Selamat Hari Raya

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For us, Ramadan began this year with a bag of bubur lumbuk(savory spiced rice porridge).

On the first weekend of the Holy Month we headed to Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur's Malay 'village', in search of Ramadan bazaar excitement. We parked and walked .... and walked. We were lost in Kampung Baru's maze of streets and alleys. It began to mist. And then to rain. We had no umbrella. It was getting dark, too dark to get any photos. A wasted Sunday evening.

A car slowly pulled up beside us, and stopped. From the window emerged a hand, dangling a big bag of bubur lumbuk (savory, spiced rice porridge). 'For you! From the mosque.' (As evening approaches mosques distribute bubur, a fast-breaking food, free.)

'Happy Ramadan!'

Thus is the spirit of Ramadan. And of Malaysians.

And for us, Ramadan came to a quiet close last Sunday, in Temerloh, a small town on the Pahang River about ninety minutes from downtown Kuala Lumpur.

We'd spent a good portion of the three weeks that had elapsed since we received that gift of bubur from a perfect stranger investigating KL's Ramadan markets. In case you haven't heard, Ramadan is a wonderful time to visit many Muslim countries. We first learned such years ago in Istanbul, when we found that the end-of-the-day approach to the breaking of the fast brought a giddy joyfulness - and many vendors of wonderful Turkish specialties - to the streets. It's no different in Malaysia. As the afternoon light fades markets offering prepared food with which to break the fast sprout like mushrooms in a compost heap. For us, being at a KL Ramadan market is akin to being the proverbial kids in a candy store.

By last weekend, having already wandered and photographed many of the city's Ramadan markets, we decided to take to the road. Temerloh, a mostly Malay town, seemed a logical destination. We love its Pekan Sehari (Sunday market), and figured its Ramadan bazaar would beat any we'd visited in KL.

Initially we were a bit disappointed. We'd expected something along the lines of the huge Pekan Sehari, which stretches for more than a kilometer along the river. Temerloh's Ramadan bazaar was really rather small, even in comparison with some of the markets in KL.

But we were quickly reminded that the Pekan Sehari's size is not its only attraction. It had been one and a half years since our last visit, and in that time we'd forgetten one of the things that makes the market such a pleasure to pass a morning in: Temerloh-ites.

Lots of smiles, and a big welcome, everywhere we went. And actually, the size of Temerloh's Ramadan market turned out to be just right. Big enough to host vendors not only from the area, but also from other parts of Malaysia, small enough to peruse at a leisurely pace once, twice, even three times, without fatigue (or blisters).

Ayam golek, rempah (spice paste)-rubbed, spit-roasted chicken, is standard at all Ramadan markets, but we saw more spits turning and chickens roasting in Temerloh than at any market in KL. This vendor from Lanchang (a small town about 25 kilometers towards KL from Temerloh), sitting in the back of his truck ramming bird after bird onto a stainless steel rod, sang a happy refrain common to every seller we talked to:

'I love Ramadan! We make more money in this one month than we do in several months outside the season. It's hard work, especially with the fast, but we look forward to it every year.'

One of his fragrant birds became the centerpiece of our Temerloh Ramadan market dinner.

That, unfortunately, left no room in our market basket for another potential main course, and one not often seen in Kuala Lumpur: ikan bakar tempoyak (banana leaf-grilled fish rubbed with a chile and fermented durian paste). Catfish are raised nearby in the Pahang river, and these specimens smelled heavenly.

One of the first stalls to catch our eye as we entered the market was this one run by a couple from Narathiwat, in southern Thailand. They'd come from Kelantan (the eastern Malaysian state bordering Thailand), where they live, for the month just to sell her nine different kerabu ('salads') made with ingredients like young jackfruit, fern tips, beef, chicken, and wing beans. We purchased a selection and ordered a couple of freshly-pounded green papaya salads to go.

Another couple from Kelantan assembled beautiful boxes of nasi kerabu (a Kelantanese dish of rice tinted blue with dried pea flours, served with shredded herbs, beansprouts, and kerisik, dry-toasted grated coconut) and added turmeric-marinated and deep-fried fish and a whole green chile stuffed with coconut-enriched chopped fish.

We had to pass it up because we'd already purchased rice, in the form of pulut ubai, coconut-scented glutinous rice cakes with a sweet-spicy topping of grated coconut fried with chilies and turmeric.

A jaunt to Temerloh's Sunday market always turns up foods unfamiliar, and so it was for the Ramadan market. We can only guess that these kuih net bug - sponges soaked in tinted sugar syrup - are named for their incredible, insect-attracting sweetness.

The highlight of the evening came when we discovered, at one end of the market, the mother of all perfect palm sugar vehicles. Called badap berendap, bedak berendam ('wading hippos') these sweets consist of gula Melaka (Malaysian coconut palm sugar)-flavored glutinous rice balls enclosing yet more gula Melaka, floating in a banana leaf filled with unctuous coconut cream. For serious gula Melaka fans (count us among them), it doesn't get much more sublime than that.

We left the market with a full bag (we ate very well that night), and a certain sense of sadness that Ramadan would soon be coming to an end (we'd have no opportunity in its waning days to take advantage of the markets).

Happily, there's always next year.

Selamat Hari Raya!

Comments

[Nate]

Fermented durian paste...?

You can have my share. I'll just get a 2nd chicken.

[Annie]

Sigh! I haven't been home for a Hari Raya in more years than I care to count. It was always fun to jostle with all the muslims buying food home to break fast. I truly miss ayam percik (the one dish I enjoyed mostly during this time of the year) and all the little kuihs that could be had that you wouldn't find at other times. Sometimes it's the memories you evoke that are hardest to bear (the taste memories are especially frustrating because I can *almost* just taste them again but at the same time leaving this empty pang). Wishing there was a way some of that atmosphere and food could be transported here.

[Robyn]

Nate -- haha. It's tastier than you might think. One of those ingredients that is pretty gross on its own, but when combined with other ingredients... (like budu)

Annie - yes, we love Ramadan and Hari Raya too. Hard to find the same atmosphere outside Malaysia ... even Indonesia is not quite the same.

[Kevin]

I googled Ayam golek to see if I could make the rub...and I don't recognize half the ingredients listed. I have some learning to do.

[Pepy]

Hari Raya Idul Fitri.... I miss it. I have been celebrating Idul Fitri without ketupat, gulai kambing, koyah kedelai, sambal goreng ati for 2 years

[cempakasari]

Hi Robyn,
The kuih is not badap berendap. It is badak berendam. Badak = hippo, berendam = soaking. As hippos are wont to do. Heh.

I love the picture of the smiling trio. The little girl's and boy's smiles are adorable.

[Lisa]

Selamat Hari Raya, Robyn! I think the kuihs you're referring to were Nekbat - but yes sometimes pronounced netbug in the east coast. The other one is Badak Berendam - literally Soaking Hippo (rhino perhaps more appropriate).

[IcedNyior]

food looks delish! Fish with tempoyak? I hv yet to taste that. I think tempoyak is not really fermented. My late grandmother used to make it using fresh durian and added loads of salt then keep it in a jar. Its more like preserved durian I'd say. But then again, im not sure how the Malays do it :)

Oh, btw, I cant be 100% sure, but i think that dessert is called 'badak berendam' which loosely translates to soaking hippopotamu'. The round balls are supposedly the 'badak' or hippopotamus, i think.

[Robyn]

Kevin - I suspect the ingredients were in Malay (serai=lemongrass, lengkuas=galangal, etc.). There are not really any ingredients in ayam golek that are much different from, say, Thai food.
Which makes me think ... maybe I should have a go at it!

Pepy - I feel your pain! Ramadan bazaars (and Deepvali fairs) are something we look forward to here in KL every year. Hard to keep the extra kilos off those 4 wks!

Hi Lisa - the sign says 'netbug' ... where are they pronounced netbak? These were a bit too sweet for me, to tell the truth.

IcedNyior - yes, perhaps 'preserved' is a better term for tempoyak than 'fermented'. For the fish, the tempoyak was pounded with chilies and then spread on the fish as it was on the barbie. It really did look and smell delicious ... but we had bought too much food already. Next year!

Cempakasari - thanks, correct name noted in the post. Those kids were very sweet indeed.

[Diane skrocki]

Thank you selamet Hari Raya for the most unexpected vacation that you yourself through your well written words and mouthwatering beautifuly colorful photographs have just guided me along. I was fascinated with not only your description of the different foods but also how you seemed to encapsulate everything from how ramadan and how even the mosque handed out burbur lumbuk to the people. Oh what a different world is malaysia ! ! !
Thank you once more....~~Dee

[Lisa]

Hello Robyn,
Yes I noted the sign. they are pronounced Netbak (k is soft or maybe even *g*) in the east coast. Pronounciation of similar words can be very confusing in the east coast - in Terengganu for instance they add *g* to every word ending with *N* whereas in Kelantan, they pronounce words ending with *n* as *ay* for instance ikan in terengganu becomes ikang and in kelantan ike (ikay).
Another popular kuih in the east coast - Akak is pronounced Akok in both states (and some parts of Pahang and Johor too).
Most of the kuihs in the east coast are tooo sweet. In fact some of their savoury dishes are sweet too.
I miss Ramadhan and Raya in Malaysia - hope to spend them there next year. I haven't been home for raya for 2 years now *sobs*.

[Robyn]

Dee - you're welcome, and welcome to Eating Asia!

Lisa - thanks. Yes, we drove up the east coast from Kuantan to Kelantan a couple yrs ago and found much sweetness, in savory dishes too. The ayam percik sauce in Kota Baru was just too sweet for me. That said, we also found much deliciousness and I'd love to spend more time fully exploring Terangganu and Kelantan. We had the most wonderful putu piring (putu herba), with fenugreek, in Kelantan...
Sounds like you need to plan to be in Msia next year for Ramadan and Raya...

[jay]

hi there, i was born, study, work, married n still stay in temerloh. my kampung is only 10 mnts drive from the town itself. i really enjoy reading ur blog bout our bazaar ramadhan. just to share with u, that ayam golek guy, his name is othman, nick name abang man or brother man, sold more than 100 ayam golek per day last ramadhan, it only cost him RM10 per ayam, n he can get at least RM4-5 profit. u do the counting... good ha... and i love his ayam golek too... delicious, the best in temerloh... keep up writing bout temerloh. need more info, just email me ok... food love

[Robyn]

Hi Jay - thanks for your comment, we may take you up on that. We've been meaning to get back to the pekan sehari, it's been almost two years since our last visit! We think Temerloh is great, sort of an unknown gem only 2 hrs from KL.

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