They say the month of April till August is a good time to go on vacation to Malaysian islands as the weather is usually dry, sunny and more predictable for travelling.But not forgetting, scorching hot too.

For this reason, I went to the Cameron Highlands on Wesak Day to enjoy the cool weather there. It was my first visit to this tourist attraction and I was not expecting anything more than cool breeze, tea plantations, and a much talked-about weekend night market.

While driving my way up on the winding (very) and narrow road, I made a pit stop at an almost majestic waterfall (not a common scene when you are trapped in a concrete jungle almost everyday). I couldn’t help but to notice the little stalls selling knick-knacks opposite the waterfall, one of them was selling honey. When chatting to the lady that was selling the honey (after much translation by a friend), she told me that those were wild honey and produced by the natives “Orang Asli” at the highland. She also advised me to take it with plastic spoon, not steel spoon ( any reason why??; and don’t keep the honey in the fridge. As I always take honey with cereal for breakfast, I bought a bottle; a rather plain bottle, without product label but I find its quality has much more to offer compared to those commercialized honey.

When having my meals at Tanah Rata, I must say I was fascinated with how strawberries are creatively used in various dishes and drinks, and one which I can’t get my head around is the nasi goreng (fried rice) with strawberries.

I enjoyed the tea plantations and, of course the strawberry farms where I have tasted the freshness of the strawberries with yoghurt and honey (which only cost me RM 3.90). My last stop at Brinchang was the weekend night market. As the temperature is a lot cooler then the rest of Malaysia, it makes the experience of enjoying the hot (especially those ala tempura) food even more pleasant.

Well, after the epic journey, it turned out that this place is a heaven for a fresh fruit and vegetable lover like me! My favourites: strawberry and corn. I have bought so much from the weekend market and my fridge is chock a block.

The striking visual of red strawberries dangling from the edge of the pots,  has given me the inspiration for the recipe I am sharing with you this time, which is my interpretation for the Cameron highlands served on a plate.

I personally think that panna cotta will be the next sweets icon, after the much-raved doughnut and cup cake. For those who are too cautious about calorie counting or fat intake, I suggest you replace the milk in the recipe to whipping cream as the Italian likes it, after all they don’t call panna cotta (in Italian means “cooked cream”) for nothing.

Well, for fresh-corn lovers, stick around to learn about how I have prepared a dish with the corn in my fridge soon!

Low fat Yoghurt Panna Cotta with fresh strawberry’s & wild honey

Difficulty: Beginner

Servings: 5

Ingredients:

250ml Milk

250ml Natural Yoghurt

3tbls or 50gm sugar

2tsp Gelatine powder

200gm Fresh strawberries, washed and halved

60gm wild honey (or any quality honey)

3 drops of vanilla extract (fresh vanilla bean is best if your able to find)

Zest of 1 lemon

Method:

Place milk, sugar, lemon zest & vanilla in a saucepan and bring to the boil.

Meanwhile, place gelatine in a bowl and add 2tbls of cold water to soften the gelatine.

Once milk has come to the boil, take off and whisk in the gelatine, then whisk in the yogurt until smooth.

Pass through a fine strainer (optional) to remove any lumps and pour into five lightly greased dariole moulds or ramekins of about 110ml capacity. Allow to set in the fridge, preferably overnight.

Following day, remove panna cotta from moulds and place in soup bowls. Lay half strawberries around and drizzle with as much honey as desire.

Tip: If you are having trouble removing the panna cottas from the mould, you can dip in some hot water for 10 seconds just to loosen the edges.

Try out this easy recipe by Adam, got any burning questions? Just leave a comment and Adam will get back to you!

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