One of the benefits of Malaysia is the wide ethnic range of food, Malaysian, Indian, Chinese, western, it can also be a disadvantage, especially for me who is not that keen on fish.
It is not that I do not like fish, I do, when I would swim and dive with them in the warm waters of the Red Sea, or the Caribbean or South China Sea, or stand in front of an aquarium full of colourful exotic specimens. For me, perhaps as a result of being force fed fish at school as a young boy, and some of the very strong tastes and smells, I do not like to eat them.
Sometimes we have to partake in activities or gatherings that perhaps under normal circumstances we would avoid. So it was for our afternoon meal, eight of the family drove towards the near by coast, to an inlet, where there are a number of fish restaurants.
The open sided wooden structure, perched on the bank of a smelly, muddy inlet, with mangroves on the opposite bank hosting a variety of wild animals, white egrets, monitor lizards. Next to the restaurant were docks or jetties, where small fishing vessels raced in to unload their catch of fish, crabs, shellfish, so fresh and alive.
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Makanan Laut Jeti Fish Restaurant , next to shellfish packing station.
The smelly mud bank with the tide out.
The jetty next to the restaurant with a boat racing in with its catch.
The open sided restaurant next to the water, with fishing boats passing by.
A busy Makanan Laut Jeti fish restaurant
A variety of sea food was ordered, including, octopus, deep fried battered soft shelled crabs, shellfish going under the name of “La La” (shellfish close to the mussel family), prawns, vegetables and fresh fish picked from the water filled display cabinets. Served with it was a green drink, ampara juice, which tasted like grass, which is said to be good for health. Oh, not forgetting the serving of rice and chili sauce.
Octopus with sauces
Why is it that anything I do not particularly like is always good for my health, or as my mother would say, make my hair curl, or my father would say, put hairs on my chest? None of these things have happened to me.
All the food is as always served centrally, and people help themselves to individual mouthfuls, using the pink and orange plastic plates, forks and spoons.
Bing and Janet Ng
The food actually, as my “Grand Niece” Anjelica would say, was really good. I loved the soft shelled crab, eaten whole, legs and shells, (seen above middle right), the scampi, (top left) served in a deep brown rich sauce was mouth watering, the fresh prawn (top right) coated in fried oat flakes, once out of their shells, were meaty and fresh.
Perhaps the green vegetable called Kan Choi (spinach family) served in Sambal sauce is not to my pallet, in fact I cannot stand the smell or taste, so I had one small piece, neither did I partake in the curried fish, (yet to arrive in the above picture), as my stomach cannot tolerate curries.
Perhaps my dislike of fish meals will change, as I continually try new things on my travels.