street food would be good... no need fancy.. but want something really "out of this world" as in cannot get anywhr else
I thought red the moment I read her e-mail.
We loved the sup tulang (mutton bone marrow stew) at Haji Kadir. It was sweet, almost barbeque sauce-like. The bits of meat attached to the bones were addictively flaky, complete with some chewy cartilages for fun. One has to have the baguette to complete the tulang experience, the same way we have our man tous for chilli crabs. Extracting the bone marrow has got to be the most interesting part. We looked around for references and managed to suck out some of the greyish brown matter out of the bones, eventually. The regulars would grip the bones with all five fingers while basing the joints on their palms. This was followed by tilting of the bones before the suction begins, to allow a better flow. For me, it was truly an experience that reminded me of my virginal attempt at eating banana leaf rice with my bare hands.
If all else fails, just ask for a straw.
Red is a serious business here. Just take a look at the mee goreng and you’ll know what I mean. Before eww-ing and yuck-ing at it, I believe we should ask ourselves why some char siews are red in the first place. Anyway, the taste was really good, with just the right amount of char and salt.
The staff told us that no artificial colouring was used in the making of the red dishes as we showed him our stained fingers. It's all about our sambal, he said. But besides beetroot, I can’t really think of any natural ingredient that leaves a red stain. Heck, even haemoglobins turn brown as they deoxidise.
One of their recommendations, the mutton soup was rather dilute and powdery. Definitely pink in comparison to the ultra reds.
We had so much fun with the reds and even decided that these are the best Halloween dishes one can ever get. In a very delicious way, of course.
Red turned funky as we partied like there’s no tomorrow at St. James Power Station. It was retro night and between us, there were beers, a jug of absolutely throbbing long island tea, shots, and some other intoxication.
Thanks for visiting, Ciki.
Fun begins with you.
Haji Kadir & M Baharudeen
#B1-15, Golden Mile Food Centre
Click here for Ciki’s take.
And here for another good introduction to Haji Kadir’s tulangs.
35 comments:
oh this is the famed red red tulangs at S'pore. always seen it on S'pore TV but never tried when i was there. and yes, they insist that the colour's all naturel (on Spore national TV too :p)..hhehe
I never really got why all of Singapore's mamak dishes are in that radioactive red the first time I saw it. But yea, you got it right. Try it before u flak it. Nowadays, I just close my eyes and stuff the mee into my mouth. It does taste better than it looks.
I still prefer our kinda Mee Mamak. Esp the ones from Penang. Yummmms.
Ya da woman is a lot of fun. Such a sweet dedication.:-)
clearing backlogs dear nic? ;p
Whoaaaa... everything is so red?
haha i heard abt the st james.. and how my sg fren said..dont go there la..all old ah beng n ah lians..
Ohhh...OOPS!
yes yes ... i rmbr ciki's post vividly. almost blood-like indulgement. barbaric with bare hands groping and licking.
i've never tried sup tulang, gearbox or whatever though. pathetic eh
Nobody will believe that was natural RED!!! It look really unnatural, haha!!
Red, too cruel a colour sometimes. Not many types of food that shade of fiery red which does not invoke the barbaric reminder of animal slaughter and bloodbaths, but this is one of them!
I thought it was full of colouring, until you mentioned beetroot. =P
I love a good kambing soup! but pity the kambing here.
bloody red! wow, so you are in march now eh? your friend's post is two months ago. heh
Good times, great laughs... Hairyberry style! bon voyage.. See u in a week or so! Dont ferget da rubberrrrr...;p
woah, i never tried tulang b4, and i need kambing soup, now!!!!!!!
hehe, kinda hard to believe no coloring had been used but anyway i think turmeric stains fingers & clothes too, if i'm not wrong? or maybe saffron? but saffron is the most expensive spice in the world, bet they will be real stingy with it. so ya, must be coloring lor LOL
sc, ohhh, i havent seen it on tv yet. must go see if it's the same guy who told me about the au naturel colour..heheheh...next me know when u come over. we go makan tulang!
qwazymonkey, radioactive red? omg, u so farny lah!!! haha! well, the red is definitely a skeptical colour. a slight yellow wudda made it more appetising..haha...me, i like my maggie goreng from kl! with lotsa onions and tomatoes!
lyrical lemongrass, thanks dear! ya lor, ciki can party all night and go to work the next day...da bomb! and u are very happening oso lah! ;D
thenomadGourmand, HAHAHAHAH! u know me so well! ;D well, i dont actually blog according to dates. will just post when i feel like it. hence the randomness...ok, will keep it minimal la..heheheh..
selba, yupe, yupe. red, red, red..haha! the sup kambing wudda been red too, if they included tomato paste..haha!
joe, actually not really lor. cos there are about 8 different rooms there. i kinda like the acoustic room, which used to be a jazz lounge. i think your fren is referring to dragonfly, one of the bigger rooms. ;D
j2kfm, haha, that's why we thought it's the perfect halloween food. throw in some bloody mary or sangria and it's twilight all over again! aiyah, not pathetic la. i've not tasted lotsa sups like gearbox and torpedo before oso. u come to kl, we go sup crawl la.
mimi, hahaha, i guess u have a point. i was thinking of the same thing as well. like, where does that ultra redness come from? i seriously cant think of a natural ingredient that looks THAT red..hahaha!
550ml jar of faith, i agree! on one hand, we love our ayam masak merah and sambal but on the other hand, we cringe at the ultra red of preserved food. i guess the different hues have a psychological effect on us. some turmeric yellow helps, i think. ;D
bangsar-babe, well, i'm still dubious about the colour...hehe...and no beetroot in the sup la. i was just trying to associate the colour with a natural ingredient..hehehe...
ice, i lurve sup kambing as well! especially when it's full of coriander stems and fried onions! the one at commonwealth drive (in the same kopitiam as the famous Two Chefs Eating Place) is quite good!
ladyironchef, hehehe..actually, it's quite random. i've posted stuff that i had a few weeks back..haha! and zsofis was only a day old when i blogged about it..haha! kinda self-indulging me, i guess..hehe
cumi & ciki, everything turns fun in the presence of ciki!!! thanks again for visiting, dear. u da bomb! yeah, see ya soon!!! thanks for the reminder too! ;D
evan 이벤젤린, at 12 am, i am oso thinking of sup kambing for supper..hehe..oh yeah, u are right about turmeric!!! how could i miss that out! haha! as for saffron, yeah, i thought about it but saffron is kinda yellowish and this is really, really ultra red. and expensive too, definitely. only one way to find out, i guess. lab test! hehehe...
Until now, I still have no guts to try sup tulang.
their sup tulang is YUMMY! :D
everything's so red!
it's Flaming RED ! scares me off.
Nice that you live in Singapore. I use to go for a look out whenever i go to my office in SG. Last went to this, chapel turned restaurant. white rabbit. Love it.
its really something out of ordinary! must use the barbarian way of devouring it then only "yau mei" ma
Man, RED is RED here... Somehow I always felt S'pore was this pale shade of antiseptic white, but hey I am increasingly convinced otherwise with each great visit to the island city... ;)
Arhh... that's really barbaric red, man! Did u get stained tongue, lips and all, after eating those?
Maybe is all red cos Singapore flag also so red...I still grimace at the amount of food colouring used here. Much prefer Malaysia style mee mamak! :)
little inbox, it'll be an interesting experience, trust me! ;D on the other hand, i've still got no guts to try durian...heheh
jaime-la-nourriture, so u have tried their sup tulang, eh? that's cool! i wonder if the other dishes are good. redness madness! haha!
chaokar, ohhh, white rabbit! i heard about it before. saw some pics on the net and it reminded me of that restaurant in kew gardens...i must go check it out one day! ;D
kampungboycitygal, haha! ya lor, the barbarian way is the way to go! yupe, yau mei-ness comes with a certain level of chaos! i cant imagine using fork and knife for it..haha!
lifeforbeginners, u are right, dude! now that i've found ultra red, will try to search for ultra greens and yellows. i hope it's not artificial colourings..heheheh...bila mau cuba tulang? ;D
pureglutton, oh yes, our fingers were stained. that's the reason why we asked if colourings were used...but i guess doing it once in a while is fine..hehe
camemberu, ohhh, talking about mee goreng, i wonder if there's maggi mee goreng here in singapore. that wudda been interesting. and i will try to request for less merah-merah. haha!
We are not that burning red neither anywhere close ! Time to see the Haji
lol !
*Imagine gobbling red tulangs with bare hands.
That's so carnivor-listic. I like! Must stain the face and mouth a bit for a more realistic effect, hehe.
I really like that.
Haha... That's a great post!
Alexander
Alex's World! - http://www.kakinan.com/alex
too red for me. reminds me of blood. *slurp*
u sure u din photoshop these pictures ? so red leh...
Ouch, another post which makes me miss Asian food so much. Sup tulang, felt like I haven't had them for years. Another nice place in Singapore, gotta plan a trip there (think I've said this many times, haha!)
backstreetgluttons, hehehehehehe...well, burning or not, let me know if u guys are coming over to the little red dot. we'll go burn some red bones! ;D
jason, hahaha! that's why we decided to call these dishes the best halloween food ever. it's really fun playing (ahem, eating i mean..hehe) with the tulangs!
alexander, thanks, dude! glad u liked it! do check out this place when u return to singapore for a visit! ;D
jun, omg, yeah! i'm sure u wouldnt wanna see another pool of red stuff after work, ya? eh, suddenly got *slurp* pulak..hehehe
ling239, nope, no photoshopping here. it was really ultra red..haha! that's why we asked the staff if dye was used. we've got stained fingers. haha!
sugar bean, well, i guess there is a certain similarity between malaysian and singaporean food. that makes it easier for us living in singapore, i guess. gotta lurve the tulangs here! ;D
guffaw...you cant think of any natural ingredient that leaves a red stain???
how come i dont remember ciki blogging abt this ah?
oh my bad....yes i was thinking of hemoglobins as well... err... deoxidise or oxidise ah?
hahahaaaa.... after eating no need lipsticks and nail polish d lor ~ :p
fatboybakes, yeah, ciki blogged about this a long time ago. you know me la, very slow one..hehe..eh, i thought oxidised hemoglobin is fresh blood, hence the redness? hmmm, i must go check my bio books d..long time no touch..hehe
ling239, haha, u r right. i think we went clubbing after that with the red stain on our fingers..hehe
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