BINGING ON ULAM

I love eating vegetables. When I was a year old, my mum said that I refused to eat whatever meat that she fed me. I would throw up if any food I ate contained meat. Most of the time I only ate rice with warm water and added with a bit of soy sauce. When fed vegetables, I ate them with relish.  My mum said that was my staple diet most of the time. My parents, aunts and other relatives would often chastise me for not eating meat. They would often say, "If you don't eat meat, then you are not going to grow up big and strong. You will be sickly".

Well, I did not become stunted or small because I did not eat vegetables.  And nowadays, my elders who kept chastising me are now trying to eat less meat because of health reasons.  They too have just begun to realise the goodness of vegetables and the health benefits they bring.  Heh! Heh!  I was wise for a one year old, wasn't I?

Also my love for eating vegetables has not waned all these years.  Once in a while I like to binge on vegetables.  Take today for instance.  I suddenly had an urge to eat Ulam (Malay name for salad that is eaten raw or scalded).

So I went to the Tasik Raban Restaurant near the Perak Stadium to satisfy my craving.  Besides an offering of many different meat and seafood dishes, this restaurant serves a good variety of Ulam-ulaman as well.

Behold some of the delightful array of Ulam to choose from.

Baby brinjals, petai and peria katak (small bitter gourds).

 

I think this is cekur.  It is served raw and has a bitter and pungent taste.  Very good to get rid of wind (gas) from the body.

My lunch for today. Flower from the banana plant, paku rawan, pucuk paku, tomato and kerabu sayur.  The only exception was the egg.

 

Me binging on my choice of Ulam.  Actually it is believed that eating Ulam is good as it is a type of vegetable dish that is consumed fresh and raw. When eaten in such a way, ulam-ulaman is high in vitamins and minerals. It also has anti bacterial and anti oxidant properties. Some Nyonya and Malay ladies say that it helps keep one youthful.