One Order Cotton Bru

Chicken Cordon Bleu. Photo via internet

It was a Friday night to remember. There's enough melted cheese to coat arteries and veins at the rate that we’re eating. This time it's special. Something that pricks our ears as we pore over that plastic laminated A3 size menu. It's a single page, actually. Just like holding up and reading off a table mat, my friend Suri remarks.

“Chicken one, Salmon one, Grill two, Sirloin 70% and Cotton Bru one” old grumpy guy hollers.

Cotton Bru? Is that like coffee?

Suri’s perfectly manicured finger races down the menu, muttering “No, no, no, no. There it is, Chicken Cordon Bleu! Uncle cannot pronounce nicely la.”

We giggle. Delicious sounding deep fried stuff! Cotton Bru sounds perfect to us. Definitely not to be confused with the French term Cordon Bleu this is translated as “Blue Ribbon”.

We look around for that Hungry Frenchman, Raymond Blanc. He’s nowhere to be found, definitely not in an open kitchen of a modified Malaysian Western food joint.

We place our order and sit sipping our cucumber juice. Suri’s friend pulls out her IPad and does a quick search. She reads the recipe to us.

“It calls to butterfly chicken breasts across but do not cut all the way through.”

Er.... What that’s already? Butterfly?

“Open each piece like a book and cover with parchment; pound to ¼” thick (or do you just say very thin?). Season each cutlet with salt and pepper. Arrange a slice of ham or prosciutto with a slice of easily melted cheese on each breast, top with a slice of herb butter and flap chicken over to form a stuffed cutlet. Coat with bread crumbs and deep fry it”

I was wondering if we could do this with the whole roll wrap with streaky bacon and fried.
Or maybe it would taste better if the cheese and ham were roughly chopped up first before mixing it with sauté mushroom stuffing.

Maybe it could be baked instead, or chargrilled like a burger. The possibilities are endless.

When it arrives, there are sighs. Suri takes out a tissue first, then two. She lifts up that rectangular parcel and places a tissue below it. The other tissue went on top. Then she applies pressure to squeeze out the oil.

“Look at how much oil I manage to squeeze out,” she waves the tissue in front of our faces.

This girl follows dutifully. Mother would have been so proud. 

“What about all that cheese?” Suri’s friend reminds us.

What cheese? It’s Cotton Bru. We savor that comforting morsel. It’s one of those heartwarming foods much akin to butter fried bread for Sunday brunch with the Works.

And what exactly are we having again for Sunday brunch, Suri?

Doris Lim is a popular freelance writer who blogs as Little Fish on travel and food stories here. Be sure to check out her other inspiring stories and follow her Instagram @SmartDoryID & Facebook to check out more places to eat delicious street foods or dine in the best restaurants!