- moktok's best nasi dagang - signature dish of Terengganu
Moktok - Abah's grandma and guardian - is the proud owner of the state renowned Mak Ngah Nasi Dagang. It had been featured in numerous food shows, locally and abroad, newspapers and books. For those who simply had no idea what it is, it's a very simple dish usually eaten for breakfast, the rice is cooked with coconut milk - somewhat similar to nasi lemak but with its own distinct taste, paired with gulai nasi dagang which present the main "star" ikan tongkol .
So...what's so special then about this dish? Abah mentioned that a person will either like it or do not at all, especially because ikan tongkol usually does not have that many fans. But I can tell you that, its like the must-have breakfast for the people over here. On weekends or holidays, over 400 plates can be sold in a span of 3-4 hrs only!
If you see the pic above, you will find Moktok sitting cross-legged on a table surrounded by the dishes. At about 70+ years of age, she is still going on strong, alhamdulillah. She will be the one dishing the rice and gravy onto the banana leaf, for the whole morning without any breaks at all!
Another interesting part of this dish is the preparation and cooking method. I don't know of the others, but Moktok is very strict in the whole process of making this dish, that most of the work is done by her alone! - she can never trust anyone to do anything, down to preparing the banana leaf or choosing the coconuts for the milk. Everything is done conventionally that I bet that you might have never even seen some of the 'tools' used. ( have not had the chance to take pics of the process, maybe in later posts) Needless to say that the gravy is cooked over woods, and the process takes the whole night. Tedious as it may be, but she is determined to keep it that way as she truly believes that there is absolutely no SHORTCUTS in order to achieve perfection. Just imagine the effort being put into all these, no wonder it is the BEST you can ever get!
And yes, we went to Terengganu for a night. 3hrs journey in the car to and fro. Sometimes we just have to give in if it pleases everybody else *right?*
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