There once was a girl from Abu Dhabi
Who loved her kopi and her roti babi
And her bloody see hum,
Like raisins drowned in rum
(No clue why these aren’t loved by everybody.)
.
Yet day and night, did she pine and long
For her favourite dish, lamented in song:
“Oh my nasi lemak,
Better than tau yew bak!”
And so did she lament, pine and long.
Then one day did her fairy godfather come and bark:
“Hush! my dear – there’s more to life than nasi lemak!
There are hard-boiled eggs
Ikan bilis like tiny steaks
And sweet, spicy sambal the colour of fiery sparks!”
.
“There’s even belacan-fried chicken, so fragrant and —”
But before he could finish, Abu Dhabi Girl took her stand
“That’s easy for you to say,
Yet unless you’ve gone night and day
Without nasi lemak, then you simply cannot understand!”
Lo! her fairy godfather acted swiftly before she could cry
And magicked her some stinky sambal prawn and petai
She looked at him, aghast
“If you can do this, you must
Get me some nasi lemak before I kick your fairy @$$ to Dubai!”
.
Glossary:
- belacan: shrimp paste made from ground shrimp that is fermented then sun-dried
- ikan bilis: dried anchovies
- kopi: Malaysian coffee
- nasi lemak: rice soaked in coconut cream the steamed with screwpine (pandan) leaves; usually served with cucumber slices, roasted peanuts, ikan bilis, sambal and other accompaniments
- petai: stink beans
- roti babi: bread (roti) with pork (babi) filling.
- sambal: sauce/sauce base made from chili peppers
- see hum: cockles
- tau yew bak: braised pork belly in soy sauce
.
Copyright © 2011 Kenny Mah Ying Fye. Pictures by Devil CK.
Food lovingly prepared by Pureglutton.
Kenny Mah believes in the good in people. He has been blogging for over ten years. No, his hands aren't tired. Yet.
Ikan bilis like tiny steaks?? LOL. Awesome. I’d like mine done medium rare please.
Brilliant prose, Kenny! When i looked at that 1st pic of the Stink Bean Sambal, it looked kinda familiar, hehe! (until i saw the rest of the pics la).
Btw, who is the Fairy Godfather huh? :P
What is roti babi?
*ROFL* love how everything that you wrote rhymed :)
Nasi lemak is a feast fit for the humble misplaced Malaysian yes, but nasi lemak WITH belacan chicken, ikan bilis, egg AND tau yew bak… put me anywhere in the universe and I’d feel right at home!
Ah. Nasi lemak. One of my favouritest sins. :)
ikan bilis like tiny steaks?! i’ll have some of what he’s having, thank you! :D
this story is left hanging, btw! did she or did she not get some nasi lemak in the end?
hmmm, i haven’t eaten nasi lemak in months!
eh i remember eating those lurvely nasi lemak! :p yumyum
Oh..that fried chicken~~ *drooling*
@Lyrical Lemongrass: Medium rare ikan bilis. LOL. Awesome.
@Pureglutton: Hehe. This is all your skilled kitchencraft la, sifu. It is always an honour and a privillege to dine at your table. So very, very yummy!
@Prodigal Lulu: Roti babi is literally just that – bread with pork filling (as described in my glossary above). It’s incredibly yummy if prepared properly.
@Leo (thule): Wait, do the lines rhyme? I didn’t even notice… *chuckles*
@minchow: It’s like the story of the stone soup – the soup would work fine with just the soup, but once you add an extra bit of this, and an extra bit of that, the end result is transformed into something completely out of this world.
Out of the universe, even. Hehe.
@J the chocoholic: Make that one of mine too. Hee.
@Sean: The ending of the story is left to the reader, depending on whether he/she sees the cup as half-empty or half-full. My bet is that the Girl from Abu Dhabi does get her nasi lemak in the end. Jolly well deserves it too! Hehe.
@babe_kl: The taste simply lingers on for days and weeks and months, no? Absolutely yummy!
@mimid3vils: Tell me about it. Totally droolworthy!
is there a hotline no to call for a fairy godmother to appear? i wish she could bring me some nasi lemak and ice kacang to me right now!
@lena: Not sure about a hotline for a fairy godmother… but some ice kacang does sound refreshing right now!
HAHAHAHAHAH!! I love it!! You da best, dah-link!! *bear hug* :D
The girl from abu dhabi
is rather very happy.
Oh, did she get her chilli?
on rice that taste so lovely?
Nay, unfortunately…
And she’s in such a tizzy.
But what a funny ditty
From fairy godpa Kenny!
You MUST MUST MUST have nasi lemak with me in July!!
@gfad: I totally MUST MUST MUST. Now we gotta go “persuade” my sifu to whip us up some of her world-famous nasi lemak in July… Hehehe.
Nasi Lemak Party in July? Am I invited? ROFL :)
@unkaleong: Of course, you are! Now we just need to persuade my sifu to go for this most excellent idea, hehe.
Has your sifu agreed yet? *looks expectantly*
@gfad: No news yet wor. Methinks she’s too busy to read my comments section… Must go tweet her, then. Hehe.
i knew u cudn’t stay away long from a food post… loved the rhyme… not thinking abt the stink beans, not thinking bout d stink beans… not.. think..
@asstha: Petai. Petai. Petai. Smells so nice, right? *muahahahaha…*