Pekan Rabu Wednesday Market

Pekan Rabu, Alor Star (CNB 2013

You have not been to Alor Star if you have not shopped at Pekan Rabu! This 'Wednesday Market' or rather everyday bazaar is very well known and beats any modern shopping mall for unique charm. You can find everything under the sun here. Well, almost everything.

Our lightning visit to Alor Star recently enabled us to eat and shop at Pekan Rabu. First there was breakfast with a delicious array of local kueh mueh, nasi lemak, etc., etc.

My Pekan Rabu breakfast (CNB 2013)

We returned here for lunch too because the Menara Alor Star revolving restaurant was closed for renovations. And definitely no regrets here - my lunch plate of white rice and gulai ikan & terung (fish and brinjal curry) was simply so delicious, just like my emak used to make. Sedapnya ...

Lunch from 'Pak Man Nasi ', Pekan Rabu (CNB 2013)

After lunch we went around the bazaar to shop for 'necessities'. This is certainly the place to buy ready made baju Melayu, kurung, tudung, and other clothing. At the dried food shop-lots  I suspect that many of the snack foods sold here come from Thailand. So we sought out the more authentic local foods.

Various levels of Pekan Rabu (CNB 2013)

With a young trader at Pekan Rabu (BB 2013)

We stopped by Fatimah Mehat's shop-lot where she makes kueh karas or 'kekarhaih' in Kedah speak. She seems quite a celebrity, having appeared in newspapers a few times. She also has on display some photos of Che Det aka Tun Dr Mahathir and wife visiting her shop-lot nearly every Ramadhan/Aidil Fitri. A well known fact is that TDM was a trader selling pisang goreng (banana fritters) at Pekan Rabu in his teens. During my Alor Star childhood, I used to sell sagon at Pekan Rabu too. Naah, not true ... just to my schoolmates in the Sultanah Asma Primary School.

Fatimah making kueh karas (CNB 2013)

Freshly made kueh karas (CNB 2013)

Sagon at RM2 in Pekan Rabu. Hey, I sold them at Lima (5)
det/duit in the 50s (CNB 2013)

I debated whether to buy some ikan pekasam or not. This authentic local favourite is a pungent delicacy of fish preserved with salt, rice and tamarind, and is an acquired taste. It is said to taste better the longer it keeps. But my father Ba did not really like it so it was almost 'banned' from our home and I have never eaten it. But he did love another local favourite of salted ikan talang with which my emak made the most delicious gulai ikan kering. Simply delightful!

Ikan pekasam Pekan Rabu (CNB 2013)

It was just a lightning visit to Alor Star and its Pekan Rabu, but we shall return ... insyaallah.
28 January 2013