Balik Pulau durian & laksa

I felt like I’ve yet to settle down. I have so many things on my mind, yet I can’t carry them out. Haiz… I hope everything can be wrapped up soon, so I can focus on studies.

Recently, I had a hit of reality. People are cunning. Manipulative of your trust in them. I spent so much time in my little comfort zone surrounded by my parents’ protectiveness that I forgot the real world outside. It was a wake up call.

Food makes me happy ^_^ So I will blog about the day I went to Balik Pulau with dad and his friend before I came back to uni. Balik Pulau -> durian -> laksa. Heeheehee!

Dad’s friend works around here and knew the seller. This makeshift stall is at the junction into the market. When durian season arrives, the rambutans and mangosteen are always there accompanying the durians :)

Durian runtuh!

Dad wanted to buy cempedak and asked the seller if it’s good. He promptly opened up a small one to reveal a deep orange hue of flesh. It is such a beautiful colour, honestly. The man asked us to eat and finish it. It’s very creamy and extremely sweet! By the time I was going to take a pic, the cempedak already kosong. Hehe.. sorry, what you see here is the fibrous leftover.

If you wanted branded durians like Hor Lor, Ang Hea, etc.. most of them had been snatched up earlier in the morning. Reservation can be made and they will keep the stock for you. What was left is this D22.

The sunshine yellow pulp inside the D22 :D Thinking about it makes me :3~ *drool*. Not too creamy nor bitter and just a hint of sweetness to counter the bitterness.

We bought 8 durians and 2 cempedak for the price of RM60. It’s slightly cheaper now as the season is in full bloom and supply is more. 7 other durians are brandless but taste good nonetheless! Brand does not matter, IMHO :P

One block down, at the junction with traffic directed out from the market, is this irresistible Balik Pulau laksa. If you notice, they are featured in The Star Rasa-rasa Malaysia.

Their specialty really is the Siam laksa. Spicy and tangy broth with coconut milk and a spoonful of prawn paste. It is unbelievingly tasty, fragrant and much more original than the equivalent lemak laksa found elsewhere. Only RM 2.20 a bowl. You can also opt for the regular laksa or mix. Yes, mix sounds interesting. I would try that out sometime :)

Nan Guan coffeeshop
Balik Pulau main road
Open from 11am – 5pm
Close on Wed

After delivering a few durians and a cempedak to grandparents’ house, dad and I had a chance to savour steamed lorbak made by the maid. For the lack of appropriate name, the only difference compared to the normal lorbak is the fillings. My grandparents’ need to eat healthy, so this is made from ikan parang (Wolf Herring / Sai Toh Yee) ground into paste. Then a few slices of carrot and celery before being wrapped with beancurd sheets.

Finding Pau

JM and I set out on another gastronomic adventure to search for *teng teng teng* Balik Pulau steam dumplings, as recommended in Malaysia Best. Hehehe!

We assumed the seller will start his business in the morning, so we made our way to pekan Balik Pulau by 10.30am. However, no sight of him. After asking some local townsfolks, we found out that he comes in a tricycle between 2 to 3 pm. Alamak. We decided to wait, and slipped into a coffee shop for drinks and chit-chat. And waited. And finally cave in for some sweet desserts :3

50¢ soy bean curd! Ok-ok for this price.

RM 1.50 for this bowl of cendol. It’s delicious.

At 3pm, we still did not see the pau man. We drove a bit further up and spotted a tricycle carrying dim sum steamers! Bingo!

We immediately made a U-turn, stopped the car by the road side and ran up to his unique mean of transport to sell pau. We were ecstatic and overridden with joy. Haha.

He’s a really patient and nice man. JM asked if he could remove the uppermost tray so she can take photos of the pau and he happily complied. No wonder people come in droves. And they usually leave with a bag full of his handmade steamed dumplings. He cycles and stops along the way to sell them. Usually when he reaches the pekan (which is about 2 minutes away from where we stopped), there won’t be much choice left.

Pretty pretty pau.

Tua pau (big pau) which is only Rm 1.80, for lunch. JM and I quickly returned to the car and had our first bites of the soft and sumptious pau.

Look at the pork meat! The big pau is filled from top to bottom, left to right, corner to corner. I prefer this over Burger King and McDonald’s now. Aside from pork, there’s also half a slice of egg in the fillings.

Can’t leave without paunapping some for dinner and breakfast tomorrow :) Mmm. Most of the regular pau cost 80¢. Definitely worth our 5 hours of waiting.

Time to catch Barcelona vs Werder Bremen with a glass of Kahlua+milk.