This is the first Ramadan since I got married that I have not been on the food trail. I think it’s called wising up. Think about it: if someone is fasting, how are they gonna taste anything? Having bought some soured dessert last year, the fear of a redux is very real.
Also, nothing in a Ramadan bazaar helps identify the real true blue hawker from the quick buck slime. The kind who my good friend Meng Hong tells me makes near a thousand Ringgit a day selling cordial-based drinks! Possibly the same kind of scum who forget to pack chicken into their chicken briyani, too!
So this year, no gluttonous foraging into the pasar Ramadan. In fact, after a lousy, too expensive to believe dinner at Nando’s where the mild peri peri numbed my mouth and made my ears ring, I’ve completely believed that eating out during fasting month is hazardous to health.
Of course, being Ramadan means my friendly usual hawkers are not trading. Or if they are, it’s in some food bazaar somewhere, and not at their usual positions near my street.
It was on an empty stomach, rainy day that I stopped at a stall at the mouth of SS7, just a ways from the entrance of the Western Digital parking lot. I wanted food and was not going to be picky. Who knew it was going to be the best Ramadan food I’d get this entire month?
I was surprised to find out from the stall operators that the food was made by someone who worked in a restaurant. On enquiring on the name of the restaurant I learnt it was Puteri. This is great cred as far as I am concerned. I was brought up eating at the Puteri restaurant in Brickfields, and have visited their Taman Tun branch.
Once I tasted the kuih, I knew it was no lie. The Malay delicacies had the same richness, the feel of being mixed by a knowing hand which always made Puteri’s food stand out.
The best was still yet to come, however, as I also bought packets of Nasi Ambang. Kit ate his first and said he wished there was more to the portion of food. I was thus surprised to find what was inside this RM6 greaseproof paper packet.
My parcel of rice contained a small fried chicken drumstick, a mini bergedel (meat and potato patty dipped in egg and fried), sweet kerisik (stir-fried grated coconut), giblet rendang with green chilli, long beans and tempeh in a chili sauce, sambal prawns with deep fried tofu, pea sprouts and large salted ikan bilis.
I could hardly believe how much variety this packet contained! And all in very decent portions too! For RM6, it is the best deal I have had all year!
Sadly, the stall’s been missing since…
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