreciated, and certainly not in my kitchen.

The coconut milk adds a velvety texture and a wonderful aroma to this wonderful dish because it's so creamy, so aromatic.

So, enjoy.

[ Air vibrating ] The Malay word for "kite" is "Wau."

"Wau" is also the sound the kite makes as it sails through the air up there.

The most famous Wau is the Wau Bulan, or the Crescent Moon Kite.

It is called that because the tail resembles the crescent moon.

These are huge kites, beautifully handcrafted.

Think of them as three-dimensional mobile folk art.

Besides the Moon Kite, there's also the Wau Kuching, the Cat Kite, and the Wau Merak, the beautiful Peacock Kite.

♪ But instead of admiring them in a museum, the best place to see them is in their natural setting, wauing freely in the sky.

In addition to intricate handicraft, the East Coast of Malaysia is also famous for its batik and songket weavings.

In this age of mass production, these artistic pieces are still created by the hands of master craftsmen and women, who will pass the skills and tradition to future generations.

♪ ♪ Fishermen get the fish, you'll unload it, you put it in this big container made with fiberglass.

You load it with salt and cover it and let it ferment for six months, and every day, you got to stir it, because the heat from the sun help the fermentation, because we're fermenting this fish.

In this whole state of Kelantan, this is one of the most widely used seasoning called Budu.

Budu is actually little anchovy.

Salt it, and let it ferment for six months, and it's used in a lot of dishes locally.

This is the most basic ingredient.

Mat Ismail is the pioneer in the manufacture of Budu.

You are now one of the most successful and the largest manufacturer of Budu.

So, how do you get started?

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ The Malay word for "beach" is "pantai," and the East Coast of Malaysia has more than its share of beautiful pantai.

they are usually not very crowded.

I'm so happy to introduce my dear friend Chef Rahimi Zakaria from the Tok Aman Bali Beach Resort.

This is a beautiful place, and you're lucky to work in this wonderful place.

What are you going to show us today?

>> Sambal Tumis Lokan.

>> Basically a spicy clam, fresh-caught.

You got to start with the freshest ingredient.

So, step number one.

Boil the clam.

Let's pick up a few clam.

This is really fresh-looking clam.

Look at how beautiful and fresh.

You put it over there, and you'll boil it.

And then the next thing is, you're gonna do a... >> Sambal, yeah.

>> Here is some dry chili.

Okay, let's chop up some of this dry chili.

And then you pound it until you get into a nice paste like this.

Look at this.

As soon as it's open, you take it out.

When it pops open, that means it's live clam, right?

>> Yeah.

>> If it's not popping open, dead clam.

This is all done.

We put everything over here.

Heat this up and make the sambal, right?

>> Yeah.

>> First you use a tiny bit of Malaysian palm oil -- very, very good, healthy cooking oil -- a lot of Vitamin A, E, and B.

And then you'll put the blachan -- put a blachan.

[ Sizzling ] It smells really strong.

>> Chili paste.

>> Chili paste.

That one that you just pound -- chili paste.

>> Chili paste, yeah.

>> A lot of them.

>> Bit of onion.

>> Onion.

>> Onion.

>> Chop up some onion.

Tiny bit of sugar.

Sugar, actually, cut down on the spiciness.

While the chef is doing the sambal with the onion, we will remove the clam from the shell.

Look at that.

Remove these.

Remove these.

When it's done, you put it in.

Oh, beautiful.

Just toss.

Sometimes a good dish doesn't have to be complicated.

All it takes is fresh ingredient.

Very good.

And then you serve it right here.

That is so simple.

Ahh.

Then you garnish it with a few pieces of chili.

When you live from the ocean, you go for the freshest ingredient from the ocean.

Chef Rahimi Zakaria, you did a good job using simple ingredient, simple cooking technique, and come up with a delicious dish.

This is... >> Sambal Tumis Lokan.

>> Smells good, ah?

Mmm.

Thank you so very much for showing us wonderful local sambal clam.

I'm so happy to learn something so fresh and so delicious from Chef Rahimi.

And, also, I have an honor to meet the General Manager, Hizam Shah Omar, of Tok Aman Bali Beach Resort.

Beautiful resort.

The last couple of days when I was here, I see a lot of guests from all over.

>> The resort is well-known for a family hub.

That's why you can see a lot of family members coming here for holiday.

>> It is a beautiful place.

Let's dig in and taste.

I would like to find out what is this?

>> This what we call the stuffed squid.

>> Oh.

This is fresh squid right out of the water.

>> Correct.

>> This is also very interesting.

What is it?

>> It's a cone rice.

>> This is banana leaf.

You wrap inside there.

What kind of rice is it?

>> This is the soft rice.

People use for traveling here.

>> So this is glutinous rice.

>> This is an omelet fish floss, and the last one gravy with the prawns.

>> I have never tasted anything so interesting.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you very much.

>> Thank you, sir.

>> And here is to all of you.

♪ No visit to Kelantan is complete without a trip to the famous shadow puppet theater.

♪ Shadow puppet theater is called Wayang Kulit.

"Wayang" means "shadow."

"Kulit" means "skin," referring to the leather used to make the puppet.

It began as a popular entertainment in rural villages during the dry season mythical and moral.

>> [ Speaking native language ] ♪ >> Traditional shadow-puppet shows are informal gatherings at night out in the village square.

People enjoy food and drink while being entertained.

It just goes to show that art and food always go hand-in-hand.

For more food and more art, join me next time on "Taste of Malaysia with Martin Yan."

♪ >> [ Shouting in native language ] >> You can visit our website to learn more about Martin and his travels, get information about upcoming events, find and print selected recipes, provide email feedback, and more.

It's all at yancancook.com.

"Taste of Malaysia with Martin Yan" is brought to you by... >> ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ >> Circulon cookware.

Circles for life.

>> Monogram.

A full line of professional appliances designed for food and entertaining enthusiasts.

♪ ♪ By Melissa's.

The freshest ideas in produce.

By Granite Expo.

Offering a wide selection of cabinet and countertop solutions.

And by B&G Group of Malaysia.

♪ Building Malaysia's tomorrow.

♪ ♪ ♪