Malaysian Mysteries

What's with the rock-hard limes? Do Malaysians prefer limes that feel like squash balls before the sport went soft-ball, and that give up about 2 drops of juice when they're squeezed? Doesn't anyone else here make Thai food - which often calls for a lot of lime juice - or drink gin and tonics (lemon is a no substitute for lime)? Squeezing Malaysian limes gives me carpal tunnel syndrome. Where can I find soft, juicy limes in Kuala Lumpur?

What's up with Streamyx? Why does it suck so much? Why, when I'm required to pay a monthly fee for my DSL, am I working on a land for the fourth day in a week? Why do I have to forget about posting today because loading 19 photos on my 32,000-bps connection is gonna require a little more time than I have to spare? Why, when I call TM Net for technical support, do they always tell me that nothing is wrong with the service and it must be my computer, when I know it's not because Dave's computer - much newer and nicer than mine - can't connect on our home line either? Why, for criminy's sake, is internet service more reliable in Saigon than it is in Kuala Lumpur? More importantly - is there an alternative to Streamyx, and is it any better?

Where can I find a good tomato? I'm dying for some gazpacho, and the tomatoes in the market are useless. I'm looking for tomatoes with real flavor and plenty of juice. An American-style beefeater would be too much to hope for, I guess, but there's gotta be something out there with more zing than the mealy blobs I all too often encounter. I want a big tomato that tastes as good as those small 'fruit' tomatoes from the Genting Highlands that Village Grocer sells for a larcenous 5-something ringit a pack. I'd need about twenty of those packs to make a batch of gazpacho there's no cold soup in the world that's worth 30 US dollars a batch.

Why doesn't someone import avocadoes from Sumatra? Just across the Straits - what, a 3-hour ferry ride from Penang? - they're growing avocadoes that are as buttery and rich-tasting as anything you'll find in California. Tons and tons of them. They're huge, and they're so cheap! Meanwhile, here in Kuala Lumpur, if I want to whip up a heap of guacamole I'm forced to pay 3 ringit or more for one measly Australian or New Zealand specimen. It'd probably be cheaper to fly to Medan on air Asia and bring home a suitcase full.

Why is fruit so expensive? Thailand to the north, Indonesia to the west and south. Malaysia is almost surrounded by fruit-producing countries. So why do I feel like I'm being ripped off everytime I buy fruit? (Granted, we probably consume more fruit than the average couple.) Is there a Malaysian fruit-import monopoly that I don't know about, driving up prices? Or is it that local fruit production has been completely obliterated by palm oil plantations? Am I just not shopping at the right places? If you'd like to recommend a reliable, fair-priced fruit shop please comment here or email me.

Comments

[Cupcake]

Hmmm ... I've given up on local tomatoes. I now use the Italian canned variety - far tastier than any tomato that we get here. The prob with tomatoes in Malaysia is that we pick them when they are still a pale orange in colour. Since they are not allowed to ripen on the vine, the flavour suffers, I think. Try buying them at the market where they may be cheaper and ripening them slowly at home yourself by placing them in a well-ventilated container in the kitchen.

I hardly ever have probs with Streamyx tho.

Cupcake

[Phil]

I feel your tomato pain. In desperation for some bruschetta with tomato and basil, last year I resorted to growing my own roma tomatoes from seeds that a friend sent to me in Cambodia, so that I could ripen them on the vine. I think my landlord thought that I was completely insane.

[WTJ]

luckily i don like tomato, but i've a lot of comments on that lime and lemon thing

[RST]

Hmmm. I think we've discussed this before elsewhere. Asians just simply do not use tomatoes that way: i.e. sweet, ripe. In fact, it is often used as a souring agent-a *mild* souring component of course-with not quite the sourness that tamarind or the santol fruit or green mango or the kamias(Averrhoa belimbi) provide.

[DeV]

Yes! i definately agree with your opinion on the poor services given my streamyx. It really sucks nowadays and from what i've heard our line are damn slow because............. usually at overseas if their server only can accomodate 50 slots then they just put 50 but ours if max 50 they can accomodate like MORE THAN THAT. So of cos our line getting slower each day. When raining then my area no signal i wonder what they doing.

I never bother talk to the customer care cos USELESS they always tell me the same thing maybe your pc? i was like u take me as a fool just becos u there i'm here then u keep telling me it's my pc? god damn it as if la my pc is tat old. I connect with new pc old pc all also the same speed. idiotic talking to those bunch of loonies. Just try to bear with it and if got any other ISP better than them i surely change! they monopolize the market now

[RST]

Khao kluk kapi has green mango as one of its main components: it is essential to balance the aromatic sweetness of the pork & the strong fermented flavors of the fish paste. Bec green mango is so expensive in the US, Thai restaurants sometimes scatter a few slivers on top, and then try to amp up the sour dimension by garnishing with green tomatoes.

[Robyn]

Cupcake - ripening on the counter doesn't work ... they might get softer but they're still flavorless. And canned tomatoes just won't do for gazpacho.

Thanks Phil! We're moving in two wks and plan to devote a large piece of our garden to tomatoes - and jalapenos. I've got a stock of heirloom tomato seeds. Good point abt romas though - essential for a decent pasta sauce. Must rope a friend into sending seeds.

RST - I'll agree as far as Thailand, Viet, Cambodia, and Lao go. But here in Malaysia, and in Sumatra, I've encountered sweetish, very tomato-ey sambals that have obviously been made with good, fresh tomatoes. And in Sumatra we had the most delicious avocado and tomato salad imagineable. Somewhere, someone is growing good red orbs. Nevermind, see my comment above. We're gonna grow our own!
Green tomatoes would just not work, for me, in khao kapi - too wet. A very sour green apple would be better. Some khao kapi versions I've sampled in Thailand use guava instead of green mango ... more apple-like.

DeV - testify! My Streamyx also poops out when it rains, even when it's just threatening rain (distant thunder). Not super convenient when one lives in a place with a very prolonged wet season...

[RST]

Yes, I have seen Granny Smith apples put to this use as well. I think that the result is not quite the same.

[slau]

Re: avocadoes, I have just seen them being sold at the Chow Kit wet market at RM6 for 1 kilo. You can also find Buah Salak (fruit with a snake skin like appearance) at this market.