A friend was eating lunch with family in Kuala Lumpur a few weeks ago when he received a tweet announcing a brand-new Malaysian restaurant had opened in Chicago. It came with a photo of the restaurant’s mango chicken—a sweet-spicy stir-fry of poultry, bell peppers, and onions served in a hollowed-out mango. As the phone was passed around the table loaded with homemade dishes, the family had a good snort. That’s Malaysian food, eh?
Other worthy benchmarks of Malaysian cuisine include the Indian-style roti pratha, shreds of soft and crispy coconut-scented flatbread meant to be dipped in a thick, sweet red curry with potatoes and chicken. There’s char koay teow, wide, flat noodles that carry the proverbial “breath of the wok” smokiness, tossed with tensile shrimp and squid and seasoned with sweet soy and chile. And there’s nasi goreng, fried rice with the pungent shrimp paste belacan, tempered by the wok’s heat to produce a satisfying background funk, and crowned by a crispy whole omelet with a creamy interior. The chefs aren’t shy about using that belacan. You can also find it in the kang kung belacan, stir-fried with water spinach, where it serves as a foil to the bright vegetal greens, redemption for the rich curries you’re enjoying.
With all the various cuisines represented at Serai there’s a lot to explore. It almost reads like a typical Chinatown menu, one where it might take weeks to pinpoint the gems. Still, it’s safe to say the Malaysian stuff is where you ought to direct your attention first. v
2169 N. Milwaukee 872-206-8368seraichicago.com
