Tom Pepinsky

Author: tompepinsky

  • Malay Misconceptions

    Today I  (jm)  had a presentation about grad schools for a change.  It was fun, I didn’t have to talk about the SAT, and people weren’t sleeping in their chairs propped up on their friend next to them (ok, that only happened once, and someone had presented something before me so I’m going to pretend it wasn’t my fault).  It was actually neat, a lot of people asked questions and I had lunch with one of the staff who was very friendly and pro-American.  She said that my little talk was so inspiring and that she was going to be dreaming about going to America now.  Right before my talk she was telling me she saw the movie Jeepers Creepers and would be scared to death to go to a small town in the US because all sorts of crazy, weird, bad things happen there.  I’ve decided that movies are kind of good but mostly bad as far as Amercian PR goes.  It’s good because all these people here see beautiful images of NYC, LA, Chicago, etc. and decide that they really want to go (they also expect to see Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise walking down the street).  However, I can’t tell you how many times they get these ideas in their heads that people run around wild with AK-47s, Uzis, and bombs tucked into their briefcases and blow people up.  And they’re seriously afraid that if they go to school in, say, Ames Iowa, that they will be dodging bullets on the way to class every day.  I now have to start each presentation with a disclaimer saying that it’s not like the movies,  and most that they most likely will not be shot on their way to the dining hall. It’s crazy.

    Two of the staff members had studied abroad, one in Arizona and one in Australia, and they amused me going on and on about how hot I must find it here.  One of them said "I guess the heat is ok, if you stay inside in the air conditioning all day, and, well, all night too.  Then it’s not so bad."  The other was horrified when I said I was going to walk 20 feet to the nearest big road to hail a cab.  She insisted on calling me one because it was too hot to walk around.  At least I feel like less of a wuss because the locals find it hot here too.  It was also funny when I told them I had learned some Indonesian.  They started saying that Indonesian was much harder to speak than Malay, and one of ladies said "it’s really  hard, they use all these words that aren’t in our books!"  Well, yeah, they’ve got Malay words in the books here, not Indonesian ones, so I guess she had a point.  All in all, though, it was a good experience, hopefully Malaysia will be sending a few more PhD students our way soon.

  • Gulai Ikan

    Gulai is a term that refers to dishes served in a curry-like sauce, and ikan means fish.  It has obvious links to Indian influence throughout the archipelago, but it strictly local.  If you go to a Padang-style restaurant in Indonesia or a homestyle Malay restaurant in Malaysia, dishes like this will feature heavily on the menu.  We’ve Westernized it a bit to be more of a meal in itself (with rice) by adding tomatoes, okra, and green chilies.  Doing so makes it more Indian-like, but if you wanted to be really authentic, you could just leave these out.  This is just about our favorite dish that we’ve made since we got here. Reasonable people could find enough food here for four people, but the two of us ate it up ourselves.  The secret is really fresh fish, of course.  You want a medium-texture white fish (not cod, not swordfish; maybe something like flounder or snapper) for this recipe.

    The herb that we use here is daun kesum, or long-stemmed mint.  You almost certainly can’t find that in the West, which is why we’ve included lemon basil and regular mint instead.  It’s close, but no cigar.

    Spice Paste
    3 garlic cloves
    3 shallots
    1 inch galangal
    1 inch fresh tumeric, or one tsp. ground
    1 stalk of lemongrass
    1 tsp. fish curry powder
    1 1/2 tsp. coriander seeds
    1 tsp. black peppercorns
    1/4 tsp. salt

    Fish Curry
    2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
    1 stalk of curry leaves
    2 cups of tamarind water
    2 medium tomatoes, cut into six pieces
    10 okras, stem ends chopped off
    4 green chilies
    1 torch ginger bud, halved
    1/2 cup coconut milk
    1 pound fish (flounder or snapper)

    Make the spice paste by combining all the ingredients in a food processor and blending until smooth. If you use a mortar and pestle, be sure to finely chop the lemongrass first or you’ll never break down the fibers.

    In a large skillet or wok, hit the oil over low heat.  Add the spice paste and the curry leaves and fry, stirring often, until very aromatic and the oil starts to separate, about 8 minutes.  Add the tamarind water and bring to a boil.  Add tomatoes and ginger bud, reduce to a simmer, and cook uncovered for 5 minutes.  Add the fish and simmer for 5 minutes more.  Add the okra, chilies, and coconut milk and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove curry leaf stem and ginger bud.  Serve over rice.