♪ >> There are hundreds of small towns all over Malaysia, but few have the spirit of everlasting friendship like Sitiawan.

Tea and rubber might have fused this town, but it is the sweat and love from generations of Fuzhou immigrants that make this place so special.

Making new friends in an old town next on "Taste of Malaysia with Martin Yan."

♪ ♪ ♪ >> "Taste of Malaysia with Martin Yan" is brought to you by... >> ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ >> Circulon cookware.

Circles for life.

>> Monogram.

A full line of professional appliances designed for food and entertaining enthusiasts.

♪ ♪ By Melissa's.

The freshest ideas in produce.

By Granite Expo.

Offering a wide selection of cabinet and countertop solutions.

And by B&G Group of Malaysia.

♪ Building Malaysia's tomorrow.

♪ ♪ >> Early morning is busy time in Sitiawan, especially for a family with children going to school.

This noodle shop, it opens every day on weekdays because the children can have a little breakfast here before they go to school.

You know they are very, very dedicated and committed to the children's education here.

That's the reason why this particular noodle shop is so popular, so this is a very important noodle shop around here.

They're so busy, and they're open very early in the morning.

6:00 they open here.

By 10:30, this place is closed, so if you want to try good Fuzhou dry braised noodle, you've got to come here before 10:30.

Mmm.

Al dente, great noodle, just like angel hair pasta.

This is the famous Fuzhou kam pua noodle, dry braised with a dark soy and a lot of barbecue meat.

Truly delicious.

It's served with two different kinds of sauce, soup with wonton too.

Delicious.

I love the texture of this noodle.

What's the name of this shop?

>> No Name Shop.

>> For a small Malaysian town, Sitiawan has many schools.

Education is highly valued here.

Many of the sons and daughters from the small town have gone on to become movers and shakers of the Malaysian society.

One good thing about a small town is that everything is so close by.

We're just a few blocks away from the famous breakfast place.

What's the name again?

>> No Name Shop.

>> W-O-M. Word of Mouth.

It is a small-town version of GPS.

♪ All throughout breakfast, I could smell the wonderful aroma of freshly baked bread.

You know what that means?

Second breakfast.

♪ How are you, Mr. Poon?

Master baker, owner of Kim Hock Bakery.

[ Speaking Chinese ] This particular small bakery has been here for over 60 years, and they are the only one still making the traditional bread.

Behind me, it is the wife, the son, the sister.

All of them are working right here, so this is a family operation.

Mr. Poon told me he spends a lot of time and money for education.

He's actually the local Chinese school chairman of the Families Association.

He contributes a great deal to education and the local community.

It is very important for us and all the other people to learn from Mr. Poon.

Commitment to the society.

Variety of bread, different color, different shape, different filling, this is all ready to be baked.

Mmm.

This is all not only made with variety but also made with your heart, each piece done by hand.

Everything is personal touch, and I like that.

Once it rises up, it's time to be baked in the oven.

Mr. Poon starts work at 5:00 a.m. A neighborhood bakery is where everybody comes for morning bread.

And in the afternoon, children will drop by for their treat on the way home from school.

This small, humble bake shop has been in business for decades, and it has served many generations of children from this tight-knitted community.

♪ ♪ Smells fantastic.

It's ready to be served.

♪ Ah.

Freshly baked bread.

I'm going to try it out.

This is so hot.

[ Speaking Chinese ] It's a very special knife.

I've never seen a knife like this.

Look at the knife.

This is a knife they have been using for 63 years.

This is the original knife.

This after 60 years of sharpening.

This is the witness of the passage of time.

When you eat, they put a tiny bit of butter and a tiny bit of sweetened coconut jam.

Can you see that?

Butter and coconut jam right here.

It smells so good, and it's nice and soft and spongy.

I'm going to have a little bite.

♪ It smells good, aromatic.

The savoriness from the butter and the sweetness from the coconut jam all melt together, harmonious taste.

I told Mr. Poon today not only learn how to make bread but also I have learned how to be a gentleman.

Always remember the spirit of community, family value.

And I thank you so very much for teaching me all of these.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ I really enjoyed the noodles back at the famous breakfast restaurant.

What is its name again?

>> No Name.

>> That's right, No Name.

Anyway, I asked them where they get their noodles, and they told me everybody in town gets their noodles right here.

When they told me that everybody in town gets this noodle here, they weren't kidding.

This place is only closed one day a year, on Chinese New Year Day.

All the noodles are freshly made, and they're sold out by the end of the day every day.

I don't know what people serve on their New Year meal, but you can bet it won't be freshly made noodles.

Here's one big fan.

And me, I'm another big fan of this place.

I asked Mrs. Li, "How come you only take one day off?"

She said this is her commitment to the community, commitment to her customers.

If she doesn't make it, nobody in this town will have any fresh-made noodle.

No preservatives.

You have to finish it up within 24 hours.

[ Speaking Chinese ] [ Speaking Chinese ] Gotta be fast.

>> [ Speaking Chinese ] [ Laughs ] >> [ Speaking Chinese ] [ Conversing in Chinese ] ♪ [ Conversing in Chinese ] >> This looks very easy.

It's actually very difficult.

>> [ Conversing in Chinese ] ♪ >> This little shop just opened up its door.

The line is already halfway down the block -- incredible.

If you are in a mood for the authentic Foochow Gong Pian, this is the only game in town.

I'd better line up.

Otherwise, I'm going to lose my space.

The master baker works from 9:00 to 5:00, no Sundays.

He bakes 1,500 Gong Pian a day, no more and no less.

When the last one is sold out, he is done for the day.

Very simple -- chopped red onion, pork fat, flour, salt.

With these simple ingredients as a filling, we're going to learn how to make the Fuzhou famous popular red onion pancake.

Every single one of these is handmade.

That's why they can only make 1,500 of these a day.

When it's sold out, next day.

Look at this.

First you get the dough.

You flatten this into a perfect round shape, and then you put the filling inside, plenty of them.

And then you pleat it -- look at this, pleat, pleat, pleat, pleat, push, push, push, push.

One, flatten it a little bit, you're perfect.

This is all handmade, every single one of these limited edition.

Wow.

This is at least 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

It is really, really hot.

And each one of these red onion pancakes sticks to the wall of this hot oven.

The oven is concave.

It's a big belly.

Up here is narrower, so the heat kind of circulates a little bit.

♪ It helps to have quick hands in this business.

It's very, very hard.

You've got to be really, really quick.

[ Speaking Chinese ] This is freshly out of these mesquite ovens.

Whoa, very, very hot.

Look at this -- nice and golden brown, nice and hard.

[ Crunch ] Mmm.

Outside absolutely crispy, but inside moist, soft, and savory.

that's the reason why people line up.

We all know the saying -- "One can pick his friends, but not his family."

In Malaysia, I came across a whole bunch of old friends who grew up together in a very small town, and they left me with a much deeper understanding of what true friendship is all about, and a wonderful recipe of poaching fish for big parties.

And since you're all my newfound friends and I'm honored to share with you today and also my two VIP guests, Li and Lucienne.

thank you for being in my Martin Yan's kitchen.

>> Thank you.

>> Now here I'm going to show you how to do poached fish with a lot of shallots and spices.

This is bass, freshwater bass, and the first thing I'm going to do is poach this first, okay?

When you poach the fish, this is how you do it.

You see this fin?

You have one cut to make it easier, okay?

Cut, look at this, one cut over here, one cut over here.

And then you turn it upside down.

Turn it over here, cut, and one cut over here.

Always seesaw your knife, one cut -- look at this.

And then if you want, if the fish is really thick, you have one cut here, one little cut, just a little score.

Now look at this, and look at this.

And then you poach it.

when you poach it, you have the poaching liquid.

You use some exotic ingredients and the traditional ingredient lemongrass.

And I cut in half, I press, I cut in half and I dump it in here.

This is lemongrass flavor.

And also ginger.

When you use ginger, this is all you have to do.

You crush this, allow the flavor to come out.

And then onion.

Onion is sweet and also spicy.

So you cut a big chunk of onion like this.

And then also use it to poach.

And then also a tiny bit of salt, okay?

A tiny bit of salt, not much.

And a tiny bit of wine, rice wine.

This is our poaching liquid, so the fish will be really nice, okay?

We'll let it poach.

Poaching fish is similar than, it's just like steaming.

It's the healthiest way to cook because when you poach, when you steam, you don't need any extra oil.

While I'm poaching this, I can actually cover this up with a lid -- not fully covered.

Otherwise, it'd be steaming poaching.

In the meantime, we're going to cut up some shallots, and I cut it up, set it aside, and I put it right here.

And then of course, I would like to have some chili, so I slice this up also into thin, smaller pieces.

This is a jalapeño, and if you really want to make it really, really hot, this is Tai chili.

This is going to be really hot.

And then of course, I'm going to have some shredded chili.

We want to make it look nice and smooth.

I get rid of the seeds, and I shred it like this and I set it up.

And now, thin slice of ginger.

How do you thinly slice a ginger?

Like this, nice and thin like this.

And then you put them all together, and you shred it by lining it up.

People always ask why you can cut so fast.

First, practice.

Secondly, sharp knife.

A sharp knife is a safe knife.

In the meantime, I heat this up, and I put all of these ingredients -- ginger, look at that, chili, shallots, lots of shallots, and then jalapeño.

And then shredded chili.

A lot of color.

And then I move them around, and then I put a tiny bit of soy sauce right here, not too much, just enough.

And let it continue to cook for a little while.

And this fish is ready.

Poached, all done.

So I'm going to take this out.

The whole fish.

look how beautiful.

Look at that, amazing.

And then, now look at this.

This is hot.

Splashing.

[ Sizzles ] Very, very good, very, very hot.

And then finally, a tiny bit of soy sauce.

This itself is already very good, but you want it to taste even better.

Look at this -- I put this right on one side.

So you can see the whole fish.

The final touch, extra soy, and that's it.

And a couple of these.

Put it on the side, okay?

Very nice.

And this is it, this is ready.

and it's so easy to do.

Now, this is a dish that will make your good friends even better friends.

True friendship is all about sharing.

That's why I'm poaching a whole fish.

Get one big enough to share with the entire party, with everybody.

Fuzhou is also known for its red wine noodle.

The noodle is still made by traditional way, by hand.

The interesting part of this process is how they are hung to dry, just like laundry.

They must have many sunny days around here.

♪ This is noodle in a red wine broth.

It is a traditional Fuzhou dish, and it thrives in Sitiawan.

Born in Fuzhou, nurtured and loved in Malaysia.

Truly an immigrant story with good taste.

I'm sitting in this very uniquely designed Dindings teahouse with my good friend, chef owner, Mr. Nga.

[ Speaks Chinese ] Let me taste.

Mmm.

Beautiful texture, the aroma of the red wine.

Ginger permeates into every single strand of noodle.

I just found out from Mr. Nga the reason why this broth is so overwhelming with alcohol aroma is because they make their own wine.

That's why you have this beautiful aroma, red wine angel hair noodle.

It's so delicious, simple, originally one of the most traditional and popular dishes from Fuzhou China.

It came over here, in Sitiawan.

Everybody loved this.

Freshly from the seafood market, this huge grouper will be on our dish for the steamed fish head, the restaurant's specialty.

Today we have a wonderful special lunch with several of Sitiawan's friends, who have for years contributed generously to the community.

♪ People all over have said, "Martin, you have a big head."

You know what?

Compared to this, it's a humbling experience.

This is a big head.

This is a giant grouper.

This alone is 8 kilograms.

Wow.

It's amazing.

With this big head, I'm going to invite my most admired, the young and talented chef Yi Ling.

How are you?

[Speaks Chinese] And what are you going to show us to do?

>> [ Speaks Chinese ] >> Chef Yi Ling told me first you have a little cross cut in the cheek and then another cross cut here and one cut here.

Why?

Because it makes it easier to cook.

Cut, cut, cut, cut, the whole thing is cut up so we're going to put this right over here.

It's so heavy.

This big fish head -- how long will it take to cook at a medium heat?

>> [ Speaks Chinese ] >> Twenty to thirty minutes.

Now we cover it up and let it cook.

In the meantime while we're cooking this, we're going to chop up some condiments to put on top of the fish.

So, Chef, what is next?

>> [ Speaks Chinese ] >> So, Chef Yi Ling, what makes you interested in cooking and coming back to work for your mother?

>> [ Speaks Chinese ] >> Oh, this is such a moving story.

Her father all of a sudden passed away, so her mom said it's very, very difficult.

So she came back, all her sisters came back and worked for her mother.

Now the whole kitchen is a female chef team.

♪ Look at this.

Then you sprinkle a lot of sliced shallots right on top of the whole fish, then seasoned soy sauce.

♪ Now hot oil, a lot of hot oil sprinkled all over, the last minute.

Sprinkle green onion.

Then final touch, give a little tanginess, I squeeze this juice right here, all over.

Now, ready to be served.

♪ Throughout the years, many of Sitiawan's sons and daughters have left home to make their fame and fortune, but yet many of them return home to seek their roots and join their family business, and I love that.

The city of Sitiawan means Loyal friends.

This is truly a city of Loyal friends and trustworthy friendship, and that's the reason why I love to visit here.

And here with me is all the citizens of Sitiawan, and they have joined me for this wonderful steamed fish.

Let's dig in and enjoy.

You can never imagine how much meat there is in this particular fish head.

You think fish head is just bone?

You are wrong.

Now for such a big fish head, you've got to have a lot of shallots, a lot of green onion, and enough seasoning sauce.

This is a lot, and this fish head, being 8 kilograms, can feed at least 25 to 30 people.

Mmm.

Moist, tender, juicy, the fresh fish really outstanding, the cilantro, the green onion with some hot oil and the seasoned soy sauce.

A perfect balance of flavor brings out the true goodness of this fresh fish head.

To friendship, to loyalty, to love of a community and to love of a nation.

Oh, and to my next show, "Taste of Malaysia with Martin Yan."

[ Speaks Chinese ] Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

>> You can visit our website to learn more about Martin and his travels, get information about upcoming events, find and print selected recipes, provide email feedback, and more.

It's all at yancancook.com.

"Taste of Malaysia with Martin Yan" is brought to you by... >> ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ >> Circulon cookware.

Circles for life.

>> Monogram.

A full line of professional appliances designed for food and entertaining enthusiasts.

♪ ♪ By Melissa's.

The freshest ideas in produce.

By Granite Expo.

Offering a wide selection of cabinet and countertop solutions.

And by B&G Group of Malaysia.

♪ Building Malaysia's tomorrow.

♪ ♪ ♪