China Kampung Muslim Food.
After such a long hiatus from the blogging realm, guess it's high time I make a post just before the start of Ramadhan. Can't believe we have less than a week to go. Am I fully prepared for it? Well, not quite. I still have to get used to my new schedule.
By new schedule, what I mean to say is that Alhamdulillah, my family has embarked on a home-based food business. We specialize in cooking Northwestern China Chinese Muslim food. Yes, we are selling halal Chinese food right here in Johor Bahru! Why Northwestern China food in particular? The main reason is dear Mr Husband is from there and it's like killing two birds with one stone really. We can satisfy our cravings and sell food at the same time! I have to say, I kind of like that arrangement.
The next reason is as far as we know, there is a limited number of places selling Chinese Muslim food in Johor Bahru. The few that we know of are the Haji Shahrin Low outlet at Bandar Baru Uda and Pondok Dimsum at Kilang Battery. However, one thing is for sure, there is no place selling halal China Chinese Muslim food in Johor Bahru. That is until we started our home-based business. Alhamdulillah, Allah paved the way for us to embark on this path.
So what are we selling really?
For starters, our main dish is "Niangpi", which we roughly translate as cold noodles. Most of our customers here thought it looked like squid or the local kway teow noodles. The look may be similar, however taste-wise, it's miles apart. To make niangpi requires supernatural amount of patience. The process is time-consuming and complex. It involves hours of washing the flour to get the gluten out, draining out the water, steaming it in batches and eventually, we have to manually cut it into thin strips. On top of that, we have to prepare the sauce, which involves at least 5 different types of condiments, each with its own distinct preparation styles. But one thing is for sure, the end results are phenomenal and we certainly have that sense of accomplishment each time we successfully create a fresh new batch.
The next item on our menu is "Jiaozi", or dumplings. The dumplings come in beef and chicken varieties, but we will insha'Allah include other varieties in the months to come. The best thing about our dumplings is it can be frozen, hence we are also selling them as frozen packs - 10 or 20 in a bag - enabling customers the joy of popping them into their pots to boil in the comforts of their home. Cooking frozen dumplings is easy, provided you follow our instructions. And the major bonus is that there are so many ways to cook frozen dumplings.
The next three items are what I would say, starters or snacks. I will go into that in the next post, insha'Allah.
For more information about my family's Northwestern China Chinese Muslim food business, please click and visit the following sites:
Website - https://kaijiamuslimfood.com/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Kaijia-China-Kampung-Muslim-Food-256056571520125/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kaijiachinakampungmuslimfood/
Or you can simply drop me an email at hajar.alwi@gmail.com or kaijiachina@gmail.com
Note: Most of the recipes and cooking methods were taught by my in-laws to retain the authentic and traditional flavours of Northwestern China Muslim Chinese cuisine.
Now it's back to cooking up a storm in the kitchen!
Hungry tummy.
8.03am, Malaysian Time
