Kampar Lor Mai Fan (Sticky Rice)- Breakie in Kampar - Perak MFF#1

Kampar may be small. But we had (yes had!) a lot of good food. Back in the olden days, before the North South Highway was built, Kampar was a popular choice to stop over for meals due to its location right along the trunk road.

During breakfast hours,. families stop over at Seng Kee for wantan mee, or the market for the Ham Dan Fun (cockle egg fried noodle), MalaiWong Prawn noodle, HarLok noodles opposite the town field and of course the ever famous Rat Noodle @ Silver Pin Noodle with homemade fishballs available at many stalls in town. Oh yeah, and Chee cheong fun, the thick type!

Nowadays many of the old time food stalls were taken over by the next generation, or just stopped the business. It's no longer as good but still..... ahh.... it's nostalgic. Food memories never fade and we always hope that that taste is never forgotten.

Those of us who grew up in Kampar, grew up eating almost the same breakfast. As food is easily available and it's affordable, most parents don't cook breakfast and will buy them from the morning market.

This week, I will feature the top 3 favourite breakie for most Kamparians from the market area, and then I will move on to other foods found at other times of the day.

Lor Mai Fan or sticky rice in Kampar is a bit different from what you get elsewhere. Here, it is served with red roasted char siu, fried peanuts, spring onions with curry as an option.

Drenched with curry

When I was a kid.. there was this stall at the market (the old place outside of Emporium Perak), somewhere not too far from the roast pig shops, there is this stall of Lor Mai Fan that has a very long queue. I actually never dared to buy from them, because the lady at the stall has a very very fair complexion with very pale lips plus a tattooed outline around the eye....... she scared me. This was the most popular stall of all the lor mai fans in town. I do remember their char siu very well. It's mostly fat, but it's fragrant, crunchy and sweet. Very delightful to eat even if they are fat. But I won't buy it myself due to my fear of the lady. Sadly this stall chose to terminate their business although business was super dee good.

There were other stalls around and now.. it's good opportunity for the others.

dig in!

Kampar Lor Mai Fan
by WendyinKK
Serves 4-6

300gm glutinous rice
1 heaped Tbsp dried shrimp, soaked and chopped finely
2 shallots, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 heaped Tbsp pork fat
1 Tbsp premium oyster sauce
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp dark caramel sauce
Salt if needed
Boiling water

1/2 cup fried peanuts
Spring onions, sliced
Red roasted char siew

1. Soak rice for at least 1 hour. Drain in a colander. Prepare your steaming vessel.
2. Heat wok on medium low heat and put in 1 Tbsp of oil and put in pork fat. Gently fry the fat until it turns golden and crispy. Discard the crispy fat (or keep them if you want). Retain the oil in wok.
3. Turn the heat to high and saute the shallots and garlic until almost golden. Add in chopped dried shrimp. Fry until shallots look golden. Pour in all the rice and toss it to coat. Add in all the seasonings. Keep on tossing it until you can feel a slight stick on the rice.
4. Taste the rice and spit them out, add salt if needed.
5. Place rice into a steaming pan (cake pan will do fine). Level the rice.
6. Put in sufficient boiling water (2-3mm above the rice)
7. Steam it on high heat for 20-30 minutes or until rice is cooked. (taste it to know, time depends on how big your pan is)
8. Let the rice cool for 30 minutes, then fluff the rice with chopsticks.
9. Moisten a small rice bowl, then pat the cooled rice into the mositened bowl. Press it in and level it. Flip it onto your serving plate.
10. Top with sliced red char siu, peanuts and spring onions. Curry is optional.

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Red Roasted Char Siew

200gm lean pork cut into 1cm thick long strips
40gm sugar
20gm light soy sauce
pinch of salt
1/2 Tbsp rose wine (Mei gui lu)
few drops of red food colouring

Mix everything together and marinate overnight. The next day, remove the pork from the marinade and bake it at 200C until it is cooked. Let it cool down before slicing.

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Curry sauce

1 shallot, sliced
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
1 tsp meat curry powder
1 tsp dried shrimp
Few leaves of curry leaf (half a sprig)
2 Tbsp coconut milk
2 Tbsp milk
1 cup water
Fish sauce and salt to taste.

Heat wok and put in 1 Tbsp of oil. Saute shallots and garlic until almost golden, Add in dried shrimp and saute for a while. Put in curry powder and curry leaf and saute until fragrant. Put in water, bring to a boil and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Put in coconut milk and milk, give it a good stir, season with fish sauce and salt. Pour this into a bowl.

I am submitting this to Malaysian Food Fest Perak Month hosted by WendyinKK of Table for 2 or more