Explosion of tangy goodness

While in Melaka, Ewe Paik Leong manages to satiate his craving for assam pedas fish curry

WHAT makes Medan Selera Pasar Borong in Taman IKS Merdeka stand out from the rest? It’s been said that this food court has the most number of assam pedas stalls in a single spot in Melaka city.

After weaving between tables in an alfresco dining area, I step inside the food court. Rectangular in layout, the place is furnished with two rows of industrial canteen tables and stools fixed to the floor. Fans pirouette overhead.

As I stroll down the length of the food court, I realise that it is divided into a halal and a non-halal section.

Among the assam pedas stalls in the halal section are Matahari Corner, Zaker bin Abu Hussin, Asam Pedas Embok Chik, Asam Pedas Hamzan, Dahlia Ria Corner and others.

At the other end of the food court, most of the non-halal stalls offer an array of local fare but Restoran Song Kee and Ah Boy Assam Fish are also devoted to assam pedas. Medan Selera Pasar Borong Jalan IKS M4

Taman IKS Merdeka,

Malacca

Daily from 6pm till 1am

Puan Jamilah’s stingray assam pedas comes without veggies.

THE NAME IS JAMILAH

I return to the halal section and order from a stall bearing the name Jamilah binti Md Aris.

A banner lists the types of assam pedas offered: Snapper, catfish, wolf herring, mackerel, stingray, Spanish mackerel, fish head and daging tetel (beef).

Whisked to my table quickly is a plate of rice turbo-charged with salted egg, veggies, a dollop of sambal and crackers. I can eat this alone but it will be too one-dimensional, so I wait.

My snapper and stingray assam pedas arrive in separate claypots. I drizzle some gravy on the rice and chomp on a spoonful. The grains explode into loveliness as the sourish fragrance of the tamarind blooms, accompanied by funky heat from the wellbalanced spices.

I add a piece of the salted egg to my next spoonful of gravy-drenched rice. They deliver a complex saltiness and a jolt of umami which flits around my tongue. It’s a pleasurable punch to the mouth!

Now, I eat the fishes. The stingray meat gives a coarser mouth-feel as it is stringy, while the snapper plays a gentler textual game with its delicate and moist meat.

The food court is divided into a halal and non-halal section. YOU AND ME

Eager to try assam pedas again the next day, I go to Aku & Dia, a joint owned by Yah Ha Bi Bi and Yah Ali Baba, a true-blue Baba Nyonya couple. Apart from assam pedas, the restaurant also sells mee rebus, nasi kukus and cendol.

“Is your food halal?” I ask, stepping into the dimly lit place filled with dark furniture.

“Of course!” replies the pepper-haired Yah Ha Bi Bi dressed in a sarung kebaya.

I recall reading on the Internet that, probably more than 40 years ago, she modelled for Raleigh bicycle print advertisements when she was in her 20s.

My rice and stingray assam pedas come quickly, indicating that the latter is not prepared from scratch.

As for the rice, my heart sinks when I see that crackers and sambal are absent.

First slurp of my assam pedas reveals that it is fortified with bunga kantan and funkified with lemongrass. The taste ricochets around my mouth with a vibrancy that almost rocks my socks off! But the absence of crackers and sambal, as mentioned earlier, leaves a gap in the textural spectrum.

Finally, I scrub my palate with a bowl of cendol. It’s the paragon of Malacca standard with its flavourful palm sugar and firm, tender rice-flour jelly.

When one eats something sourish-spicy No. 23, Jalan Hang Kasturi, Malacca

Daily from 11am to 9pm Malaccan fare

Assam pedas

From RM10 and above depending on the type of fish Casual

Fast and courteous for both outlets

Go give them a try

followed by something sweetish-cold, why does the experience feel so good, I wonder as I wipe my lips with tissue.