Merepek

I passed by the shop at about 6.00pm and saw a queue and told myself, “Nevermind….come back later, say, 9.00pm or so." It should be a better time...the dinner crowd should be gone by then and I would be able to enjoy my meal in peace sans people with hungry faces standing round my table willing me to finish up quick. I just hate that.

9.30pm and this was what I saw….the narrow street was practically dark and quiet, save for this corner shop. Just look at the queue spilling onto the road. Holy Honey! What is so special about the food that people are willing to risk life and limb standing patiently at the roadside by a dirty drain? The only way to find out…I go join the queue myself.

After 25 minutes or so of waiting, the young ‘hostess’ pointed out a table that was being cleared. She told me that I can go fill up my food tray while she gets ready the sauce pot. By that time, my tummy was already growling and I was in no mood for niceties. .... I went straight for the food counter and returned to my table with this to be dipped into a pot of boiling spicy peanut sauce sitting on a stove.

Taste-wise, bolehlah. It is similar to ‘lok-lok’ in KL and Penang….only difference is the cooking style. For 'lok-lok', we dip the skewers of food in a boiling pot of water and then into the different bowls of sauces, as per preference. For Satay Celup Melaka, we ‘celup’ the skewers of food in a boiling pot of thick peanut sauce. hmmm...made me wonder what they do with the leftover sauce after each group are done with their 'celups'.

Price-wise, cheaplah……flat rate @ 60sen per stick only, irrespective of meats, gizzards, seafood, fishballs, sotongballs, eggs, taufoo, foochuk or vegetables…. all….semua…hampalang pun 60sen per cucuk nia.

And oh ya….even those sticks of good-sized prawns, which normally go for about RM50 to RM60 per kg at wet markets, are priced the same, a mere 60sen per stick. BUT these extra-large prawns are never displayed at the counters but only offered to patrons who eat a lot of the other types of 'sticks'. The towkay and his assistants will walk around the tables and see how much you have eaten. The more ‘cleaned-out sticks’ you have on your table, the more big prawns he will send your way…...a ‘bonus’ of sorts.

Me? I was rewarded with only 2 big, juicy prawns because I did not polish off that many sticks of the other foods. Suakoo or no-suakoo, I still gotta look after the waistline, right?