The Star, Saturday March 1, 2014
A bird's eye view of Kajang's Medan Satay
This week, Samo takes you
on the first of a two-part food odyssey to Kajang, Selangor, beginning
with the town’s legendary satay.
WHEN it comes to makan, Kajang in Selangor is synonymous with satay.
This “transforming” little town located south of the Klang Valley is destined for a boom with the construction of the Sungai Buloh-Kajang MRT line.
Even in the past, families living in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya taking weekend excursions to Port Dickson in Negri Sembilan, would make a stopover in Kajang town to feast on its famous satay.
Smack in the heart of town, there is even a Medan Satay or satay square (N 02 59.492, E 101 47.339) that opens from breakfast to dinner.
It was previously located near the Kajang stadium and is now at Jalan Tun Abdul Aziz, opposite the Kajang Metro shopping mall.
But before I get into the details, the debate on “who is the best”
satay in town became an interesting topic when I spoke to a few makan kakis.
My buddy Mohd “Mat Duku” Faris Jaafar, a software engineer who resides in Semenyih near Kajang, said he prefers the satay sellers in Sungai Ramal.
“You see Samo, those guys in town are too commercialised.
“They cater for big kenduri and government functions and since the satay is mass-produced, they’ve lost that personal touch,” said the Semenyih guy who got his nickname after getting food poisoning from eating too much duku langsat.
Faris added that his favourite satay stall in Sungai Ramal is Willy’s satay.
“Samo, you have to try their satay daging.
“Roasted to perfection, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside.”
As a matter of fact, the main economy in Sungai Ramal is their makan stalls and this place is thriving with satay.
To go on a satay safari in Kajang, Faris recommends small portions.
“You can order two sticks at each satay stall to determine who is the best,” he urged.
So, I gave Willy’s satay a try (they have two stalls in this area) at Hasan Cafe.
Presentation-wise, it’s just average.
But when it comes to taste, I would say that there’s more than meets the eye.
The beef satay was crispy and tender as mentioned by Faris. I took his advice by trying the satay sticks in small portions and six sticks of satay cost RM4.80.
And on the Samo-scale, I would rate it 7 out of 10.
Not too far from Hasan Cafe, there’s Yus satay restaurant (N 02 58.841, E 101 45.377)
This shop was packed to the brim when I got there and my bill came to RM7.20 for three sticks of chicken satay and three sticks of beef satay including a serving of nasi himpit (rice cooked in plastic bag).
Compared to Willy’s satay, Yus’ is just an average 5 out of 10 on the Samo-scale.
Another must-go place is the Ramal Food Junction (N 02 58.834, E 101 45.444). This is where Willy satay takes their night shift and goes full-swing with their beef, chicken, mutton and ox-tripe satay.
While Faris is a big fan of Sungai Ramal’s satay, my Kajang contact Wak Dogo (he refused to reveal his real name) said nothing beats the age-old favourites in Kajang town.
For the record, Wak Dogo is a civil servant who keeps bad guys behind bars and is retiring soon.
His favourite satay stall is Haji Samuri’s at Medan Satay Kajang.
“Ah, Samo my friend, do you know that the satay sellers here are deeply-rooted to their rich heritage from Indonesia?
“Many of the namesakes at the stalls here are of Javanese-descent and these people really know how to season and put meat on the skewer and roast them until they are done,” he elaborated.
Out of the ordinary, Wak Dogo recommends the satay pedal dan hati (chicken liver and gizzard) at 70sen a stick.
I found this to be quite overwhelming as the chicken liver has a strong taste and the only one that scored high points was the tori-kimo, a yakitori chicken liver dish prepared by Ota-san of Sumika Japanese restaurant in Subang Jaya.
Having heard what Wak Dogo had said, I agree that the legendary Haji Samuri satay of Kajang is still the top-ranked satay stall in the area.
As a matter of fact, it has 23 branches all over the country.
I tried the stall’s satay perut (ox tripe), satay daging tenderloin and concur with Wak Dogo’s recommendations.
On the Samo-scale, I rate Haji Samuri’s satay 8 out of 10.
Other than Haji Samuri satay, there are at least six other satay stalls at the Medan Satay which I hope to explore in the future.
Now, the most interesting satay shop in Kajang is Restoran Malaysia or Nyuk Lan satay (N 02 59.571, E 101 47.385).
It is a food business operated by a Chinese family and the namesake is Madam Chai Nyuk Lan.
This is one of the few halal Chinese satay stalls in town and it is just amazing to watch an elderly Chinese man working on the grill to prepare his orders.
Apart from satay, you can try Nyuk Lan’s fried Hokkien mee and Kwong-fu chow noodles. They are pretty decent and just remember to tell the waiter to go easy on the salt when you are ordering their fried noodles.
Kajang can be accessed by road via the North-South Expressway, South Klang Valley Expressway via SILK (from Putrajaya, Subang, Puchong and Serdang) and the Grand Saga Cheras-Kajang highway.
If you are the adventurous type, there’s the KTM Komuter service via KL Sentral where you can get off at the Kajang station and walk to the Medan Satay (about 15 minutes).
WHEN it comes to makan, Kajang in Selangor is synonymous with satay.
This “transforming” little town located south of the Klang Valley is destined for a boom with the construction of the Sungai Buloh-Kajang MRT line.
Even in the past, families living in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya taking weekend excursions to Port Dickson in Negri Sembilan, would make a stopover in Kajang town to feast on its famous satay.
Smack in the heart of town, there is even a Medan Satay or satay square (N 02 59.492, E 101 47.339) that opens from breakfast to dinner.
It was previously located near the Kajang stadium and is now at Jalan Tun Abdul Aziz, opposite the Kajang Metro shopping mall.
An old man grilling satay over a charcoal fire at Restoran Malaysia or Nyuk Lan satay.
My buddy Mohd “Mat Duku” Faris Jaafar, a software engineer who resides in Semenyih near Kajang, said he prefers the satay sellers in Sungai Ramal.
“You see Samo, those guys in town are too commercialised.
“They cater for big kenduri and government functions and since the satay is mass-produced, they’ve lost that personal touch,” said the Semenyih guy who got his nickname after getting food poisoning from eating too much duku langsat.
Faris added that his favourite satay stall in Sungai Ramal is Willy’s satay.
“Samo, you have to try their satay daging.
“Roasted to perfection, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside.”
The legendary Haji Samuri satay of Kajang is still the top- ranke d satay stall in town.
To go on a satay safari in Kajang, Faris recommends small portions.
“You can order two sticks at each satay stall to determine who is the best,” he urged.
So, I gave Willy’s satay a try (they have two stalls in this area) at Hasan Cafe.
Presentation-wise, it’s just average.
But when it comes to taste, I would say that there’s more than meets the eye.
The beef satay was crispy and tender as mentioned by Faris. I took his advice by trying the satay sticks in small portions and six sticks of satay cost RM4.80.
And on the Samo-scale, I would rate it 7 out of 10.
Not too far from Hasan Cafe, there’s Yus satay restaurant (N 02 58.841, E 101 45.377)
This shop was packed to the brim when I got there and my bill came to RM7.20 for three sticks of chicken satay and three sticks of beef satay including a serving of nasi himpit (rice cooked in plastic bag).
Compared to Willy’s satay, Yus’ is just an average 5 out of 10 on the Samo-scale.
Another must-go place is the Ramal Food Junction (N 02 58.834, E 101 45.444). This is where Willy satay takes their night shift and goes full-swing with their beef, chicken, mutton and ox-tripe satay.
While Faris is a big fan of Sungai Ramal’s satay, my Kajang contact Wak Dogo (he refused to reveal his real name) said nothing beats the age-old favourites in Kajang town.
For the record, Wak Dogo is a civil servant who keeps bad guys behind bars and is retiring soon.
His favourite satay stall is Haji Samuri’s at Medan Satay Kajang.
“Ah, Samo my friend, do you know that the satay sellers here are deeply-rooted to their rich heritage from Indonesia?
“Many of the namesakes at the stalls here are of Javanese-descent and these people really know how to season and put meat on the skewer and roast them until they are done,” he elaborated.
Out of the ordinary, Wak Dogo recommends the satay pedal dan hati (chicken liver and gizzard) at 70sen a stick.
I found this to be quite overwhelming as the chicken liver has a strong taste and the only one that scored high points was the tori-kimo, a yakitori chicken liver dish prepared by Ota-san of Sumika Japanese restaurant in Subang Jaya.
Having heard what Wak Dogo had said, I agree that the legendary Haji Samuri satay of Kajang is still the top-ranked satay stall in the area.
As a matter of fact, it has 23 branches all over the country.
I tried the stall’s satay perut (ox tripe), satay daging tenderloin and concur with Wak Dogo’s recommendations.
On the Samo-scale, I rate Haji Samuri’s satay 8 out of 10.
Other than Haji Samuri satay, there are at least six other satay stalls at the Medan Satay which I hope to explore in the future.
Now, the most interesting satay shop in Kajang is Restoran Malaysia or Nyuk Lan satay (N 02 59.571, E 101 47.385).
It is a food business operated by a Chinese family and the namesake is Madam Chai Nyuk Lan.
This is one of the few halal Chinese satay stalls in town and it is just amazing to watch an elderly Chinese man working on the grill to prepare his orders.
Apart from satay, you can try Nyuk Lan’s fried Hokkien mee and Kwong-fu chow noodles. They are pretty decent and just remember to tell the waiter to go easy on the salt when you are ordering their fried noodles.
Kajang can be accessed by road via the North-South Expressway, South Klang Valley Expressway via SILK (from Putrajaya, Subang, Puchong and Serdang) and the Grand Saga Cheras-Kajang highway.
If you are the adventurous type, there’s the KTM Komuter service via KL Sentral where you can get off at the Kajang station and walk to the Medan Satay (about 15 minutes).
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