Ayam Goreng Zainul Nasi Kandar @ PJ

man, i’m not totally out of malaysia, am i? sigh. the truth is, i just can’t let the memory go! hihi. this time, my mind wanders off to one of mr. khairul’s favorite nasi kandar haunt in PJ – ‘zainul nasi kandar’. yes, this is also from the mind of that nasi kandar freak i married!

Nasi Kandar is a popular northern Malaysian dish, which originates from Penang. It is a meal of steamed rice which can be plain or mildly flavored, and served with a variety of curries and side dishes such as fried chicken, curried spleen, cubed beef, fish roe, fried prawns or fried squid. The vegetable dish would usually be brinjal (aubergine), okra (lady fingers or "bendi") or bitter gourd. A mixture of curry sauces is poured on the rice. This is called 'banjir' (flooding) and imparts a diverse taste to the rice.

~ wikipedia

arguably, the best nasi kandar in petaling jaya, if not the whole klang valley. some go far as to say, forget about the commercialized kayu or pelita – here, you get the real deal of what nasi kandar is all about.

according to one blogger, this is some sort of ‘relief’ to homesick penangites working in klang valley, because the curries here are as good as the ones in penang!

it’s situated in jalan sultan, petaling jaya.

look for amcorp mall, the classic a&w diner, as well as shah’s village. you’ll see a yellow-blue color building that looks like a parking lot. that’s the one! actually, it IS a parking lot – MBPJ car park complex.

the food court is on the ground floor, and zainul nasi kandar will be on the right as you enter.

the yellow-blue building; and the ample parking spaces along the road

as soon as you enter, you’ll see a long queue of people. be patient, and just enjoy the smell of freshly-fried ayam goreng and tantalizing curries while you wait your turn!

from the pictures, you can see that it’s not a proper restaurant – rather, it has a food court slash warong-like setting. the makan stalls on opposites sides, and the tables and chairs arranged in the middle.

i don’t mind eating at a place with warong setting – plastic chairs, worn-out wooden table, basic cement and tile flooring with cats twirling its tail around your leg. as long as it’s clean, it’s alright with me.

however, i do mind that this place is slightly dark and too gloomy, especially for a makan place as popular as this. i feel like eating as fast as i could before i get hyperventilated from the claustrophobia! hihi.

ok, back to the food.

of course, as you line up, you can already picture the lauk in your plate, by looking at the many choices of lauk in front of you.

the curries are what zainul nasi kandar is famous for, and you can ‘flood’ your plate with that along with other side dishes like the famous ayam goreng, telur ikan or daging kicap.

for vegetables, as you can see from the picture above – is a choice between the large bowl of cabbage, or taugeh (bean sprout). take your pick!

ayam goreng!

like i stated in my many postings on nasi kandar, i am NOT a fan. but i’m married to one! hihi.

so though i cannot say much about the quality of the curries, one factor will keep me coming back to zainul nasi kandar, and that is the fried chicken. fried ON THE SPOT in the small kitchen at the back of the stall, the chicken really is freshly fried and still sizzles as it sits on your plate!

pick your preferred parts of the chicken and the akak will just chop ‘em up to little pieces for you.

okay, okay – i know that a REAL plate of nasi kandar must be ‘flooded’ with curry – but i like my curry to be on the side, please! i’ll take a little spoonful at a time! so that’s MY plate of curry up there, but remember this is not a common sight at zainul nasi kandar!

the curry is of course, a mix of a few curries – typical of nasi kandar – and they all have distinct taste that when they collide, it’s really is a killer curry, fit for nasi kandar freaks like mr. khairul.

but to me, curry is curry lah. yang ni pedas, tapi sedap! tu je yang aku bole komen! hihi.

a BASIC plate will give you steamed white rice, curry. fried chicken and cabbage or taugeh. and that is enough to leave you very satisfied!

the mr. nasi kandar freak will add his favorite telur ikan to his plate.

as for me, the big ayam goreng is simply delicious. steaming hot, i especially love the crunchy bits where the spices are concentrated!

hmm. this post doesn’t make me want to fly to penang and have a plate, but i would like to apologize to my husband if this is in any way make him drool and tak tido malam!

Rindu Khaleef, Kahfi & Kazim?

  

 

dah seminggu budak-budak ni balik dubai.

ini salam rindu pada mak long syimee, aunty ma syima, pak ngah kay, aunty da syidot, mak su azot, aunty na qistina, ateh diyana, uncle asrar ngan aunty ya sofia.

juga pada cousin-cousin abang haiqal, abang haqeem, kak cuya, nuna, micha, baby adam haris ngan wafa.

juga pada atok podin ipoh & opah umi, ngan atok anwar kg lalang & opah.

jumpa lagi! <3

Nasi Lemak Telur Mata @ Kg Melayu, Ipoh

bila korang makan nasi lemak, korang suka makan dengan telur macam mana? telur rebus? telur mata kerbau? telur dadar? takmo telur?

kalau korang suka nasi lemak yg telur mata kerbau separuh-separuh dengan telur dadar, dan bahagian kuning telur tu cair-cair sket – mesti korang suka nasi lemak kat satu kedai makan dekat rumah abah aku kat ipoh, sebab tu specialty dia!

 

 

pasal pe specialty?

kedai ni ade stesen memasak LIVE di mana satu cik kak ni akan masakkan telur-telur masa tu jugak dan bubuh atas nasi lemak korang. fuh, memang best gile.

bila korang order je, macam biase nasi lemak semangkuk diorang letak atas pinggan, tuang sambal secukup rasa, tambah ikan bilis ngan kacang, skali ngan hirisan timun. pastu korang tunggu la telur korang tu dimasak fresh-fresh, panas-panas.

 

 

nasi lemak kedai ni memang sedap berlemak, sambal yang pedas-pedas sedang, ikan bilis rangup ngan telur baru masak panas-panas – memang patut la pun awal-awal pagi kena terpacak depan kedai tu, kalo tak, nasi lemak confirm habis!

 

 

orang-orang ipoh yang berminat nak cuba, cari le gerai ni kat kampung melayu, sungai rapat, ipoh.

dari medan gopeng tu, korang masuk ikut tepi bilion tu, lintas sungai tu – ke arah lapangan terbang sultan azlan shah. korang fokus je kat belah kanan. nanti nampak la gerai tu, kat depan laman rumah yg luas.

 

 

kedai dia biase-biase je – takde dinding, bertulang kayu, beratap zink. tapi makanan memang sedap belaka. mr. khairul yang balik setahun sekali pun mesti nak rasa sekali.

sambil makan sedap tu, order la skali minuman kegemaran yg kena dgn makanan tu. kalo aku biase order milo ais, atau teh o ais limau – tu mmg favorite kalo makan kat kedai mcm ni. kalo mr. khairul, teh o ais, atau kadang-kadang teh tarik, ikut mood dia.

korang suka minum ape?

 

 

selain nasi lemak, ade jugak jual roti canai yg tak kurang hebat rasanya. hari tu kitorang pegi pun order 2-2 sekali! (kasi can la sesekali balik malaysia hihi) nasi lemak makan situ, sebab nak menikmati telur yang masak panas-panas, pastu roti canai pulak kitorang tapau je untuk makan kemudian kat rumah.

memang cukup puas hati!

 

 

yang tak puas hati pun ade – budak busuk sorang ni. hihi. takpe kazim, nanti kazim dah besa dah bole duduk, mak letak kazim atas kusi ye.

hish. teringin la pulak nak makan nasi lemak. sape suruh blog pasal nasi lemak ni bila dah balik dubai! ceh.

Happy 63rd to Super Abah

happy birthday to my abah, tuan haji sharifuddin!

Allah has blessed you, abah ~

..with good health, so you can walk to the surau, carry your grandchildren and still able to eat lamb chops occasionally!

..with a flourishing career, so you may become someone your daughters look up to, and provide for your beloved family; put food on our plates, and roof over our heads

..with a golden retirement, so you may take a step back and enjoy the fruits of your labor, and travel the world

…with 5 amazing daughters, whom you can be proud of, and to tell your friends and families about

…and with 9 naughty grandkids, who will remind you how REALLY far you’ve come!

alhamdulillah!

  

my sons khaleef & kahfi, hangin out with atuk

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ABAH!

all our love; from your second born syigim, son-in-law khairul, and grandkiddos khaleef, kahfi and kazim.

See You Soon, Malaysia!

“..If we get to see tomorrow
I hope it's worth all the wait
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.
And I'll take with me the memories
To be my sunshine after the rain
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday..”

~ ‘It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye’ by Boyz To Men

 

azi, syima, me & syida

 

back to dubai i go!

my dear wombats – i will miss them the most. sigh. yong was not there at klia to send me off but i know her caramel pudding that she steamed with love will always be in the recesses of my teeth. haha.

abah and umi are currently on cuti-cuti london. have fun and safe journey home!

 

 

my in-laws wouldn’t miss a chance in the world to hug goodbye to their beloved nephews, and their eldest brother, along.

i thank them for letting me take the time off being a mom of 3 – taking care of the chatty khaleef and the ever so cheeky kahfi.

 

 

syida & azi holding kazim

 

i think i spent WAY too much time with these wombats when i got back! hihi. both has started working, and i am very proud of them. they’ll do great in their respective fields. watch out, world!

thanks for all the laughters and shrill conversations. i think the neighbours can sleep better now. haha. oh, wait. they still have you two to deal with…

 

with my sis syima holding her 2nd born micha; and with faiz

 

to syima, i appreciate that one little day we hung out at your house, with yummy lauk and endless chatters. and yes, i will miss cuya potpets, definitely! at 3, she has the vocabulary of a 7 year old! phew!

eh eh, ni adik sape sesat ni. to adik faiz, thanks for being the porter terjun, handling the baggage and all. we needed all the help we can get that day!

 

 

 

hmm, khaleef is too big already while kazim is too small. so this little kiddo is the one that everybody is going to miss so much. kahfi is currently in the terrible-two phase, so you can imagine what kind of mischief he has got himself into in the last couple of weeks.

nevertheless, no matter how big the trouble he’s in, or how yucky the mess he has made, or how naughty he got – he always manages a little grin that melts everyone’s heart.

aww.

ye la tu. tunggu la balik dubai kang. mak won’t fall for that same grin, yah!

 

 

our flight was a pleasant one, alhamdulillah.

khaleef, as usual was his own boss – watching ‘shrek, forever after’ while munching pasta. kahfi, fortunately for us, slept the WHOLE time. he started sleeping moments after take-off, and woke up right before touchdown. kazim was being a good boy too – no excessive meragam, and slept soundly too.

when the boys were sound asleep, mr. khairul and i both had ‘shrek’ on our screen, and we paused and played so that both our ‘shreks’ were playing at the same time. we put on our headphones, held hands, and watched as if at a cinema.

hihi.

 

so. we’re back in dubai, people. any raya open house invites? dah ready ni!

Sundanese Food @ Anggrek Kuring

it was the last day in malaysia before we fly off back to dubai. i had lunch with my in-laws. we wanted to try something malaysian, but ended up in ‘indonesia’ – for nasi padang!

we headed on to the ‘anggrek kuring’, a sundanese-indonesian restaurant in puchong. i will tell you right now that i highly recommend this place if you wanna try our neighbour’s dishes. all of us left tummy-full and very satisfied! great food, nice ambiance and courteous, always-smiling staff.

furthermore this restaurant was officially opened by the indonesian ambassador to malaysia – how cool is that? confirm duta ni takkan selamba-selamba je nak rasmikan restoran yg sajikan makanan tak sedap kan? kan?

 

 

 

where is it?

to me there’s way TOO MANY shoplots in puchong now, but it’s fairly easy to find ‘anggrek kuring’. it’s situated in bandar puteri puchong. just look for the ‘giant’ at bandar puteri. there’s a few rows of shoplots there. then look for CIMB at one corner (you will definitely see it from the main road) turn towards the CIMB, but go to the end of that shoplot. if you see ‘maybank’ on your right, the restaurant is right opposite ‘maybank’.

look up, because the restaurant is actually on the first floor, so you have to go up the stairs. don’t be fooled by the fact that it’s not on the main floor – when you reach 1st floor and open the door, a distinct sound of angklung will greet you!

i love it!

 

 

 

in fact, throughout our lunch, an angklung medley of classical indonesian songs are played over the speaker. it sets the mood just right for a great indonesian meal that’s coming.

there’s even a water fountain at one corner, where you can hear the soothing sound of flowing water. pair that up with that lovely angklung sound, playing gently in the background – you’ve got one beautiful ambiance there!

the bamboo chairs looked so exotic – but hard on my bum la! they don’t want customers to linger izzit? haha.

 

 

 

the lightings are cozy and soothing like the angklung sound, accompanied by trellises of green grass along the ceiling. simple. comfy. cozy.

the tables are covered with the typical indonesian orange-yellow-brown batik, adding to the sunda scene.

 

* * *

 

how was the food?

you’re spoilt with choices – so many types of chicken and beef dishes, seafood and soups. these plus so many others too. and they all looked so delicious in the pictures on the menu.

i like it when there are huge pictures of the food in the menu, along with numbers that coordinate with the name of the dishes. it makes it so much easier for me to pick and choose, and imagine the taste of the dishes by looking at the pictures!

 

 

the nasi putih was served in a lovely woven container. it’s layered with banana leaves so you can smell the fragrance of hot, steamed white rice!

even the plate was eye-catching! it’s also made from the same woven rattan, with paper and banana leave on top. nak makan pun rasa seronok!

 

 

for vegetable dish, we ordered kangkung belacan, and tauhu tauco. the kangkong belacan is fresh, and fried just right as to preserve its crunchiness.

though i’m not a fan of tauhu, i do love the taste of kuah tauco – so this dish was alright for me too.

 

kangkong belacan and tauhu tauco

 

as for the main dishes, we opted for ayam bakar and kalasan, and sapi ladi hitam (black pepper). i LOVE these two dishes. the ayam bakar was so juicy, marinated to perfection!

i usually don’t prefer any black and pepper dish, but this sapi lada hitam was so delicious! i think they don’t use too much of black pepper, so the taste was just right. also, i guess they used pounded black pepper to give it a more delicious black pepper taste, rather than pedas tak tentu pasal!

 

 

ayam bakar and sapi lada hitam

 

another must-try at ‘anggrek kuring’ is the sotong goreng tepung, or ‘cumi’. fresh squid, chopped, dipped in batter and deep-fry until crispy. seerved with a string of mayonnaise on top. chomp chomp!

i also ordered sup buntut – which is actually an indonesian beef oxtail soup, okay! but what an ‘attractive’ name, yes? haha. served hot, with the perfect saltiness. excellent.

 

cumi goreng and soup buntut

 

we also ordered the ‘standing fish’ – yes! the fish was deep-fried and shaped in such a way that it’s standing erect on the plate! some sundanese restaurant calls this dish the ‘dancing fish’ – maybe because they couldn’t get the fish to stand up! hihi.

the fish – like all the other dishes – were served fresh and looked so enticing to the taste buds! the flesh was soft, and the outer parts crispy. an excellent sundanese dish.

 

 

the standing fish and honey lime drink

 

this set of dishes comes with complimentary drinks – we got iced lemon tea, and iced honey lime. a sweet-sour thirst quencher!

 

 

 

cendol es

 

another complimentary bit – the dessert. after the waitress cleared our table, out came bowls of ‘cendol es’ – which is cendol le.

but then again, it’s actually different that what malaysians are used to – there’s very little gula melaka – so little, that when you stir and stir, it will not turn light brown! hihi. and it’s more lemak. other than that, it’s the same.

sedap!

 

  

mr. khairul’s dad & mum holding kazim, with sis-in-law tina

 

the sundanese are the 2nd largest ethnic group in indonesia, and they’re well-known to be sweet-tempered, and soft-spoken – much like the waiters and waitresses here. they’re courteous, and always with a smile. they helped us picked the best dishes, and explained what certain words mean.

i did enjoy my experience eating at this sundanese restaurant.

and if you as me about their food – it’s excellent. do try any sundanese dishes near you! i think ‘anggrek kuring’ has another branch in kota damansara. go!

 

 

oh, this is kazim. we didn’t bring his stroller or bassinet – so we just pulled up a chair with cushion, propped it between my chair and my mom-in-law’s chair and dumped him there. hihi.

tengok muka tak puas hati tu! soon, ok dear boy! you’re turning 6 months soon!