WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 2019
Pudu Wet Market
8.30am
*Slap* goes the slab of meat as it hits the chopping board. I watch with wide eyes as the indifferent butcher expertly partitions our cuts. "Is that for dinner?" yawns Micheole Chico blearily. Despite having worked till the wee hours of the night, the head sushi chef of Nobu Kuala Lumpur and his colleagues have risen early for our benefit.
Inquisitive stares follow our party of 10 or more, largely due to the camera crew darting around our star chefs. Hervé Courtot holds up bunches of long beans to the light, admiring their vivid purple. Philip Leong sticks close to his side, patiently translating the names of produce from Mandarin and Malay to English for the Frenchman's benefit.
Three types of beans—bitter (aka petai), four-angled & purple–make it into our baskets, which get substantially heavier after stopping by various seafood, livestock and fruit stalls. After amassing enough ingredients for tonight's feast, we spin on our heels and head back to our waiting van.
9:45am
Hainanese coffee, cool and sweet, slips down our parched throats at ICC Pudu. Not only has the Nobu team surprised us with a prepacked breakfast of onigiri, lobster tacos and fresh fruit; we are also treated to a winning trifecta of coffee, kaya toast and half-boiled eggs from Ah Weng Koh Hainan Tea & Coffee, an establishment said to be half a century old. Everyone trades anecdotes while tucking into our Malaysian-Japanese breakfast — such is the power of food in bringing people together.
10:45am
Goodbyes are said as everyone parts ways temporarily. We will regroup at sundown to see what the 3 chefs have whipped up. Although I've just eaten, indulgent thoughts of dinner flit through my mind en route to Malaysia Tatler's office.
