Banana leaves: Otak-otak from Damansara

Tracy Goh grew up in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, sharing nightly meals no one in her family was allowed to miss. Even their vacations were built around food: They would drive several hours just to land at a special laksa noodle soup spot. But it wasn't until Goh moved abroad and began craving food from home that she really learned to cook.

Goh taught herself from cookbooks swiped from her mother's shelf and many long-distance calls home, and after countless meals cooked for friends, she started a successful dinner pop-up called Damansara. She recently opened a snug restaurant of the same name in San Francisco's Noe Valley. She serves an assortment of small plates inspired by the food of her homeland, including a typical street snack called otak-otak, a spicy, savory fishcake grilled in a banana leaf.

Versions of this dish are popular throughout Southeast Asia; Goh pulls flavors from her father's region of Johor, in southern Malaysia, where hawkers sell them by the half dozen. There, otak-otak is goldenhued, perfumed with spices like turmeric and galangal, enriched with coconut milk and tangy with tamarind. Banana leaves are hardy and heat resistant, so after a few minutes on the grill, the fishcake remains tender while becoming distinctly sweet and grassy.

In Malaysia, banana leaves are also expertly folded into boats to hold custards or pleated into pyramid shapes as to-go wrappings for rice dishes like nasi lemak. People eat hearty, shared dinners with their fingers straight off a whole banana leaf in lieu of a plate. Or leaves can be practical containers, imbued with beauty and aroma. 1781 Church St., San Francisco. www.instagram.com/damansarasf

Damansara serves small plates, including a Malaysian street snack called otak-otak, above, a spicy, savory fishcake grilled in a banana leaf.

Tracy Goh at her new restaurant Damansara in S.F., which serves a variety of Malaysian foods.