Streets concludes its focus on Ramadan bazaars. NAVEEN MATHEW MENON is overwhelmed by the variety of food and drinks sold at the Kampung Baru bazaar.
FESTIVALS are a time for people regardless of religion or race to gather together for merrymaking and to savour one of the best things in life — food!
Come Ramadan, I’ll head for food bazaars, friends or family members in tow, to take in the sights and sounds and indulge in good food.
Ramadan bazaars boast an assortment of food at reasonable prices, catering to not only Muslims but also non-Muslims and foreigners.
Stalls with their multi-coloured tops line the streets, with people milling around them and patiently awaiting their turn. Of course, the non-Muslims will normally allow those who are fasting to buy their food first.
My usual haunts are the Subang Jaya or Puchong Jaya Ramadan bazaars but this time, I decided to check out the Kampung Baru bazaar in Jalan Raja Alang.
Arriving at the street, I find a bewildering number of stalls. Many customers walk around with glazed eyes, probably overwhelmed by the variety available. Compared with the Subang Jaya bazaar, however, there are fewer food and beverage stalls here.
The smell of meat being barbecued, murtabak being fried, bread being toasted, fish being grilled all waft into the air, enticing you as you saunter past. The sounds of chopping, scraping, washing and frying — and stall owners vying for attention — fill the air.
At Gerai 65, Osman Noor sells grilled cuttlefish and tauhu. A short distance away are the nasi tomato and nasi ayam stalls where you can get a styrofoam packet of hot rice and chicken for just RM3.50.
Your appetite awakened, then head over to the ayam golek stall. You can’t miss it as you can see whole chickens being grilled on a mechanical device. It’s RM16 for a whole bird, RM9 for half and RM5 for a quarter of grilled goodness.
JUICY: Ayam golek grilled to perfection.
Sharifah Noor Syed tells me in fluent English how she traded in her career in the hotel line to start this business with her partner, Melbin Sodugta.
As for the rather high prices, she says: “We have no choice as the price of chicken has gone up to RM6.50 per kg. We hope the Government will step in and control the prices so that consumers will not feel the pinch.”
A certain John is also represented here. Roti John that is! It’s essentially a large sandwich loaded with meat, spices and chopped vegetables.
Muni Nik, an enterprising young man who runs the stall, tells me that he has been selling Roti John for six years at Ramadan bazaars.
He proudly informs me that our present Prime Minister once stopped by his stall a few years ago to take away this mouth-watering meal. I was sceptical of this but he takes out a small grainy scrap of paper as “proof”.
Anyway, back to our food adventure. For hearty eaters out there, you can’t go wrong with Murtabak Pak Din. For RM1.20, you can choose between sinking your teeth into a chicken or beef murtabak from Rafi Zainal Abidin’s stall.
A lot of people make a beeline for the ayam percik stall where the cooks grill meat over a charcoal fire. The chicken is grilled satay-style and you can buy a stick for just RM1.50. This is a must-try!
Roti jala is another good option. For RM1, you can get three freshly made ones.
After all that delicious food, pop over to Roslan’s cendol stall where you can get colourful drinks such as iced lemon tea, watermelon juice, asam boi and the ever-popular cendol for a mere RM1.
There are also stalls selling sugar cane juice, air bandung and even drinks made from yam!
As for other food options if you are still hungry, savour authentic Malay food such as rendang ayam, rendang Tok and ayam masak merah. They normally cost RM2.50 (or RM3.80 for a complete meal with rice).
There are also home-made cookies at RM19 per box. I spotted pineapple tarts, marble almond cookies, almond London and more!
“One box contains 55 cookies, more than the factory-made ones!” Morchaya Haji tells me.
There is a stall called Keramat Lekor which whips up freshly fried keropok lekor that are sourced from a factory called Sinkun in Terengganu.
And, if all you need are tidbits or dessert, there are plenty of kuih-muih such as onde-onde, kuih lapis and kuih talam.
I felt exhausted as I left this food paradise alley, grasping a few plastic bags filled with tantalising food in hand. My feet were sore and my wallet was lighter but I had a big smile on my face.
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