SOMETHING unfathomable is happening this year. Something no young Malaysian has ever had to face; something that will break a beloved yearly tradition. We have no Bazaar Ramadan!
Yes, the government is planning alternatives such as e-bazaar but there's no way it'll be anything like exploring a food market with its plethora of smells, sights and sounds.
So what can we do this year to satisfy our cravings for "bazaar food" this Ramadan? Why not cook it ourselves?
You might be hesitant to try making local Ramadan delicacies like the kuih muih. Some are notoriously hard to make. And there are hundreds, if not thousands, of different recipe variations online.
The thought of having to sift through them all seems like an impossible task. But what if there was a website or YouTube channel that makes trying so much easier? For me, Buat Orang Lapo is one such channel.
BUAT ORANG LAPO
Behind Buat Orang Lapo's successful blog, YouTube channel, and social media platforms is the husband-and-wife team of Nazatul Fairuz and Azman Razali.
Wife Nazatul is the chef, while Azman takes on the role of video editor and videographer. However, they share the responsibility of scouring for recipes together.
When they started their blog in 2016, they never expected to have over 400,000 subscribers on their YouTube channel, or even over 200,000 followers on Facebook.
All they were aiming to do was have a little fun while sharing recipes, especially since Nazatul was cooking for her family every day.
Later, their mission included helping first-time cooks overcome their worries about cooking.
"Our target initially was to help people learn to cook, especially if they're doing it for the first time. People seemed to be strapped for time when it comes to cooking for their families so we decided to share easier and simpler recipes" explains Nazatul.
The duo was inspired to start cooking by their respective mothers, who both run their own food stalls.
Occasionally the couple would feature their mums in the Buat Orang Lapo YouTube video, where the women would share their invaluable tips and tricks.
And they haven't just stopped at their mothers. With their channel's rapid popularity, the duo had to rope in more of their family members to lend a hand.
"When we started Buat Orang Lapo in April 2016, it was only my husband and me. But when we started getting a lot of requests from clients to make videos, we realised we needed a team," recalls Nazatul.
At the beginning of 2019, Nazatul's sisters came onboard.
"My sister, Afzalina Ahmad Yusof now manages the editing of the blog, and Melissa Ahmad Yusof manages the marketing, client management and translates our videos for YouTube."
Asked what their biggest challenge is when preparing the videos, Nazatul chuckles and replies: "Our kids! We have three — aged between eight and three. We have to ensure that they are quiet during recordings. That's not easy!"
Adding, she shares: "We need to spend some time to keep them calm. We'll get them fed before the shoot or distract them with toys. Or we just record when they're asleep!"
Luckily, despite the challenges, the couple has always been consistent in uploading their videos and blog posts. Their passion shines through each post, as each video is edited masterfully, with easy to follow steps.
While Nazatul seems to be a whizz with absolutely any dish, she does concede that when it comes to rendang, it's a different ball game.
"The trickiest dish has to be rendang because there are so many versions and ingredients," admits Nazatul.
Despite this, Buat Orang Lapo does have some very easy to follow rendang recipes on their YouTube channel and blog.
"The tip to making any dish is not to skip ingredients, if you can. More importantly, don't substitute ingredients. If you're trying to cook for the first time, taste the dish over and over again until you get it right.
"Don't give up if the recipe doesn't turn out the way you expect it to the first time. Learn and measure from experience" advises Nazatul.
As for making your own Ramadan treats this year, the couple recommends readers to try their pudding recipes as they're the easiest for beginners.
But if you're an experienced cook, the heavier dishes would be perfect for replacing your traditional Ramadan bazaar shopping.
MY EXPERIENCE WITH BUAT ORANG LAPO
As I also have to face Ramadan this year without visiting any bazaars, I decided to give Buat Orang Lapo recipes a try.
I chose the kuih recipes because that tends to be what I always go for at the Ramadan bazaars each year.
My selection? Kuih keria, kuih bakar, apam balik and cucur. Each kuih is a staple in my family's home during Ramadan.
KUIH KERIA GULA MELAKA
I've always been under the impression that kuih keria is particularly hard to make.
From what I gather, it involves mashing sweet potatoes, mixing in dry ingredients, frying it and then cooking it in a sugar mixture — a long and tedious process.
But after watching the video from Buat Orang Lapo, I was a bit more confident in giving it a shot. It looked easy enough.
Fortunately, it turned out great! The recipe was easy to follow, and my entire family was happy with the results.
The recipe also yielded 15 pieces, so it was worth the effort. Also, it was much faster to make than expected. I only spent a full hour on it.
But there was one major thing I had to adjust to the recipe: I used half cup less flour than what was stipulated and had to add 1/8 cup of water.
However, the blog does state that the two cups of flour is just an estimation, so you'll have to add the flour in slowly to make sure that the mixture isn't too dry.
You need the dough to come together and lose most of its stickiness to ensure that it can be shaped.
As for shaping, I used an ice cream scoop to make sure they all came out the same size.
I found this to be a neat trick because all I had to do was poke a hole into the portioned out dough, making the process much more efficient!
KUIH BAKAR
The Kuih Bakar recipe also yielded a great dessert. It only took me about 20 minutes of active cooking time, and about an hour and a half in the oven. I was a little worried about not having a blender because I reserve mine for savoury dishes.
I ended up using my stick blender instead, even for the pandan for the pandan water.
Surprisingly, it didn't slow me down one bit. But if you're using a stick blender to make pandan water, make sure to cut the leaves as thinly as possible. The blades of a stick blender are too small to cut through large leaf pieces.
I was also worried about the sesame seeds sinking to the bottom of the cake mould, but it didn't, so I went "a little nuts" with the sesame seeds because it's my father's favourite ingredient.
The only drawback to this recipe is the oven time. The blog mentions that you need to bake the dish for an hour at 180 deg C.
But after an hour, mine didn't have the burnt exterior that makes kuih bakar a kuih bakar. So I had to bake it for an extra 20 minutes, and surprisingly, it didn't dry out the interior at all. So the cooking time really depends on your oven's calibrations.
APAM BALIK
Surprisingly, the Apam Balik recipe proved to be the trickiest. The recipe looked simple enough, but it didn't go exactly as what I saw on the video. The first issue I had was with my stick blender as the mixture was just too thick.
So I switched to a whisk, which was recommended by the blog as an option. However, it ended up more dough-like, instead of a batter. I had to add half a cup of extra milk to thin it out.
And I also didn't have any peanuts or yellow food colouring, despite making two trips to the grocery store. I ended up settling for peanut butter and orange food colouring. But both these ingredients gave me issues.
The peanut butter couldn't be spread onto the cooking Apam Balik easily. So readers, please don't choose this as your alternative. The orange food colouring gave the final product a distasteful orange tinge, despite me using only one drop.
The result? It was alright but it didn't taste as sweet as those Apam Balik you get at the Ramadan bazaars. Lesson learnt? If you prefer a sweet Apam Balik, make sure to sprinkle extra sugar when making this.
CUCUR MANIS KEMBUNG
The cucur manis kembung recipe was the easiest of the four. It took me about 15 minutes to get everything ready before frying.
The only issue I had was with the boiling hot water I had to use. I didn't understand its purpose but I dutifully followed the instructions.
It made the dough too hot to handle so I had to wait five minutes for it to cool before I could shape them. I used a sorbet scoop to ensure that they all came out the same size.
One tip for this recipe? You need to fry it until it's very brown. The dough is also quite thick so it takes a while for the heat to cook it through.
Don't forget to sprinkle the icing sugar on top as per the video; the dough itself only has a subtle sweetness so the sprinkled icing sugar really helps elevate the final product.