We were here…
…among the shops in the Sungai Antu area, opposite RTM Sibu, again last Saturday as Melissa wanted their nasi kerabu (RM5.50)…
…for lunch.
I did not feel like having that as the previous morning, I had fried some rice, kampung-style…
…with long kiam hu, the very special salted fish that is so much nicer than the ordinary/usual ones… and I also added some of the air budu that my Trengganu friends gave me when they came to town.
So I asked for a plate of char kway teow (RM4.00)…
…for myself and I sure liked what I was served. I would say that they did it very well and Melissa did try a bit and immediately declared that she would order that next time.
My missus asked for the mee goreng (fried noodles) with a special request for extra pedas (spicy) and got this (RM3.50)…
It was kway teow!!! Ah well, when you go and eat at such places, be prepared for such little blunders sometimes. We are quite used to it, those people at places such as this one Β getting your orders mixed up and what not, so we just confirmed that it was not meant for somebody else, served to the wrong table…and once we were sure that it was definitely meant for us, without further ado, my missus dived into it!
It was very nice too but we could not understand the difference as kway teow goreng (in Malay) is, in fact, char kway teow (in Hokkien), the one and the same thing but when we asked the girl waiting at the tables, she said if we asked for kway teow goreng, we would get what my missus got and if we asked for char kway teow, then it would be like what I got…and I could not, for the dear life of me, understand how this very confusing confusion came about but never mind! Personally, if I only had to pay 50 sen more to get some six prawns…
…or maybe more, without any second thought, I would definitely go for the char kway teow here, not the kway teow goreng.
The bottom line here is that we should be careful what we ask for so as to get what we may have in mind…HOPEFULLY.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
When I read the title and started reading your post, I thought to myself, “Okay, Sg Antu. This is going to be a ghost story” but no leh. Hahahahahaha!
I cannot brain the char kway teow and kway teow goreng too. Too confusing!
LOL!!! You’re hyper-imaginative.
I can’t understand either.
Yea, i thought the same thing too, i was thinking you must have written something creepy LOL It turns out that the first photo is a resplendent plate of nasi kerabu 0.o|||
Some people would find that shade of blue real frightening! π π π
Yeah, I thought it’s some encounters with the spooky kind but it turns out to some nice food in nasi kerabu, char kway teow..and etc. I like the nasi kerabu, not much chance to eat it here and JB. Hard to find!
I had nasi kerabu here from a lady in Johore once – it was pink! At least, if it’s blue, we’d know it’s the flower. Yellow would be kunyit, tumeric. Pink, not sure what colouring is used.
I had seen this a lot before but never asked when I was in Malaysia, why is the rice blue ?
It’s just coloured blue using the butterfly pea flower (bunga telang), tasteless. They also stain some of the nyonya kuihs (traditional cakes) using this. The scientific name is quite “interesting”, maybe due to the shape of the flower. π
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clitoria_ternatea
Mmmm, I love fried rice! π
It’s not fried rice. It’s nasi kerabu, a special dish originating from Kalantan, on the east coast of the peninsula – West Malaysia, the other side of the South China Sea.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasi_kerabu
ooo, from what i understand from some malay stall customers, if you order char kuey teow, you’ll receive something that’s a bit more watery or sauce-y, while if you order kuey teow goreng, it’ll be a dry version (the closest equivalent to the char kuey teow that we’re used to) π
I haven’t the slightest idea but at least, I do know now what exactly to order should I drop by this place again.
Lol. Even you specifically said mi goreng, they still give you kuaw tiaw goreng!?
I would definitely want to try yours. Haven’t been to this place yet. Will try to persuade my hub to go there this weekend. Hehehe.
Sigh!!!! She even jotted it down in some pink-coloured slip of paper and they still got it wrong! Ya *word that we are not at liberty to use*!!!!
Try the mee jawa at Sunny Cafe next door too – very nice…and their halal kampua is good too. Ask for the special and you will get 4-5 very yummy prawn fritters. This one – don’t bother with the nasi lemak or fried rice. The nasi ayam is also very nice.
I wonder why so many people thought this will be a creepy post. I thought it would be a serious post lecturing people about making stupid demands.
6 prawns for 50 cents extra? Better than Groupon deal π
Yes, that’s why I would not mind having that – call it whatever they like! π Ummmm…maybe those people watched too many horror movies? π
Head spinning & confused. Never noticed the difference between mee goreng & char kway teow.Thought all this while is the same until you point out. Learn something new each passing day. Both types of fried kway teow with lots of taugeh, I like.
And they did not overcook those. Can give them the thumbs up for that!
I guess in Malay eateries, kuey teow goreng is like the one your missus had.. Very common, even in mamak.. But in Chinese eateries or food court, char kuey teow is the one you had.. Honestly, I also never bothered to think about the difference between char kuey teow and kuey teow goreng.. In mamak, I automatically shout out mee goreng mamak.. But in food court, I automatically hunt for the char kuey teow stall, haha..
Those would be at different places, depending on where you go to. This is at the one and same place and if you order in different languages/dialects, you may end up getting something that you do not really have in mind.
Hmm… Interesting name for a flower. Decided I would have some char kueh tiaw too, went down the road to the local Thai place and got myself some ladna tonight.
Lucky you. Never had the chance to try that: http://importfood.com/thai_vendors/street_vendor_radna.html
Had had some very nice pad thai before though…http://importfood.com/thai_vendors/street_vendor_padthai.html
Nice pics in that link. Here’s the radna I had:
http://thai-cottage.com/food/item/n-5-chef-rad-na/
Not the best, and nothing compared to the one you had, but still better than nothing.
Nothing Thai here now. My favourite Thai chef left, dunno where she is now…and the pseudo-authentic Thai place we went to in Kuching wasn’t worth a second round. π¦
The food looks good to me, I would like to try the nasi kerabu and your own homecooked nasi goreng.. looks sedap!
So..now…. how does one order mee goreng then? It comes as koay teow goreng? Perhaps next time you have to specify that it is yellow to them… Mee Goreng.. kuning punya, OK? hahahaa..
…and they may still get it wrong! These people are full of “surprises”. π¦
The nasi kerabu looks good. I had it once at Kelantan, never really know how it taste until then. It was super cheap too.. of course minus the chicken and egg. Haha
My daughter loves it – will go back again and again for this – but available only on Saturdays.
Hehe for me char koay teow and kuay teow goreng would be the same thing….. but then again a lot of Malay stalls’ kuay teow goreng is pretty wet. No bother, as long it tastes good!
Yes, that’s the most important…and have to exercise caution when ordering…and hopefully, can get what I want, fingers crossed. π
Despite the misorders, the food does look exceptionally good.
Thank God for small mercies. π
Pay extra 50 sen get 6 prawns…I am willing! To avoid confusion in the future, maybe need to go to the stall and point at the desired noodle! Lol.
Anyway, the title of this post not scary lah…it would be a bit creepy if you’ve titled it “be careful what you wish for”!
At places such as this one, one will just have to cast caution to the wind, order…and keep one’s fingers crossed that they don’t mess up.
Lucky i had taken my lunch, if not, i will drool over the foods… hehe…
Nahhhh!!! I’m sure you have lots a lot better in Sinkapork! Cheap too – in your currency. π
Is that rice blue in the first pic or just the lighting or surroundings? Either way – pretty cool!
It’s always fun visiting a place for the first time – and if you enjoy it – returning to see what has changed and/or reminiscing about what you liked about it previously!
See my reply to an earlier comment – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clitoria_ternatea They use a flower for the blue colour, same thing with the traditional local cakes like these for instance:
If it’s green, it’s the juice extract from screwpine leaves (pandan) and yellow is tumeric (kunyit) – if it’s traditional, it’s all natural.
Could it be that kway teow goreng would be the Malay style while char kway teow is the Chinese style? I think I won’t mind either one. I always love fried kway teow π
I think it’s something like that – the mee or kway teow goreng would be something like the mamak style, no gravy but not really dry…and char kway teow would be something like Penang style, drier and with all the prawns.