BY ABIDGAIL MERTA GANGGANG
KUCHING: Choices are aplenty at the more than160 stalls being put up at the Kuching South City Council (MBKS) Stutong Ramadan Bazaar in Stutong Community Market car park here.
The Ramadan Bazaar, which runs from March 23 to April 21, offers unique delicacies, from popular dishes to indigenous cuisine. Take for instance, UNIHAUS Tom Yum Street.
Stall owner Mohd Mazri, 38, said he intended to bring his customers the taste of Thai origin, with dishes such as ‘tom yum’ in which ‘tom’ refers to the boiling process, while yam means ‘mixed’.
“Tom yum is characterised by its distinct hot and sour flavours, with fragrant spices and herbs generously used in the broth,” he said.
He told New Sarawak Tribune that typical dishes are very common at every bazaar found here and decided to offer tom yum with seafood.
“Our starting price is RM10 (chicken tom yum), RM12 for seafood tom yum, RM15 for both crab and prawn tom yum, and RM18 for special tom yum
“Our customers can add on rice or noodles with an extra charge of RM2,” he said.
Meanwhile Lemang Saiful owner, Mohd Saiful Bahari Rosli, 47, said lemang is one of the foods that unites all races and ethnicities due to its popular demand during other festivities especially Chinese New Year, Christmas, Gawai and many more.
“Lemang is a customary treat for Muslims when celebrating Hari Raya and it also has become a trademark for us to have during ‘iftar’ or breaking of fast.
“Everyone can get our lemang, kuah kacang, beef and chicken curry with the price as low as RM5. For ‘kelupis’, we sell three pieces for RM10,” he said.
Meanwhile Basri Bli said he has been selling ‘mee kawah’ since 2007 and this is his tenth year in the Ramadan Bazaar.
“I am relieved that it has opened more opportunities for us hawkers to do our business and receive support from the neighbourhood. There will always be new trends, dishes or Gen-Z drinks in the bazaar but it is good to maintain the local dish,” he said.
“My regular customers always look for my stalls and start to make orders for catering and events,” he added.
With a price of RM6, visitors can get stir fried noodles, bihun and kuey teow from Basri’s stall.
At the same time, Mr Twist Potato, a deep fried spiral-cut whole potato on a skewer appears to bring joy to all of the potato lovers.
Working full-time as a satay and Mee Jawa owner at Warong 2000 Kota Samarahan, Rashid Abdul Rahman, 51, said it is his first time selling the twist potato at the bazaar.
“I started to sell twisted potatoes in 2004 and use my own machine that I made by myself from scratch, but now we just buy because it is easier for us.
“Mr. Twist Potato comes in six toppings which are original with ketchup or mayonnaise, hot and spicy, roasted corn, cheese powder, cheezy sauce and barbecue sauce,” he said.
Twisted potatoes from Rashid’s stall are affordable as the pricing starts at RM2 to RM4.
Accompanied by his wife and daughter, and with help from his two workers, he managed to make a debut at the bazaar until the end of Ramadan.
