Nasi kandar, which hails from Penang, is a popular Malaysian dish and was brought to Malaysia 70 years ago from India when Tamil-Muslim immigrants roamed the port and dusty streets of colonial Penang, dragging around heavy baskets laden with home cooked dishes and rice. One more plate before I head home.
Line Clear Nasi Kandar is one of the most famous and legendary Nasi Kandar seller in Penang has been selling nasi kandar at this location since 1930. Line Clear is located inside an alleyway/lorong along Penang Road, it’s highly favoured by Penang locals as well as tourists. This one is located in the departure floor of the Penang Airport.
The name nasi kandar came about from a time when nasi (rice) hawkers would balance a kandar pole on their shoulder with two huge containers of rice meals. The name has remained today and Nasi Kandar’s word appears in most Tamil Muslim or “Malaysian Mamak” restaurants and Indian-Muslim food stall.
Traditionally, Penang’s nasi kandar vendors all hail from the Ramnad district of Tamil Nadu in India, whilst the spice-women who traditionally provide the spice blends and curry mixes came mainly from Tamil Nadu. It is this very unique combination of Ramnad cooking techniques and Tenkasi/Kadayanallur spice blends which resulted in the extraordinarily aromatic and distinctive Penang nasi kandar curry flavours.
The curries are mainly of South Indian Tamil-Muslim origin, with very distinct flavours and aromas which set them apart from other regional Indian, Malay, Indonesian or Thai curries widely available in Penang.
A nasi kandar server is a “mixologist” of sorts – his skill is judged by how well he mixed-and-matched the various types of curry sauces onto your plate, resulting in a potpourri of sometimes contrasting flavours which will somehow come together to become better than the sum of its parts.
On top of all the curries and spicy dishes, all nasi kandar stalls have their own spice blend for the fried chicken. The fried chicken, a best seller at Line Clear, was much simpler in terms of tastes versus the one from Deens Maju.
It may be a mess to look at, but it was absolutely delicious. Even though everything looked red, there were layers of flavours and heat. The chilli samba rempeh used for each one of the ingredients tasted different, which is important so that you don’t get a plate of rice with chilli.
Instead of a whole shank, they have chopped up the leg and shank of lamb into pieces and stewed them until fork tender in a delicious curry mix. Loved it, there’s a bit of fat and a bit of tendons on the piece of lamb.
Now this is something you seldom get in Penang, and even rarer in Singapore. Telur sotong, or squid eggs. are two entangled glands of female squid. The egg is as white as jade, with fresh, tender and crisp characteristics and rich in nutrition.
Nasi kandar stalls tend to have limited choice of vegetables – long beans, okra and cabbage. Line Clear was no different. Nevertheless, the kacang panjang (long beans) was delicious.
Unlike Sushi Kyotatsu in Narita, Line Clear is located before immigration and caters to both the tourists and workers in the airport. As such, the price is not the inflated prices you get from restaurants in most international airports. You get exactly the same quality nasi kandar as the Penang Road honten. If only they can vacuum pack the dishes too.
Nasi Kandar Line Clear (Penang International Airport)
Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Bayan Lepas,
11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia
Tel : +60 12 438 6210
Visited Nov 2024
0 comments on “Nasi Kandar Line Clear (Airport) @ Penang”