Nasi Kandar

After *counts* EIGHT months in NY, with no curry, no mamak roti canai/rendang, you can imagine how crazed I was when I arrived in Penang in January for a 2 week holiday. I was determined to stuff myself to the brim with local food before returning to NY. Though NY is by no means a bad place for food (It's actually a gastronomic paradise), the food doesn't have the spiciness of Malaysian food. Blame it on the Americans. So, the shop/store/place I was for most of the time? MAT LAN's Nasi Kandar stall opposite the Floating Mosque in Batu Ferringhi. First two times, I forgot my camera. Finally, I got one, YAY! All my photos are of food. It makes me drool.

So, after a Penang heritage walk in ancient Georgetown, Sara, Dilys and I head over.

*Sorry, no pictures of the place. Just the food. I specialise in food. Period.*

To satisfy Sara's intense love for potatoes, we ordered spicy chilli wedges. Don't be put off by the colour, it really isn't that spicy. But approach only if you really like potatoes. Two of these might knock you off your food trail. Can someone say, STARCH!

Aren't they just so pretty?

Next, just to satisfy my love for mutton and curry, MUTTON CURRY. (Fail.) This is the famous mutton curry I have eaten for a good 6 years, every CNY. At our house. I love you, food traditions. Fabulous. Do try. Get over your fear of mutton (and its "supposed" smell) and order one of these!
Right-o. See the little lump of red and yellow? That's fried eggs in sambal. SAMBAL!!!! The very same sambal I haven't seen for sooo long. Sara and I go nuts, both having being equally deprived. I wasn't a great fan of this, but hey, its an egg. Eggs go well with almost anything.
I swear, this is the last of the curries. CURRY FISH HEAD with LADY FINGERS! A Malaysian classic. A roti canai classic. But the roti canai store wasn't open. :( But this did not disappoint.
To top it all off, how could we not resist the one food that we're often forbidden to eat, yet Malaysians everywhere eat it with nasi kandar, and the guy at Line Clear fries at least a ton of them in a year, everyday, every night. Without fail. I don't even think they stop for Ramadan. Behold, the fried chicken! Maybe not the greatest of chickens, but more flavourful than KFC. By that I mean that the spice actually penetrates the meat, not get stuck on the skin.

So was it all worth it to travel all the way from Georgetown? Hell YEAH! Then again, we live within 2 km of this stall. Watch out though, lunch crowds are the craziest, and you might not get a seat. The menu changes after 1pm for a tea/dinner crowd, so you won't find what someone ate in the morning there. Also, sometimes, they make one of the best fish dishes in the world, chilli stuffed fish. I can't remember what fish it is, but its scaly, bony and rare. But the meat is soft, juicy and sweet! Deep fried with sambal, and you get perfection.

I'm still thinking what dish to post about next time. I can't believe this only took 10 minutes. Wow.