One of the top of my mind things to do on this trip to Malacca was to visit Ujong Pasir Nasi Lemak.
We were a little disappointed that the humble but famous stall at Ming Huat coffee shop wasn't open when we came for breakfast 😔
Anyway, since we were already here, we wandered around to the back of the coffee shop and see what we can find 🤷 Then, we stumbled upon another nasi lemak stall nestled in a garden of sort. It's called Nasi Lemak Ujong Pasir 2.
I wondered what is their relationship with the famous stall in Ming Huat coffee shop 🤔
After a quick survey, it was obvious that this was also a popular nasi lemak stall with a good range of side dishes. I like the kampung style ambiance - the type of hyperlocal food experience I look for when traveling. No tourists except two from Singapore today 😝
There's asam pedas fish. I love the spicy tangy taste of asam pedas (more than curry fish actually 🤭 ).
Fried fish.
Chicken rendang.
Besides these, they also have sambal cockle (popular), sambal prawn, sambal fish, sambal petai (stink beans), beef rendang, curry beef, curry sotong, ayam masak merah, fried chicken, even grilled fish, etc.
Two of us at the first stop of our whole day food trail, we only picked a small sampling of sides to try. We also only had one serving of rice carbs to share
First things first, the coconut rice was fragrant with the unmistakable sweet taste and smell of coconut milk. It has richer flavour and aroma than any coffee shop nasi lemak that I can recall.
The sambal was the well balanced mildly savoury spicy type with a subtle sweetness. Neither too sugary, nor salty - my usual complaints about nasi lemak sambal.
Malacacan nasi lemak always comes with kang kong (it's a signature here). Somehow, nasi lemak goes really well with simple stir fried savoury sweet crunchy juicy kang kong. I like it.
Pro tip: Next time ask for more kang kong 😁
Oh I love their sambal sotong. The sambal was just mildly savoury spicy sweet. The rehydrated dried squid was like soft slightly firm springy jelly. So nice!
When I saw sambal paru (beef lung), I ordered it immediately (it's one of my favourite things). But, when I saw the serving size, I was a little worried that it was too much for two of us (because only I will eat this 😬 ).
Turned out, I need not have worried. The savoury spicy paru was the soft tender spongy type (not those chewy and leathery like rubber type).
I finished it all by myself without any difficulty or help 😅
Asam pedas pari (stingray). I picked the piece with the most skin 😁
Woo... fresh soft stingray with soft spongy skin which I love in asam pedas. The flesh was even softer.
For the chicken rendang, I asked only for the feet 🤭 They were nice.
After our satisfying, delicious breakfast, I went on my kaypoh kaypoh (busybody) walk around the stall (something I do only if I've decided to blog about the stall, otherwise I will leave silently after finishing my meal 🤫 ).
Then, I spotted Puan Salehah, the founder of the original Ujong Pasir Nasi Lemak stall at Ming Huat coffee shop. She founded the stall in the 1970s. That stall opens at 3pm and is now run by Puan Salehah's daughter Suriati.
This stall Nasi Lemak Ujong Pasir 2 is run by her son Wan. Puan Salehah is semi retired and helps out at both stalls which use her recipes.
A nice place to experience Malaccan nasi lemak which some believe is the birth place of the dish. Try it either at Ming Huat coffee shop or at Ujong Pasir 2 - both have Puan Salehah's stamp of approval 👍
Puan Salehah and her stall were featured in this Mediacorp series on the origins of dishes. This is the episode on nasi lemak.
Written by Tony Boey on 10 Jun 2023
🎗 Opinions in this blog are all my own as no restaurant or stall paid money to be featured
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