My 2016 Ramadan Loot @ Pandan Indah

Well, it's Ramadan month again....and time to walk, smell and savour all that the Ramadan bazaar (in my neighbourhood) has to offer.  You can check out some of my last year's Ramadan loot here, here, here and here.

The first thing we went looking for was the Cucur Udang @ RM5 which we remembered so well from last year. Luckily, the same stall was here...and the "cucur udang" (prawn fritters) was still as good as ever.  Eaten with a choice of "kuah kacang" (peanut sauce) or chilli sauce, this stall's version is very crispy and fragrant with lots of chives, onions (for sweetness) and bean sprouts but less shrimps this year for the same price.  Needless to say, we went back for many rounds of this.

A common sight at any Ramadan bazaar are the many stalls of nasi lemak.  This was the Nasi Lemak Kerang (Nasi Lemak with Cockles) @ RM4 (with the sambal packed separately).  They have all the usual dishes normally eaten with nasi lemak.  This was one of the better stalls as their nasi lemak usually runs out around 6.30pm.

Also this Nasi Lemak Biasa (Plain Nasi Lemak) @ RM1.30 from another stall.  I get nasi lemak withdrawal symptoms during Ramadan coz I don't get to eat it for breakfast, so evening times I must indulge....haha! :D

Of course satay must have a part in any Ramadan bazaar.  Fresh sticks of Chicken Satay (10 sticks) @ RM7 with condiments of cucumber and onions, not forgetting the delicious kuah kacang.

We later found another satay stall selling them for only RM6 (which was just as nice but may be a bit stingy with the kuah kacang), so you may need to 'shop' around for the best deals.

I also remembered the very nice nasi kerabu I had last year but the stall this year looked a bit smaller (not sure if it's the same one) but the Nasi Kerabu with Ayam Percik @ RM4 + RM4 was just as delish.  The nasi kerabu had "taugeh" (bean sprouts), long beans, cabbage, "kerisik sambal ikan" (coconut flaked fish), salted egg, "keropok ikan" (fish crackers), fresh sambal and lots of fragrant herbs.

I paired it with a piece of "ayam percik" which is actually marinated chicken, basted with a spiced coconut milk sauce, and grilled to impart a smoky, charred flavour to it.  The chicken was nice and tender and what was even better was that they would spoon more of that wonderful spiced coconut milk gravy onto the chicken (which was packed separately).  The sauce erupted with the flavours and aroma of lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and coconut milk....so good!  Of course, you can also have your nasi kerabu with either turmeric fried fish (ikan goreng tepung), grilled fish (ikan bakar), fried chicken (ayam goreng) or "solok lada" (a kind of stuffed green chilli pepper) if you like.

There were a lot of stalls offering all sorts of "nasi ayam" (chicken rice)....you've got the usual roast chicken, "ayam goreng" (fried chicken), "ayam goreng berempah" (fried spiced chicken), "ayam panggang" (grilled chicken), "ayam percik", "ayam masak merah" and whatnots.  I decided to get myself a Nasi Ayam Panggang @ RM8 which came with a packet of soup and "kicap hitam" (black soy sauce).

Chicken (or Beef) Samosa @ RM2.50 (for 3)....nice and crispy :)

A mainstay at many Ramadan bazaars is the Bubur Lambuk @ RM4 and practically every bubur lambuk stall will advertise theirs as Kg Baru's bubur lambuk! :P  It is a savoury rice porridge made with beef and coconut milk.  It's quite different from Chinese-style porridge because of the addition of coconut milk and spices.   I think it's an acquired taste coz some may not like the taste of the various spices in the porridge.  Some of the spices used in the bubur include buah pelaga (green cardamom pods), bunga lawang (star anise), jintan manis (fennel seeds), bunga cengkih (cloves), biji ketumbar (coriander seeds), halba (fenugreek), buah keras (candlenuts), kayu manis (cinnamon stick) and lada hitam (black peppercorn)...there could be more.  All these are cooked with dried shrimps, onions, garlic and ginger.

I certainly detected (as in found) the first 3 spices in my bowl of porridge along with some black coloured seeds that looked like biji sawa (mustard seeds).  The porridge is usually quite thick and chunky.  I added my own fried garlic and shallots for even more flavour....hehe! ;)

We also found these Fried Wonton @ RM4 (for 10 pcs) wrapped with chicken paste (that taste just like chicken meatballs) along with some Fried Popiah @ RM0.70/pc.  I like that the wonton skin was very thin and crispy...makes for a nice snack.

These Tauhu Bakar @ RM4.50 for 2 pcs of grilled bean curd puff (cut into halves), stuffed with just shredded carrot and "taugeh" (bean sprouts), to be probably the least worthy in terms of money spent coz the ingredients are cheap stuff (I certainly won't buy them again).  Served with a sauce that tastes very similar to fruit rojak, the tauhu was neither crisp nor loaded with charred flavour.

A stall that I keep coming back to every year is the "mee goreng" stall with all types of fried noodles (mee/meehoon/kway teow/maggi mee/etc) and "nasi goreng" (fried rice).  This is a packet of Mee Goreng @ RM3.50 when I want something simple.

A staple in Malay festivals is Lemang & Rendang (RM3 + RM3) and I found a small stall offering that.  "Lemang" is glutinous rice with coconut milk and salt cooked in bamboo over an open fire.  It's usually served with beef rendang....and this one was fairly decent except the beef could be more tender but the rendang sauce was pretty good.

Last minute addition of this Malay-style fried noodles (which I found only yesterday after this blog post has already been posted) that I felt I must include.  This Fried Kway Teow or Mee (with kerang & udang galah) @ RM8 a packet was one that I thought was the closest I've seen resembling a Chinese-style fried kway teow in taste.  I asked for a mixture of kway teow and mee and the stall owner immediately whipped up one for me. It was unusually dry like how Chinese fried kway teow is (as opposed to the more wet style of Malay fried noodles) with good "wok hei".  And what was even better was that it came with two large udang galah (giant freshwater prawns)!  I'm so going back for this again.

We also finally splurged on this whole Fried Squid @ RM12 that is battered and fried...and finally tossed in chilli powder for a bit of heat.  The squid wasn't all that big and you can see why we hesitated initially but resistance was futile, of course, in the end. The batter was nice and crunchy, though a tad floury, and the best thing was the squid wasn't chewy.

These were just some of the loot I tried this year....there were lots more I didn't try and some I didn't take photos of.  With about a week to go, the Ramadan bazaar should slowly be winding down but this year they seem to be hanging around a little longer...probably because the heavy rains spoiled their business on many of the days (I believe I went to the bazaar less this year because of that very reason).  Anyway, we'll meet again next year.....when it starts all over again! ;)