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Monday 9 October 2017

Babeloo BBQ Roast Pork @ Pandan Perdana

I've seen mouth-watering photos of this crispy, crackling, delicious-looking roast pork operating from a truck for some time now.  And most online reviews will tell you that this roast pork on wheels can be found at Cheras, Taman OUG, Kepong Baru and Sri Petaling...but they never tell you exactly where.

I googled "babeloo roast pork" and the address of the Sri Petaling one was shown but that's too far for me.  Finally, I came upon vkeong's 2016 review which mentioned that there are actually five of them though he mentioned only four in his blog post...Taman OUG, Kepong Baru, Sri Petaling and Pandan Perdana.  That particular review of his was based on the truck in Kepong, so that location was revealed (but it's also too far for me to go just to get some roast pork).

But one word resonated with me and that is "Pandan Perdana"!  I was wondering where that truck could be (and thought I'd keep an eye out for it) since I eat at the coffee shops in Pandan Perdana quite often, especially around the vicinity of the market.  But I've never come across any such truck.  Oh well! :(

One morning when having our family's favourite pork noodles at one of the Pandan Perdana coffee shops, I went to the market to buy some roast pork for us to nibble on while at the shop as we've have done countless times before.

This time, for some reason, I looked up at the stall (situated along the side alley where you can also buy fresh pork)....and lo and behold...the sign says "Babeloo BA.B.Q. Roast Pork"! O_O

It looks like I've been eating Babeloo BBQ Roast Pork @ Pandan Perdana for years without the slightest clue that that's the one I've been wanting to find! @_@  Funny, isn't it?  Well, you know the saying..."you always can't find the very thing that's right under your nose".

Now, before you start comparing this roast pork to some of those awesome roast pork you've been having from the roast meat rice stalls, they're not the same.  This one is an entire roasted pig, so you have all the off cuts and bony parts as well, from the head to the tail, and the one served by roast meat stalls is the prime part, the pork belly.

They sell the roast pork by weight here, otherwise just tell them how much you want...RM20, RM50, and so on.  The minimum amount starts from RM10.  The stall owner gestured a piece to me, this one nice, not too lean, not too fat, she said.

This is the portion for RM10...certainly a lot more than you would have gotten at a roast meat rice stall.  It did have a good and generous amount of crackling on it, just that some parts of the crackling were a bit thick and hard.

As for the meat, I didn't detect any trace of gamey smell as some apparently have when a whole pig is roasted.  I've had my fair share of those gamey ones when invited for some sort of celebration be it weddings, birthdays, baby full moon or housewarming parties.

Flavour and texture wise, it's quite unlike those you'd get from roasted meat stalls.  These ones won't be so moist, flavourful or meltingly tender.  The slightly drier meat is salty enough though as there would be this layer of seasoning underneath which they rub on the inside of the pig before it's roasted.  Perhaps if I had gotten the prime cut (of say pork belly), it might taste a tad better but this is a morning market, so choice cuts would probably be sold off very early.

Having said that, you'll get a better bang for your buck for the price to portion ratio here.  Similarly, families would buy this type of roast pork for cooking at home.  Some like to toss them in garlic and dark soy to produce that sticky, caramelised, darken roast pork while others might like to enjoy them fried with leeks.

My Personal Opinion

The taste and texture may not be quite like those roast pork from roast meat/chicken rice stalls but still decent enough with a better portion-to-price ratio.

Babeloo BBQ Roast Pork
Pandan Perdana Morning Market
20 Jalan Perdana 4/8
Pandan Perdana
55300 Kuala Lumpur

10 comments:

  1. This is certainly my favourite food and topic! I am always looking for those with very thick crispy & saltish skin. Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Kriok! Kriok!

    Now I remembered seeing this truck at Sri Peatling over 20 years ago when I newly joined a HKG agency there. The truck used to park near the open air field and lots of aunties would swarm like bees! The seller was so muscular and handsome with sweet talking gap that attracted hordes of aunties every evening. I never got the chance to eat as I only started eating all this after marrying my Cantonese wife. LOL

    I tried a plate of this on my recent trip to Hong Kong's famous Dim Sum restaurant opposite the Peninsula Hotel. They served wasabi to go with this and the meat was so white & neat looking like LEGO blocks to me! i only loved the top crispy skin but the meat was odorless & too lean texture. I prefer ours that is a bit stinky and chewy. Do you know that Hongkies love our crispy pork belly like crazy? They find it unusually saltish and oily.

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    Replies
    1. Like you said, their roast pork has no flavour, that's why the Hongkies love our version...salty and slightly fatty is a must! ;)

      Aiyo, if the roast pork comes with a muscular, handsome and sweet talking guy, of course the aunties will buy! :D

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  2. Sri Petaling! That’s my neighbourhood, and it’s been my neighbourhood for nearly 15 years now, so this roast pork has been right under my nose too! :D P.S replying to your reply in the previous post, oops, I think I may have mixed you up with someone else (or not). I was chatting with the husband-and-wife founders recently and they were talking about a few customers whom they’ve noticed have written about them on blogs and IG, and they mentioned recognizing them after a few visits :)

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    Replies
    1. Since it was right under your nose, didn't the wonderful smell of their roast pork lead you there? Hihihi! ;D

      Yeah, you've probably mixed me up with someone else. Those with their faces on blogs and IG make them (of course) recognisable but that isn't the case with my blog :)

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  3. Oohhh...siew yoke, my favorite! It's interesting that all this while you did not realize you have been eating this Babeloo BBQ Roast Pork hee...hee.. It would be nice to get the bones and cook hot and sour soup with salted vegetables.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, I forgot about this hot and sour soup with salted vegetables. I remember attending Chinese wedding dinners where a whole suckling piglet is served, someone would usually ask the off cuts to be packed home so that they can make this very dish =)

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  4. What do you think is their key to getting the skin so crisp?

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    1. Oil, salt and heat is the key to a perfect crackling! ^_~

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  5. I saw this Siew Yoke truck somewhere around Kepong Baru but forgot the exact spot but I never buy any. Maybe I should buy some if I meet the seller again then cook it at home as per you suggested, with dark soy sauce for that caramelized result, yum~~

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    Replies
    1. That's what my mom used to do when we bought too much siew yoke and can't finish, she fries it with lots of garlic and dark soy the next day.

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