The Malaysiafiles: Part 1- Unique Eats from Sabah

2012 brought you the Australiafiles: this year I bring you the Malaysiafiles!

I visited my jiapo, aunt and uncle in Kota Kinabalu this month (I got back three days ago and I'm STILL jet lagged as hell). From the UK came myself, mum, aunt, uncle and two cousins. From Texas came another aunt, and from Australia came another aunt and uncle (the parents of my cousin who got married during my trip to Oz). It was more of a mini reunion this time round, but I assure you no less food was eaten.

For the first half of the trip, mum and I stayed round my jiapo, aunt and uncle's house in KK, and for the second we stayed in a hotel. Not only is my jiapo an amazing cook, but my aunt and uncle made sure we ate lots of local delights too. In fact, the very first thing my uncle Herbert plonked down on a table as soon as mum and I arrived was something I've never seen (or smelled!) before in my life.

(Mum on the left, aunt on the right)

This fruit is called a 'tarap', and is native to Borneo. It's related to the breadfruit and jackfruit, and has a distinct, pungently sweet smell. The strong smell can be off-putting for some, but honestly, compared to the slightly rotten smell of a durian fruit, it's like a lightly fragranced bouquet of flowers. I didn't even think the tarap had a particularly bad smell- it sort of reminded me of the way a really ripe banana smells, only stronger.

The outside feels like a stiff wire scrubbing brush, but on the inside are lots of soft, plump kernels of fruit, each with its own large seed inside.

To open it, you just have to grab it and tear it open with your hands- no knife necessary.

It tasted amazing, I'm sad that I won't be able to find it anywhere else- it was sort of like a tropical fruit salad, a cross between bananas, lychees, pineapples and vanilla ice-cream. In fact, if I had free access to these fruits, I'd love to try making tarap ice-cream! I think it'd work really well.

Next on the Unique Eats menu are Sandakan cow pat tarts (also known as UFO tarts). These were originally made in Sandakan and are only really found there, although they are starting to catch on in nearby areas within Sabah.

This one's a UFO shape, with a circular ring of piped meringue and a piped cross in the centre. You can just about see the rich custard filling in the centre, and the base is a light sponge cake.

This one was a 'cow pat' shape, with a swirl of meringue piped all the way around and up from the custard.

I've actually made this before on my blog Tashcakes! In fact, this weekend I had another go at fashioning a recipe for cow pat tarts in an attempt to make them more authentic. I came really close this time- next time they'll be perfect! Head on over there for the recipes I have so far. At least these are easier to create than trying to grow a tarap tree in London!

Last of all on the Unique Eats menu are pineapple jam pastries: flaky, light pastry filled with a rich pineapple jam (a similar pineapple jam you'll find on Chinese-style pineapple tarts). These I've not made before, but I can't wait to get experimenting in the kitchen.

The pastries are at the front of the photo. Behind are two coconut tarts (enriched with egg yolks to make them extra moist and delicious), and behind you can see an intact cow pat tart. =D

As you might have gathered, this will be a series of parts like the Australiafiles. Tomorrow, I'll be posting about the worst food of any trip ever: aeroplane food.