Sunday 21 January 2018

5 THINGS TO EAT IN ALOR SETAR, KEDAH



Alor Setar is said to be one of the best places in Malaysia to get delicious and mouthwatering food. Whenever and wherever you are in Alor Setar, you can always have ample choices of food varieties to fill you up either for a big full-filling meal or for even just a casual snack in between them. Not only these are easily to find but most of them are very cheap and affordable. Cheap and tasty, what more do you want, people?! LOL

Now, the list for famous stalls and restaurants in Alor Setar to find good food just seems endless. Everyone always have their favourite joints to get their meals. Below are my personal favorite places to eat whenever I am in Alor Setar.

You can also watch the full food experience below!




ROTI JALA/ ROTI KIRAI STADIUM

For breakfast, rather than having your typical roti canai or nasi lemak, having a huge folded roti jala at the Darul Aman Stadium would be a treat! They are very crispy on the outside and soft on the inside are perfectly served with a slightly sweet and spicy chicken or beef curry gravy.

PRICE: RM2.50 (plain), RM3.50 (special – with an egg).








GULAI IKAN TEMENUNG, KUALA KEDAH

As most Malaysians eat rice in their meals for lunch, having lunch at Kuala Kedah where they serve rice with fresh fish such as mackerel and snapper cooked in a thick and rich curry gravy is definitely to die for! As located near the jetty at the sea, the restaurant prepares the curry earlier on and will chuck in the fresh fish in the gravy before serving them hot to the customers. This ensures that the fish is still fresh, moist, soft and heavenly delicious! Simply by having plain rice with the fish curry will make you come back for more!

PRICE: VERY CHEAP. I don’t know the breakdowns for each dish but for 3 medium-sized mackerels, 2 pieces of snapper, one fried egg and half of a salted egg, it only cost RM27. Yes, including 3 plates of rice and drinks!








MEE ABU

Mee Abu is certainly one of the best restaurants to get satisfying and delicious fried noodles. The restaurant usually prepares the fired noodles in a large batch (rather than cooking them one by one to fit your order). The cook will finish off the serving with how you want the fried noodles to be – such as the spiciness level or with or without vegetables. What’s amazing about the fried noodles here is the quantity of noodles as well as what they put into the dish. They are generous with the quantity of noodles and fried tofu and adding some cuts of soft flour fritters as well as chunks of sliced spleen. Not only it taste great, but this dish will certainly make you full!

PRICE: RM5.50






MEE HAMID

Mee Hamid is also famous for their fried noodles. The noodles are cooked slowly and are mixed together with a nut based gravy. This create a rich flavor to the dish and coats the noodles to produce a gooey texture to it. What makes this dish stands out is that apart from some sliced spleen and fried tofu, they also put in cubes of potato and both soft and crispy flour fritters that all go incredibly well together. These bits of ingredients just make the dish rich in flavours and textures! The crispiness of the crispy flour fritters just makes this dish even more exciting! Genius. Simply genius!

PRICE: RM5






NASI LEMAK ROYALE

A trip to Alor Setar would not be complete if you don’t have the famous Nasi Lemak Royale. This is the perfect dinner meal. Not to be confused with the ordinary nasi lemak (coconut milk rice) the rice here is nothing like that as it consists of aromatic, spiced, yellowish soft and fluffy rice that is then mixed with some spoonful of delicious thick and rich curry and dhal gravies. You can choose to have it together either with the proteins of your choice (chicken, prawns, squid, and salted egg to name a few) as well as some veggies. The rice itself is rich and delicious. The MIXTURE from the different gravies just creates a rich, spicy, sweet and salty taste that will leave you addicted in each and every single bite of the meal.  

This dish is great to be eaten at their stall but trust me, if you want an even more amazing eating experience, have it packed to takeaway and let it ‘rest’ for a few minutes first. This will cause the ingredients to be mixed and glued together that will just elevate the greatness of the flavours!
It’s not a fancy nor a pretty meal. It is a sloppy dish and you’ll get sloppy eating this, but THAT is just part of the Nasi Lemak Royale experience.

PRICE: RM7 (with a piece of chicken and extra rice and gravy!)







This list is beneficial if you have a full day to spend in Alor Setar. You can easily have everything on this list from breakfast, tea time to dinner!


Sunday 14 January 2018

Homemade Flour Tortillas / Flatbread






Flatbread or tortilla is said to be one of the oldest forms of bread in human history. Not only it is so quick and easy to make, but it also very delicious. It can be eaten in many ways. Whether dipping in your favourite curry gravy or turning them into a complete wrap packed with awesome flavours!

Most recipes out there include the use of oil or butter but this recipe is based on the very basic of ingredients. It's healthier and very convenient for you all to give a go at this.

You can also find the similar recipe for chapati HERE.



INGREDIENTS
  1. 2 Cups of plain flour
  2. 1 tsp of salt
  3. 1 tsp of baking powder
  4. 1 Cup of warm water


SEE THE VIDEO ON HOW TO MAKE THIS BELOW.





INSTRUCTIONS
  1. In a bowl, add in the flour together with salt and baking powder. Give a quick stir.
  2. Pour in 1/4 of the warm water and mix with the flour. Repeat this step until you use up all the water (4 times) and you'll end with a manageable sticky flour. 
  3. Knead for 5 - 10 minutes until you get a smooth soft dough.
  4. Divide the dough into 5 and let them rest in the bowl for 15 - 20 minutes, covered with a warm cloth. 
  5. On a flat surface, sprinkle some flour.
  6. Flatten the small dough and start kneading until you get a thin, round shape dough.
  7. On a medium heat, place the rolled dough on the pan.
  8. In roughly 30 seconds to a minute you'd see bubbles started to form on the dough and the colour will change.
  9. Flip and cook on the other side for another 30 seconds or so while patting down on where bubbles are formed to release the air from the bread.
  10. Done and enjoy!


SUGGESTIONS
  1. REFERRING TO STEP 2, TRUST ME, DO NOT ADD IN  THE WATER ALL AT ONCE AS THIS WILL MAKE IT VERY DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO KNEAD THE DOUGH.
  2. While kneading the dough, if you must, adjust by adding in some more flour if the dough is too sticky or add in a little bit more water if the dough is too dry.
  3. Forming the dough to a round shape requires skills and experience. Do not get frustrated if you do not end up one. It took me at least 20 attempts to be able to get one acceptable round tortilla.
  4. If you're making them in a large quantity, do cover the ones you have finished cooking under a cloth or in a container to ensure moisture of the bread won't evaporate, thus keeping them soft to eat.
  5. If you're making the breads for later consumption, keep them in an air tight sealed bag and store them in the fridge. 

Sunday 7 January 2018

MY FIRST SHELL OUT FEAST EXPERIENCE: SEAFOOD MAT ROCK DER, KUALA PERLIS



In December last year, my friends and I were in Arau, Perlis. We were there for a quick one-night pit stop at our friend’s place, Syuk before making our trip to Hat Yai. Before our visit to Perlis, Syuk had already settled on to take us to Mat Rock Der Restaurant at Kuala Perlis for a highly-rated seafood dinner.


1.    Getting There
It was just a 20-minute drive to get us from Arau to Kuala Perlis. So if you are from Arau, distance shouldn’t be much of a problem.

Restaurant Address:
2 Gerai MPK, Persisiran Pantai
02000 Kuala Perlis, Perlis
Malaysia


2.    Parking
No proper parking is available there. So you just have to park your car at the side of the road but make sure you park properly as the surrounding area is quite dark and vehicles seem to be moving quite fast.


3.    The Restaurant
It is just a medium-sized stall with small number of tables available. When we were there it was fully packed. I suggest that you make a reservation first before dining, just like Syuk did.




4.    The Food
Portion? We ordered the portion for 6 people. Our small table was piled up with quite a huge spread! We were barely able to get every plate on it. But we were hungry and it looked like it wasn’t enough LOL. #NafsuMakanLOL  

Fresh? Oh, yes it definitely was!

Taste? The seafood were prepared in a balanced flavoured, not overpowering spices. Not spicy and not too salty, not too sweet. Everything was well balanced. I prefer it that way as it draws out the fresh sweet flavours of the seafood itself.


One of my favourites

Yummy!

Love this!

Crispy fried squid! 


5.    Price
For the seafood set for the portion of six people plus rice for 8 servings (YES WE NEEDED MORE LOL), everything was totalled up to around RM 120 inclusive of drinks. So that’s about RM 20 per person. For me, with the quantity and freshness of the seafood, THAT was cheap.


6.    Rating

7.5/10. I have not experienced any other shell out dining elsewhere so I have nowhere else to compare to. But I really enjoyed the food there and totally recommend for others to try whenever they are nearby. Thanks Syuk for bringing us there!