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Tuesday, August 5, 2008/ 3:05 AM Nostalgic Satay Lucky Me I was walking through this housing estate when I chance upon an uncle behind a small little cart. From far, I could only see the uncle fanning hard amidst thick smoke. I only realised that he was selling satay when I walked a few steps closer. Happy to see that such traditional vendors still exist, I approached him excitedly. I ordered only 5 pieces of pork satay as I was still full from a late lunch. While waiting for my satay to be barbequed, I saw several residents popping their heads out of the windows, equally excited to see the satay man. He must be a familliar sight in that area.  Long Queue I was expecting my satays to be ready in less than 5 minutes, since I was the only customer waiting in front of the cart. However, when the food was ready the uncle didn't serve it to me! It was then did I realise that there were residents who placed their orders with the uncle before me, and they walked back home while waiting for their satay to be cooked. I started to wonder how many 'invisible customers' were there before me.  Customers While waiting, a couple came over and collected 60 satays. Apparently, the man's father had called to place the order a day before. That increased my expectation of the satay; it must have tasted so good that people are placing phone orders a day before! Shortly after, my attention was caught by a middle aged lady and a man walked over. (I assumed they were a pair of mother and son.) Still a distant away, I could hear the man saying that the Satay Uncle sells only pork satay, while the lady insisted that he does sell chicken satay too. It's been quite a while before they decided to clarify with the Satay Uncle. This was what he said: He only sells cooked pork satay, as pork satay will still taste as tender and delicious after being left in room temperature for a period of time. However, chicken satay will only taste equally good if eaten immediately after being barbequed. Otherwise, the texture of the chicken satay be rough and it will be too tough for consumption. Since most of his customers 'take-away' satays instead of eating 'fresh' on the spot, he decided to sell only cooked pork satays. But if anyone wants to pre-order raw satays, he sells both chicken and pork.  My Satay By then, my long awaited Satay was ready. It was accompanied a blend of fresh pineapple. Instead of the typical cucumber chosen by many other hawkers, this Satay Uncle chose the japanese cucumber (known as Suhyo) instead and he sure was generous with it! However I kindly rejected the peanut satay sauce, as I felt embarassed for receiving so many 'accompanying complements' with a merage purchase of 5 satays at 50 cents each. This Satay Uncle did his satay the traditional way by placing layers of pork fats in between pieces of meat. Though I usually do not fancy pork fats or lard, I got a great sense of satisfaction chewing through the piece of grilled fats, as it slowly melts in my mouth with a soft sizzling sound. In fact, I like the grilled fats more than the meat! I will definately return for more pork satays and the next time round, I'll request for the uncle's handphone number so that I can always call him for advance orders or request for uncooked satays should I organise a bbq session in the near future.  A satisfied customerLocation: Please pm (private message) me for details, as I don't want to risk losing the chance to savour delicious satay ever again. Just in case someone decides to report the Satay Uncle to the relevant authority. Score Chart Food 8.5/10 The pork was grilled to perfect tender and the pork fat was awesome. Variety 6 /10 Pork for cooked satays. Pork and chicken for uncooked satays. (The variety was fine with me as I don't really fancy beef nor mutton satay for its smell) Ambience 7.5/10 Nostalgic is the word to describe it; I felt as if I was back to my parent's era of time. Price 8/10 The price if satay is pretty standard, but I rated it fairly high as the Satay Uncle was generous with the pineapple blend, satay sauce, japanese cucumber and onion. Promotions Nil Posted by Mildred Labels: Food Review |
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