Authentic Kelantanese Cuisine at Kelantan Delights, Sooka Sentral

I was selected to be one of the founding members of Nuffnang's Tastebuddies Group. Last Sunday, we met up for the first time to have a taste of authentic Kelantan cuisine at Kelantan Delights in Sooka Sentral.

I was an hour late to the tasting session because I was doing Qing Ming duty for my late grandfather and grandmother. So, I missed tasting the starters of Sirih Daun Kaduk and Tomyam Kelapa Muda. Straight, I go for the main. I wanted to order Nasi Kerabu Ayam Percik because there's ulam as side but I absentmindedly ordered Nasi Dagang Gulai Ikan instead. Nasi Dagang is cooked with a mixture of half rice and half glutinous rice hence there will be a soft and slightly hard texture. The gulai is cook right with a slight sweet taste. The fish is not overcooked. Extra gulai was given so I can eat it with the rice.

Nasi Dagang Gulai Ikan

Nasi Kerabu Ayam Percik

Just as we thought we were done with the mains, we were asked which second main to choose in between Nasi Tumpang and Laksam. I asked for Nasi Tumpang. A bit of history about Nasi Tumpang. It was actually rice with different layer of dishes wrapped in a cone shape with banana leaf. It was staple food for farmers in Kelantan to bring to work. The top later which consists of egg and rice is the breakfast, the middle part is lunch made of prawn sambal and gulai ikan tongkol and last but not least the bottom is tea time with rice and chicken floss.

Nasi Tumpang

Traditionally I think won't be fried chicken going with the Nasi Tumpang. I love the fact of how ingenious people in the olden days packed their food to go for work. Unlike nowadays what we do is eat outside or take away. When we take away we were given Styrofoam container that is not friendly to mother earth.

Nasi Tumpang for me is like eating ketupat with side dishes. Start with a light egg floss and rice, then heavier taste of prawn sambal and gulai ikan tongkol and end it with a slightly sweet chicken floss. If you haven't tried before, please do so. Early reservation might be required because Nasi Tumpang takes 3 hours to prepare and only 50 are served daily.

Nasi Tumpang unwrapped

My neighbour was kind enough to let me have a taste of his Laksam. Blended fish meat santan gravy with a spread of ulam consists of bean sprouts, cucumbers and daun selom is what it's need to go with round rice noodle. The rice noodle is a bit like a thicker version of chee cheong fun. For those that can take hot and spicy food be sure to put in the sambal belacan it will take the taste to another level.

Laksam

According to the owner, they have an eel version of the Laksam which has a richer gravy. I'll be sure to come back again to have a go for it.

Sambal Belacan

I'm amazed of how after all the food I had I would still have room for dessert. The dessert we had is consists of Lompat Tikam which is Pandan rice cake and Pulut Merah (Red Glutinous Rice) and Ketupat Sotong.

The Lompat Tikam is eaten with the santan and gula Melaka because on its own the Pandan rice cake and Pulut Merah is not sweet. I love the Pandan rice cake which has to nice aroma from the pandan leave and I can control how much gula Melaka to eat it with.

At first I thought it's weird to see a sotong (squid) as dessert. The grilled sotong was stuffed with glutinous rice cooked with ginger and pandan, slightly sweeten with gula melaka and santan. It may look weird but it taste quite nice. I love the texture of the grilled sotong with the glutinous rice. For me, this is more like a snack rather than a dessert. You'll need to eat it to know how it feels.

Lompat Tikam and Ketupat Sotong

To get authentic Kelantanese Cuisine in Klang Valley, I would say that Kelantan Delights will be one of the restaurant that can do it. So, you don't have to go all the way to Kelantan to have a taste of authentic Kelantanese Cuisine.

Kelantan Delights has two branches, one in Subang Jaya and another in Sooka Sentral. On weekends only the Subang Jaya branch is open.

Address:
Kelantan Delights

Website: www.kelantandelights.com
Facebook: facebook.com/kelantandelights
Twitter: twitter.com/@keldelights
Instagram: #KelantanDelights


SOOKA SENTRAL BRANCH:
1-5, Level 1
Sooka Sentral
Jalan Stesen Sentral
50470 Kuala Lumpur

GENERAL LINE
+ 603 2785 1945

OPENING HOURS
Monday - Friday 11am - 10pm
Closed on Saturdays and Sundays


SUBANG JAYA BRANCH:
Ground Floor East Wing
Wisma Consplant 1
No 2 Jalan SS16/4
47500 Subang Jaya


GENERAL LINE
+ 603 5611 7845

OPENING HOURS
Monday to Friday
12pm - 3pm
6pm - 11pm (last order at 1030pm)

Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays
12pm - 11pm (last order at 1030pm)

Joez Coconut, KL Sentral, Kuala Lumpur

Alright, Penang famous Joez Coconut Jelly is now avaiable in Kuala Lumpur. We KLians don't have to drive all the way up north to have a taste of it's silky smooth coconut jelly. Doing in in kiosk style, Joez Coconut Jelly first branch outside Penang is in KL Sentral, opposite CIMB Bank and in front of Chicken Rice Shop, near the departure side.

What's so special about coconut jelly, you asked? Well, first of all it's not you agar-agar type coconut jelly. It's all naturally created through the process of heating, freezing and chilling a whole coconut. Heating is to caramelized the natural sugar in the coconut to make it sweeter, freezing is turn the juice into solid form, and last but not least, chilling is to turn the solid into a semi-solid jelly like form. Nothing is added to the coconut during the process. Voila, there you have it, Joez Coconut Jelly. For more of the info, visit their website here.

Joez Coconut Jelly (RM 4.70)

I scooped out the coconut jelly and put in my mouth. Oh my, it's so silky smooth and melted in my mouth leaving the natural sweetness from the coconut juice and the very nice pandan like aroma. Joel the owner of Joez Coconut assured me that it's the natural aroma from the coconut, no pandan leaves were added.

This is the first time I ever tasted something like this. A jelly that is form entirely using a whole coconut itself. Remember to eat the coconut meat too after scooping out all the jelly. The meat is smooth and tasty.

I also tried their Coconut Shake (RM 3.50) which is currently only available in the kiosk in KL Sentral. Blending the coconut juice, coconut meat, and evaporated milk, then top it with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. It's a very rich and flavourful taste in coconut. I found it to be a bit too sweet for my liking. Joel then told me that sugar syrup was added because of the milk. He told me, next time I can asked for less sugar. Maybe I'll try no sugar next time lol.

If you don't fancy jelly or shake, you can opt of the Pandan Coconut Juice. It's the coconut juice with pandan like aroma. I didn't try it though, I was already quite full.

Do drop by for heat killing coconut jelly/juice/shake here. One can stop by the departure side and walk in to tapao but be sure there's someone in the car because it's a no parking zone. KTM Commuter and LRT also can reach here.




Address:

Joez Coconut Kiosk
KL Sentral Level 1 (Departure side)
Opposite CIMB Bank and in front of The Chicken Rice Shop.

Main HQ:
201, Jalan Dato Kramat
10150, Penang, Malaysia
Website: http://www.joezcoconut.com.my


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