FOOD IN KELANTAN

Nasi Kerabu Kelantan (Kelantan Herb Rice Salad)

Nasi Ulam (Herb Rice Salad) is a feature in Malay cuisine, usually it’s a steamed rice mixed with various herbs, vegetables, spices and accompanied with various side dishes. There’s 2 popular variation – Nasi Ulam on the northwest Peninsular Malaysia and Nasi Kerabu (with rice dyed blue) on the northeast Peninsular Malaysia, in state of Kelantan and Terengganu.

Nasi Kerabu is one of the classic dishes of Kelantan. Kerabu is Malay salad with a mixture of herbs, vegetables and fruits. Just like the northern Nasi Ulam recipe, Nasi Kerabu Kelantan is also a very healthy dish, that requires a lot of slicing action of herbs and vegetables. But Nasi Kerabu requires much more tedious preparation work due to many components that makes up the dish. If you know me by now, I would skip a tedious recipe. Actually my eyes did start to glaze before I could reach half of the instruction.. It happens every time I read something complicated, scientific or historical, it’s like my mind just automatically switched to ‘sleeping mode’.

For me to go through all that “pain”, the dish have to be really terrific. If I see Nasi Kerabu sold at pasar malam (night market) or any restaurants, I would order it.  And my love for Nasi Kerabu has pulled me through this laborious cooking attempt. Sweating (the temperatures are high and dry now) through almost 3 hours in the kitchen with the most elaborate dish I’ve ever attempted, making Nasi Kerabu Kelantan is so worth it!

The basic Nasi Kerabu comprises of rice, mixture of herbs & vegetable (ulam), coconut flaked fish (kerisik sambal ikan) and coconut sauce (sambal tumis kelapa). Besides the most common Blue rice (Nasi Biru), there’s other variation of the rice served – white (plain white rice), yellow (with turmeric) and grey (from Mengkudu leaves / Noni). The blue color of rice results from cooking in the butterfly-pea flowers (bunga telang). A few months earlier, my reader Carina send me some dried butterfly-pea flowers (which I never got around using), and the weekend before, mama gave me a bunch of fresh ones from her friend’s house. She would add a handful to her rice because there’s no ‘blue’ food in her daily diet, so this flower completes the “blue” in the colour foodchart. Some people say the flower has some health benefits but it has not been scientifically proven.

Others traditional food:

TRADITIONAL FOOD

Kuala Krai boasts its own unique cuisine with many popular dishes like Ayam Percik,Nasi Kerabu,and Nasi Dagang being indigenous to the area.

PUTERI MANDI

• Puteri Mandi- This sweet "kuih" is made from with rice powder and taken with sweet flesh coconut

KEROPOK GOTE

• Keropok Gote- These are Kelantanese fish sausages.It is made by combining fish flesh and sago.It is rolled into long firm sticks and then steamed or boiled.To enjoy it, one has to cut it into desired bite sized and deep fried.Different from Terengganu's keropok lekor,the Kelantan variety is thicker and longer in size and has to be fried to be eaten.Keropok Gote is probably the one snack which all Kelantanese children grow up with.

CHOLEK

• Cholek-Cholek is the most Cholek is the most popular dipping sauce in Kelantan. The cholek is different from other chilli sauces because cholek is very thin and rather sweet. This dipping sauce is used for any kind of chicken, but also goes well with shrimp, fish cake, spring roll, sausage, etc.

PULUT MANIS/SERI MUKA

• Pulut Manis/Seri Muka-This sweet dish served as a dessert. The ingredient is glutinous rice which is cooked with brown sugar

NASI KERABU

• Nasi Kerabu-A rice-based dish served with coconut milk, flaked fish, dessicated coconut and a variety of herbs, spices and sauces.

NASI DAGANG

• Nasi Dagang-A type of rice with a brownish tinge steamed with coconut milk and served with a rich spicy fish gravy.

LOMPAT TIKAM

• Lompat Tikam-It can be prepared on daily dish or served during special occasions. This tasty food not only attracted the locals but also as well as from outsiders

LAKSAM

• Laksam-This type of food is based on rice powder and is served with white coconut milk curry. This traditional recipe is from fish and coconut milk. When serving, it is added with leaves eaten raw or "ulam"

JALA MAS

• Jala Mas-This is very popular cake or "kuih" in Kelantan. It is based on eggs and sugar and it is also known as Royal Cake. It can only found in this state

AKOK

• Akok-It is also known as "Akok Kelantan" because its sweet aroma. The ingredient are eggs and "gula melaka"

LAKSA

• Laksa Kelantan-The laksa dish, white noodles served with curry and vegetables, is made differently in every state in Malaysia. The laksa Kelantan employs the creamy white gravy which is richer and has full-bodied flavour. The main ingredients is fish flesh, although connoisseurs would certainly prefer the ones made of eels. Also known as "Lakse" in Kelantanese Malay dialect.

SAMBAL DAGING/SERUNDING

• Sambal Daging/Serunding-The meat is cut into small pieces and cooked using special spice until it is truly dried. It is delicious to take by itself or served with rice

AYAM PERCIK

• Ayam Percik-A favourite with locals and visitors alike, this barbecued chicken is marinated with a rich, spicy coconut gravy.

BUAH TANJONG

• Buah Tanjong-It is sweet as well as its name. This food also known as Royal Kelantan

TAIK ITIK

• Taik Itik-Although it is quite sweet, but it is delicious to eat. The ingredient is eggs, coconut milk and sugar. It has varieties of shapes according to the chef

TEPUNG PELITA

• Tepung Pelita-This food based on flour, coconut milk and sugar. It has two layer. For the first layer is coconut milk and the second layer is from flour and sugar. It is put into banana leaf, as a cup

KEROPOK

• Keropok-These are Kelantanese fish crackers. Their texture and colour are noticeably rougher and darker than the usual variety found on the West Coast of Malaysia. Like the curries, the crackers are influenced by Thai cooking and produce a sharper, saltier

SOLOK LADA

• Solok Lada-The unique of this type of food is where the filling is made from flesh coconut, fish fillet and coconut milk. This tasty food is suitable to take with nasi kerabu which is also Kelantan Traditional Food 

BUDU

• Budu-Budu is a salted (fermented) anchovy sauce eaten with rice, grilled fish and vegetables. A bit of lemon juice, hot chillis and onions are added on for taste. Once so combined, the purple-brownish condiment has a blend of salty and sour taste. Nowadays, other types of fish are also used to create Budu.