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I have nothing against mamak food in Penang. They have established themselves as the prominent nasi kandar producers in Malaysia. However, I must say that, after living in Penang for more than 10 years, things have taken a frightfully different turn. The emergence of the "new school" nasi kandar restaurants where they serve a dizzying array of food, ranging from local to western, may have an effect on their own nasi kandar. I am sure that many people love eating at nasi kandar Pelita, Nasmeer and many more. Their brightly lit restaurants, with a festive-like ambience and big television sets and open 24 hours daily are certainly crowd pullers.
I always prefer what people may say as "old school" mamak food. Instead of the usual roti canai with dhal gravy with sambal, I prefer the one with kuah campur (mix gravy). There's one too many choice to be made at these modern nasi kandar restaurants, I'd prefer a simple one.
Alor Setar never escaped the invasion of these modern nasi kandar restaurants. However, there is one dish that these restaurants could not match up with even until today, the Nasi Lemak.
Historically, the Malay and Chinese version of nasi lemak is made with the basic rice, coconut milk and ginger concoction, eaten with the traditional sambal tumis ikan bilis, cucumber and hard-boiled egg. The mamak nasi lemak is different as they have more herbs/scpices and less or never use santan in their rice at all. I recognize the smell of karapolay, or curry leaf, pandan, cinnamon, cloves and even serai in the rice, but nobody can confirm whether there's coconut milk is used or not. The rice is eaten with a selection of curry and meat you can choose from. What makes it even rarer is, nasi lemak is only available in Alor Setar, then and now.
In the 1970s, there were many mamak outlets with their own nasi lemak menu. With the rapid development of Alor Setar town, many old shops were torn down and these shops make way for new buildings. Many of the legendary mamak shops such as No. 36., Nasi Lemak Royal and Nasi Lemak Empire disappeared from the legends of Alor Setar's mamak cuisines. In the late 1990s, there was quite a resurgence of these nasi lemak mamak where they reappeared in numerous places.
I would say that Nasi Lemak Mamak is one of Alor Setar's treasure trove where they have been luring tourists and visitors from outside of Kedah, and even locals to visit them again and again, as it is a taste that they always remember.
Just like any restaurant, nasi lemak mamak's taste differs from one place to another. The legendary Nasi Lemak Ali at Tanjung Chalee is quite known for being very spicy, while Nasi Lemak Mi Abu has little selection for curry but heavenly. One thing in common that all of them have is, their curries are "old school." I'll try to explain this old school curry when I am done studying the cooking method of it.
One of my favorite mamak haunt for nasi lemak will be "Nasi Lemak Royal Pantai Johor", located in Pantai Johor, about 10km from Alor Setar City, and about 500-800 meters from Istana Anak Bukit, the DYMM Tuanku Sultan Kedah's palace. There are about 4 or 5 other stalls who are selling other type of food in that area. From my observation on my nights there, I can safely say that about 75% of the patrons there go for the nasi lemak.
They have quite a spread of nice side-dishes to go with the nasi lemak. I would recommend the fried chicken. The spices which they use to marinate the chicken penetrates into the flesh and each bite is full of flavor. My selection for the night? Nasi lemak with fried chicken, lady's fingers and "kuah campur"(mixed gravy).
One thing we need to know is that, as a rule of thumb, never tell the mamak what gravy you want, always tell him "kuah campur". For this, the mamak knows which and how much of each gravy to mix into the rice. It's his personal touch that enhances the eating experience at any mamak shop.
As I was saying before, there are quite a number of side dishes. There's chicken, beef, egg, liver in different types of curries and gravy. Strangely, there's not much choice on vegetables though. There were some cucumber acar (pickle) and boiled lady's finger or ochra.
I would say that the food is quite family-friendly. It's not that hot in taste, just slightly spicy. I think maybe that's why there were a lot of families eating there that night. The rice is always hot, and there's always a line. The price is quite standard and you can choose whether you want to eat there or take out.
So, if you are in Alor Setar and looking for a place to eat, I'd recommend Nasi Lemak Royal Pantai Johor for a nice sumptuous treat. See you there.
After a long period of hesitance and delays, I feel that it is about time I get back on the road, of my blog, I mean.
As I have mentioned, one of my main hobbies is cooking. Despite getting a degree in Travel Industry Management, I never formally studied cooking. However, due to my interest and curiosity, I try to emulate and evolve methods and styles of cooking. Firstly, I used to watch my mother cook in the kitchen. She dishes out some of the best, and whose mum doesn't? Copying her cooking methods and recipes, adding to the fact that I was studying in Hawaii where I have to cook for myself, I started out with simple dishes and later on moved on as my confidence grew.
One of my favorite comfort food will be spaghetti with a simple tomato sauce. Actually, I can always substitute the spaghetti for any sort of pasta. Here's a simple recipe for Spaghetti with Meatball in Tomato Sauce:
Ingredients
One packet Spaghetti - cooked al-dente
1 medium onion - chopped
1/2 cup olive oil (Normal cooking oil is ok if you don't have olive oil)
A. Meatball Ingredients
500gm minced beef
1 medium sized onion (Indian or french is ok)
About 1 cup of breadcrumb (Better if you make it yourself)
Half cup of milk
Salt & Pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 egg
B. Tomato Sauce
1 can of whole tomato in juice
2 cup of Beef/Chicken Stock
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of oregano
Salt & Pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
Making Meatball
1. Combine breadcrumbs with milk. Let the breadcrumb absorb the milk. If you make your own breadcrumb from bread, skip this part.
2. Place minced beef into a bowl, mix in onion, cumin, egg, salt, pepper and the breadcrumb and mix it all together. Do not over-knead them.
3.Using your hands, divide the combined mixture and roll them into medium sized balls. You can make between 10-12 meatbals, depending on size.
4. Set them aside to rest
The Sauce
1. Combine all the ingredients into a blender and blend them all into a smooth, slightly watery paste.
Heat oil in pan/wok
When the oil is hot enough, fry the meatballs, browning both sides.
Once done, place the meatballs into a bowl/plate with a napkin to absorb the oil
With the same oil, sautee the chopped onions until soft (or slightly brown if you wish)
Pour in the blended sauce and put the meatballs back into the pan/wok.
Let the sauce simmer for the next 15-20 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened up, depending on how thick you like your sauce to be.
Place spaghetti in a bowl or on a plate, pour in the sauce and meatballs.
Enjoy.
Note: I am not a chef or a certified gourmet/cook. My recipes will differ from professionals and definitely have no garnishings. Actually, I never believed in making food look good, i believe that we should let our ever-ready senses should do the work.
