Special Foods At Terengganu

Nasi Dagang Terengganu & Gulai Ikan Tongkol

Nasi Dagang, i.e. Trader’s Rice is a very common breakfast fanfare enjoyed by the masses along the eastern coast of the Malay Peninsula, especially in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu. It uses a mixture of white rice (beras wangi) which is first soaked and subsequently steamed with glutinous rice (pulut) with coconut milk added for its wonderful aroma and flavour. This likens another popular breakfast dish, Nasi Lemak over here in Singapore. However, instead of pandan leaves, sliced shallots (bawang merah) and fenugreek (halba) are added. This concoction seems to be the preferred combination for many dishes, as we’d seen in Pulut Lepa and Ketupat Sotong.  As we have seen in several dishes from Terengganu, fish is a staple amongst the folks from this region, and Nasi Dagang is no exception. It is eaten with Gulai Ikan Tongkol, a spicy fish red curry cooked with tuna and a hoard of spices as well as buah belimbing, one of my favorite ingredients I love to use in Straits cooking. And this month’s Malaysian Food Fest seem like a timely affair to visit and pay tribute to this time-honoured dish.


For Nasi dagang, the rice is quite easily prepared, and like my dear friend Annie, I’d opt for a simplified method for the rice steaming process with the use of a modern rice cooker. I think this is how it is commercially prepared by the kedais and restorans anyway, as to prepare the rice in large quantities by steaming and tossing the rice grains patiently while drizzling coconut milk over them to feed the hungry morning breakfast crowd would be near impossibility. So a rice cooker seemed like a sound way to go!

There are several recipes online for the Spicy Tuna Red Curry, i.e. Gulai Ikan Tongkol but I settled for one by Toh Puan Rosita Abdullah, a member of the Terengganu royal family , from in her book “Kulit Manis – A Taste of Terengganu’s Heritage”. The book was conceptualised as a legacy for the generations to come, a “legacy of love” as she aptly put. “What better way to honour these memories than by writing all these down and archiving pictures that may one day be lost on a generation,” she noted in her foreword. Toh Puan Rosita is a highly accomplished cook, learning the ways of the kitchen from her mother, and later her family cook, Cik Embong. Being well versed in both traditional Peranakan Chinese cuisine, as well as authentic Malay cooking under her belt, she is highly recognised for her culinary skills.  I can’t wait to see the book in person, and hopefully be able to add it to my

Nasi Kerabu

 
Nasi kerabu is a Malay rice dish, a type of nasi ulam, in which blue-coloured rice is eaten with dried fish or fried chicken, crackers, pickles and other salads. The blue color of rice resulting from the petals of Clitoria ternatea (butterfly-pea) flowers (kembang telang) used in cooking it.^[1] The rice can also be cooked with plain white rice or rice cooked using turmeric. It is often eaten with solok lada and is also eaten with fried keropok.^[2]
Nasi kerabu is very popular in the east coast states of Malaya such as Kelantan and Terengganu......

 

Pulut Lepa aka Pulut Panggang versi Terengganu

Pulut Lepa aka Pulut Panggang versi Terengganu is a delicious savory snack made from glutinous rice steamed with coconut milk and an “inti serunding ikan kembong“, i.e. spiced mackerel fish floss filling, wrapped with banana leaves and finally grilled for the extra oomph of wonderful smoky flavours. This is a simple “kuih” enjoyed freshly “panggang” i.e. grilled over a charcoal flame for breakfast or tea. Being very affordable, it is a common “walk and eat along” treat for many Terengganuans, especially amongst folks on their way to work and children to school, grabbing one or two as they pass by their favorite stall in the pasar pagi, i.e. morning bazaar.


Prima facie, Pulut Lepa reminded me much of another dish close to my heart, Rempah Udang from Melakan Peranakan cuisine, as both are essentially variations of the same “pulut panggang” theme where grilled glutinous rice wrapped within banana leaves is used as a vector for the delicious filling within. Unlike the more “boisterous” looking Pulut Lepa, Rempah Udang are usually made more petite, much like many nyonya kuih muih. The former, intended to fill the stomach more than anything else, is naturally made bigger and more “wholesome”!

I’d never seen a Pulut Lepa before, let alone taste or make one. But there are several working recipes by Terengganuans online, including one on wikipedia! So here is what I’d managed to conjure based using these recipes as a backbone as well the experience in making and wrapping Rempah Udang many moons back.