Comfort Food

Enjoying comfort food with a pretty girl named Nobuytea. I mean Norbaiti aka Zetty. The girl is from Muo. I mean Muar.

and the story about Special No. 1 Porridge by Halim Said

IT may be bold of Zaleha Ahmad to claim that her dish is the best in town, but the Special No 1 Porridge may be worth bragging about.

Zaleha, who is fondly known as Kak Leha, said she set up the business when she was in her 20s and had just started her own family.

It had been 27 years since she opened her first porridge stall in Jalan Sutera, Taman Sentosa.

"At the time I was the first and only one with a stall here. That was how I came to the name Special No 1 Porridge for my stall," she told Streets.

Kak Leha takes pride in her porridge which she cooks Teochew-style combined with Malay inspired condiments. Bringing two cultures together was a way for her to honour her Chinese and Malay roots.

Boiling high-quality grade rice for one-and-a-half hours on medium-low heat results in rice porridge that is white, smooth and silky in texture.

Best savoured warm, a bowl of porridge goes well with condiments such as sambal anchovies, salted duck egg, salted mackerel and pickled radish which adds flavour to the simple dish.

The set of porridge and condiments sold by Kak Leha goes for an affordable RM5.

"I prepared the porridge and condiments using my own style. That is why it is unique and can only be found here," she said.

Kak Leha had also opened stalls on the same stretch offering a variety of dishes such as ayam penyet, satay, grilled cockles, grilled seafood and char kuey teow. All the dishes are priced between RM5 to RM7.50 per serving.

People from all walks of life throng Kak Leha's stalls on a nightly basis from 6pm to 3am.

Business has been so good that there are some 100 tables for her customers. They are also entertained with the performance of street buskers.

"The buskers are better off performing here rather than wandering aimlessly around the city. Besides, my customers enjoy their music," she said.

Kak Leha's husband, Ismail Jaafar, said their speciality dishes can also be found near the Pandan City wholesale market and Permas Jaya.