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)

Jom Berbuka Puasa di Pearl International Hotel

Selamat Bulan Ramadhan kepada semua rakan-rakan Muslim dan juga rakan-rakan yang ingin berpuasa bersama-sama di Bulan Ramadhan ini. Setiap tahun Ramadhan, soalan yang di tanya-tanya ialah pergi mana untuk buka puasa? Bagi aku, di rumah, masakan ibu atau isteri ialah cadangan yang paling bagus tapi letih juga mereka yang memasak.

Jadi, banyak restoran-restoran dan hotel-hotel memperkenalkan pakej atau bufet buka puasa yang cukup menarik pilihan masakan dan juga harga yang berpatutan. Sekali-sekala buka puasa dekat hotel bolehlah juga, kan?

Tiga minggu sebelum Bulan Ramadhan, aku telah dijemput untuk merasa masakan yang akan dapat di nikmati dalam Promosi Jom Berbuka Puasa Ramadhan di Pearl yang bermula dari 21 Julai hingga 17 Julai 2012.

 Aku mula dengan ulam dan salad.

Aku suka minum sup. Jadi, Sup Ekor Lada Hitam menjadi pilihan aku. Aku suka rasa sup ini yang tidak begitu masin berbanding dengan yang aku minum to restoran yang lain.

Masakan-masakan dalam promosi ini akan disediakan oleh Exekufi Sous Chef Noor Hisham dengan krew dia.

Ini ialah kali pertama aku mencuba Nasi Beriani Gam. Biasanya, aku makan nasi beriani saja yang tak ada gam. =P

Kalaulah makan Nasi Beriani Gam, mesti makan dengan Daging Beriani Batu Pahat. Aku juga suka Gulai Kambing Kawah yang rasa kambing yang tidak di sukai ramai orang telah di ganti dengan rasa rempah-rempah yang sangat bersesuai di masak dengan daging kambing.

Untuk yang suka makan ikan, adanya Ikan Bakar Tepian Tebrau. Aku ingat Chef Noor Hisham mesti orang Johor. Banyak masakan berasal dari tempat-tempat di Johor.

Ayam panggang yang mesti dapat di cari di bazaar-bazaar Ramadhan.

Di sini, aku juga dapat buat buat sotong dan kangkung sendiri.

Buka puasa tak ada ketupat dan lemang memang rasa tak sedap. Makan dengan salai ayam.d

Buat Laksa Johor sendiri, suka letak banyak sikit bawang dan taugeh? Oh, bisa.

Bukan main banyak jenis pilihan pencuci mulut yang di sediakan. Tapi perut aku boleh muat beberapa jenis saja. Yang paling aku suka ialah Sago Melaka. Sago itu bila to gigit akan menjadi sebiji-sebiji dan bukan berkelompak macam makan kuih.

Jadi, berapa harga untuk bufet berbuka puasa ini? RM68.00++/dewasa dan RM38.00++/kanak-kanak. Untuk tempahan boleh hubungi talian 603-7983 1111 ext 3205. Semoga anda selamat berbuka puasa.

Alamat:
Cafe 5
5th Floor, Pearl International Hotel
Batu 5, Jalan Klang Lama 58000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 603-7983 1111
Fax: 603-7983 2211
Website: http://www.pearl.com.my

#ChurpOut at Mek-T, Bandar Puchong Jaya

Only after a month since the 1st ChurpOut at Mark's Place, Churp Churp had their 2nd #ChurpOut last Friday. This time is buka puasa at Mek-T (masa riang, masa hebat :P). Mek-T is a restaurant that served up authentic Terengganu food using a fast food system. You order the food and pay at the counter, food is serve and you take the food. Although the system is fast food but the cooking is slow cook and is cooked based on estimation of orders. Small batches of each dish were cooked and only when the dish is low that a new batch is cook to maintain the freshness.

By the way, the food here is certified Halal. Hence we all buka puasa here.

We start off with laksam and pulut lepa (steamed glutinous rice with fish filling). It's something like a thick chee cheong fun rolls top with minced fish belacan gravy. At first I thought with belacan the gravy will be very salty but the taste turn out just nice. One of my favourite dish of the night. As for the pulut lepa, I think they are too generous with the glutinous rice, if the rice is lesser a bit then the ratio with the fish filling will be just nice. Also, some of my Malay friends there prefer it to be grilled instead. Ah, too bad grilling is a no no because there's not place for the smoke to go.

Laksam

Michele the ChurpHead^TM introduced her fellow Churpies before we dig in to our laksam.

We had keropok lekor for snacks served with hot special chili dip (it's sweet and spicy). Tasted rich with fish and less flour. Those that I find in KL pasar malam has more flour than fish inside. The Malay couple (their hometown is Terengganu) sitting next to me said that the keropok lekor here is almost 90% as what they had in Terengganu.

Keropok Lekor

Nasi Sedapp Sokmo with Gulai Ayam is not my favourite of the night. The rice is not too bad but the chicken has a kind of earthy taste like there's some herbal medicine. What I can say is that it is an acquired taste :p

Nasi Sedapp Sokmo with Gulai Ayam

Nasi Ulam is next, I think Kelantanese will call this Nasi Kerabu instead. I've been wanting to try this after I read it on Sixthseal. Nicely cooked rice mixed with the fried coconut meat. The only disappointment is that the ulam (mixed raw vegetables) is too little.

Nasi Ulam.

I never imagine Nasi Dagang looks like this. I always thought it will be colourful as Nasi Ulam. As plain looking as it is, actually nasi dagang is cooked with 90% rice and 10% glutinous rice. That's why, there's a bit of stickiness to the rice. If there are mangoes at the side, I would have thought that I am eating a Thai dessert. As always, Nasi Dagang is paired with a fish curry and in Mek-T a kind of local tuna fish is used. Nice and simple.

Nasi Dagang.

When all the heavy stuffs were done. Cindy served each of us a cup of Rojak Betik (papaya salad). Betik muda (pickled young papaya) is used. Mixed with rojak sauce and a bit of keropok ikan (fish chips). It's quite sourish and the vinegar acidity might be a bit strong, might not be suitable if you have gastric problem. It helps to lessen my feeling of fullness after the heavy meal though.

Rojak Betik.

Mek Pau Goreng (pan-fried bun) comes with two choices of filling. Shaved coconut meat filling and red beans filling. The red beans used is much bigger size than the red bean I see normally. No, it's not Azuki bean. The other one is a deep fried bun with fish filling that I forgot the name :p

Top: Deep fried bun. Bottom: Mek Pau Goreng.

Ended the night with a bit of kuih and brought home Lompat Tikam for supper :)

Mek-T is owned by Cindy's parents and the recipe is contributed by her mom whom is from Terengganu. The Terengganu delicacies here is as authentic as it can be, even those hometown is Terengganu that night gives their thumbs up. So, if you craving for authentic Terengganu food, Mek-T is the place to go.

P.S. Three Churpie Plushies were given away as contest prizes that night. That's why it's ways good to join a #ChurpOut.


Address:

Mek-T
127, Jalan Kenari 23A,
Bandar Puchong Jaya,
47100 Puchong, Selangor
GPS Coordinates:(N 03 02' 39.0' E101 37' 23.7")
Google Map here.

Other Ppl's View:

Sixthseal

Noordin Nasi Kandar, Bidor, Perak

Simon Says: I found this while reading NicoleKiss.

Way back during the Chinese New Year early this year. My sister, my bro-in-law, my cousins, cousin Elaine from Hong Kong, her friend Leona and my aunt all went to Bidor for a visit. I am one of the driver of course. The first stop is not Pun Chan but a corner lot restaurant further up which is just opposite the TNB building. Inside this Chinese kopitiam, there's a hidden gem of nasi kandar stall. Let me gives you Noordin Nasi Kandar. I heard they are quite famous in Bidor. That's why we drove all the way from KL to Bidor. Not for Pun Chun but for the curry fish head of Noordin Nasi Kandar.

My nephew Noah is so excited waiting for the curry fish head.



We ordered some sides too of course. The curry fish head alone won't be able to satisfied us all hungry people.

Stir-fried mixed vegetables.

Chili to go with the rice.




The sourish cucumber.

All is done al dente.


Even if you come alone or only with two people, you can opt to try their ayam madu (honey chicken). The sweetness of the honey is just right and wait to be surprise by a tad of spiciness from the chili paste. This chicken made my day.

Rating: 4/5




Of course, last but not least the curry fish head. We're lucky that this one comes with fish roe. I like fish roe. The curry fish head here didn't use too much santan and it's a bit sourish. Goes very well with the fish meat and one will not feel 'jelak' because of very little santan was used. The fish head is very fresh. I think every morning the fish comes from nearby Pangkor.

I had 2 and a half plates of rice. Damn the curry is so addictive.

Rating: 4.5/5

Fish roe. Slurp!


After the meal, my niece Ruth wanted to exercise.

Camwhored with Elaine and Leona.




Leona: Don't shoot me, I didn't have enough sleep last night.

I downed my meal with a nice glass of cool teh C bing, while the people from Hong Kong going gaga over the Yeo's Cincau, which they told me is not selling in Hong Kong anymore. I thought they have everything in Hong Kong lol.




Location:

After the tol, just drive along the road towards Pun Chun, drive further up along the road after passing Pun Chun restaurant on your right. Slow down when you see a TNB building on your right, the Chinese kopitiam will be on your left where's Noordin Nasi Kandar is at. It's a corner shop, hard to be missed.


A visit to Bidor is not complete if one doesn't stop over at Pun Chun. At first, we planned to eat there but as usual during CNY, it's full house baby. So, we packed up some duck thigh noodle and woo kok (yam puff) back to the kopitiam where Noordin Nasi Kandar is at. The boss is so nice to lend us some plates and bowls.


The staffs were busy preparing many bowls of duck thigh noodle.

It's very difficult to find this traditional Chinese pastry now in KL.

Look at the crowd. Next time don't come during Chinese New Year.

The uncle is serving up woo kok to the queuing customer.

Our duck thigh noodles.

The taste is not too bad but really it's a bit overrated.

Address:

Pun Chun Chicken Biscuits Restaurant Sdn. Bhd.
38 & 40, Jalan Besar,
35500 Bidor, Perak
Tel. 05-434-1554


Branch:

10, Jalan Anggerik Vanilla AC 31/AC,
Kota Kemuning,
40460, Shah Alam
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Malaysia

Tel: 016-3807812 / 019-3206773

Operating hours: 6am to 4pm, DAILY

Website here.