24 January 2011

Jitra mai sabai sabai...

Parked beside a busy secondary street and covered from the scorching cosmic ray by the shade of perennial trees, this mobile nondescript eating establishment is a place to hang out during lunch time and after office hour. Unlike mat laptop and minah hand-phone that normally associate themselves with imported high street cafes and dominate glamorous restaurants, the people that frequent this place is all moving about in a no-nonsense objective and purpose. This place is for a really serious people who come just to eat. The subject of discussion are cendol pulut and laksa utara, two palatable combination that match each other nicely.

This quintessential eating establishment must be legendary and the owner must be very proud of his origin too. Otherwise he wouldn't come down all the way from the tranquility of Gunung Jerai to the fake world of big metropolitans, bringing along an orthodox way of eating and communal tradition while at the same time promoting a far away place as well.

Din Chot who operates that stall and with a slight Siamese accent told me there are 3 other similar stalls within a 4 km radius from where he is stationed. It seems the franchise is good. Whether this is the sign that our Bolehland is prosperous or a mere adventurous venture, I have no idea. Din Chot himself is probably a nom de guerre and he probably represents a class of Melayu baru motivated by the big city neon attraction and promises.

The laksa is very tasty but slightly spicy by my palate standard. But that doesn't stop me from having a second helping. The star of attraction however is the chendol. It is very difficult to get wrong with anything involving coconut milk. The endless suplly of tapai adds a sureal quality to it. I was told the tapai was supplied by a mysterious mak cik specializing in the art of making that fermented sticky rice. Din chot however is not willing to reveal the identity of this makcik when I asked him the question. Probably this makcik hold the secret recipe for this whole successful business entrepreneurship.

My shallow experience with food tells me that this whole eating experience can be improved especially if they make the portion bigger so that all I can remember after that near perfect afternoon desert is a delicious feeling and inner peace...serenity.

Sabai...sabai...


34 comments:

Mak Su said...

my husband has a fren opening a stall names mee hun sup utara. he's bringing the utara name proudly. and, sedap too :)

catz said...

salam,

the way u describe kelihatan enak banget. di mana lokasinya ini sebenarnya.
hungryyyyy and i need nice food.
:)

mirachantek said...

ahhhh, i've always like em.
can't never really get enough of it. i must say that i have to go there to experience it myself

Abd Razak said...

Assalamualaikum sdra...

Normally people here, making use of fermented glutinous rice for producing 'tapai' instead of beras pulut...pernah makan ker dr?

Teja Suraya said...

Assalamualaikum...

aduh..sedapnya..huhu...

well, kat pasar malam selalu jumpa gerai macam ni, but during lunch hour xda plak..ini masa kat shah alam la

kalo kt putrajaya mcm skang ni, memang kirim salam je la..

DrSam said...

Mak Su,
Any food restaurants that offer good and tasty food normally won't have any problem in getting their ardent followers. Customers don't mind to queue for the food.

catz,
Kena jalan-jalan cari makan ni catz ke area Kota Damansara (dekat Shell station), Subang Perdana dekat Kg melayu Subang dan juga sebelah ofis saya dekat Petronas. Kalau nak datang, helo helo then boleh saya belanja :)

mirachentek,
Yes, You really have to taste it to appreciate the goodness.

Abd Razak,
WSM ustaz. I am not that well versed with the art of making tapai. As long as the fermentation is perfected (not masam) then I just eat them.

Teja Suraya,
WSM Teja. I don't think this cendol business will fit well with the status and lifestyle of people staying in Putrajaya. Yes, I think you have to come down to Shah Alam in order to get the experience with this blissful delicacy.

Zareda Norman said...

i love laksa utara especially laksa teluk kechai. Try it Dr.. u will come again.. for sure..

DeLancrettLurpak said...

Second helping Dr Sam? Sedap beno la tu yek.. I always like cendoi pulut.. tapi tak penah jumpa yg sedap sampai pengsan.. hehehhe.. confirm mesti pi Jitra nanti!

Sally said...

I could still remember one mamak selling chendol when i was still in primary school. He didnt use the modern-kind-of-ice-machine like we have nowadays, he used the traditional way..guna berus besi stick it in the ice block as the holder then 'shave' the ice block through a blade..serup..serap..serup..serap..kepal2 the ice then put it in a bowl together with other ingedients..erkkkk..geli la pulak bila teringat tangan dia tu..huhu

ckLah @xiiinam said...

Walah.....!

Afida Anuar said...

Salam dr Sam..

When i was in Perak about few months back, i got to know that this one small stall near paddy field in Lekir if i'm not mistaken, served a very marvelous cendol pulut.. and this entry really reminds me that cendol pulut...

out of sudden, saya'mengidam'..heh!

CatlinaFly said...

sedapnye cendol...sok nak ajak cg fly gi bandar, ada gerai cendol yang sempoi tapi wallah!marvelous cendol pulut dia(kluang mai hehehe)!tak sure lah setanding dgn yang jitra mai tak hehehe

DrSam said...

Zareda Norman,
Teluk Kechai is a very strange name to me...whereabouts is this place madam?

DeLancreetLurpak,
Tak payah pergi Jitra...Jitra mai ada sini. Boleh pengsan terus sebab kenyang sangat :)

Sally,
Correct...correct...dulu-dulu memang bukan setakat pakai bulu besi, tapi paku pun ada untuk pegang air batu tu supaya senang di serup serap serup serap. Bergegar bagai nak runtuh kereta tolak bila putar air batu tu :)

DrSam said...

ckLah@xiiinam,
nyaman gitu...

Afida Anuar,
The scenic paddy field I think will add more taste to the cendol and this kind of experience is priceless.

kena layan 'mengidam' tu, kot nanti meleleh air liur tak pasal-pasal...

catlina fly,
kekadang yang sempoi tu lagi sedap hasil kraftangannya, lagile kalau bedua-duaan eh....bertigaan dengan cg fly dan sicomel tu.

Faisal Admar said...

bringing a famous name to other state is something we could be proud of. i mean, mee mamak penang can't be beaten by any state of course and same with the penang laksa! :-)

those are just examples.

by the way doc, is this laksa the similar to laksa telur kecai in kedah?

Wan Sharif said...

Alahai sedaplah pulak cerita makan makan gini..
nak kena pesan kat Mok Wang suruh sediakan laksa Penang .. malam sat ni.. hi har..

Sir Pök Déng said...

Okay Dokter Seng. You now make me want to stroll about Pantai Teluk Lipat of Dungun to search for a nice greasy spoon to stuff my belly up.

A bowl of laksa teganung. Cendol. Ten pieces of fried kerepok lekor. Banana fritters. Chicken balls on a stick. ABC.

Done.

Anonymous said...

Alaahai Cendol!

Kat hulu ni tak ada la gerai cendol. Kalau nak makan kena buat sendiri.

yohteh said...

...sabai, sabai... apa mende bekakah tu..?

DrSam said...

Faisal Admar,
The much talk about Bangkok Lane mee udang probably supersedes Penang Laksa, as far as my personal palate fancy le.

Walauweee...laksa telur kechai? Another divine food coming from the North?

Wan Sharif,
Guane Ayoh Wang? Jadi dok agenda makang laksa penang malang ning?

Sir Pok Deng,
Now that you mentioned laksa Ganung...I am salivating non-stop and almost lost word for this column. Teluk lipat memang kena lipat habis makanang kat tepi patta tu...

DrSam said...

kayteeze,
Laksa hulu kalau kena gaya orait juga tu. Lagilah kalau jemput kita kita semua ni rasa hi...hi...

yohteh,
Doh guane setabok ame. nok buat link dalang kotok komeng dok gheti ambe. komang sungguh. tulong ajor gok sket yohteh...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCBn6oZybPM&feature=related

yohteh said...

...hahaha... lagu rupanya... jjadeh ungguh... sabai, sabai...

...DrSam dan adik-kakok skeliang..!
ni tutorial cara-cara nok buak lling (link) dalang kotok komeng...

...buka desbok (Dashboard) - niu poh (New Post) - kompoh (Compose)... (konong-konongnye nok wak niu posting lahtu...)

...tulis komeng semuanya dulu dalang ning (tulih standard, "plain" je... kalu nok edit jugok, hanya "bold" dang "italic" dibenookang)... pahtu buaklah lling (link) supe-skale... (teh lu lling jjadi ke dok)... OK, pahtu... tri... (hehe... ambe ggura je)... klik "Edit HTML" (...hok ning peting ni...)
...doksoh pinda-pinda apa pun, cumanye, kopi (copy) serema skali hok ada dalang format HTML ni dan "paste"kang ke dalang kotok komeng... pribiu dulu tengok jjadi ke dok... (bab copy-paste ni, kena buka multi-windows baru derah sikit khije...) hahaha, simple maths...

...braser-braser jelas doh kkabo ning, kalu dok jadi ugok dok reti nok boyat doh... (pekerah macang biasa ah, pisang ssikat je... hehehe...)

Afzainizam said...

,=====,o00o Ponn..Ponn.Ponn..
//__l_l_,\____\,__
l_---\_l__l---[]lllllll[]
_(o)_)__(o)_)--o-)_)___
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Salam Persahabatan kami datang ziarah blog anda
http://firestartingautomobil.blogspot.com/
http://bukandoktorveterinar.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kajang Pak Malau kajang berlipat,
Kajang hamba mengkuang layu,
Dagang Pak Malau dagang bertempat,
Dagang hamba Tumpang lalu

woooo centol utara kerrrr.... lama tak melantak cendol ni ...

aku dok kat area selatan pun ngidam cendol kat sana .... laksa peneng pesambokkk... apa lagi yerrr banyak yang best dari utara

guane nok gokk makang cendol pantai timurr gokkk... mung boleh blanjerr kawe tak dok pitih sehabuk dohh

DrSam said...

aurat kartun


cubaang pertama

DrSam said...

yabedabedoooooo....TQ yohteh weh...hepi sunggoh ambe. Kelas jugok yohteh ning rupenye :)

DrSam said...

Afzainizam,
Pantun yang dahsyat tu. Teringat cerita Allayarham Nordin Ahmad.

Dari Selatan pergi Utara
naik beca semput semput
tak payah susah pergi ke sana
mai sini saya jemput

MariaFaizal said...

Jitra is definitely one of food paradisos (mind my latin:)in the world.Alongside the route there are many stalls selling wonderful home made local cuisine with extremely reasonable price.

God I am on DIET!!! This is too strong a temptation.

Warmest regards :)

DrMaya said...

Salam bro...syukur masih seronok berblog..hihi..sajer jer menyinggah mengintai kabar...:p

adiwarnatasya said...

Salam DrSam:)
Owahhh sedap tu..
Suka makan laksa sana:)

Afzainizam said...

,=====,o00o Ponn..Ponn.Ponn..
//__l_l_,\____\,__
l_---\_l__l---[]lllllll[]
_(o)_)__(o)_)--o-)_)___
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Salam Persahabatan kami datang ziarah blog anda
http://firestartingautomobil.blogspot.com/
http://bukandoktorveterinar.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pernah makan cendol mangga kat padang besar tau..... sedappp sangat tapi harga dia RM 4 ... mahai... tak pe lahhhh rasa mangga harum manis dalam cendol...

cuba lah try bestttt sangat tau

DrSam said...

MariaFaizal,
I am not very familiar with Jitra and the last time I visited the place was like more than 20 yrs ago. Probably another jalan-jalan cari makan to that place should be organised soon to trace the origin of these good foods.

Have a nice day!

Maya,
WSM Maya. Syukur masih diberi ruang untuk mencoret rasa berkongsi cerita dicelah-celah kegawatan di kebun getah sekangkang kera kita ni. Macamana pesta main boh di sinun?

adiwarnatasya,
WSM cik Adi. Memang sedap.

Afzainizam,
Mangga harum manis dalam cendol kira dah spesel tu. Boleh meletup menu tu kalau sampai kat sini.

Syed said...

The mere mention of chendol made me salivate already lah. Alas, I am to stay away from savouring such sweet delicacies.

Life can be so cruel... :(

DrSam said...

Syed,
I have to take a break from those sweaty menu as my teeth is getting very sensitive recently.

zafi said...

wallaweh!!! I miss the cendol purut Hosba area Jitra (During study time)... habai mai harga naik ka?

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