more in terengganu: hawker food and a market

This is part two of our time in Kuala Terengganu - after we returned from our lovely stint in Redang Island.

We drove across the Sultan Mahmud bridge to Duyung island for a saunter. It is a serene and pretty place.

Duyung island.

We enjoyed more street eats.

Such as this pulut lepa, for breakfast - fish floss in sticky rice, wrapped in banana leaf, and grilled over charcoal flames.

Pulut lepa, fish floss in glutinous rice.

ABC (air batu campur), or ais kacang, the popular Malaysian shaved ice dessert with assorted beans, jelly, palm seeds, sweet corn, drizzled with syrup, and in this case also topped with ice cream...

ABC or ais kacang, a shaved ice dessert.

More keropok lekor. Can you tell it's our favourite snack around this parts? They taste different each time, too. At this stall, it's slashed and slightly hollow, which makes for greater crispiness.

Keropok lekor.

We had blood cockles with a chilli dip...

Blood cockles, which we Malaysian Chinese call see-ham, served with a chilli sauce.

And squid slathered in sambal sauce.

Squid with sambal sauce.

We also took a stroll through the big Kuala Terengganu market called Pasar Payang.

It's busy, and colourful with things like these assorted pickles...

Various assorted pickles.

And cute little dodols. This is a sweet, chewy confection made with glutinous rice flour, coconut milk, and palm sugar. The brown ones are the original plain, and the green ones are pandan. You can also get other flavours, such as durian ones.

Little dodol sweets.

Also, in case you were wondering, this is how keropok lekor looks like before they are cooked. You can buy it to boil or fry at home.

Uncooked keropok lekor.

The produce at this market were plentiful and exotic. Some I hadn't even come across before, like the tampoi fruit. This may also be referred to as ngeker.

Baccaurea macrocarpa (known here as Tampoi or Ngeker).

They also have pulasan, which is reminiscent of the rambutan, but instead of a hairy appearance, it has more solid-looking blunt spikes.

Nephelium mutabile (known here as Pulasan).

All in all, Terengganu has been a great experience, and I suspect I shall remember this segment of the trip as one that introduced me to the traditional fish snack, keropok lekor, and subsequently where I fell in love with it, as well as all the fun (and occasionally haphazard) times we had exploring this Malaysian state together - me, Simon, and my parents.

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kuala terengganu: laksa, keropok lekor, roti paung

Having spent quite a few days in Kuala Terengganu, I think I'm going to give it at least two posts. Here's part one, which is the food we pounced on during our first 24 hours there.

For dinner we had a special local fish snack called keropok lekor, made with fish meat and sago flour/starch, then deep fried and served with a chilli sauce.

Fried keropok lekor.

Every state in Malaysia has their own take on laksa, and in Terengganu, they have, in fact, two versions - "kuah merah" (red broth) and "kuah putih" (white broth).

The one has the rice noodles in a reddish, curry-like soup.

Terengganu laksa kuah merah (red gravy/broth).

In this one, the rice noodles are in a whitish soup, and it has a lighter taste, which I prefer.

Terengganu laksa kuah putih (white gravy/broth).

The next morning, for breakfast, we tried keropok lekor again, but this time, the fish sausage was boiled or steamed.

Steamed or boiled keropok lekor.

We also indulged in the soft, sweet and buttery "roti paung", served with extra butter and kaya on the side.

Roti paung - butter buns.

After this, we took a ferry to Pulau Redang - but we came back for more later, as you shall see!

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redang island adventures

Arriving at Pulau Redang...

Hello, Redang Island.

Pineapple juice.

Thank you for welcoming us with your warm weather and icy-cold fruit juices.

Mango juice.

Thank you for Teluk Dalam beach, which was like our own little piece of paradise...

Teluk Dalam beach.

Even if we had to stay alert to keep our belongings safe from lurking monkeys who like to steal.

Monkey in the jungle bordering the beach.

Thank you for the gorgeous village kittens who were so adorable...

Adorable kitten.

And so endearingly playful.

Playful kitten.

Thank you for the hospitality we received at the restaurants, such as this man who came out dancing with a fish, just because we expressed curiosity about what an "ikan ebek" was.

Man at restaurant, with a big fish - an "ikan ebek", also known as indian threadfish or diamond trevally.

Thank you for the very, very delicious keropok lekor...

Keropok lekor - local fried fish sausage.

And all the very freshly caught and cooked fish we consumed everyday.

Grilled fish wrapped in banana leaf.

And where we stayed, there wasn't much nightlife, but we had pleasant walks in the quiet of the night, and we watched strangers catch fish for their dinner...

A stranger's catch.

And we went around sighting tokay geckos, for they are very cool nocturnal creatures who don't seem to mind too much if we discreetly hang out with them.

A tokay gecko.

And thank you for letting us swim with the colourful fishes in your clear waters, I only wish I had bought an underwater camera to capture those glorious moments.

Thank you for everything, Redang Island, we had a wonderful time.

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