Starling Food Chapter 8【Penang, Malaysia-NASI KANDAR Panda Rice】

Today, Starling Xiaoli will introduce our Malaysian national food-NASI KANDAR (pandan rice) to readers who are destined to do so.

NASI KANDAR is a Malay word, which is pronounced as NA-SI-KAN-DAR (meaning flat pole rice in Chinese). You must be curious about what is dandelion rice. It is not Chinese food but Indian Muslim food. In Malaysia we all call Indians who have entered Islam (INDIANS-MUSLIM) as MAMAK . (pronounced MA-MAK)

Let’s look back at the history of pandan rice first. In the past, Indian hawkers would sell food on a pole. One side of the pole was hung with white rice, and the other side was hung with curry dishes. This was the best option for laborers to fill their stomachs in the past. I often hear the older generation say that a plate used to be only a few cents.

The main soul of shoulder rice is curry. There are many flavors, such as curry fish, curry shrimp, curry beef, curry chicken, curry SOTONG (flower branch baby) and so on. With the changes and progress of the times, the ingredients of the pandan rice have been ever-changing and have everything.

In fact, mynah Xiaoli rarely eats flat rice, because it is too heavy for me. But I suddenly had the inspiration to share this special Malaysian cultural food with you, so I decided to give it up!

Today's lunch - mynah Xiaoli eats dandan rice!

Let's take a look at the photo album of the stall first.

Did it catch your eye? I saw that the buckets of Manjianghong are the soul curry sauce (it is a thick sauce, very easy to eat, but I think it is rather salty if I eat it alone). See the dishes displayed at the stall? There are all kinds of curries (red, orange, yellow) that have them, haha.

In addition to this, there are fish cakes, fish balls, fried long beans, cabbage (usually the fried cabbage at the flat rice stall is yellow because they are cooked with turmeric powder), okra, eggs, salted duck eggs, fried Chicken, curry bean curd, sausage and more. The choice of side dishes is suitable for all ages. Malaysian Malay children and Indian children are very strong eaters of curry.

Let me show you what I ordered today :

See how our white rice is drizzled with curry sauce? (We ordered 2 plates of rice noodles today at RM20)

Usually, Malaysians who eat rice on the shoulder will ask for KUAH CAMPUR (pronounced KUAH CAM-PUR), which is a mixed sauce, and each type of curry should be drizzled with a little bit.

Another requirement is KUAH BASAH (to get wet). When you talk about BA-SAH, the hawkers will pour you super super curry sauce. (but I don't like it, haha)

The stall I went to today has a special sprinkle of their homemade scallion crisp on the rice (this is a unique feature of this restaurant, not every pannier provides it.) Many times I hear diners asking for BAWANG GORENG BANYAK SIKIT BOS.

BA-WANG- Onion

GO-RENG-Fried

BAN-YAK-MORE

SI-KIT - a little ( less )

BOS-Boss

I will take the opportunity to teach you simple Malay, haha (who is interested in learning can message mynah Xiaoli! I am very willing to teach you!)

I also caught the highlights today (intent to entertain you all)

Haha, you read that right, these two are fellow Indians but they are enjoying Chinese food.

As Chinese, we choose to enjoy Indian food.

Our Indian ABANG (pronounced A-BANG) here means big brother, and most of them can speak fluent Hokkien. In fact, Hokkien and Taiwanese Hokkien are very familiar, so they are very friendly!

This is the harmony and benefit of Malaysia's multiculturalism. Everyone can enjoy a variety of cuisines.

But one thing I must stress is that Muslims are not allowed to eat pigs!

Their food must be HALAL (pronounced HA-LAL), which means halal (no pork).

I hope you all will like Starling Xiaoli's diligent sharing!

It's been a long time since I ate such a heavy taste, and I fell asleep fishing after lunch! Ha ha