1.
Baby chat potatoes can be quite delusional.
Some think they’re royalty.
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Some gather with the flock and graze on imaginary grass.
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The brave ones enter the waters like Jacques Cousteau and swim with the sharks.
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But my baby chats…..
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They get smashed.
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It’s easy, really. After boiling them in salt water, I smashed them with the back of a mug, sprinkled herbs and added a dollop of garlic butter on each potato, after which I chucked them into the oven and baked them until the skin turned crisp.
There weren’t any spring onions in my fridge, so I chopped some coriander instead. (The gorgeous plate is a gift from the girl from Abu Dhabi.)
Just before the potatoes were done in the oven, I sprinkled some grated cheese on them. I later added some sour cream and topped them off with the chopped coriander. Now that’s what I call smashing carbs. (And my apologies to them as they never lived to see the Queen. Or roll in hay. Or swim with sharks.)
2.
Hubby’s from Kelantan and I love Kelantanese food. I can’t recall if I loved Kelantanese food before my Kelantanese man, or whether the Kelantanese man came before the Kelantanese food, or whether the Kelantanese food came as a result of the Kelantanese man. And sometimes, we don’t have to overanalyse things to explain why we love something so dearly. It’s all about acceptance and drifting along with the currents of Sungai Pahang.
When trying Kelantanese food, there are two staples for me – nasi kerabu and nasi dagang. The nasi kerabu at Belanga breaks away from the traditional appearance of rice stained in blue, a natural colouring obtained from bunga telang (clitoria). The rice is a warm yellow, and it is served with various types of ulam or raw vegetables, chopped finely so that the vegetables can be easily mixed with the rice to form a fistful of refreshing green flavours. I had my nasi kerabu with ayam percik, a barbequed chicken marinated in lemongrass, chilli and turmeric, in a slightly pinkish gravy. The mound of rice was topped with kerisik (grated coconut) and more gravy. A slice of hard boiled salted egg and some keropok (fish crackers) completed the meal.
On another occasion, upon Paprika’s insistence on eating rice, I tried the nasi dagang at Belanga. I remember having a packet of uncooked nasi dagang rice sitting in my kitchen for a long time as I didn’t have any inkling how to cook it. I eventually gave it to my mother-in-law as I figured she’d do more justice to that precious rice. Nasi dagang has two key ingredients – rice, a combination of glutinous and wild rice (which gives it a slightly purplish tinge) and ikan tongkol. Everything else is secondary. The nasi dagang at Belanga was deliciously rich, a perfect foil for the creamy curry.
Paprika had the nasi dagang with kerutup daging. Unfortunately, in Paprika’s words, “the meat was tough as nails”!
What we both agreed was that the laksam was outstanding. The white fish gravy with its somewhat grainy texture was a very good canvas for the rolled noodles (not to be confused with chee cheong fun). A chilli paste is provided on the side if you want it more spicy.
Also available is asam laksa (noodles in fish based soup).
Check out Fatboybakes’ review here.
Belanga
LG 230B, The Gardens Mall
KL
