Travel Diary » Foodie heaven: cooking at the Tropical Spice Garden Cooking School
Foodie heaven: cooking at the Tropical Spice Garden Cooking School
Like many mums, I tend to avoid doing things for myself, by myself. If there's an opportunity for a family outing or doing something solo, I'll take the quality family time. Even if I'm frazzled and secretly dreaming of a quiet hammock with a novel!
While we've been travelling I've passed on quite a few opportunities to do things that I alone enjoy or would mean being away for the family for a day. Like taking a cooking class. I love cooking ... well I loved cooking before I had kids who are fussy and instantly underfoot or fighting the instant I step in the kitchen ... and I love Asian food. I dreamed of doing one in Thailand and Cambodia but never got around to it. Ever since friends visited the Tropical Spice Garden Cooking School here in Penang and spent days raving over how amazing the classes were I was determined to go.
Of course that was six months ago and I still hadn't gone. Then Pam came to stay with us and as soon as she mentioned that she wanted to go too I knew here was my chance. If I said yes to going with her she would hold me to my word.
And I'm so glad I did.
About the Tropical Spice Gardens and the Cooking School
The Tropical Spice Gardens are an eco-friendly attraction located just past Batu Ferringhi. Formally the site of an abandoned rubber plantation, the Spice Gardens are now a lush secondary jungle filled with 500 varieties of tropical flora specially selected from all over the world, twisting walking trails made from recycled railroad materials, water features, spices and information displays.
As well as offering a pleasant retreat from the tropical heat and a chance to learn more about the spices and the history of the spice trade, the Tropical Spice Gardens recently commenced a cooking school. The school offers hands on classes classes in Nyonya, Indian, Cantonese and Malay food, with a focus on using fresh, locally grown spices. The day we went the menu was Nyonya, a style of food developed by the Nyonya (Straits Chinese) and Peranakan (mixed Chinese/Malay ancestry) people who inhabit Malaysia and Singapore. Nyonya cooking predominantly uses Chinese ingredients but blends them with spices, colours and flavours that are found in South East Asia, such as coconut milk, lemon grass, turmeric, screwpine leaves, chillies and sambal.
Cooking classes run from 9am - 2pm and start with a guided tour of the Tropical Spice Gardens. I've visited the gardens with the children before as it's the perfect place to take them for a nature walk - well paved walkways, not too arduous and hidden delights such as a hammock and giant swing. But the kids always want to race each other and run ahead, so I've never had the time to explore the gardens at my leisure and learn about the spices.
Until the morning of my cooking class that is. Our guide, Bea was fantastic. She knew every inch of the gardens and I loved the insights into Chinese culture and medicinal beliefs that she provided along with the information on each of the herbs. Every plant seemed to have a use - as a source of food, some medicinal property or as a building material. Walking around here you would never guess that just a few years ago it was an abandoned rubber plantation, nor that you are just a few meters from the road.
After our guided tour, it was time for our cooking class! We headed to the cooking school and were introduced to our teacher, Pearly Kee and her lovely husband before being shown our work stations. Each student had their own station, set up with a prepping area, cooking area and all our ingrediants laid out ready to be sliced, chopped, blended and cooked.
Otak Otak
Our first dish was Otak Otak. When Pam and I first saw the menu last week and googled Otak Otak (the 'k' is silent) to discover wikepedia describing it as a fish cake I have to say that wasn't exactly what I was hoping to cook. Thankfully wikepedia was completely misleading. Otak Otak turned out to be fresh fish pieces or prawns (or in my case tofu as I requested a non-seafood variation) swimming in a delicious coconut lemongrass sauce, all wrapped inside a banana leaf prior to steaming. You eat the finished product still inside the banana leaf and it was delicious, although the lemongrass flavour was a little strong for my liking.
The cooking process was very hands on. We blanched the banana leaves to make them pliable enough for wrapping and hand chopped the garlic, onion, fresh tumeric, ginger, chillis and lemongrass. Pearly guided us through every step of the process. Each spice had to be chopped a particular way to bring out the right flavour and keep the natural benefits of the spices. Traditionally the spices would then be ground with a motar and pestle, but the school uses blenders to save time. Considering how fine the final paste needed to be my arms are thankful for the blender!
The coconut milk was then added to the spice blend and mixed through before adding the seafood/tofu and stirring to ensure everything was well coated.
Then it was onto the fun part - making packets out of banana leaf. It was easier than it looked thanks to the instructions but I still managed to make a mess! The banana leaf packets were steamed for 20 minutes while we prepared our next dish, Jiew Hu Char.
Jiew Hu Char
Once again, Jiew Hu Char was nothing like it's Wikepedia description. It turned out to be a stir fry vegetable salad with shredded chicken, dried cuttlefish, soy sauce, chicken stock, spices and bean paste. Traditionally it often has bacon instead of chicken but we were cooking in a Halal kitchen so chicke it was. I opted not to include dried cuttlefish and loved the results.
Like with Otak Otak, the preparation was very hands on. We were given all the ingrediants and put to work with Pearly watching over to make sure we were doing it right. Cooking Jiew Hu Char started with the trickiest part - finely shaving all the garlic, shallots, carrot, jicama, red onion and cabbage into the finest pieces we could manage.
The garlic and shallots were fried separately until crispy and removed from the pan before the rest of the ingredients were added to be stirfried, following traditional nyonya methods of course, until all the sauce and stock had bubbled away. My banana leaf folding skills might not have been the best but Pearly said I would have made a Nyonya grandmother happy with my Jiew Hu Char. I felt pretty proud of myself ... for that and the fact that I didn't loose a finger cutting vegetables so finely with such sharp knives!
And here's the final result! Pearly made two versions of Green Mango Salad and Sambal, as well as Rice and Lemonade to go with the food we prepared.The Otak Otak once opened is better than it looks!!! No really it is! Jiew Hu Char was definitely my favourite dish of the day. I could have eaten the whole bowl.
With both dishes ready it was time for a photo and lunch. We were lucky enough to be taking the class on a day when the tour guides for the Spice Gardens were also taking the class. They wanted to learn the dishes to have a better knowledge of the cooking school when they are guiding visitors through the gardens. Everyone knew everyone else so it made for fantastic (and hilarious) conversation over lunch.
Overall I had a fantastic day out doing something for myself! The staff were lovely, the facilites fantastic and Pearly's hands on teaching methods and instructions were fantastic. Even if I never get around to cooking these dishes again (although I'm sure I will make Jiew Hu Char at least) I learned so much about local ingredients and preparing spices that I never knew.
A big thank you to Pearly, Danny and all the staff at the Spice Gardens for having us in your class. I had a wonderful day.
Want to cook these yourself?
In case you would like to make these dishes yourself, Pam has written up the recipies on her blog, Spunkygirlmonologues.
Otak Otak
Jiew Hu Char
Taking your own class at the Tropical Spice Gardens Cooking School
Cooking classes are held at the Tropical Spice Gardens Cooking School every day (except Mondays) and run from 9 am - 2 pm. Classes need to be booked 24 hours in advance and can accommodate up to ten people. The menu varies from day to day so be sure to check the schools website for the schedule before booking. If you are like me and can't eat seafood, are vegetarian or just have a preference for a different meat please let the school know at the time of booking. They were very accommodating and had no problems altering the dishes to suit individual preferences.
The Tropical Spice Gardens are located just past Batu Ferringhi at the edge of Teluk Bahang. The 101 and 102 Rapid Penang buses both stop outside the gardens. Mosquitoes are fierce inside the gardens but the staff have natural citronella spray that you are welcome to use. I'm obviously too delicious for the mosquitos and need to take my own as well but the spray seemed to work for everyone else.
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09/11/2011 1:15pm (6 months ago)
Looks like a fabulous day out! I loved the cooking class I took in Chiang Mai. I hope by the time we get to Penang for a visit you will be ready to go again with me while the hubbies watch the kiddos!
09/11/2011 1:59pm (6 months ago)
It's a date Amy! I'd love to go back. The chef that ran our class runs another cooking class that I would love to try sometime as well. Now do we tell the boys of our plans to leave the kids with them in advance ... or just run off ?
10/11/2011 5:37am (6 months ago)
oh!! i want to go there and learn!! any cooking class that has piles of banana leaves is IN. what fun!
10/11/2011 10:16am (6 months ago)
Congratulations on making that otak-otak. We tried it a few weeks ago, and it was not easy - we made such a mess!
We're going to be in Penang on the 19th but it's for a family wedding and I'm not sure we'll be able to make it to the Tropical Spice Garden. But it's definitely on my list of places I want to go to.
10/11/2011 1:15pm (6 months ago)
Hi Tracy,
That looks like such a great day out! I am so like you...even though I need a day out, I still end up choosing a day out with the family :)
Those dishes look amazing, and the walk through the garden sounds amazing - love that you got to hear about all of the spices, and have a tour of the gardens with information provided about the herbs/spices/benefits of the chinese plants.
Cheers
Lisa
10/11/2011 1:36pm (6 months ago)
@Wandering Educators - I agree. Wrapping anything in a banana leaf just makes it more exotic!
@Nate - I found the hardest part keeping the sauce inside the banana leaf. It just kept running out everywhere while I tried to juggle it shut. After a few tries it wasn't too bad, although apparently my banana leaf packets were too tall! A visit to the Spice Gardens is well worth it. Tell your family to take the photos there so you can walk around the gardens at the same time!
@Lisa - It really must be a mum thing. My husband just doesn't understand it. Although I'm finally willing to admit that sometimes everyone has more fun if we divide and conquer - split the kids between us and go out separately.
10/11/2011 11:40pm (6 months ago)
Hi everyone, Anyone friend of Tracy is our friend. So when in Penang, let us know and we are welcome to learn cooking in my house where it is non-halal, meaning i use pork in my cooking. Our house is open for homestay and I lived in the heart of Georgetown.
If you prefer Tropical Spice Garden, let me know too.
Tracy, thanks for the great write up. I am happy our team in Tropical Spice Garden shares lots of experiences and knowledge with you.
Pearly
11/11/2011 3:50pm (6 months ago)
Thanks Pearly. Everyone, she really is a fantastic teacher and a lovely person. If you have the time, taking a cooking class with Pearly is definitely something I'd recommend!
11/11/2011 5:56pm (6 months ago)
I love cooking and can't wait to get to that part of the world to master the amazing spice blends. What a feast you made!
I love the picture of all you with the HUGE jars of spices in the background. The photos look beautiful! (I'd love to know how, what camera, etc gives such great shots. I'm looking to upgrade my point and click for something a little fancier.) Makes my mouth water.
12/11/2011 12:46pm (6 months ago)
I usually hate cooking with a passion...but I think that is one that I'd actually enjoy doing! Now if only they had cooking classes for kids, that I would definitely pay for as I have a 10 year old and 9 year old who love cooking, and then I could eat all that amazing food without having to cook it!
12/11/2011 2:25pm (6 months ago)
I saw the pictures and automatically had an urge to go back to Penang just for their amazing food! We tried looking for these Tropical Spice Gardens when we were their earlier in the year, but our relatives could not find it. Also the maps we had weren't very helpful. But now I know they do these amazing cooking classes, I will not be leaving Penang next time without attending a class.
13/11/2011 11:39am (6 months ago)
Tracy if they could teach me it would be a miracle. My hubby has done all the cooking and it's only recently that I have started to venture into the kitchen (he's working nights so it's that or eat cereal) I'm actually enjoying it. so now my daughter and I plan what we will have, she is a little junior master chef and do it together. Both of us learning at the same time with often hysterical results. Maybe I'll book us all in for some cooking classes...
ciao lisa