Say “ketupat” and most Malaysian mouths will begin to water.
Tossed in a spicy coconut sauce, these rice cakes are a crowd pleaser, they are neutral and sweet and taste just right for the sweet taste of rendang but it is sayur lemak lodeh. Although it is enjoyed throughout the year, ketupat is Hari Raya. One place that has been serving variations of this traditional favorite for almost 20 years is Warung Ketupat Yan in Kuala Selangor. Azian Mahmud, or Kak Yan, is in charge of this humble and noisy house, as he is better known. When I started, I didn’t get much ketupat. But customers started ordering it and seemed to like it. They will remember my ketupat and keep coming back to my shop,” the 65-year-old said with a laugh.
Kak Yan has long been skilled at preparing this dish, having learned it from her mother when she was a girl. Her soft hands can finish a ketupat egg in less than a minute – and yes, the FMT lifestyle supports her!
At Warung Ketupat Yan, you can stock up on ketupat ketam, ketupat kerbau, ketupat telur and ketupat satay. However, the best seller is ketupat pasar, which he sells at RM1 each. Kak Yan gets up every day at around 4 am to start preparing dishes for his shop. From Monday to Thursday, he prepares about 400 pieces of ketupat; on Fridays and weekends, that number rises to nearly 1,000.
Now, he uses many helpers to run his business, including a relative who helps him prepare roti canai. Warung Ketupat Yan also serves a variety of Malay food including curries and kuih.
The warung opens a little before 7am and closes around 10pm. Morning hours are usually spent on ketupat – which can be sold by midday – while at night the focus is on satay.
According to Kak Yan, when he started, the business was like a hamburger stand. Over time, it grows; today it has a large and comfortable garden that can accommodate 100 people.
“We have people from Kuala Lumpur or Klang who only come here. There were even a few times when we had visitors from London. They were visiting our relatives in the area and decided to visit us,” he recalls. Go early in the morning and you’ll find the place buzzing with conversation, and travelers meeting and having breakfast.
In one corner, many members of Kak Yan’s family meet and talk while tying ketupat together.
