By Karen Bong
KUCHING, March 23: No one can resist the tantalising smell of delicious food emanating from the Kuching South City Council (MBKS) Ramadan Bazaar 2023 located right behind Stutong Market which has returned with a stunning line-up of 166 food and drink stalls.
The sight and smell of the fried chicken, “ayam penyet”, stir fry noodles and rice on big woks, squids sizzling on a flat pan, deep fried crabs and an array of colourful thirst-quenching drinks and desserts is enough to get your mouth watering.
Deputy Minister of Energy and Environmental Sustainability Dr Hazland Abang Hipni represented Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg to launch the iconic Stutong Ramadan Bazaar today.
Today also marked the start of the holy month of Ramadan where the Muslim community will begin observing a daily fast from dusk to dawn for a month.
The Stutong Ramadan Bazaae was abuzz with activity even on the first day, with hordes of local visitors hunting for festive bites and to satisfy their cravings.
One of the interesting delicacies spotted at the bazaar is the “rocket ketupat” in which the pouch to store the compressed rice is woven into a long rocket shape, instead of the usual diamond or square shape, made out of pandan or palm leaves.
Stall owner Saiful Bahari said he named it rocket ketupat as a marketing strategy to popularise the product with a unique name that is easier to remember.
“It is also harder to weave the pouch as two leaves are needed and the filling we made is softer and more ‘lemak’ (tastier).
“I have been selling ‘pulut’ (glutinous rice delicacy) for 15 years now. I started out at Satok market and this is the first time for me to sell here (Stutong Ramadan Bazaar) after being encouraged by my friends.
“I have also traded at Kenyalang Park (Chinese New Year) bazaar so these puluts are also very popular among the Chinese community,” he told DayakDaily when met today.
Apart from ketupat, the stall also offers lemang made of glutinous rice, coconut milk and salt and roasted in a hollow bamboo tube, “pulut panggang” which is glutinous rice rolls filled with sambal, as well as various types of side dishes to go with the puluts including satay sauce, curry and rendang.
“Our lemang is really good too as it is more compact and lasts longer,” he said while hoping business will be good for all the traders at the bazaar.
Meanwhile, Raanah Razali who has been a regular participant of the MBKS Ramadan Bazaar is serving a variety of traditional dishes made with umai and sambal which are of Malay-Melanau influence.
From sweet sour to spicy, there are sambal petai (stink beans), sambal kedondong (a type of tropical plum), sambal terung (binjal), ikan kembung sambal, ikan tenggiri asam, tempoyak as well as marinated umai with prawns.
“This stall business was started by my mother-in-law at Tabuan Market behind Petronas. Now I also helped out and we have been here for many years.
“I think we are all excited to be back to normal and able to do business after two years (2020-2021) of the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.
With an affordable array of foods to choose from, the public can get their bazaar food fix including all kinds of deep fried stuff on skewers, burgers, kuih muih, cakes, Malay cuisine and even kebab, sushi and Thai seafood noodles. — DayakDaily
