From a quick snack of fried banana fritters to a warm hearty meal of handmade kampung laksa that was perfected with 14 years of experience, Suhaimi Yusof meets with the Malay Muslim merchants of Yishun who still serves up a storm despite fasting themselves and shares his top picks to rid your hunger pangs this Ramadan.
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🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Anything that you can find that can be fried, they will fry everything.
00:03 Correct.
00:04 Including me also, you can fry me inside.
00:06 No, cannot. Too big.
00:07 Hello, I'm Suhaimi Uso.
00:19 Welcome to Tapau Diaries.
00:21 Today, I'm going to bring you to one of my favourite places in Singapore,
00:25 Yishun.
00:25 Why Yishun?
00:26 Because you didn't know this
00:28 is Mr Yishun.
00:30 His full name is Mr Lim Nee Soon.
00:32 You didn't know that, right?
00:34 So, if you want to know more, you come here, you talk to him,
00:36 he's ready to talk to you.
00:38 While he talks to you,
00:39 I'm going to talk to favourite stall owners of mine
00:42 because I need to find things for me to breakfast later, okay?
00:45 So, you talk to him, I talk to them.
00:47 I need to tapau everything.
00:49 Our first stop is this shop.
00:52 In normal days, normal months,
00:54 they will sell mee rebus, mee siam, lontong, etc.
00:57 Like normal.
00:58 But in Ramadan, they sell something special.
01:00 This shop is called Al Kawsar.
01:02 It's at Block 343, Yishun Avenue 11.
01:05 We're here!
01:08 Hello.
01:11 Hey!
01:14 Peace be upon you.
01:16 How are you?
01:18 In normal days, what do you sell in the shop?
01:20 Okay, let's say today lontong, mee soto,
01:22 tomorrow will be mee rebus, mee siam.
01:24 Oh, why are you on the internet?
01:26 Because basically, down here, it's mostly residents.
01:29 Uh-huh.
01:29 So, residents, they don't want the same food every day.
01:32 Wow, that means you understand the residents' heart
01:34 and you sell different things, variety.
01:36 That's why it's called Kampung Spirit.
01:38 Kampung Spirit, you don't mind.
01:39 It's okay.
01:41 But I see something very special here.
01:43 In Ramadan, you start to sell something
01:45 which you don't sell any other mines.
01:48 What's that?
01:48 Kampung Laksa.
01:49 Kampung Laksa, for people of Kampung Yishun.
01:53 What's so special about this Kampung Laksa?
01:54 Fish-based soup.
01:56 That's the base of the gravy.
01:58 But the...
01:59 I see the noodle looks different.
02:00 The noodle is a combination of rice flour,
02:03 sago and tempeh kaffir lime leaves.
02:05 And where did you buy this?
02:07 Me, I sell.
02:08 You make the noodle?
02:10 Homemade, handmade?
02:11 I learned this through experience, 14 years.
02:15 You took 14 years to make this noodle?
02:18 Experience cannot buy with money.
02:20 But I also see in front there,
02:22 there's some snacks and some kueh-kueh.
02:24 You do those kueh too?
02:25 Most of the kueh is supplied by our local HBB.
02:29 By Yishun.
02:30 Yishun neighbourhood.
02:32 Wow!
02:33 So they actually help each other?
02:35 Yes, we help each other.
02:37 They are single parents, low-income family,
02:40 old people.
02:41 So it's just a sideline for them.
02:43 Can you pack for me later?
02:44 Yes, sure.
02:45 I want to try later with breakfast.
02:47 Sure.
02:48 This Kampung Laksa.
02:49 Sure.
02:50 That is 14 years of research.
02:53 [Music]
03:03 You know this Ramadan,
03:04 I'm craving for some really nice kueh.
03:07 Kueh that melts in your mouth.
03:09 Eh, I'm still fasting.
03:10 Okay, okay, okay.
03:11 I have to go to this new online directory.
03:17 Yishuncentral.com
03:20 Ah, got it!
03:21 I got it!
03:23 Wow, this place is a really nice place.
03:28 Welcome to Yishun Junction 9!
03:33 You know, according to the online directory,
03:35 Kueh Zainia at Junction 9 is renowned for its variety of kueh.
03:40 So much kueh that I don't know whether I can keep up or not.
03:42 So I'm here at Yishun to...
03:44 Eh, is that MP Professor Faisal Ibrahim?
03:48 Oh, hello!
03:49 Assalamualaikum, Professor Faisal.
03:52 You're here?
03:54 How are you?
03:55 What's your name?
03:56 Saha.
03:56 Saha and...
03:58 Tara.
03:58 Saha Tara.
04:00 So here, for you, which one is your favourite?
04:03 Yeah, this is all traditional kueh.
04:05 Oh, which one's section?
04:06 Kueh...
04:08 Kueh Kesui, Kole-kole, and Nopis.
04:11 There's even Kueh Nopis.
04:12 Yeah, it's hard to get these.
04:14 Okay, so this is the kueh section.
04:16 Yeah, and you can see there's fried noodles.
04:18 Fried noodles, and you have this...
04:20 What is this? Champing...
04:21 -Pocket buns. -Pocket buns!
04:23 Pocket buns are my favourite.
04:25 The last time I tried this was in Kunming.
04:28 Kunming in Yenang.
04:30 Now, no need to go there.
04:31 No need to go there. Come to Yishun.
04:32 Come to Yishun!
04:33 Yishun!
04:34 This one is beautiful. This is nice.
04:36 This is curry puffs, homemade.
04:38 Curry puffs are homemade?
04:39 Homemade, yeah.
04:40 Which means there's four places.
04:41 Homemade and handmade.
04:42 Uh...
04:44 Home-based, if I'm not mistaken?
04:45 Yeah, home-based.
04:46 We are supporting home-based
04:48 for them to come and share their products with us.
04:51 So we are sharing.
04:52 Especially Yishun.
04:54 75% of our home-based is from Yishun.
04:56 Most importantly, it meets the needs of our residents.
04:59 I'm happy to see home-based business
05:02 growing well in Yishun.
05:04 Fantastic!
05:04 And it's also...
05:05 It's something that I, as an MP here, I feel very happy.
05:08 Very good!
05:09 But is there any other place that you probably can recommend
05:12 -if I can find out more? -Yes, yes.
05:13 We have lots of places here.
05:15 One place, there's this Nenda's Pretters.
05:18 Nenda's Pretters?
05:19 Yeah, they sell goreng pisang.
05:22 -Goreng pisang? -Right?
05:22 And then all the type of goreng goreng that...
05:24 I think the buka puasa is delicious.
05:26 That's it, that's it.
05:27 -Nice to see you. -Inshallah.
05:29 -See you, yeah? -I'm going to roam around this whole area
05:30 and tell you Yishun.
05:31 Thank you, and selamat buka.
05:32 Selamat buka, too.
05:33 -Okay. -Thank you, yeah?
05:34 You're going to discover the Yishun you never knew.
05:37 Okay.
05:38 Since Professor Faisal recommended me
05:41 to visit Nenda's Pretters here in Yishun,
05:44 I took this recommendation seriously.
05:46 Guess what?
05:47 Ta-da!
05:48 I'm here!
05:49 Did you know that Nenda's Pretters actually started from Pasar Malam?
06:00 And as it evolved, it became bigger and bigger,
06:03 and finally, they have a stall here at Yishun.
06:07 What are you selling here?
06:08 We have banana pretters,
06:09 then keledek, sweet potato, wadik,
06:12 and a lot of varieties.
06:14 -So many, and you don't know what to say. -We have so many.
06:16 Because anything that you can find that can be fried,
06:19 -they will fry everything. -Correct.
06:21 Including me, you can fry me inside.
06:23 No, it's not too big.
06:25 I'm looking for some nice, really good stuff
06:29 for me to have for breakfast later.
06:30 -Okay. -What would you recommend?
06:32 -Of course, wadik. -Wadik?
06:33 Wadik and banana pretters.
06:34 Banana pretters?
06:35 Can I have chak kueh as well?
06:37 -You want chak kueh? -Yes, I'll have sweet chak kueh.
06:38 How many do you want?
06:39 I want everything.
06:40 -Okay, I'll give you everything. -You want to calculate everything?
06:42 When Linda returns, tell me how much you'll pay.
06:44 -Okay, sure. -Okay?
06:45 -Okay, all right. -Let's go.
06:46 Come.
06:47 Wadik, banana pretters.
06:49 I'm so happy...
06:51 After running around the Holy Shun meeting with all the stall owners,
06:55 I must say that this is an amazing eye-opening experience.
06:58 And I must say that I'm very impressed
07:01 with the people behind the scenes.
07:02 Despite them fasting,
07:05 they also work very hard to prepare food
07:08 for others to have their iftar or breaking fast.
07:11 So, I don't know which one to choose
07:13 because everything looks good and delicious.
07:16 So, I decided to buy everything.
07:18 This whole entire Yee Soon is on the table in front of me.
07:22 I just want to say goodbye before I break my fast
07:25 because it's not going to be nice
07:29 when you look at me eating everything.
07:30 I only eat a little bit here and there.
07:32 So, happy breakfast to you too.
07:34 And we'll see you again in some other time during another episode.
07:38 But I must try this Yee Soon rojak.
07:40 I must drink!
07:42 Curry puff!
07:43 Curry puff, babe!
07:45 Why are you looking at me?
07:46 Bye!
07:47 Bye!
07:48 You come eat too now!
07:50 Wadik!
07:53 (Music)
07:55 (Music)
07:57 (Music)
07:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]