Nasi Padang With a Difference

Some people say there is not much difference between all Nasi Padang stalls, and I tend to agree with them. Most of them have dishes of fried Chicken, Beef Rendang, Sayur Lodeh (long beans,cabbage and tofu in a light curry gravy),sambal squid, fried fish and eggs. By and large they all taste the same except them some have better sambal and curry gravy than others.

But there is one Nasi Padang stall that is distinctly different. This is Nasi Pariaman, at the corner of North Bridge Rd and Kandahar St in the area around Sultan Mosque.Rahman and his siblings operate the stall started by his father 40 years ago. His 66 year old mother still prepares the secret combinations of ingredients, and the food is cooked in their house nearby, and brought over by tricycle-until recently when they bought a van.

What makes Nasi Pariaman different? After many years absence, I went there with Mr.Masaki Okada and his wife. I shall now describe the dishes we tasted one by one:

Beef Soup-This is a consomme of rump beef, potatoes, onions and carrots with spices like cinnamon, cloves, cardomom added lighly to give a clear soup that is very aromatic and full of flavour. To my knowledge no other Nasi Padang stall in Singapore offers this dish, although I have tasted it on the east coast Malaysian States of Terengganu and Pahang. We saw Rahman's 80 year old retired father sitting in a chair happily slurping a bowl of beef soup so it must be one of his favourite dishes!

Grilled Fish (Ikan Bakar)-For this dish, Ikan Selar is marinaded in some tamarind based sauce, and grilled over charcoal. It is then served with sweet black soya sauce, onions rings,green chillis, and lime. Altogether a classic example of Malay home cooking.

Chicken Curry-I don't know whether to call this a curry or not, as the gravy is quite unique. As with most of Nasi Pariaman's dishes, there is coconut milk added, but it is not spicy hot. To complement this richness of the food, you have to add the sambal chilli to the rice. This is quite spicy, and gives a kick to the meal.

Vegetable dishes-We had 3 different side-dishes of vegetables to accompany the meal. A dish of pickled cucumber, groundnuts and ikan bilis (fried anchovy) is provided free for every customer,and some thrifty people even just order the plain rice, with this, a little gravy and chilli. Bean Sprouts cooked in a very light coconut gravy and brinjal with sambal chilli were the other vegetable dishes we ordered.

So what makes Nasi Pariaman different is that the food is not so spicy and oily and the mixture of spices used, and also the number of vegetable dishes. There are other unique dishes which we did not order: Ayam Bakar is grilled marinaded chicken served in a non-spicy coconut-based gravy and is their specialty. Pancreas in dry rendang is another specialty. After 40 years, the standard is still consistent. No wonder that crowds of office workers have to line up for up to an hour for it, and Masaki and I ate at 11.00 am to miss the crowd.To eat it is to crave for it, and I once had a depressed friend who reversed his decision to commit suicide after thinking of Nasi Pariaman. So we can thank Rahman for reducing the suicide rate in a very stressed City. Take a look at the food in the pictures taken by my good friend Masaki Okada!

As a conclusion to this article, I would like to start a Nasi Padang competition and invite readers to tell me where to find good nasi padang that is distinctly different. At the moment I can only think of Nasi Pariaman and Sabah Menanti (it means "please be patient" because you have to wait very long to be served). Sabah Menanti is also in the same area around Bussorah St. and caters to those who really like their Nasi Padang very spicy. Its cooking is typified by the use of abundant chillis ,lemon grass and tumeric giving a look that tells you its really spicy hot without you having to taste it. One other stall at the junction of Geylang Rd. and Lorong 1, has average Nasi Padang but is famous for its big prawns and very big sotong (squid) cooked in the sotong's black ink. But it is quite expensive and the owner require you to take a number on a piece of paper and they will call you when it is your turn-just like visiting a doctor. High class malay food can be eaten at Aziza's formerly in Emerald Hill, and finally after a 16-year battle the Urban Renewal Authority finally managed to evict them as illegal tenants, so now they are at Albert Court. This place used to be fashionable place for diplomats and others in the expatriate community who want to tell their friends how they have tried the local food. But the locals would not eat there, as they see no point in paying $15 for a fried mackeral even though it is decoratively garnished. But it is true that Aziza's has dishes that can only be found in home Malay cooking such as roti jalal,a lace-like pancake to eat with curry.There used to be a stall along Changi Rd that sold Malay food that is reminiscent of food eaten in poor kampongs of Kelantan and Terengganu-mostly fish with chinchalok, and a great variety of strange leaves, beans,and flowers that looked like they came from the jungle. Unfortunately,no one appreciated such food and it closed down. What a pity!

#The meal for 3 with fesh lime juice and rice cost $16.00