Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Some Good Ol' Kampung Style at Sambal Hijau

It was one of those days where the metabolic rate shot sky high causing the stomach to rumble more vigorously than usual and the constant growling sounded like a rainstorm was coming.

Super Hungry Mode ON!

Called my reliable 'makan' buddy, Chelle for an escapade to monster-eating paradise.

MISSION: A PLACE OF SCRUMPTIOUS, HEARTY FOOD

Ting! We've got a destination and it was to Sambal Hijau for some good ol' Malay kampung food. But of course, as is always the case when I'm with Chelle, we HAVE to get lost on the way there. And once again, it was the smell of good food that leaves its trail of clues and we managed to find our way. Hip hip hurray!


A party of ikan bakar

Mmmmm...the smell of grilled fish (ikan bakar) was promising to some awesome food ahead. Having this grill stand at the outside part of the restaurant is a good publicity stunt as the delicious, sweet smell of ikan bakar is a definite head-turner! Not hungry also become hungry lah!


Super packed to the max!

There were throngs of people there and we resorted to sharing tables with this nice lady and her young son. Because we both wanted to choose the dishes, Chelle asked the lady to 'chop' our seats for us and she was so nice and obliging to help us! See, we still have nice, friendly people in our country.

Ok, TIME TO FEAST!

A star-jump for variety! Glutton Spirit doing some whoop-whoop-whooping!

Well, I almost did one, star-jump I mean. Can you blame me? Look at the spread in front of our eyes! There were rows and rows of every meat, seafood, curry, vege, innards, plants, shrubs and sauces to choose from. BLOWS THE MIND!

Didn't know where to start. We actually stood still taking it all in for a minute or two until we realized we were blocking the pathway and hungry people were shooting glares at us. Whoops!

So finally after much resistance to just take EVERYTHING, we had:

Pucuk Paku with Coconut Shreddings & Chili

Pucuk Paku is a kind of fern which is edible and normally prepared in masak lemak style (with coconut milk/coconut shreddings or some form of coconut inside). This dish was very fragrant and not too spicy.


Fried Turmeric Chicken & Fried Egg accompanying the Pucuk Paku

Fried chicken was relatively quite good. Always liked how the Malays will use turmeric to season their chicken before deep-frying it. Adds some salty and gingery taste to the common fried chicken.

Can't say much about the egg; tastes like the one Mum/Dad/Ah Neh-at-the-mamak-stall made for us for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Good thing is, it was not soaking in oil.


Beef Tendon in Sweet Curry

Was excited to try this dish as I have this knack for all things innard and jelly-looking. Makes it like a challenge, no? A food conquest more like.

Unfortunately, this dish was......not something we would have gulped down in seconds. Tendon was too soft. You know how when you eat tendons, you'll like it to have that slight bit of crunch when you bite into it? This one felt like biting into konyaku jelly. And the curry was a tad bit too sweet and mild.

Jelak
after awhile!


The fish with a gazillion bones.....

We ordered grilled ikan terubuk. The plus points- fresh and very sweet. The down points- SUPER A LOT OF TEENY WEENY TINY BONES! Which made eating it quite a chore and time-consuming. If you spoon out the flesh the size of a teaspoon, you'll probably fine 30 bones in between.

Yup....that's how bony it is. Very sweet though.


Sambal Cockles

Mmmm..this dish was good! Cockles were rather tender (not overcooked like those in char kuey teow) and the sambal was spicy, tangy and full of flavor!



Overall, Sambal Hijau was a nice experience because of its diverse variety of Malay food. The throngs of people, the rows of piping-hot food, the grilled fish stand, the aroma- they all just add to this ambiance of a hearty meal awaiting the one who seeks.


Sambal Hijau & Belacan

And of course, every spoonful and every bite was topped with a bit of extra spicy kick- their famous Sambal Hijau and Belacan. The sambal hijau was sooooooo good (think fragrant, spicy, tangy), I could actually just eat it with a plate of white rice!



Restoran Sambal Hijau
2990, Kampung Sungai Penchala,
Jalan Damamnsara, 60000,
Kuala Lumpur.






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