Category Archives: LOCATION: KUALA LUMPUR

San Peng – Nasi lemak

Posted on by
10

I’m always in the mood for good nasi lemak at any time of the day, although with age, I’m learning to control my consumption. If there’s ever a seriously sinful meal, this is it. The basic nasi lemak consists of rice cooked with coconut milk, sambal (chilli paste), fried anchovies, fried/roasted peanuts and sliced cucumbers. Of course, Malaysians have taken the simple nasi lemak to a different level, where it is served with a variety of dishes, from fried chicken to sambal sotong (squid sambal).

The nasi lemak stall which I recently discovered when Pretty Pui, Ecstatic Eeyore and I were feeling hunger pangs at 8.00pm on a Friday night is located off Jalan San Peng in KL. These guys serve the chinese version of the nasi lemak, which is also non-halal. I wasn’t quite prepared to witness the partaking of the food by the devotees that night. 😛

We arrived at the stall at about 9.20pm. The best place to park the car is along Jalan San Peng. It’s just a short walk in. DO NOT drive in as you may risk getting caught in a jam, or be unlucky enough to have an inconsiderate driver block your car.

About 12 tables were set up around this stall. Upon arriving, I was surprised to see a couple of tables already occupied, but no one was eating. The nasi lemak stall was also empty. We were soon informed that the food would only be arriving at about 9.45pm. Soon after we sat down, more people congregated at this place, and soon, all the tables were occupied.

A van drove up at 9.50pm. Instinctively, people quietly got up and queued up. We did the same. With reverence, people watched as the pots of chicken curry and containers of sambal and other condiments and dishes were carried to the stall. The murmurings began as the customers inhaled the aroma of the nasi lemak ingredients and made difficult decisions on the types of dishes they would choose for themselves from the smorgasbord of colours.


The food certainly looked appetising. My eyes were drawn to the glistening lup cheong (chinese sweet sausage). A tray of fried luncheon meat stood on the same shelf. Fried kacang panjang (long beans) were sandwiched between the two trays. On the level below that was a pot of stewed pork innards. Pots of sambal sotong and sambal kerang (cockles) fought for attention. A bowl of rich, thick red sambal made with lots of onions stood at the corner. The winner of the match was undoubtedly the aromatic chicken curry with huge pieces of chicken. The proprietors of the stall had brought several huge pots of this chicken curry.

Eeyore and I felt our hearts race as we approached the stall. So many choices! We didn’t know what to choose! I told myself that I would only choose two items, but in my moment of weakness, I gave in to the desires of the flesh. I ended up with a plate of rice covered with chicken curry, sambal sotong, a piece of lup cheong, half an egg, a liberal amount of peanuts and crunchy fried anchovies, cucumbers and extra sambal on the side.


Feeling only slightly guilty as I savoured the nasi lemak, I noticed there were up to 30 people in the queue. Cars came and parked haphazardly along the road as passengers quickly jumped out to ta-pau (take-away) packets of nasi lemak. The numbers dwindled at about 10.30pm, but all the tables were occupied.

Note: There is also a stall serving chee cheong fun/yong tau foo next to the nasi lemak stall. Try the version with chicken curry (same chicken curry served at the nasi lemak stall).

Nasi lemak @ San Peng
Off Jalan San Peng, opposite the San Peng flats.
Opening hours: 9.45pm – 2.30am (closed on Sundays)

Old China Cafe, Petaling Street (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on by
4


I’m a big fan of pork, so you can imagine my excitement when I found out that effective from 9 January, 2007, Old China Cafe was turning non-halal. A number of new dishes had been introduced, all of which contained pork. From babi pong teh (pork belly and pork rump stewed in brown paste sauce with shallots, garlic, mushrooms and potatoes) to sek bak (sliced stewed pork in dark sauce of aromatic spices and malay herbs) to honeyed pork ribs…all glorious sounding pork dishes. The timing is appropriate though, to welcome the Year of the Pig. (Note: Said pig may not be too excited about all the fuss about pork. Oink.)

I’ve always loved Portuguese Devil Curry, a wickedly hot (hence, its name) chicken curry cooked with potatoes, dried chillies, fresh chillies, mustard seeds, vinegar, mustard powder, ginger, garlic and onions. My friend, Molly, once came to my house and gave me a demonstration (how cool is that!) on how to cook this extremely spicy curry, after which we adjourned to the patio to enjoy a lovely eurasian dinner. It’s been a while since I cooked it and it’s been too long since I enjoyed a good devil curry. So when I saw Siew Yoke (roasted pork) Devil Curry listed on the menu, I could hear it calling out my name. Siew Yoke is quite an unusual ingredient in a devil curry, but we’re progressive girls (*smile*) and we’re always game to try something new. However, at RM22.80 a dish, we thought that the portion was rather small and was barely enough for the three of us. Our verdict? The distinctive taste of siew yoke was a little too powerful for the curry and didn’t quite blend in. In addition, the curry wasn’t spicy enough. It ought to be called Devil (L licence-paid off the instructor) Curry instead.

The other pork dish we ordered was Babi Masak Asam (pork cooked in tamarind gravy). We loved the thick, gooey gravy made of bean paste, chillies and daun limau purut (kaffir lime leaves). At RM12.80, it was definitely worth every cent.

We’ve narrowed down our favourite dishes at Old China Cafe to two so far. In addition to Babi Masak Asam, we also like the ayam pong teh, a slightly sweet dish of chicken and bean paste in a black sauce. We didn’t order the ayam pong teh this time as we wanted to concentrate on the new dishes. We finished the meal with a serving of kangkung belacan, which despite sounding extremely ordinary, tasted extraordinary.

Bouncing Barbie and I had sago gula melaka (sago pudding with palm sugar and coconut milk) for dessert while Pretty Pui ordered the bubur pulut hitam (black glutinous rice porridge). The sago gula melaka is DIY, and we liberally loaded up on the dark syrup and coconut milk. Eat first, suffer later! Pretty Pui liked the bubur pulut hitam, but said that it was not as good as the pulut hitam which she had tried in Hong Kong several years back. I thought it lacked enough glutinous rice and santan.

While we ate, the same old chinese music was playing in the background. As always, I was transported back to the olden days in my imaginary world of babas and nyonyas, stained glass, wrapped feet and slim cigarettes.

Anjappar – Chettinad cuisine

Posted on by
4

When my friends, Gard and Olav were in KL, they were excited about trying some chettinad food. Their hometown, Stavanger, had one indian restaurant which served predominantly northern indian fare. When it comes to Indian food, I like to eat at Saravana Bhavan which is located a couple of doors away from Anjappar. But I chose not to go there this time as Saravana Bhavan serves only vegetarian meals, and I wasn’t sure how it would go down with my Norwegian friends.


We all chose to have the banana leaf set meal which consisted of a good portion of rice, and little stainless steel receptacles containing different kinds of curries, dhall, vegetables and yoghurt. Eight charming little containers per person. We also ordered side dishes of chicken and mutton and several different types of bread.

I generally don’t order tandoori chicken because I have had some nasty experiences with some really dry chicken that would put a sanitary napkin to shame, so I was pleasantly surprised that the tandoori chicken here was sufficiently moist and full of flavour.


After the meal, we ordered Bru coffee with fresh cow’s milk. The coffee is normally sweetened (translated: very sweet!) and is served in a stainless steel tumbler and davarah (saucer). There is an art to drinking coffee that is served in this manner. You can pour your steaming hot coffee into the davarah to cool it down (presumably due to the larger surface which allows the coffee to cool down faster), then drink the coffee either from the tumbler or the davarah.

Anjappar
No. 56, Jalan Maarof
Bangsar Baru, KL
Tel: 03-22881508