Pasar Malam Favourites

Jalan Ikan Emas at Cheras flats comes alive every Thursday night with its pasar malam or night market. I loved the lights, the sights, the sounds and of course the aroma of cooking food.

At the pasar malam, I have 2 favourite stalls. One is of a white lorry parked at the side of the road. The back of the lorry is modified into a mini kitchen, and there is a stove where the vendor energetically and enthusiastically stir-fries noodles.

A regular order would be a mixture of kueh tiaw and yellow egg noodles, stir-fried with bean sprouts and cockles. You could customise your orders too, as you could ask for only egg noodles or only kueh tiaw. You could ask for your noodles to be extra spicy, and you could ask for the vendor to fry your noodles with eggs.

The vendor stir-frying his noodles with gusto

I ordered a mix of egg noodles and kueh tiaw, extra spicy and with egg. A large serving sold for RM4.70. As there were no customers at the time, I only waited for a few minutes before my order was ready.

At another side of the road was a yong tau foo stall, operated by a Malay couple. This couple had sold yong tau foo for years, as I had started buying from them more than 15 years ago when I first went to college. Back then at the Seri Melaka flats, they sold on Wednesday and Saturday nights, and I recall with fondness the times my friends and I frequent their stall without fail every week.

Much of the stall was taken up by an assortment of bean curd and fish paste products. There were also stuffed vegetables, kangkong, and rice rolls.

Large steel bowls and tongs sat at one corner of the stall, and customers could just grab a bowl and fill it up with their choice of items on display. Then they had to wait as it takes time to blanch the items, cut and pack them. The yong tau foo comes with a packet of sweet brown sauce, and another packet of chilli sauce.

Back in the 90's, there was no system. But now, as business became better, the vendor had to devise a way to sell more efficiently. And hence, the bowls were now numbered. Get a bowl, remember your number, fill it up, and wait for your turn.

When they are ready, your number will be called. Pay for your yong tau foo and go. Business was really great. There were 4 people working at the stall, and yet we had to wait for 15 minutes before ours were ready.

The Yong Tau Foo vendor

Yong Tau Foo items

Back at home, we shared out the goodies as we wanted to eat some of each.

The stir-fried noodles were really tasty - fragrant, spicy, garlicky. After the first forkful, you will surely want more. Real yum. The yong tau foo was a blast from the past, where one mouthful would take me back to my student days ages ago.

A trip to KL for me, would not be complete, without a visit to a pasar malam ;)