How to Atas-fy Pasar Malam Food

My day job is to eat (I’m an 8 Days food critic) and yes, I do spend too much time stuffing my face at atas (malay for ‘high class’) restaurants that charge a bomb for prettily plated morsels. However, my kryptonite is Pasar Malam goodies! Fried chicken wings, otah, muah chee…….. you name it, I love it.

The on-going Pasar Malam next to Causeway Point…… oh man…… that’s like an entire food planet on its own. I went there after classes at Republic Poly last week with my gang of makan buddies-cum-fellow lecturers. Evie, Sarah, Hattie and I spend far too much time talking about food on Whatsap. We’ve since taken the food porn to LINE, because we also get to send each other all sorts of stickers, like a half-naked Psy saying Woooow’. (But that’s another story — I’ll blog about 10 Must-use Line Stickers another time. I’m very good at using the stickers to tell stupid stories, it’s my hidden talent. Sorry, I digressed.)

So. Pasar Malam food. I think food snobs are totally missing out. There’s so much potential in these local treats and really, all it takes is a bit of styling to make the food look porntastic. You can even pass off some of them as $18 appetizer at a restaurant with an unpronouncable name. Feast your eyes on….

Hor d’oeuvres

Chewy Fish Sticks (aka Fish Keropok Leko; 8 for $2)

Appetizers

Tiger Prawn Puffs (aka Indian Masala Vadai; 3 for $2)

Cushiony puffs topped with tiger prawns, garnished with green chilli peppers

Exotic Quail in Indian Rub (aka quail in masala marinade; $4 each or 3 for $10)

Next on Hobbit: An Unexpected Gathering of Masala Quails

Main Course

Tender tomato-and-chilli chicken, accompanied by asian potato croquette, grilled liver, spiced tofu cubes, flash-fried bean sprouts and home-made asian pickles dusted with chopped peanuts, served in rustic paper wrap

(aka Nasi Padang with chicken merah, bergadil, liver, tempeh, towgay and achar; $6)