When in Pulau Pinang, dining at the Persiaran Gurney (Gurney Drive) hawker centre (Anjung Selera) is a fun night out. You have many choices about what you want to eat, and as we discovered recently, you will even be entertained while you eat! By a dancing rojak man, no less!
If you google 'dancing rojak man' you are sure to find many sites about this Gurney Drive 'celebrity' who dances to (mostly) Hindi music as he prepares pasembur (rojak mamak or 'Indian salad') for his customers at his stall.
It all starts with a customer picking out from an array of more than twenty mostly cooked ingredients including cucur udang, potatoes, tauhu, keropok, crab meat, cuttlefish, etc. Then Ayub Khan (or 'Ayub Disko Rojak') begins his dance routine as he prepares the pasembur dish by rhythmically cutting up the ingredients. He will even 'sing' Rojak! Rojak! as he does so. Lastly he tops up the dish with cucumber and sengkuang (turnip) shreds, then whirls about as he drizzles spicy peanut sauce over the plateful, ready for the amused waiting customer. Anyway, you can watch him on YouTube or better still, get yourself to Gurney Drive for the real thing!
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| Ayub Khan begins his dance with a 'plate salute'! (CNB 2013) |
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| At the end he whirls around while drizzling peanut sauce on the pasembur (CNB 2013) |
On our night out with friends at Gurney Drive, we were at a table near Ayub Khan's stall and so had a good view of his antics. His dance gimmick certainly brought in many customers, mostly drawn to record or take pictures (that includes me).
Apart from pasembur, other dishes worth trying at this Anjung Selera Gurney Drive include laksa, satay, rojak buah, etc., etc. You will be spoilt for choice, and we certainly over-ate during our Pulau Pinang weekend trip.
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