The Apam Adventures @ Saturday Night Market

Whoa what a week! Shasha came to visit; we got to experience 5 star accommodation , we interviewed and got into the mind of the brilliant Datuk Azhar, met up with Shasha’s mom and had a few interesting encounters along the way…

.. I need a vacation within a vacation! Phew.

Since Shasha’s left and my schedual was a tad looser over the next few days, I decided to have a break and just bum out for the day. Apart from the short walks to and from the mini market (to stock up on water and some miscellaneous goods), I just watched movies in my room, and when the Sun was slightly dimmer, armed with my trusty iPod, chilled out by Sunset Resort’s private beach, and just drifted in and out of consciousness to the smooth sounds of Feist.

By 7.15 p.m. I was already starting get a little restless, and was really, really craving Apam Balik (a Malaysian equivalent of waffles with peanut and corn filling. YUM!) So I decided to walk around the streets of Cenang in search of my ever elusive Apam, only resulting in disappointment as there wasn’t a single café, restaurant or roadside stall that sold it. But before losing all hope, I remembered a cab driver once telling me that there is a weekly night market held every Wednesday and Saturday night over at Pekan Kuah, (where I first started my journey) and I had a BIG feeling they would have just what I was looking for.

The atmosphere at the night market was intense! There were fruit vendors screaming out their best prices on fresh dragon fruit and mangosteen, huge cues of people waiting in line to buy their favourite Malaysian dish to eat and of course the locals and tourists all merged into a sea of people, all at one place for the same particular reason, to shop!

The Pasar Malam Kuah, located on a long, straight strip of road, directly opposite of The Langkawi Baron Hotel in Pekan Kuah, had all sorts of stalls; The drink stalls, which had 5 or 6 different kind of drinks to choose from, the fruit stalls which had an impressive spread of fruits, from apples, to jackfruit and even lychee! There was also the Ayam Percik (Grilled Chicken) stall, where they would grill whole, halved or portioned marinated chickens over an open flame! If I were to list down every stall I saw at that night market, this blog’d be 3 pages long

A few metres ahead of the entrance was a stall that definitely caught my eye, it was a stall selling pulut durian. Pulut durian is a classic Malaysian snack, which has very strong Thai influences. It is basically sticky rice, served with a few durian segments and is eaten with sweetened coconut cream gravy. Mmmm… I HAD to get that!

Re-focusing on the mission at hand, which was looking for my Apam Balik, I continued walking around the night, taking a few photos of the more unique stalls, and bothering the locals with silly questions like ‘what’s in that soup?’ and ‘what is that? Does it taste good?’ Haha. There was never a doubt in my mind that the locals were a friendly bunch of people! Some answering my questions and further elaborating on its history or how it should be eaten. Some even offering to buy me some to try out. I felt like a ‘real’ tourist, even though I’m 100% Malaysian! I instantly remembered what Datuk Rahman told me...

"The locals can instantly single out the tourists from the islanders! Just through a glance of what you are wearing or how you speak, they can automatically differentiate you from the locals! And to them, even if you’re from another part of Malaysia, you’re just as much of a tourist as the guy from England!"

.. And with that in mind, I continued my quest for the Apam Balik. (GEEZ, now it’s starting to sound like an addition to the Lord of the Rings series!)

While taking photos of a curiously shaped kuih, which apparently can only be found in Langkawi (Unfortunately I can’t remember what it was called) I suddenly smelt something familiar. I smelt batter, peanuts and a hint of clarified butter… IT WAS THE APAM BALIK!

Three stalls away from the kuih stall, was a brightly lit canopy with a bunch of people hanging around it. Once I got right to the front of the stall, there was a friendly man who was taking orders while his wife filled the customized waffle maker with batter to make the base of the Apam Balik. It smelt so good. It was soft, ultra buttery and had a generous helping of peanuts stuffed in it. Yum, hands down the best Apam Balik I’ve ever had!

After making it to the end of the night market, I took a few more pictures, bought a little more food to bring home, and then went on my way, completely satisfied and horribly excited as I’ve found ONE of the many little ‘rahsia’ or secrets on this Mystical Island.

Till the next post..
Harith The Apam-Crazed Beach Bum
Kindly Sponsored by Rahsia Estates Sdn. Bhd