New Yorkers find Malaysian cuisine exciting

NEW YORK, (Feb 19, 2014): New Yorkers who dined for the first time at the newly opened Malaysian restaurant Rasa in Manhattan's Greenwich district said that they found Malaysian cuisine exciting.
With its Malay, Chinese and Indian influences, Malaysian cuisine presents a unique blend of the three food cultures, exclaimed Elaine Woods, a Wall Street financial worker, who dined at the Rasa with her two female colleagues on a recent Thursday night.
"The first guests to arrive at the restaurant were a mix of ethnic Asians and Americans, many of whom had come to try something new and were not disappointed in their choice of restaurant," according to Elaine's sibling Gerry Woods who was there as well.
He was eating the Assam Laksa, which the Huffington Post once described as "one of the ten dishes to try before dying".
Although Greenwich has a cluster of Asian eateries, this is the first Malaysian restaurant in the district which is considered to be a trendy place that is patronised mostly by young professionals, students and even the office crowd.
Rasa's offering
Rasa, which has a total seating capacity for 52 guests, was recently started by renowned Malaysian chef Tommy Lai, a Michelin restaurant star winner, and his sister and co-owner Camie Lai.
Rasa means taste in Malay and coincidently both the co-owners also originate from a place called Rasa in Selangor, Malaysia.
Together with the brother-sister team, their Malaysian cousin, Michael Lai, who was formerly a sushi chef and Bibi Singh, a Singaporean businesswoman with strong connections with Malaysia, formed the quartet of owners.
Rasa has featured what Camie Lai described a "Malaysian-inspired menu, comprising of unique Malaysian signature dishes".
"Traditional Malaysian dishes and popular street food like Penang Assam Laksa, Yong Tu Foo, Curry Mee and Hakka Prawn Mee will take centre stage alongside new creations such as Rasa's Asian Rolls which will include Sambal and Curry Satay stuffed rolls," explained Michael Lai in an interview with Bernama at the restaurant recently when Malaysian employees of various Malaysian agencies, including Matrade and Tourism Malaysia, also descended on the restaurant.
More on the menu

"We wanted to introduce some simple Malaysian small dishes such as Popiah Rolls so that those not familiar with Malaysian and Southeast Asian food could try those first and then 'graduate' on to the main dishes," said Camie Lai, adding that other Malaysian favourites such as roti canai, Malaysian cupcakes, Malay curried wings, and mini curry puffs would also be on Rasa's elaborate menu.
Chef Tommy Lai will be showcasing traditional Malaysian dishes with Chinese, Malay and Indian influences such as Wat Tan Hor, Nasi Lemak, Indian Mee Goreng, etc.
Rasa will also offer some Malaysian beverages on its menu such as Teh Tarik and a special concoction of Tamarind Cider, Malaysian grass jelly drink, the refreshing coconut, and ginger drink.
One of the Malaysian guests at the Rasa was Muhd. Shahrulmiza Zakaria, the New York based Malaysian Trade Commissioner, who told Bernama that his agency Matrade was supporting Malaysian restaurants through its Malaysian kitchen programme which since its inception in 2010 has been educating and informing consumers about Malaysian cuisine and restaurants throughout the world.
The programme also encourages local chefs and restaurateurs to introduce Malaysian cuisine in their establishments.
"Matrade welcomes the opening of Rasa, the latest Malaysian restaurant to open in Manhattan," Shahrulmiza added.
Bringing Malaysian cuisine to every American home
In 2013, three new Malaysian restaurants were established in New York and New Jersey; besides Rasa, the other two restaurants to open were Mamak Food House, which was started in Flushing, New York, and Taste of Malaysia in Fort Lee, New Jersey, according to the Malaysian trade commissioner.
With the inclusion of the three new Malaysian restaurants, the number of Malaysian restaurants in the United States has risen to a total of 86 establishments registered under Matrade's Malaysian Kitchen Programme.
The next phase of the MKP (2013-2018) will be carried out under the motto "Bringing Malaysian Cuisine into Every American Home!"
Besides the proliferating Asian supermarkets in the United States, Matrade will also persuade mainstream supermarkets to offer Malaysian food products on their shelves, as Indian, Thai and Chinese food suppliers have been successfully doing.
Apart from participating in six major food trade fairs, Matrade will launch a new public relations campaign in 2014, placing greater emphasis on the use of social media channels, engaging prominent personalities and the Malaysian diaspora in the USA to highlight the attractive attributes of the Malaysian cuisine.
According to Sharulmiza, Malaysian cuisine's growing popularity will also encourage many Americans to not only buy ready-to-eat Malaysian food products but also motivate them to buy ingredients and spices to try their hand at cooking Malaysian dishes at home.
"This will also boost exports of Malaysian food products and spices," Sharulmiza said. – Bernama