Tag: pasar ramadan

Pluto Fly-By

These are actually vermicelli-rice flour string hoppers awaiting steaming on top of a pau steamer cover. The rattan dome is wrapped with a white cloth.

I found out that the South Indian Putu Mayam is from Venus and Putu Mayung is from Pluto. The pakcik hawker at the Ramadan bazaar noticed me giving the name on the banner a double take.

The intuitive man explained that in the north, it is known as Putu Mayung. It tastes just as wonderful with grated coconut and ‘gula melaka’ or coconut palm sugar.

I inverted the image and called it Plutu. The asteroid belt is out-of-focused points of light and people outside the tent.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f7.1, 1/200 sec.

Simply Red

I asked the operator and he said he extracts (or blends) the juice from the watermelons without adding water or sugar, as other sellers would.

The stall brands itself as Kaw-Kaw Tembikai Blend. Kaw is the Hokkien word for thick.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 125, f4, 1/200 sec.

A Hipster’s Bazaar

Putrajaya’s Ramadan Bazaar is refreshingly different and somewhat bizarre. It is more a showcase of clever marketing tactics, than of food.

Many of the stalls have banners with hipster catchphrases such as ‘the real original’, ‘no additives’, ‘infused’ and ‘yogurt-fied’, for example.

Quite a few proclaim a small town’s name where the dish and seller supposedly originate; leaving you wondering why they are not selling in their home towns.

If in doubt, one can always ask via their Facebook (and ‘like’ symbol) displayed on the stall.

Maybe I found all the hipster mantra odd because I spent the last two weeks at rural Ramadan bazaars where traditional food and a smile was the appeal.

Here’s sweet and sulky Aini selling red velvet cakes. I don’t like velvet cakes so I bought some layered blueberry and tiramisu cheese cakes from her.

How can I not? She baked all the cakes herself, all night, while listening to indie music.

Sony Alpha a7R, ISO 100, f6.3, 1/80 sec.