It always amazes me how good plans go awry at the last minute. I had grand plans for tackling the far flung ramadan bazaars for the weekend BUT a shoulder sprain or strain plus that stupid thing called work threw life in disarray. Since there was no way I would even be able to hold a camera and snap pictures, I decided to forgo the bazaar.
Luckily after some much needed bed rest, popping celery seed pills (the miracle cure), it felt so much better that despite a twinge and wince at the shoulder, I could manage the Bandar Tun Razak bazaar. It is still up and down with the shoulder where pain seems incredibly correlated with the lack of beauty sleep. Sleep 8 hours and it works perfectly but give it the usual 4 hours ration and it goes into whack
Back to the bazaar, which I stumbled upon last year. Unlike the previous year, the authorities seem to have done away with the massive tents that covered the walkway and left people to fend in the forces of nature. It makes slightly better picture taking since it is brighter but I do wish they had not picked magenta as the tent colour since some pictures end up with a reddish tinge.
The bazaar is massive. I reckon there are 250 stalls all jam packed in this space in front of the lake. There's some new fangled items here such as the adorable polka dotted steamed rice flour cakes or apom. The artful dots and contrasting colours give it a ladybird look that kids adore and obviously can't resist.
The creme caramel and fruit puddings stall I featured in Taman Tun Dr Ismail also has a branch here selling the same wares. There are slight differences though as they don't look so artful. Nevertheless they have the fuschia pink dragonfruit jelly that makes the knees weak. Incidentally, I had a taste of the creme caramel from this stall and its pretty darn good stuff - smooth eggy texture that goes well with the sweet caramel.
In terms of unique stuff on sale, there seem to be quite a few vying for that award. We stumbled on an old favourite, tepung pelita. The soft wobbly dessert is usually in a leaf basket. Usually made of coconut milk with a pandan layer below, they serve the taro version here - purple lavender layer with a wobble and a harder layer below studded with taro cubes. It's unusual to look at but honestly, I didn't think much about its taste, probably because not a lot of taro was used.
A twist to an old favourite is the pandan flavoured kuih bambu. Rice flour is beaten with pandan flavouring (the guys claim with real pandan leaves). Technically meant to give it a bang of pandan flavour, the stall failed in executing it since most of the steamed rice flour cakes seem a little overcooked and not as fluffy as the other putu bambu stalls.
The authorities seem to have segregated some stalls together i.e those with the huge smoke flumes are banished to a corner to smoke out their competitors. Special to this area I notice is the ayam istanbul or turkish - glistening chickens being cooked on the charcoal grill that is basted in a honey like sauce.
Around this corner is one stall selling deer meat. It's pan fried on the griddle and chopped onions and capsicums are added into the whole meat mixture. It's a little underseasoned and not as tender as
.
Another specialty from here is the nasi lemak ayam dara - fluffy steamed rice perfumed with coconut milk and crispy chicken. Just spot the stall with the longest queue and you won't go wrong there.
There are also akok stalls, the eggy custard rich cake. I spot so many stalls selling akok that trying to locate the guys I featured last year was like a needle in a haystack.
Overall, I enjoyed the bazaar with its mix of new and traditional food. Parking is on the roadside, ample space there for you to slot the car provided you don't arrive super late. For more pictures, see my Flickr set.
Ramadan Bazaar Bandar Tun Razak
Carpark Taman Tasik Permaisuiri in front of the Selangor Sains Secondary School
Jalan Yaacob Latif
Bandar Tun Razak
Just off Jalan Loke Yew
Kuala Lumpur
For 2010's bazaar, see this link.