My KB days: Medan Selera Buluh Kubu, Kota Bharu (I’m still in Kelantan…)

We all felt like eating som tam so all of us headed to Medan Selera Buluh Kubu to look for it. I managed to snap pictures though some end up lousy thanks to my “skill”. And after observing the many turns and landmarks, I was at lost and now unable to explain the road…

Anyway…

Despite being a weekday night, the crowd was quite huge. Apparently the pasar malam is being held every night. Most are food vendors but 2 stalls are noted selling pirated CDs.

When I saw all the kuih, I wondered how they still have the appetite to nibble sweet stuffs at night after dinner. As usual, I don’t recognize most of them since I’ve never eaten any before, except for some of my mom’s favourite.

Bottom left, the white pudding – like thing in leaf wrapping is tepung pelita. Next on the right, the one with sticks are chicken intestines in coconut-based gravy (kuah percik). The rest, I rest my case. Even my local relatives were at lost since they don’t eat those either. Hey, not every Kelantanese likes sweet stuffs...

Colourful cream cakes. Anybody notice the birds and umbrellas?

Pulut durian @ glutinous rice served with durian and santan (coconut milk).

This one is sotong pulut @ squid stuffed with glutinous rice.

Surprisingly, chicken wings are popular here too. These are marinated and coated with honeyed sauce, a nice sweet-spicy combination. 1 piece for RM1.30 – RM1.50, not bad. I thought only in Sabah I can find this, but back in Selangor also they are selling well.

When they run out off wings, the other chicken parts would be put up and are popular too.

Laksa, a local favourite. Laksam is another variant of it in Kelantan but served with the same fish-based broth.

By 9.30 the crowd has dwindled and usually the stalls are almost done with their selling.

I was taken aback a little actually by the mess and odor of rubbish as we approach the place. But within the pasar there’s no trace of it so you’ll manage to forget it. So far I haven’t been hit by diarrhea or food poisoning, since we select the cleanest stalls only. But this kind of scenario is almost always found everywhere in any pasar in Kelantan so bear with it a little I guess…

This is som tam, a Thai salad: raw kangkong, long beans, grated young papaya or mango (I preferred mango), cabbage and tomato tossed together in lime juice, dried prawn, shallot, garlic, chili and crushed nuts. Sweet, sour and crunchy. If you don’t want to cry your eyes out, tell the vendor to prepare yours less spicy.