NON-HALAL
The roasted meats stall at Merdeka Supermarket is well-known to pork-eating locals looking to satiate their porcine cravings, but what most people don’t realize is that this is more than just a stall with slabs of cooked meats. The best roast meats, especially from this stall may help you to:-
1. Win friends and become popular
2. Maintain a happy marriage
3. Just about experience heaven on earth for those first few bites into pieces of juicy, succulent roasted pork
I kid you not.
Growing up in KK as a young girl, I have witnessed the power of delicious sau nyuk and char sao in the household and in social gatherings. From watching my grandma put together last minute dinner parties to mom keeping dad happy with a warrior’s feast, the delights of Chinese roasted meats done well have been an agent of influence to many a desirable outcome.
Today, nobody does it better than this stall. This “uncle” at Merdeka Supermarket has been chopping up some serious meats for more than a decade. His roasted pork belly with crispy skin (sau nyuk), char siu, roasted duck and roasted chicken are so popular they attract people like flies, who spend anywhere from tens to hundreds of ringgit to share the deliciousness.
Most people buy half a kilo of a type of roasted meat to complete their dinner spread at home. For this visit, I blew RM88 on a mix of roasted meats myself. I probably overdid it a little, but as I asked the uncle lots of questions, it was only fair that I buy some of each type to justify holding up the long line of impatient carnivores behind me.
Both the Sao Nyuk* and Char Sao* are RM50 per kg, and depending on the size of the birds, a whole roasted chicken is between RM27-30 and the whole roasted duck goes for RM50. Pure protein doesn’t come cheap but it is oh-so-good!
And for the rest of you who don’t live in KK, here’s a tip from KKMOI…
It doesn’t matter wherever you are in this world, you have to know who to get your Chinese roasted meats from. To win friends and influence (especially) Chinese people in no time at all, find the best roasted meats supplier in your city and make sure you have easy access to them.
If you can’t get a hold of a good one, here’s a homemade shaorou recipe from the mother of all food bloggers in Malaysia, the lovely Madam Terry(she’s coincidentally from KK). If you’re not convinced this is the best recipe out there, Sam Tsang ran an epic experiment to make the best Siu Yuk, right from his London home. Here’s the story.
So the next time you’re out of ideas on what to make for dinner, remember that uncle at Merdeka Supermarket. He sets up stall at 11:00am and closes when he has sold everything (usually by 3pm).
HOW TO GET THERE
View Supermarkets in KK in a larger map
MERDEKA SUPERMARKET
Teck Guan Villa, Lorong Tupai,
Jalan Penampang, Kota Kinabalu
Sabah, Malaysia
Yummify your life!
