KELANTANESE FOOD

BY: IBNU SINA

KELANTANKelantan is a state of Malaysia. The capital and royal seat is Kota Bharu. The honorific of the state is Darul Naim. Kelantan cuisine is influenced quite a bit by the cuisine of Thailand and it’s popular among people from Malaysia. A lot of the visitors which Kelantan receives come to the area in order to taste its recipes, which are not available in other areas. One of the things which their kitchen is based on is sugar and the result is that most dishes from the area are sweet.

Another thing about it is the fact that it uses a lot of coconut milk, more than any other cuisine from Malaysia. Their curries are creamy and rich and their taste is based on the Thai cuisine.

LAKSAMLaksam is flat rice noodles,based on rice powder and served with coconut milk gravy with finely-blended fish (ikan selayang) ,shrimp paste and garnish with raw vegetables like shredded cucumber, long beans, bean sprout and cabbage. They usually have it for breakfast but you still can have it anytime during the day,lunch,tea time or even for dinner. If you go to Kelantan you'll easily find it being sold at the fresh market or by the road side especially in the morning.

BUDUBudu, a fermented anchovy sauce that is used as a flavoring, added with chilli, onions & lemon juice and eaten with rice, fried fish and 'ulam' (assortment of herbs) such as long beans, pucuk paku or fiddlehead fern. 'Ulam' and the fish are dipped into the brownish condiment, and eaten with rice. The salty and sourish taste can get very addictive as most people tend to add rice when eating this! And apparently, this ancient sauce is considered to be full of anti-oxidants and potential free radical fighters. It is high in protein and uric acid content, thus not recommended for people with gout or hypertension.

SOLOK LADAThe unique of this type of food is where the filling is placed inside the chilly. The filling is made from flesh coconut, fish fillet and coconut milk. This tasty food is suitable to take with nasi kerabu which is also Kelantan traditional food.

AKOKMade from eggs, flour, coconut milk and palm sugar, Kuih Akok is baked using a special brass mould resulting in a sponge-like appearance.Because of its popularity, traditional Kuih Akok sellers are commonly seen along the street side. Tradtionally, Kuih Akok is made using a makeshift oven consisting of just pieces of bricks and fire from coconut husk. Hence, it is not surprising to find stacks of coconut husks at these stalls along the roads. Another way of baking Kuih Akok is using charcoal

Don’t forget to visit Kelantan..

BY: IBNU SINA