Ramadhan Food Galore

It was a boring Sunday when I suddenly realized it's the month of Ramadhan. And what does that mean?... FOOD!!! The one time in whole year where we'll have stalls that sells food only in one place! Of course, these food are available in the night market as well, but you'll have to shift through all other non-food stuff too. Besides, I prefered to shop under the broad daylight rather than the dim and gloomy night.

So, I asked my friend where it the nearest Ramadhan bazaar near my place (I had no idea where) and it turns out that there is one located extremely near to where I stay. I is almost within walking distance! Of course I did not walk over there... with the blazing sun and all, are you nuts?

So, I went there at 4pm... I figured that 4pm is a nice time becuase the stalls should have mostly opened by then and the Malays would still be staying in their houses since they break fast at around 7pm... so they should come out only around 5pm. Unfortunately, such was not the case. The four lane road was massively jammed. There were lots of car park spaces all around the bazaar but some people just don't know how to park their cars. There are several cars with their head jutting out from the car park. Well, it isn't really a legal car park. Since the road has two lanes per side, as usual, we Malaysians would convert one lane into a parking lane when they need it. Well, four minus two should leave two right? Wrong! Even though the cars used only one lane at each side for parking, at certain places, only one car can pass through at one time. Apart from the idiots who used two lanes to park their cars, there are also some inconsiderate animals who actually waited in their cars at the second lane!

In the end, I have to park my car quite far away and I have to walk for 5 minutes to reach the bazaar. It wasn't a very big bazaar, but hey, it got all the essential food, so it's good enough for me! I took only pictures of the food that I bought... besides, those food that I did not buy meant that it's not priority loh... maybe I'll buy them next weekend :P

First stop is of course the "kuih-muih" section. Curry puffs, coconut filled delicacies, sugar coated doughnuts, spicy rice, fried bananas, fried cempedak, mini burgers... just to name a few of the great food that mortals created. RM1 for three pieces of any mixture!

Well, kuih-muih are just a side dish... for the main course, I bought the chicken-filled kebab where I caught a whiff of it's REALLY attracting aroma miles away. A little bit expensive at RM2.50 per piece, but worth every penny!

Then, I passed by the glorious store of fried stuff. Well, they sell only fried popiah, non-fried popiah, fried curry puffs and fried sambal filled triangle shaped thingy. And the price was RM2 for 5 pieces! It's more expensive than other stalls that sells "kuihs", but those stalls don't have fried popiuahs mah and they are fried at the stall itself... fresh from the cooking oil... how can one resist such oily temption? Hence, I folded.

Another view of the fried popiah stall...

Well, by this time, the chicken kebab looked very small and coincidentally, I passed by a honey chicken shop. So, I decided that THIS is my main dish. It's pretty expensive too... RM3.50 for the box of honey chicken rice and RM4.50 for the honey chicken only. But I must tell you, the honey chicken was heavenly! It is the first time that I actually tasted honey in honey chicken... should have bought the RM4.50 chicken instead. After consuming that tiny bits of chicken in the box of rice, I was craving for more... well, I'll have to wait until next week!

A Ramadhan bazaar is NEVER complete with these chopstick chicken. I don't know what's the official name for this type of food, but since the chicken is grilled with a pair of chopstick-like bamboos, I called it chopstick chicken loh. And the prices have increase a lot since last year. For RM2.00, you'll get only a small, tiny piece of chicken... and the prices ranged from a minimum of RM2.00 to RM5.00 depending on size! However, again, it is worth it... well, at least the RM2.00 is worth it. I think that the RM5.00 piece is too big and the meat would be rough. Also, they give you an extra dallop of pre-prepared gravy... and the gravy is amazing!!!

I was turning around to go home when I spotted these delicacies available during Raya. Ketupat and lemang! Well, I had lemang before and it's not really nice because it's a tasteless roll of rice... it's what type of meat you decide to eat with that matters. However, I forgot what ketupat tasted like and thus I bought it loh... RM2 for 5 pieces! This is the only one food that disappointed me. It was quite tasteless too... I think I'm supposed to serve it with curry chicken that is sold in the stall as well.

Before I went home, I stopped by at the chendol stall. Well, with that much food, we must drink lots of water don't you think? I bought a packet of chendol for RM1.50 and another packet of soy milk for RM1.00. Still, I think that Baba Chendol in Melaka is the best chendol in the whole of Malaysia.

However, it was a good day and the food were good. For my friends staying overseas, hope that these pictures would cure some of your longing for the wondrous food in Malaysia!!!

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten my vow to be on diet. Take this as the last dinner :P. Besides, I did not have lunch that day. I combined lunch and dinner into one meal and I did go hiking in the morning that day...