Roti Bakkwa @ Taman Shamelin Perkasa

Christmas came and went.....and so has the New Year.  No new clothes.....no gifting...no special meals....no get-togethers...well, basically no fanfare (at least for me)!  And I expect Chinese New Year to be pretty much the same.   Let's hope we can get out of this rut in 2022 and finally put all this behind us (though I'm not holding my breath).  This pandemic has changed our lives forever, especially in the way we interact....it has changed friendships, relationships and family dynamics.  We try not to congregate in large numbers (even if it's a celebration of some sort or a festivity) unless absolutely necessary just to be safe...and, after a while, that becomes the norm of what we're comfortable with so much so that I don't even miss not dining out.  And just as we were getting to grips with the highly transmissble Omicron variant, we now learn of the new IHU strain...when will it ever end!

Even though dining out is allowed now, many are still cautious....even my spouse is not so in favour of it.  I don't even miss eating out now although we have started to dine out minimally but are selective.  We only eat at familiar places and tend to choose open-air spaces or non-airconditioned places.  We avoid popular, crowded places and small, confined spaces without well spaced out tables.

Eliminating new eateries, perpetually crowded places and closed-up air-conditioned spaces (in the foreseeable future) + the lack of makan get-togethers (by choice) would mean I won't have much exciting/good food to write about.  Haiz, without good material, I'm not even motivated to write these days coz I feel they'll just be boring posts about boring food.  After all, food photos via delivery or tapau lacks the presentation of dine-in food and wouldn't look tempting at all! :'(

Oh well....so here's my first boring post of the year about some boring food.....Roti Bakkwa @ Taman Shamelin Perkasa which I found through ShopeeFood.  P/S: By the way, the good times have come to an end (as I knew it would) on ShopeeFood.  The discounts have dwindled down (though there are discounts still but only at selective restaurants).  Even my regular shops have mentioned to me they noticed a drop in orders too, so it's more economical to tapau again...though delivery is still practically free and when they no longer are, it's back to considering other delivery platforms again, I suppose.

As the name suggests, the first one I tried was the Roti Pork Bakkwa & Floss @ RM6.20.  We all know that bakkwa is that ultra-delicious Chinese salty-sweet barbecued dried meat (a very popular snack during Chinese New Year).  The bakkwa may not be the best quality (like the well-known brands) but it still does its job as the meat of the sandwich.  I just love the simplicity of these kind of buns for breakfast...so good! ;)

The bun itself was pretty long as it managed to fill the entire box (at least 6 inches in length, I think). Traditionally, some stalls still toast their buttered buns (sometimes even the slice of bakkwa) over charcoal to give it that smoky, charred flavour but most do it on an iron flat top nowadays.  It still had that nice, roasted flavour (when grilled well) just like if it was toasted over charcoal (like Hainanese toast).

The toasted bun was filled with a piece of bakkwa, chicken floss and crunchy cucumber slices.  It's then drizzled with mayo and chilli sauce.  Even though we have many wonderful western-type sandwiches, this one is just different.  It appeals to our local tastebuds and bring back memories of yesteryears when we used to have it as a kid.

Next, I wanted to try the Homemade Luncheon Meat with Egg @ RM7.50.  It boasts of a piece of homemade luncheon meat, wrapped in an omelette, in between the same fluffy bun with cucumbers, mayo and chilli sauce.

Looking at the size (as in length) of the luncheon meat, I believe this could be homemade (maybe not by them) as it was rather long (judging that the meat reached the end of the bun, I think it reached the other end too).  It tasted pretty good for the price I'm paying (I've had worse luncheon meat from chap fan stalls).

Then there was the Roti Ham with Egg @ RM6.80 which is made up of store-bought ham with omelette....and the omelette is always fluffy and tasty.  I don't mind processed ham (prefer them over processed sausages) and would buy them all the time to make sandwiches at home coz they're the simplest to assemble.

Finally, I might as well go for the Roti Fish Fillet with Egg @ RM7.40 too just to try every version possible...lol.  Just like the earlier luncheon meat sandwich, the fish sandwich was also encassed in an omelette.

As expected, the fish is probably the frozen, commercially-produced kind though it didn't taste like the fried breaded ones that stalls use for our local version of western breakfasts.  The texture of this one was more like fish paste.  I was ok with it but my son didn't quite like it.

To wrap up their choices of sandwiches, they also offer Roti Hotdog with Egg (RM6.80) and Roti Cheese with Egg (RM6.20).  Besides sandwiches, they also have meat & egg, cheesy pork meat and chicken chop burgers as well as cheesy pork or chicken, chocolate banana and smoke duck wraps.

My Personal Opinion

This type of simple sandwiches is a favourite breakfast choice of mine whenever I can't decide what to eat or don't want too heavy a breakfast like nasi lemak or a bowl of noodles.  I'd pick our localised sandwiches over western-type sandwiches anytime especially when the latter involves the use of baguettes which I find crusty, hard and dry.

What is it about these sandwiches that's so comforting to us?  We make these luncheon meat, ham, omelette and bakwa (especially during CNY) sandwiches at home all the time...but having someone make these for me is even better! ^_~

It's becoming more difficult to find makers/sellers of these types of sandwiches nowadays...they're a dying breed.  There used to be a stall (in a coffee shop) selling this in my neighbourhood and a food truck plying this at a nearby wet market but both have disappeared.  So, I'm happy to have found this one through ShopeeFood.....and I've been ordering it regularly.

Roti Bakkwa

One Shamelin Food Court

2 & 4 Jalan 5/91A

Taman Shamelin Perkasa

Cheras 

56100 Kuala Lumpur