Melaka Foodies Trip - Nyonya "Tiffin" Lunch at River Cafe, Casa del Rio Melaka

First post of the year. Happy 2016 everyone! Hope everyone had a good holiday. Like many Aussies, I like to travel during the summer break to escape the harsh Australian heat. But since we're away from home most time of the year, we'll usually head back to Singapore to be with family and friends and to celebrate Christmas. So when fellow blogger, Alan, a good friend, a big brother to me, suggested a short getaway trip to Melaka, I agreed without thinking twice.

Melaka, or Malacca, is a short 3 hours ride from Singapore. With the abundance of affordable coach services, you don't even have to drive, making Melaka one of the popular getaway destinations among Singaporeans and backpackers alike. In fact, I met a pair of Australian backpackers on my way back, who visited Melaka to take a break from the bustling metropolis (they were having holis in Singapore) and because "Bali is so overrated" (their words, not mine lol). 

I am very honoured to be hosted in the majestic Casa del Rio under the generosity of the hotel management and the kind arrangements of Alan. She is a gorgeous 5-star boutique hotel that sits idyllically on the banks of the iconic Melaka River. With her unique architectural design that pays homage to the historic city she lies in, Casa del Rio's frontage unifies with the heritage-rich Melaka yet exudes an elegant charm that makes her impossible to miss. 

Upon arriving at Casa del Rio, we were quickly ushered to one of the beautiful pavilions surrounding the hotel's water feature centerpiece. It looks so relaxing that many of the hotel's guests mistook it for the swimming pool! Truth be told, I felt like going in for a dip as well!

We were then presented with a bowl of refreshing ginger lime granita as welcome dessert, together with a piece of cold towel to cool ourselves down from the journey. The thoughtfulness of the staffs reminds me of how mum would give me cold barley or chrysanthemum tea when I reached home, hot and sweaty after school. "A home away from home" indeed. 

After settling down, we were treated to a Peranakan "tiffin" lunch at River Cafe, helmed by Chef William Koh, who is a Malaccan baba. The lunch, set in the style of a "tok panjang", includes favourites such as Kueh Pie Tee with Mango salad, Itek Tim, Chicken Pongteh, Prawn Sambal with Brinjal, Otak-Otak, Sambal Bendi, Chili Garam Red Snapper and Gula Melaka Sago in Coconut for dessert.

Serving as appetisers, Kueh Pie Tee and Mango Salad does the job really well. The mango salad is tangy, slightly sweet and very refreshing, much similar to Thai mango salad. Just what we needed to whet up an appetite for more to come. What I enjoyed even more was the kueh pie tee. Not just for its flavour but also the textural contrast between the thin crispy shell, crunchy julienned cucumber and the moist jicama. The little dab of chili sauce, isn't much spicy at all, which makes the kueh pie tee easily acceptable by everyone. I would have gone for seconds if my friends weren't around! 

Itek Tim is a soup made out of salted mustard greens and duck, similar or perhaps the same as the Teochew rendition called "Giam Chye Ak" (咸菜鸭 literally means salted vegetables duck) which my maternal grandfather used to make. I love having soup before a meal as it warms my stomach and prepares it for food. This soup doesn't just do that. The sourish notes of the salted mustard greens, sng buey (preserved salted plums) and assam stimulates the taste buds and actually made me want to eat more... a lot more. Albeit flavoursome, there could be one sng buey too many, one rinse too little, or even the long simmering that made it a tad saltier than what I'm used to. But it isn't much of a problem as I gladly accept a second serve without hesitation when offered.

The main dishes are no less amazing than the soup and appetisers. The sauce from the Chicken Pongteh is well-balanced without being overpowered by taucheo (fermented bean paste). The chicken is fork tender and still in whole pieces instead of small pieces of meat floating about which is a common pitfall for chicken stews. As the complexity of the sauce comes from prolonged stewing yet chicken meat falls off the bone easily if cooked for too long, making it aesthetically unappealing; this is one dish that looks simple, can be prepared easily but truly hard to master.

Sambal Prawns with Brinjal is spicier than the preceding dishes, but since I love my chilies, I did not mind it a bit. The prawns used were fresh, succulent and very "shrimpy" if you know what I mean. I find it exceedingly difficult to find establishments that serve fresh prawns. Many times, I've had prawns that has been soaked in cold or alkaline water to induce an "artificial crunch/bounce" texture which is much sought after, especially so by Chinese cuisine. Not a personal preference though. Leaving the head and shells on is also a smart move as it enhances the "shrimpy" taste, not forgetting that the ritual of shelling, sucking on the prawn head and licking the sambal off my fingers, completes the whole eating experience. 

Many of us should be familiar with Otak-Otak which is a spiced fish paste grilled in banana, attap or coconut leaves. Unlike most otak-otak, I like that pieces of fish meat are deliberately left whole to make for textural contrast. While the spiciness and flavours are on point, the chefs moved away from the usual way of grilling otak-otak in banana leaves and had them fried instead. It is a courageous and daring move as Peranakans are known to stand by their traditions, food especially. Choosing to fry the otak-otak does leave the outer layer slightly crisp and sets it apart from others, but not using some kind of batter as a protective barrier of sort, inevitably caused the interior to lose some moisture. While I can't decide if it is a good trade-off, I do miss unwrapping banana leaves to reveal the food within, much like unwrapping a present.

Sambal Bendi, which is simply lady's finger or okra cooked in chili sauce, is not an easy dish to get right. Apart from the careful selection of okra, chefs blanch the pod vegetables just very briefly, leaving it delightfully crunchy. They also took note not to cut them into too small a piece, preventing the okra from releasing too much of their infamous slime that fuel the resistance of many people. If you're one of them, this is one okra dish you will not turn your nose up at.

For me, Chili Garam Red Snapper was undoubtedly my favourite dish for the meal. A whole red snapper, butterflied and deep fried till every inch is crispy, then smothered with that deliciously spicy, fiery red, chili paste. And what do I do when a fish is deep fried so perfectly? I'll eat everything possible, including the fins which are like fish-flavoured potato chips, sorta. Despite being deep fried, the characteristically firm-textured fish meat remains moist and juicy, not a tiny bit overcooked. For a person who generally doesn't like fish, I truly enjoyed this dish immensely!

While not typically served in a coconut, Gula Melaka Sago is one of Peranakans' favourite "chuchi mulot" and it's not difficult to see why. In my opinion, gula melaka and coconut milk is a match made in heaven. Together with the chewy sago pearls served chilled in a coconut, this is one dessert I find hard to pass. Plus I was the only lucky person to receive a young coconut whose soft flesh I scrapped off, adding another dimension to the dessert and made it even more enjoyable. I slurped down the coconut flesh greedily while my friends watched on with envy. When girls say they have a separate stomach for desserts, they are not joking. 

The "nyonya tiffin lunch" set, carefully planned and meticulously prepared by Chef William and his team, features a mix of different dishes everyday. They will be presented and served in a multi-tiered tiffin carrier as above, commonly known as "tengkats" to many, which was how food was carried around and kept warm in the yesteryears. A rare and nostalgic treat regardless how (un)familiar you are with the Peranakan culture. And most definitely a unique, must-have experience for any tourist coming from a western country. 

The lunch sets are available on a walk-in basis, Monday through Friday, 12noon to 4pm. Different dishes are served each day, set A being the ones on Monday, set B for tuesday and so on. At RM37 nett (~A$13 only!!) per set, they are served with "soup-of-the-day", steamed white rice, fish crackers, pickled pineapple and cucumber salad and even a bowl of the famous nyonya cendol as dessert! Such great value for money! If you would like to request for specific dishes and have them set in the style of the "tok panjang" as we had enjoyed for luncheon, special arrangements can be made with the restaurant 2-3 days in advance. So if you're travelling to Melaka or planning to, be sure to have this special request made; it will be one of the highlights of your trip!

River Cafe
Casa del Rio Melaka
88, Jalan Kota Laksamana
75200 Melaka,
Malaysia

Tel : +60 6 289 6888
Fax: +60 6 289 6999
Email: dining@casadelrio-melaka.com
http://www.casadelrio-melaka.com/

Huge thank you to Casa del Rio for the generosity and extending the invitation to us, as well as Agnes and Jena for your warm hospitality and to my big brother, Alan, for bringing me along and making this trip possible!

As I may not be particularly familiar with Peranakan food and culture, read more about this luncheon at travelling-foodies where Alan did a comprehensive review! 

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