PETALING JAYA, April 13 — A friend had raved about Bek's Kitchen's nasi lemak so I decided to give it a try.
The prices for their nasi lemak — RM5.50 with a choice of ayam goreng, chicken rendang, sotong, cockles (kerang), cow's lungs (paru) — also attracted me.
For those who prefer plain nasi lemak, it was RM2, while the nasi lemak with hard boiled egg was RM3. There's a minimum three-person order.
Another plus point is they deliver free within the Kelana Jaya area where they are based. If it is beyond their area, they charge an additional RM2 fee.
Deliveries are done by the owner Hairul Azhar Jaafar himself.
He tells us he is in the midst of trying to arrange for delivery services so check with him, if you live outside the area.
Alternatively, you can get delivery services like Grab or Lalamove to arrange for pick-up from their place.
Previously, Hairul and his wife Nor Fadhillah Muhamad Fadzir operated a nasi lemak stall at Section 6, Shah Alam. Now, they work from home, taking turns to cook up the food.
Your nasi lemak will be delivered wrapped in brown paper. How nostalgic! The sambal is packed separately, allowing you to adjust how much you like with your meal. My ayam goreng was placed in the same packet as my nasi lemak, while the sotong and kerang were packed in separate plastic bags.
When it comes to good nasi lemak, I look for balanced flavours. The rice didn't have a strong coconut milk aroma but they had salted it perfectly.
Most vendors tend to underestimate their salt levels which leaves the rice having a flat taste. While their rice did come with a few clumps, this was easily sorted out with a few brisk strokes from my utensils. Most of their rice grains were separate too. Moreover, the rice wasn't too soft and mushy.
With a saltier tasting rice, you need to balance it with a sweeter tasting sambal, which is what Bek's Kitchen does. Again, balance plays a big part here. The sambal has a sweetish tinge and spiciness. It won't blow the top of your mouth open so add more to enjoy it just on its own.
Hairul tells me that his recipe for this traditional Malay dish was a result of him trying many popular stalls, tweaking it to what he liked.
I had ordered the ayam goreng, sotong and kerang. Out of the three items, the kerang impressed me the most. It was my first time seeing kerang that are so big. Usually, stalls ladle out baby sized kerang as these are frozen pre-packed ones.
Thinly sliced onions gave the kerang a lovely sweet taste. A pity they had slightly overcooked the kerang but I guess that could be the preferred way.
The sotong was also good. Each piece was tender with a sauce that tasted good. As for my ayam goreng, it may not look IG-worthy but I was happy to discover juicy meat that was tasty signalling fresh chicken was used. They had also thrown in a piece of fried gizzard which was not dried up and rock hard like those found at most stalls.
Bek's Kitchen by Azfa Amirin Services. The nasi lemak delivery starts from 7.30am onwards. To order, call Hazirul at 013-8432163 preferably arrange a day ahead.
