Tag: hawker

Cendol Ibrahim Banting – A Cursory Review

Off the bat, I like the metal bowl and metal spoon used. It always make the cendol concoction feels colder. Love the coarsely textured shaved ice too but the green cendol jellies tasted a little too salty. And it was not because of the santan (coconut milk brew).

I regretted not specifying “Kurang Manis”(less sweet) as some regulars did. Lessening the palm sugar can reduce the sweetness significantly. Not sure if it will do well with the saltiness of the cendol.
The shop sells its own complementary mamak rojak pasembor too. I tried it on a previous trip and it was quite good.

Panasonc Lumix GM-1, ISO 200, f7.1, 1/200 sec.

#banting #cendol #dessert #shavedice #drink #ice #localfood #foodphotography #foodreview #smalltown

Getting A Good Shave At Cendol Ibrahim Banting

The traditional ice shaver used by mobile hawkers used to be the planing type made of wood and an embedded blade. I remember when I was a kid, the grab handle for the ice was a wooden ice pick with rows of nails to dig into the ice.

The hawket than slide the ice back and forth on the shaver as seen here.

Nowadays, almost all cendol and ABC sellers use a motorised electric shaver which is modified from the hand cranked circular version.

People used to the soft and finely shaven ice from machines nay not like the course and unevenly textured shaved ice from the manual hand powered process. I like it though. It has more character.

The chief cendol barista at Cendol Ibtahim Banting was still using the old fashoned method, from some 50 years ago, when the stall started, but curiously there is no nail embedded ice pick. He held the block of ice with his bare hand when I was there.

Don’t be shy about going close. This is a famous hawker and he is used to cameras in his face. He is also chatty and friendly.

Panasonc Lumix GM-1, ISO 200, f10, 1/200 sec.

#banting #cendol #dessert #shavedice #dronk #ice #localfood #foodphotography #documentaryphotography #smalltown

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.