Banana Boat Song…

I’m not a fan of fruits but I do eat when I happen to have any around. The only ones that I actually like are dabai (our local black olives), papayas and bananas and in the case of the latter, I prefer this variety…

We have a somewhat racist name for it – kay leng chio or pisang keling (translation: Indian banana). I guess that is because as they ripen, they get darker and darker.

At one time, I used to suffer from constipation when I went here and there on travelling duty and I remember once in Malacca, I stopped by a fruit stall and asked for this type of bananas…and the man warned me not to use that name for fear that I might get beaten up. He told me what I should call it but I could not remember so till today, I still call it kay leng chio. Old habits die hard! LOL!!!

Anyway, this isn’t a post about bananas. It’s just that I bought these the other day at 3 for RM1.00…

My mother calls them suman but I saw in some website that they’re called jemput pisang. They’re actually mashed bananas mixed with rice flour and wrapped in banana leaf and steamed. I did not quite like it though…but then I have never been a fan of anything made of bananas, not even cucur pisang (banana fritters) or banana cake. I think they also make this with bandong (tapioca) and I would very much prefer those.

These are also wrapped in banana leaves though when I was young, I used to eat the same thing but wrapped in some yellowish leaves instead. We call them kelupis…and I do not exactly know whether that’s in Melanau, Malay or whatever local language.

Normally we eat these with condensed milk, kaya (coconut jam) or if neither of these is available, sugar…the same way I eat pulut panggang. At 2 for RM1.00, I would think these kelupis are a bit expensive compared to pulut panggang which are bigger and cost 70 sen each.

Actually, when it comes to kuihs made of glutinous rice, there are a few that I like including these wajit – selling for 4 for RM1.00…

Now, I did mention earlier that I do not really care for cucur pisang (banana fritters) but I do like these…

I bought these at my regular kuih stall at Bandong in the morning at 4 for RM1.00. They’re quite big and they had cut them open and poured the sambal in them. Some may just give you the sambal separately for you to use as a dip. There is another stall at Bandong – open around 3 or 4 pm that sells very nice cucurs like these…and I quite like the ones from the stall at Rejang Park  that sells keropok lekor as well…

And talking about Bandong, there is another stall in the morning now selling murtabak…

…at RM2.00 per piece. I was told that the guy is from West Malaysia and I heard somebody calling him “ustaz“. I wouldn’t know for sure but maybe he’s a religious teacher in the afternoon session.

The murtabak is VERY nice…

…and though RM2.00 per piece might seem a bit too expensive, I think it’s worth having once in a while…and besides, there’s a lot of meat inside!

Anybody having kuih-muihs for breakfast or tea today?