TELUK INTAN A FOOD PARADISE
Residents believe it offers the best dishes in country
ANYBODY driving around Teluk Intan will come across a hawker centre aptly called Medan Selera Gluttons Square.
I always thought that it was a funny name for a hawker centre, even in a country that prides itself for its scrumptious spread.
Nevertheless, it describes the essence of Teluk Intan and its people, who are not surprisingly mostly foodies.
We are not gluttonous, but our love for food runs deep and at the risk of offending people from other states — yes, we believe we have the best food in Malaysia.
For us, the best Nasi Kandar is at Gulam Rasul Nasi Kandar in Jalan Changkat Jong and Nasi Kandar Padang Speedy in the town centre.
Hold your horses, Penangites, we are not saying your nasi kandar is less superior, but that it is just different from the nasi kandar we grew up eating and loving.
Teluk Intan also has mouthwatering mee rebus, rojak, wan tan mee and curry mee.
But the star is definitely its chee cheong fun stuffed with dried prawns and meat. Try this chee cheong fun once, and I bet you would always look for it.
Having grown up eating the Teluk Intan chee cheong fun, I am always disappointed when I see the plain chee cheong fun with gravy.
To say that my memories of Teluk Intan, previously known as Teluk Anson, are intrinsically linked to food is not an exaggeration.
When I talk about swimming with my family and relatives at Angsoka Hotel in Jalan Changkat Jong, I am automatically reminded of sipping hot steaming tea and munching on toast slathered with jam and butter or having dinner at Medan Selera Gluttons Square, instead of the memory of being nearly drowned as part of
my swimming lesson by ‘Uncle’ Mark, the lifeguard.
A trip to our leaning tower, Menara Condong, is not complete without banana leaf lunch or hot idlis with spicy podi (spicy powder condiment) at Chettiar Kittangi, a canteen serving Chettinad cuisine.
This ingrained love for food at a young age followed me to Sitiawan, where my family moved to when I was 7.
My parents had set up a video rental store in Seri Manjung, a small town bordering Sitiawan and about 15 minutes from Lumut.
Seri Manjung, perhaps a nondescript town to a visitor, but it was an ideal place to grow up in.
For the next six years, I spent most of my time at the video rental shop, ordering food from nearby restaurants while binging on the latest movies out on VHS (video recording tape or cassette).
My elder brother and I explored abandoned shops, raced on empty streets with our friends, jumped into ponds and played with firecrackers.
We also earned plenty of scraped knees and elbows, mostly from my brothers botched-up plans.
My favourite time, though, was during Ramadan when Ramadan Bazaar stalls line the road in front of my parents’ shop.
I used to make several rounds of the bazaar to buy delectable spread of food, including Nasi Ayam Kak Minah and kuih for buka puasa with our shop assistant Kak Nora.
Kak Nora made a mean nasi campur spread, complete with spicy sambal belacan and ulam. She instilled in me the love for nasi campur and durian with glutinous rice.
Then there was my regular briyani restaurant nearby, operated by Uncle Ghani.
It was there that I had my first taste of mee goreng mamak and nasi goreng mamak.
There is an old adage that says: “Food is the ingredient that binds us together” and it really rings true to describe our multiracial country.
The people we met along our food journey were not family members but strangers who welcome us into their homes with open arms.
When my father had a major accident in 1993, Uncle Ghani opened the doors of his house to my siblings and I while my mother stayed with my father at the hospital.
Uncle Ghani and his family were Muslims and we were Hindu-Sikhs, but he took us in as if we were part of his family.
While my mother was busy taking care of my father, Kak Nora took care of our shop.
Indeed, our “family” grew much bigger in Seri Manjung.
I would occasionally drive around Seri Manjung, which many jokingly say would take only five minutes.
Each trip brings back fond memories.
Even though many of the shops and restaurants are gone, I am sure that there is another kid out there running through the streets discovering new dish and another family finding love and compassion in the arms of strangers.
Since we first met 26 years ago, Uncle Ghani and his family have expanded their restaurant empire with new outlets opened in Perak.
To this day, they remain close family friends, meeting as much as possible and never missing a single family function from both sides.
Two years ago, Uncle Ghani and family attended my wedding.
It was no surprise that my husband is also a big foodie.