A long time ago, vendors used to carry pots of rice and
curries on their shoulder using a kandar, or pole. In this episode,
we are going to highlight a dish that was created in Penang
by Indian Muslims, also known as Mamaks. Oh look at that! Flavor-packed dish that
one shouldn't miss when visiting Penang. Nasi kandar. Flavor of the curry's got a
little bit of spice but it's packed full of the flavors that cumin the turmeric
cinnamon all that good stuff. Nasi kandar is now being sold
in a restaurant and is widely popular in the country
Look at that kambing kurma just coming right off the bone. Wow
I barely even moved my thumb to move that. Really one of the most flavorful dishes
I've eaten in Malaysia
Never run out of nasi kandar here in Penang and here we are at
Hameediyah, the oldest nasi kandar in Malaysia since 1907. Wow
I can't even lift this plate, it's so heavy. We got
lamb shank, chicken, cabbage, biryani rice with delicious looking curry or gravy.
Man. I'm starving
So this spot Hameediyah is so popular and there's always a line outside
and so many crazy choices here. A bunch that we've never even seen before at a nasi
kandar place like you have like fried prawns, lobsters
but we could not resist getting this lamb shank. We love lamb shank so much
and this one looks incredible it's just doused in this curry
and we also got the ayam kapitan which actually is a dish that we had in KL
at a Nyonya restaurant. Check it out up here, we'll put a card for that one. This one
looks really good it's got that distinct orange color. Very curious to see how
they have it here at a nasi kandar restaurant see if
there's any difference in flavor. And also got it with the
cabbage, ladyfingers aka the okra over the biryani rice. So excited. They
they pretty much automatically banjir the curries on this rice, which I love.
Just from the two dishes they just flopped it on there
Let's get down. I think the lamb shank is calling my name first. Look at that.
It's tender, but it's not like fall off the bone necessarily tender. It's got a little chew to
it, but the flavor is explosive here
Let's try a bite of this ayam kapitan.
So much turmeric, cumin in here. It's not really that spicy, but it's got a lot of
flavor a lot of spice to it. I definitely recommend getting this.
Amazing. Got a big clump of this rice
You know I love that it's covered in the curries you can still really taste the
distinct flavor of that biryani rice in there. This is just a flavor explosion
of all levels here
It's definitely a very popular for a reason. It's the oldest. We'll see if it's...
I can already tell it's gonna be one of the best, that's just how much flavor
there is here. Incredible
Dig into this lamb shank, you get the cardamom pods in here and even as you
dig into this biryani, you get some of the sweet flavors like this caramelized
onions in here, cashews, it's a slight sweetness to it too, so
it's really spicy, you got really sweet they got all those spices -
all those cumin and turmeric, cardamom, clove. You name it, it's just
really one of the most flavorful dishes I've eaten in Malaysia.
I keep saying this almost everywhere we go, that's just that's how flavorful and
incredible the food is in this country. So this is more of like the Indian
Muslim style. Has a lot of Middle Eastern taste to it too.
I just love it. I'm a big fan of these big bold punchy flavors
and this has it. Definitely highly recommend Hameediyah.
It is spicy, a good level of spice. That's
why you have to get here
mango lassi. This is delicious.
Look at this delicious nasi kandar on my hand.
We are at the first floor of a hotel. Merlin
Hotel. And how banjir this is. Whoa. Can't wait to have this man.
Uh and it smells so good. We have lamb, we have
eggs and we have ayam goreng. Chicken, rice banjir with all the curry gravies
in here. Can't wait to have this
Ah. The aroma of banjir curries always makes me happy.
This is our next stop here so with Nasi Kandar Merlin, I love that it's
in the first floor of a hotel, like how cool is that? This place is just packed
full of locals. It's a little more off the beaten path
compared to the other. You know it's not really, we're actually right in the
center of Georgetown. Like we're really in a very
busy area, but it's not packed like some of the other nasi kandar places in this
city are. So it's cool here. You got to come here
for either breakfast or lunch, that's it. They run out of food we hear by
around one, two o'clock.
The banjir is flooded they just give us a little bit of everything, so it looks amazing.
Got the hands. About to go try - try the lamb first actually.
It's got a little spice to it, definitely has a nice chew, got that good lamb flavor
right here.
Kambing is so good. Wow
Try some of this ayam goreng. I'm glad they gave a leg piece here,
so you got this little mini drumstick.
Fried chicken is very juicy, I really like that. I can taste the turmeric
flavor. You can even see there's a little bit of
that yellow there too. Just become a fanatic for turmeric fried chicken.
Most fried chicken in the world should just have turmeric in it, that's
what I'm starting to think here. Now I'm going to try some of the banjir
gravy with that rice
A lot of motorcycles going out here as you see behind behind me there's people
checking out of the hotel too. But the rice is cooked really nicely
with the gravies here and the flavor of the curry's got a little bit of spice
but just packed full of the flavors that cumin, the turmeric,
cinnamon, all that good stuff.
Very good. Very good!
This nasi kandar is from Mohamed Raffee, this is a very busy spot,
especially at night and it's our second time here.
This chicken and I'm getting two of it. It's
really good. For me it's like the best chicken
out of nasi kandar that we've been eating so far. It looks so messy, but
looks can be deceiving. Messy and beautiful.
So Mohamed Raffee is a real local's favorite here. So it's
outside of Georgetown, it's more further west in Pulau Tikus neighborhood.
The fried chicken is always a must. It's this beautiful red color.
Never really seen a fried chicken like this in Penang. Actually reminds me a little
bit of the ayam merah that we had in Ipoh at the
infamous Nasi Ganja, but this one has a crispier skin to it.
Also got the vegetables here, very yellow vegetable,
definitely a lot of turmeric here. Got the okra -
ladyfingers. And these caramelized onions that look awesome too.
And of course you got the kuah campur, like the mixed curries,
banjir, flooded, ready to go. First a bite of this fried chicken. This looks
beautiful
The skin already has so much flavor. You can even see that red color is
penetrating to the meat. Look at this piece of this meat right here
it's got the spices penetrating into it
Chicken is just juicy. It's got a nice little spice to it.
Not spicy, but just full of flavor. I love the balance of the crispy outside with
the juicy inside. It's some of the best fried chicken we've had here in
Malaysia. And that's saying a lot. We've had a lot of incredible fried chicken here in
this country
Get a nice scoop of this banjir rice right here.
I like that it's got a nice kick to it, but it's not overwhelmingly like not melt
your face off spicy, these curries. But really flavorful. Jumi
may have had the right idea to double up on that fried chicken, because this fried
chicken is really on a whole nother level
I am so looking forward to this chicken
Here we are at Deens Maju for another nasi kandar. But in Penang, have nasi
kandar as much as you want.
Deens Maju is one of the most popular nasi kandar spots
here in Penang, for good reason. So we look at the outside it looks like a
small place, but it's actually huge. It takes up a few different shop houses.
I got the ayam goreng, the fried chicken. I got the sotong, the squid.
I got this ayam ros, the chicken in the red sauce.
Look at it, it's already falling apart. And we got it on the nasi dalcha. And the
nasi dalcha's special here. It's rice that's cooked with dhal, so dhal
is the split pea. Dhal - dalcha. Nasi dalcha. Also got the okra ladyfingers and got it
really banjir'ed. And you can tell here they don't play around when they banjir you
rice with these curries. They really do flood it
Think we'll go with this chicken. This chicken's already falling apart. It's so
soft. Unbelievably soft chicken.
It's got a slight bit of sweetness to it, spicy oh my god.
That's insane. Try some of the ayam goreng. It looks
really nice. I see a lot of spices coming off of here
Really strong turmeric flavor in this fried chicken. Fried chicken is quite tender,
not too crispy. Some parts a little crispier than others,
but that turmeric flavor is excellent. When it comes to nasi kandar, always got
to take a big bite of this nasi. Look at that. Look at
all that curry mixed with that nasi dalcha.
Big scoop
The curries here are so fragrant, so flavorful
Nasi banjir with the curries, you could eat it just like this. Then you add all these
lovely sides with it - incredible. Wow if you look at this rice, this has
anise, cloves. Rice like that, why not?
We're at Restoran Tajuddin Hussain right in Little India.
The first place we came to on this visit to Penang
and they do things a little differently here. So if you sit down, you
order they actually - you pick out your rice,
they bring everything. Rice separate, the side dish is separate it's not here
like unless you want to ask for the banjir. And that's cool - we want to switch
it up for this video and show you a different side.
So we got some really signature dishes here including the ayam ros, the ros
chicken, the signature dish here at Tajuddin Hussain. Amazing. We also have the ayam
bawang, which is the onion chicken. We got the kambing kurma, the lamb kurma.
Got ayam goreng, Jumi's favorite. Fried chicken. They even
give you a little dish here of the dhal with some potatoes.
And I love it because here they're usually you banjir or you flood it, but
here we can banjir it ourselves. Here we got different kinds of rice too.
So we actually ordered the nasi tomato, the tomato rice
and we have the nasi biryani - the biryani rice.
First order of business to get down on this ayam ros. Look at that.
It comes right off the bone so easily. Just smothered in this reddish brown
gravy. Try a little bit by itself first.
It's actually ridiculously flavor packed and spicy. It's just so
juicy and tender too. I'm a big fan of really spicy -
aggressively spiced curries and this is it.
Try a little bit of this nasi tomato.
Really flavorful rice. This nasi tomato actually reminds me a bit
West African jollof rice. Has a similar kind of taste to it and
they both have tomato. Wow. And I'm really curious about this ayam
bawang, it's just covered in these caramelized onions. Look at that
Well the chicken is also just very tender. Comes right off
I love the kind of sweet flavor that caramelized onions give it. Do a little
bit here. I'm gonna do my own kind of banjir here for some of this
kurma,
some of the dhal gravy,
Oh look at that. Look at that kambing kurma coming right off the bone.
I barely even moved my thumb to move that. It's amazing
This spot's a classic. It's right in the middle of Little India. It's been here over
70 years. It's popular for a reason. What's nice -
you have the lunchtime shift and we're actually here for the dinner time shift.
Definitely one of the best nasi kandar we've had here in Penang.
So to end this delicious meal, this is rasam. Let me have a sip
So there's onions, cumin, curry leaf. Cheers. Wow