Proximity to Indonesia has its benefits. Cheap, short flights to energetically chaotic cities, for one. (Don't get me wrong. We love KL, but sometimes the senses - not to mention the photographer - need some color and 'buzz'.) And equally cheap, only slightly longer flights to a mostly gorgeous island rich in traditional culture, for another.
Then, of course, there's food. Indonesia's closeness, and the presence of so many Indonesian immigrant workers in Malaysia, translates to relative ease of access to Indonesian food that tastes like it does in Indonesia.
One place to find it: the Saturday pasar malam (night market) on Lorong Tuanku Abdul Rahman, walking distance to Merdeka Square. Here we picked up a couple of servings of pecel jawa, a wonderful (and healthy!) 'salad' of cooked and raw vegetables eaten with a sweet-savory peanut sauce. Sounds like gado-gado, you say. It's similar, but lighter, owing to the fact that pecel jawa's uncooked sauce lacks the coconut milk that makes gado-gado's simmered sauce so rich.
Pecel jawa starts with vegetables, some of which are unlikely to find their way into 'salads' served in Indonesian restaurants overseas: slightly bitter daun ubi (cassava leaves), kangkung (morning glory/water spinach), long beans, bean sprouts, and almost artichoke-like nangka muda (young jackfruit) - all blanched - and cucumber. The vendor, guided by the customer's preferences ('More daun ubi!' 'No cucumber!' 'Please, just green vegetables!'), places a tongs-full of each into a banana leaf cone, topping the pile off with a few squares of deep-fried tofu, a generous spoonful of crispy fried tempeh, and a shower of chopped peanuts.
Then, using a large plastic spoon and a small wooden pestle, she purees together in a bowl pounded dried chile, dark soy sauce, palm sugar, chopped garlic, shrimp paste, white vinegar, and coarsely ground peanuts, finally thinning the mixture with a bit of water.
'Suka pedas?' ('Do you like it spicy?')
Before adding a spoonful of sambal hijau (green sambal, made mostly of ground fresh green chilies and salt), she asks her foreign customers if they can take the heat.
We can, and encourage her to add one, maybe two extra hits of sambal hijau to our dressing. Then, after the example set by the couple served before us, we request a small bagful of the green stuff on the side.
Man cannot live by salad - however delicious - alone. Just up the aisle, we're delighted to find kerepek bayam. I hereby proclaim Indonesians to be the Kings of Crackers, and this Indonesian cracker is one of our favorites: huge leaves of a variety of sturdy spinach (bayam=spinach), dipped in a rice flour batter and deep-fried.
This vegetable's thick, glossy, dark green leaves and agreeably strong vegetal flavor hold up well to a bath in hot oil. Though indisputably tastier right out of the fryer, kerepek bayam are still enjoyable, albeit rather greasy, a few hours after the fact.
Saturday night market, Lorong TAR, Kuala Lumpur. The market runs almost the entire length of Lorong TAR and is walking distance to both the Masjid Jamek and the Jalan Dang Wangi train stops. Some stalls begin serving food by 2:30 or 3pm, and all are operating by 5 (go later - but not too late, for the best selection). The pecel jawa (2.50 per serving) stall, closer to the Masjid Jamek end of the market, gets going around 4. Look for kerepek bayam a half a block or so up towards Jalan Dang Wangi; the vendor also sells a large selection of kueh (sweets).
Note: some vendors have tables, but only purchasing food from the vendor earns you the right to a seat. Most don't seem to mind, however, if you consume additional foods bought elsewhere, as long as you don't linger too long.
Don't worry ma'am if you do visit those places after you've sampled their delicacies here. Nobody's going to think you are being unfaithful to us. After all, its "Malaysia, truly Asia".
Posted by: Jem | 2006.09.12 at 09:39
Haha, I shy-lor. Been in KL for ages but have never visited this famous night market! Must really learn to appreciate 'the colours' of our nation more!
Posted by: Tummythoz | 2006.09.12 at 15:05
Hey Robyn and David,
Reading your blog is a lot like eating the authentic Malaysian/Indonesian food you describe. The rich balance of flavors! The crunch! The spice! Ah, but you pay for that spice. Oh do you pay for it. The light tingle of the opening sonata, gradually deepening into the slow flush of the second movement, rising rapidly during the burning heat of the third movement before exploding in a climax of delicious pain and gradually trickling off during the last movement; a masochistic symphony of delight. In short, you threaten to drown me in my own drool and cause me to curse the fact that I'm stuck in Southern California.
Keep up the good work.
- Chubbypanda
Posted by: Chubbypanda | 2006.09.12 at 15:14