Pasar malam (night market) shopping has become a part of Malaysian life. It is a place where you can get everything from fresh produces, groceries, local food, snacks, clothing, accessories, bags, pirated DVDs/CDs, household items, etc, all at low prices and you can still bargain for lower prices!
In PJ area, near where I live, there are many night markets. The most popular and biggest night markets are held on Mondays in SS2 in the main hawker area. On Thursdays it's in Chow Yang. On Sundays, it is in Taman Megah and Paramount. The stalls are all make-shift stalls and they move from one place to another. They are only opened from around 3-ish till 10-ish at night. It is usually very crowded later in the night when it's cooler.
My pasar malam food hunt journey at Taman Megah...
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| Fried Chicken and Fish Balls |
Fried chicken, spearheaded by the restaurant chain/franchiser KFC has spread around the world. Many countries created their own distinct forms of fried chicken, utilizing cutting methods, ingredients and techniques found in their culture's culinary repertoires. It is no difference in Malaysia. There are many variations of fried chicken in Malaysia and are commonly found in restaurants, night markets, coffeeshops or food courts.
This stall is Taman Megah night market. Apart from fried chicken, this stall also sells fried fish balls, sotong balls, fish cakes and sausages.
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| Ala-Carte Dishes |
Pre-cooked dishes are also popular in pasar malam because many Malaysian do not cook. This stall sells pre-cooked curry dishes like chicken curry, sambal petai, sambal prawns, rendang, etc.
Fried noodles are equally popular. This stall sells fried many different types of fried noodles (yellow noodles, beehoon, kuay teow, bee tai mak, etc) and fried rice.
Bak Chang is a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves, cooked by steaming or boiling. It is traditionally eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar (approximately late May to mid-June) to commemorate the death of Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet from the kingdom of Chu who lived during the Warring States period. Known for his patriotism, Qu Yuan tried unsuccessfully to warn his king and countrymen against the expansionism of their Qin neighbors. When the Qin Dynasty general Bai Qi took Yingdu, the Chu capital, in 278 BC, Qu Yuan's grief was so intense that he drowned himself in the Miluo river after penning the Lament for Ying. According to legend, packets of rice were thrown into the river to prevent fish from eating the poet's body.
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| Kuih Talam and Kuih Jagung |
Kuih is a fairly broad term which may include items that would be called cakes, cookies, pudding, biscuit, or pastries in English.
Kuih talam (tray cake) is a Nyonya kuih consisting of two layers. The top white layer is made from rice flour and coconut milk, while the bottom green layer is made from green pea flour and extract of pandan leaf.
This stall offers customers tasting samples before purchasing.
Chai Kuih (vegetable cake) is a Teow Chew speciality. The filling is made of turnip (bang kuang) and sometimes chives (ku cai).
This stall sells both bang kuang, ku cai kuih and "mua chee", cooked glutinous rice dough coated with peanut powder and sugar.
This stall sells cucur udang (prawn fritters) as well as pulut tekan, glutinous rice cakes colored with bunga telang and served with kaya (jam from pandan leaves). Half-cooked glutinous rice is divided into two portions. Both are them added with coconut milk but one of them is added with the bunga telang juice. This gives the rice cake a very bright blueish-indigo colour which is appealing to children. The half-cooked glutinous rice is then scooped in alternating fashion into the original tray to give it a marble effect of blue and white.
Siew Mai, steams fried fish ball as well plain steam fish balls which are noramlly eaten in Yum Cha places are also sold in pasar malam.
You can also get different types of buns in pasar malam.
