By Balqis Jamaludin
KUALA TERENGGANU: Traditional foods such as nasi dagang, nasi kerabu, keropok lekor and others are synonymous with the people of Terengganu.
However, people may not know that many residents of this state also enjoy traditional dishes from other states, such as mee kolok, which originates from Sarawak.
This was acknowledged by the owner of Warung Saudara Kita, Muhammad Firdaus Kong Abdullah, 53, who serves mee kolok as a special menu at his establishment and receives high demand from customers, most of whom are locals.
“My customers are not only Sarawakians who work as soldiers, police or teachers here, but they’re also many local residents who enjoy eating mee kolok, especially in the morning,” he said in an interview with Bernama at his business premises on Jalan Panji Alam here.
The Sibu native, who moved to Terengganu eight years ago, explained that he can only offer the special dish from the Land of the Hornbills on Saturdays and Sundays as it requires a lot of preparation time, especially for the dumplings that are served with the soup.
“The process of making the dumplings is intricate, and I do it myself to maintain its quality and taste. I could buy the pre-made frozen dumplings, but I believe those contain a lot of flour and are lower quality.
“Alternatively, I could serve plain soup, but many customers prefer to have mee kolok with dumpling soup. Even I feel unsatisfied if I only serve plain soup,” he said, adding that he also prepares the sweet soy sauce for mee kolok himself.
To suit the local preferences, he serves the dish with chopped chilli as opposed to Sarawak, where mee kolok is typically served with chilli sauce.
Muhammad Firdaus Kong also offers other side dishes, such as grilled and fried chicken and roasted duck, priced between RM6 and RM12.
The Muslim convert said that on Saturdays and Sundays, he managed to sell up to 12 kilogrammes of mee kolok in his shop, which has been in operation for the last four years.
Asked about the reasons for his relocation to Terengganu, Muhammad Firdaus Kong said it all began in 2015 when he came to work at a Chinese-owned eatery.
“Unexpectedly, I received hidayah (guidance) from Allah to embrace Islam. Therefore, I could not work at Chinese-owned restaurants because they serve non-halal food.
“So I decided to open my own eatery here as I have always loved cooking since I was young,” said the man who also sells other dishes like chicken rice, fried noodles, fried rice and char koay teow.
Meanwhile, a regular customer at Warung Saudara Kita, Muhammad Syafiq Suhaimi, 44, from Kuala Terengganu, said that he loves mee kolok at the restaurant because of its unique taste.
“Going to Sarawak just to taste mee kolok is not feasible. So this is where I enjoy this unique Sarawakian dish, and the atmosphere in this eatery is also peaceful for us to savour the food,” he said. – BERNAMA
