Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Restoran A Hassan (Nasi Ayam Kampung) @ KESAS

When I tell my friends that my kampung is only a short 15 minutes drive from KLCC (sans the horrendous weekday traffic congestions), their reply was unanimous. So cool lar. Me, on the other hand, wish my kampung is an hour’s drive from the city (because two would be too tiresome and I’ll need to stop to leak, hence interrupting my little concerto).

My perfect kampung will have a lake that I can jump into as I please, a few friends to hunt for spiders (and monkeys), an abandoned haunted house that we can explore at night, tall trees to climb and of course, endless supply of ayam kampung (free range chicken).

To be honest, processed white chicken is not really my thing. I’m sure many will agree. Young chicks have soft meat, oh yes they do, but do they taste like chicken? Most certainly not. It’s exercise, maturity and undisturbed food that maketh a good piece of meat.

Looks can be deceiving and I must confess that I’ve been cheated one too many times by these chicks. All’s well until you tear them apart to taste their meat. Pure white and tasteless.

It’s been two moons back since I met the real deal in a long time. Even without the ayam kampung, I will gladly revisit this restaurant, simply because of the good spread of mostly traditional Malay dishes. The endless selection of ulam greens itself is already an attraction.

The pucuk paku manis (fern), especially the shoots type, cooked lemak (in coconut milk) with a hint of tumeric is a favourite of mine. Sweet, crunchy and soft, it’s good stuff. A natural remedy for the reluctant royalties sitting on the throne as well. What yoghurt??

There are a few dippings to choose from. A combination of the onions/chilli cencaluk-like, tamarind-flavoured sauce and the red hot sambal is the ultimate appetizer and dressing for anything and everything. I’ve seen patrons shamelessly filling up plates of this sweet/sour/spicy/free-of-charge condiment and happily licking every drop of it. I was one of them.

It goes very well with the much-hyped ayam kampung goreng. One bite and you’ll know that this is one hot chick. Simply deep-fried and perhaps marinated with just a pinch of salt, it was full of essence of chicken. Tasty!

It’s a relief to know that this type of chicken is still conveniently available among us. A meat man may not enjoy this rather skinny version but if you are one who appreciates the real taste of chicken, you’ll certainly like this. In fact, it’s not that skinny lah. Not Kate Moss, anyway.

Restoran A Hassan Sdn. Bhd.
Nasi Ayam Kampung (Cawangan Awam Besar)
Lebuhraya Shah Alam (KESAS Highway)
Kompleks Rehat Awam Besar

29 comments:

Christine said...

they say simple is always nice..i think that goes with ur chicken also..im actually attracted to those squid tentacles..wonder why?

Anonymous said...

Hehe, All Hail the Gai Wong (Chicken Emperor)!!

You sure know your chickens... ;)

Tummythoz said...

15mins from KLCC? Kampung Baru?
Those village chicks can be quite tough. My jaws may not be up to the challenge.

J2Kfm said...

ayam kampung ...
their flesh is sweeter & tougher somehow.

maybe the extra exercise?

Anonymous said...

hey dude, i noticed something only now, how come you every month write exactly 9 posts? any particular reasons?

Precious Pea said...

Your perfect kampung...gulp...comes with a haunted house?? Just pass me the food, I leave the exploration to you. Eee..

Ciki said...

ooo.. a kampung style post i see! i love undisturbed, undeep freezed chicken too! cannot cheat la, the taste in the steamed chicken will always give it away... :) yum yum!

Faye fly said...

haha..i stayed at ur dream kampung but no lake can jumped juz had a small river for catchin prawn n fish...kampung aways tat nice... back 2 nature ^^

backStreetGluttons said...

One of us swear ayam kampung goreng is badder than KFC.

But nobody believed him.

You gotta dig deep to appreciate Malay food, coz they are deep n hot, though actually quite messy in a dirty kind of way

Live2Talk said...

you sure know your chicken sweetie *salute* ... err say, you are not afraid of chicken ghost in the haunted house ah ;P

Selba said...

Looks yummy... are those ayam kampung, real village chicken?

HairyBerry said...

christine, yupe! agree that simple is nice. and yeah, i was attracted to the sotongs as well! maybe it's the texture...hehee...

kenny, Gai Wong? haha...somehow, it sounds like "pimp" or something liddat..haha! actually, i'm more of a babi person.. ;)

tummythoz, slightly lower. sentul! ;) no lar, the ayam kampung are quiet tender, actually. ;)

j2kfm, goes to show that we also need to exercise, right? cos it makes us yummier! ;) hehehe...

brad, wow! you noticed! ;) well, there's no particular reason for it. just that i thought a certain uniformity will make it look good. ;)

precious pea, haha! i remember exploring old and some said haunted houses when i was very young. so, it brings back memory lar..hehe...

HairyBerry said...

cumi & ciki, you da bomb! yupe, agree that the real test of a chicken is by steaming it! that itself makes reunion dinners a bliss. ;)

faye fly, woah, you so lucky! ;) actually, a river with prawns is also fun! can get free prawns...hehe! i need a holiday! argghh...

backstreetglutton, deliciousness is messy and dirty, me thinks. and lurve 'em! ;) and yes, dig deeper and we shall find all the hot, sensuously deliciousness that's more than finger licking good. i like! ;)

live2talk, thanks sweetie! but i am actually more of a babi person...hehe...of course i'm not scare of the chicken ghost. i'll just bring a picture of colonel sanders. ;)

selba, yummy indeed! i think those are ayam kampung rared in farms under certain conditions that are somehow similar to villages. still good.. ;)

Anonymous said...

So you reckon you are more Chi Wong. We of course know who Chi How is then, the charsiu/siuyoke queen.. :D

I find that authentic Malay cuisine is not so easy to find, a lot are mixed with Indonesian style. There is a really good kampung-style restaurant near Rawang. Serves a wide variety of ulam with a fantastic array of sambals, to-die-for fried ikan sumbat and of course, a killer ayam goreng. All washed down with a cold and creamy sirap bandung. It is located at a row of double storey shophse after Templer's Park just as you approach Rawang town, before Lan Je's shop. It is the same row as a big chinese restaurant (occupies 3-4 shoplots). But haven't been there for the past 2 years, so dunno if it is still there!

Anonymous said...

I love the spicy-sour malay style dips for ulam (something which I discovered late in life and fell in love with), but tempoyak's usually my dip of choice. The heady scent is enough to drive me crazy.

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

just eat 2 pieces..not that hard of a decision to make rite?

ling239 said...

oh the fried chicken must be very delicious!! but dunno where this is leh...>.<"

sc said...

ooooo, the ayam kampung looks so succulent! i wanna bite into one now!

jasmine said...

ooh, my type of food. like LL, tempoyak's the way to go. no way to start the afternoon with the lingering breath of durian :P

HairyBerry said...

GFAD, oh yes, we definitely know who's Chi How...hehehe...

yeah, i agree that authentic Malay cuisine is not easy to find, as most have been infused with Indonesian influences. much like our local dai chows. your description is darn delicious! am begging the friends to go to lan jie. so, along the way, will keep my eyes wide open for it! thanks for the recommendation, ya! ;)

lyrical lemongrass, omg! tempoyak is another one of those dippings that i stay far, far away from. simply because it's durian. i cant take durian! yeah, weird, i know. @_@ so, i'll stick to sambal belacan. ;)

joe, haha! of course, of course. and unlike the fat, white ones, this is more chewable. so, the more we chew, the more calories we burn, the more we can eat..hehe

ling239, oh, i think they have a few brunches. actually, i oso dunno the way well. my kawan brought me there one. i think there's one at shah alam as well. alternatively, you can take the kesas highway (bound for klang) and stop at awam besar. it's at that stop. ;)

sc, hehe, same thing lar. i oso wanna bite into that ayam with white sauce on your blog. so darn good looking lar! hey, do check this out and let us know what ya think! ;)

jasmine, hahaha! tempoyak is really a very distinctive dipping, i think. and of acquired taste as well. i guess i should give it a try. a tiny bit follow by lotsa water. wish me luck! haha!

choi yen said...

I prefer those "dry" version of fried chicken. I think most of the Malay stall sell this "dry" fried chicken, Chinese version always too oily for me ~~.~

Jun said...

actually, to paraphrase kenny, i think u know ur chicks better ;p man, love ur wit!

ps: i'm not gng to spore anymore *sob* will be flying off next sat direct from KLIA *double sob*

HairyBerry said...

mimi, agree, agree! it's very scary to see the amount of oil dripping through the mesh...i also prefer the "dry" version. but i still lurve KFC's hot and spicy! ;)

jun, haha! so, i guess i'll hafta live with the name gai wong lar..haha! ;)

ps/ps: aiyoh! din even catch up lar, this time!! T_T ...when you coming back to singapore again?? will definitely contact u if i ever to to ozzie! ;) have a safe trip back! ;)

Big Boys Oven said...

hahahaha I am craving for food now after a short stay in singapore....but I do miss a bowl of katong curry noodle!

Simon Seow said...

The terung masak sambal and the telur dadar already had me drooling.

HairyBerry said...

bigboysoven, ohh..katong laksa is yummy, isn't it? ;)

simon, yeah, me too! simple and tasty!!! check it out! me thinks it's not too far from your place... ;)

Anonymous said...

hye..
to anyone who want stock of 'ayam kampung'(1000/day also can)in a cheap price just email me (aye_yatie@hotmail.com)

from,
supplier

Jiant said...

Your blog is very interesting, I love it!
I love nasi ayam!

tya said...

wah kayaknya enak nih...