food of yesteryears...

recently i've been missing a lot of traditional food. traditional as in the food that i used to eat whilst growing up in Kluang. The food that i've taken for granted and assume it's so common, you can find it everywhere even in Klang Valley.

how wrong was i... here are the list of stuffs i eat when i was younger and then realised i cannot actually find it easily in Klang Valley:

1. Multi-color ais kacang. Multi color as in, instead of the usual Pink (Rose), Brown (Gula Melaka) and White (evaporated milk) that you all have everywhere, the ones i remember eating whiles growing up has 2 additional colors - namely Green (Pandan) and Yellow (Pineapple). I remember having it behind Coronation and below my house punya warong and some walking distance away from my house punya Kampung Melayu :D

2. Traditional red sauce chee cheong fun. Ok, i found a place selling this in KL - Petaling St. In fact, i've had that for breakfast 2 weekends in a row :D I like to believe the red sauce is made from hawtorn slice (i m too lazy to google the recipe) but Ah Woey shattered my "fantasy" this morning by saying "You knw it's coloring, right?" damn... it never occur in my mind wei!! :P Anyways, the way Ah Woey's face litted up was really a Kodak moment la this morning :D He has been craving for it for sometime as well, so, both of us decided to wake up early on a Saturday morning and brave the traffic to KL for that. I told him it's very very similar to the old Kluang Market's one and he was skeptical. He ordered only a small plate. I ordered a big one since my previous trip there, i knew small plate just doesnt cut out for me :P his 1st bite, his face litted up and he went: "OMG!!! It is the Kluang old market one!!!!" lol.... he ended up ordering another plate... :D

3. Pisang goreng with Sambal Kicap. Until recently, I always thought that all pisang goreng stalls have the sambal kicap and if they dont, i always assumed that it's sold out or they just couldnt be bothered serving them. then Lis and I were discussing about it one day and i was informed that this sambal kicap thingie is makan orang Johor.... i was like o.O REALLY?? and then realization only dawned upon me that i really dont see that in KL hor? I remember there's this stall at Kampung Melayu that my karchengs and i used to visit very often. Since it is frown upon buying roadside snacks (read: food that they think it's unhygienic) at my popo's place, there was a few times the karchengs hang out at my place and we went out to buy... it was really good!! but the last few times i went back, that pisang goreng stall is no longer around! :( Lis is currently back in Kluang and she managed to get 2 packets of the sambal back for me from the stall near her house :p.... <3

4. Curry puff with sweet potatoes & Sardine Puffs with more bawang and cili than sardines. I know, i am weird, liking the Sardine puffs with not much sardine. But seriously, it's really really good! the cili kick is damn shiok! And the sweet potato curry puff! omg!! it's to die for! i remember waaaaay back when the bus station was still in town, opposite A&W and Metro Cinema, there was this stall that sells this... then when the bus station moved to nearby Kampung Melayu, the stall moved to the nearby roadside as well. then one day, when i went back to kluang, THE PAK CIK IS NO LONGER THERE!!!!! i cannot find it anymore, this kinda curry puff :( That's why every time if you see me buy breakfast from roadside nasi lemak stalls that sells kuih as well, you will definitely see me buying some curry puff, hoping that it is filled with sweet potatoes.

5. Crispy sweet "mah keok" / butterfly yao char kwai - Long long long long time ago when Metro Cinema was still a cinema, when popo and kong kong were still staying in Sunrise Park, we practice having tea every evening. Sometimes Kuku will give us treats by driving down town to this yao char kwai stall and get 2 humongous big packets of mah keok and his side kick, ham cheen peng and yao char kwai. but no matter how many she bought, it's always not enough :P the mah keok is really really good. really crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and the sweetness level was just ok. i've seen a few places that sells this in Klang Valley, but they are either too hard and not sweet or super soft and sweet :(

*digressing a bit* now that i think about it, i dont understand how did we manage to still eat dinner every night with such filling tea!! :P somemore immediately after dinner, watch tv abit, we will buy roti from roti man at 9pm! :P *end of digression*

ya... these are a few of the traditional food i crave and cant find :( actually there are a few more, but those can still be found in Klang Valley - but not nice at all.

Like:

1. Sweet Potato fries & fried bun from Chicken Delight at Kluang Baru.
2. Super crispy and old school sweet & sour pork. where you can taste the wok hei in every single bite... can find this in Ocean Point, Kota Kemuning - but overpriced
3. Economic fried kluang yellow mee - can still find it in Kg Paya market (i think - coz my uncle bought some over the last time i was back)


ya... tht's all i can think of right now... :P