Join me for a Hawker Meal in Kuala Lumpur
By now, you are probably thinking that day three of our visit to Kuala Lumpur is going on forever. However, I still have one more thing to share with you. When evening finally arrived, we ventured out to experience dinner at a hawker center. A hawker center is a large food court, which houses many vendors selling a great variety of expertly prepared inexpensive food choices. Joining us for this memorable meal was Dr. Ng Yen Yen and Salahuddin Mohd Arifin from the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism, who helped to coordinate our fabulous journey. After dinner, we strolled through Petaling Street, one of the main streets in Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown. This bustling area is famous for shopping. I’ve also included some photos of an Indian Malay street vendor who Sophie befriended. Sophie has spent a good deal of time in India and has a particular fondness for South Indian cuisine.
1 Here I am at the hawker's dinner with Dr. Ng Yen Yen, minister of tourism.
2 This is the exterior of the hawker's center.
3 The hawker's center has many different vendors of Chinese food.
4 Each stall specializes in a different dish or dishes - here are a variety of sausages.
5 Aromatic curry leaves are often used to flavor South East Asian cuisine.
6 A variety of fried veggies and chilies.
7 A friendly wantan mee vendor
8 His boss was also very friendly.
9 There are so many vendors to choose from.
10 As you can see!
11 There were many dishes ready to taste when we arrived and many more on the way.
12 Delicious beef and chicken satay
13 Wonderful stir-fried Chinese broccoli
14 Prawns friend and served with buttered eggs
15 Memrie loved the butter prawns.
16 Cockles with a yummy, slightly sweet sauce
17 This duo serenaded us during our meal - they were quite good!
18 Salahuddin Mohd Arifin, who works for the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism.
19 Malaysia is famous for it's crab dishes - we enjoyed this one.
20 And this one.
21 Rich and delicious oxtail soup
22 After tasting many dishes, we wandered around - here is where that great satay came from.
23 The skewers are grilled to perfection.
24 We also sampled these chicken wings.
25 Also cooked to perfection
26 Bins and bins of clothing pins used to mark orders.
27 Chili, garlic, spices, sauces, and other secret ingredients that go into the dishes.
28 More cooking stations
29 Yummy roasted duck and pork
30 This was a very interesting and tasty sweet, jerky-like beef snack.
31 What you get looks just like the photos.
32 A seafood vendor with a welcoming and colorful shop
33 Skewers of all sorts! - shellfish, prawns, fish, sausage, vegetables
34 Making a calamari kebab
35 More seafood on sticks
36 We loved these bamboo leaf-wrapped dumplings filled with rice and meat. They are packed with partially cooked ingredients and then steamed for hours.
37 Buckets of snails
38 This egg man patiently navigated through the crowds.
39 Steamer baskets with dumplings and pau - steamed buns
40 Another seafood vendor
41 The term 'Selamat Datang' means 'Welcome' in Malay.
42 Satay skewers ready to hit the grill.
43 We loved this sign and watching the chicken wing chef.
44 Grilling away in 100-degree-plus weather!
45 Some of that famous crab steamed before saucing
46 A fish dinner
47 A bustling kitchen on the hawker's row - the chefs are fast and efficient.
48 Here we are approaching Petaling Street in Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown - It's famous for shopping.
49 As you can see, it's a happening place.
50 Petaling Street is famous for cheap, faux designer watches, clothing, bags, and more.
51 Petaling Street reminded us of Chinatown in NYC.
52 The fragrance of roasting chestnuts filled the air.
53 The chestnut vendor was enthusiastic.
54 We tasted this delectable drink made from sugar cane.
55 Another friendly chef busy at work on Petaling Street
56 This kind lady sells bamboo leaf-wrapped dumplings and other traditional snacks.
57 A bag of these homemade snacks are just under $1 US.
58 This is a delicious crepe made with nuts and sugar.
59 When the crepe is cooked, it's folder in half and ready to serve.
60 This watch vendor is also a repair man.
61 This sweet shop is nicely organized.
62 These sweets looked tasty, but we were quite full.
63 All types of snacks including jerkies
64 We did not indulge in any of these poor, little creatures.
65 This is an Indian Malay street vendor showing Sophie how to make roti canai, Malaysia's South Indian inspired breakfast pancake - a real favorite.
66 The dough, consisting of flour, milk, a little sugar, and salt - sometimes egg and other ingredients - is pulled into a thin layer.
67 And then made into a coil, like those cooking on the right
68 You can also crack a raw egg onto the thin dough.
69 And then start folding to enclose the egg
70 The little roti canai pocket is then cooked on a griddle.
71 This vendor also makes great chicken tikka.
72 And delicious tea - here's the steeping bag
73 The signature tea of Malaysia is called teh tarik, or pulled tea - as you can see, it is literally pulled between two cups, becoming nice and frothy.
74 Teh tarik is made with condensed milk.
75 Sophie and Najib - our guide - enjoying the teh tarik
76 As Sophie loves South Indian food, she decided to do a little cooking, herself!
I think that this wil be one of my top ten vacation destinations! One great thing or idea after another. You must have been exhausted! I am sure it was totally worth it though! Impressive! Thank you martha!
http://www.meandmartha.net
Daniel Viger
Hollis center, Maine.
Hollis 5 Corners
Posted by: Daniel Viger | June 8th, 2010 at 12:34 am
Variety is the spice of life and where food is concerned Malaysia is not short off! Seeing your pics makes me hungry wanna run off and have hot hot roti canai! Yum yum
Posted by: Kartini Illias | June 8th, 2010 at 12:42 am
Martha, everything looks so delicious. Usually places like a hawke center have teh best local food in town. I've been to a couple of countries where they have similar concepts and the food is to die for. Thanks for sharing yoru photos and travel experiences.
Posted by: Angie Chamorro | June 8th, 2010 at 12:42 am
There's a great restaurant right near the main Microsoft campus that is one of our faves - The Malay Satay Hut. Next time you're in Redmond, Washington, you should stop in! It is amazing! Your vacation wouldn't be complete without street food - it looks absolutely fabulous! YUM!
Posted by: Sara Monzo | June 8th, 2010 at 12:51 am
Thank you Martha for the Petronas Towers tour in your previous post, beautiful and amazing design.
The food look delicious in Malaysia. Thank you for the wonderful tour. I wish you can come and visit the Middle East next time, it will be an honor to have you.
Posted by: Rowaida Flayhan | June 8th, 2010 at 1:41 am
Martha
I wish I had gone on that trip with you I'd lose weight for sure. You are a brave woman for eating some of that stuff!!!
Posted by: Ann | June 8th, 2010 at 6:24 am
Hi Ann
Must try it. It's yummy. If not we Malaysians wont be eating all the time.
Posted by: Idzan, Kuala lumpur | June 8th, 2010 at 7:08 am
travel is such an education.... to see how the rest of the world lives is so important.. I have so enjoyed following you all on this fascinating trip! Thank you!
Posted by: miss holly | June 8th, 2010 at 7:54 am
Is there anything you do/take to avoid stomach problems? The food looks wonderful.
Posted by: Julia | June 8th, 2010 at 8:54 am
Hope you have a drive up to the Cameron Highlands where the English liked to spend their summer days, also a Steam Boat, you will need a rest when you get back as I am sure your pups are missing you.
Posted by: Aussie gal | June 8th, 2010 at 9:20 am
Yummy yummy food! And thanks for sharing Malaysian food with the rest of the world!! Have a great day! : )
Posted by: foongpc | June 8th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Love how naturally beautiful you look when you travel! You wear adventure well
Thank you for taking us along.
Posted by: Wendy | June 8th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Thank you Martha. Such a great post. Everything you post looks delicious!
Posted by: Eva | June 8th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
I'm thrilled to join Martha Stewart as the first gynecologist-turned-chef. Hopefully my catchphrase "Push" will become as famous as "Bam".
Look for me in the Fall with Martha on Hallmark. I cannot think of a more beautiful woman to work for who brings out perfection in everyone that she meets.
Join Martha and me as we travel the world eating, cooking getting to know people and eachother. Picture the once in a lifetime relationship between two lovers of travel, experiences and life. Our Love Story will unfold this Fall. I'm excited to see Martha's golden hair flowing down on her Lanvin top. The world is my oyster, but I spell it, Martha.
This Fall. On Hallmark. A new Martha. Martha in love. I can almost taste it.
Dr Rand Pink
Posted by: Dr Rand Pink | June 8th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
Hi Martha,
I was going to comment earlier but I busied myself with EATING instead, (these pics made me so hungry), and then was online trying to find a Malaysian restaurant nearby! I found one practically around the corner and will check it out later.
~
I would have had a field day in that hawking center. I can almost smell the chicken and beef satay cooking on the grill now and I am sure I would have wanted to taste almost everything. I hope you were able to get some recipes to make on your show.
~
Petaling Street was interesting too – what a nice array of scarves in picture #51. I have a thing for scarves ever since your Hermes show, although I have no Hermes. Picture #73 is quite impressive too – good hand/eye coordination is a plus not to mention practice. I better not try that!
~
Thanks again for your most interesting and entertaining pictures – day 3 wasn’t too long for me! One more thing, the guy to the left of the egg man, #38, looks American and also as though he spotted you and is grabbing his wife’s arm to let her know! Lol. Trish
Posted by: Trish | June 8th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
The 13th picture is not a broccoli. It is a water spinach or "Kangkung".
For anyone who visit Malaysia hawke, I suggest to drink a lot of water due to the warm climate. Coconut water (that is fresh) can help to low your body temperature.
Did you try "Durian" the king of fruit?
Posted by: Amp. Mohd.Khairum | June 8th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Long day today, but I want to say this post is interesting. Looking forward to the next set of photos.
Posted by: KLBrown | June 8th, 2010 at 3:35 pm
Hi Martha, I have never been to a hawker type center before. These photos of all of the different types of food offered there is very interesting. Do they ever have just plain salads available?! Most of the food is either fried, steamed or baked in hot open ovens. I would find it hard to eat in such hot, humid weather, but I'm sure if I lived there forever, I'd be used to their foods. How great that Sophie was able to cook and meet someone from India. My favorite food there was probably the chicken wings. Thanks for another great blog! Love, Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | June 8th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Oops, I guess it is hawker center and not hawking center or maybe it is as Amp. Mohd.Khairum typed it, hawke. Either way, I wish we had one here. Food looks so good! Trish
Posted by: Trish | June 8th, 2010 at 4:40 pm
Hi Trish
We do have salads including Caesar Salad, Potato salad, etc.
I wonder whether Martha have tried our herbal leaves called Ulam which is eaten raw and said to make us youthful. Keep wrinkles at bay.
We eat this Malay salad with a dip called sambal belacan (pounded dreed shrimps). Its hot and tangy.
Posted by: Idzan, Kuala lumpur | June 9th, 2010 at 12:07 am
wow...what an adventure, thanks for sharing them Martha. The foods all look tempting. The one Sophie met is a Malaysian guy of Indian descendant, he's NOT from India as stated by Jan Erickson. Malaysia is probably the only country where you will find Chinese food prepared by Indians, one of them is "Indian Fried Noodles" or "Mee Goreng Mamak" in Malay.
Posted by: durio uno | June 9th, 2010 at 7:25 am
Picture #54 is a drink made from a type of smaller longan (binomial name: Dimocarpus Longan), in Malay called the fruit is called “Mata Kucing” literally means “Cat’s Pupils” or “Cat’s Eyes”. The drink is called “Air Mata Kucing” which carries the meaning of “The Cat’s Tears”. I have no idea how they get such name !!!
Posted by: durio uno | June 9th, 2010 at 7:59 am
Picture #6 is called Yong Tau Foo and it is one of my favorite dishes. The bean curd and vegetables are stuffed with fish paste. Yum!
Posted by: Angie | June 10th, 2010 at 12:48 am
Martha,
What a utter disappointment it was for me to miss your visit to my country. I came to know it a bit late in the day. Had I known your programme of Petaling Street, I would have braved the high humidity, the crowds jostling in those narrow lanes just to catch a glimpse of you. You are my role model. You have done a marvelous job of promoting the sights,sounds and smells of Malaysia worldwide.Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. There is still more to see, our pristine beaches on the East coast and our diversity in the ethnicity of Sabah and Sarawak.Come back again soon.
Posted by: Audrey | June 10th, 2010 at 10:58 am
Hi Martha, I'm enjoying reading through your travels in Malaysia. However, please allow me to make a little correction to the photo above. What the man is holding is not curry leaves but 'sayur manis' or 'shu chai choy'. It's a very easy to grow yet deliciously sweet vegetable used in Hakka Pan Mee or Malay Sayur Manis Masak Lemak.
Posted by: Cindy | June 10th, 2010 at 10:18 pm