Rojak Fruit Salad at Kedai Kopi Kong Heng

This is a simple dish of rojak or fruit salad served at Kedai Kopi Kong Heng (Kong Heng Coffee Shop) in Ipoh. It is made of local tropical fruits and vegetables such as mangoes (raw and ripe), guava, umbra fruit, cucumber, sweet turnip and a piece of crispy cracker. We use the wooden sticks called 'lidi' to eat rojak. Lidi sticks are made from coconut fronds.

"ROJAK" is a traditional salad dish made of fruits and vegetables. It is commonly found in Malaysia, Singapore and Malaysia. It is available at the roadside stalls, night markets, restaurants, cafes and even served at hotel buffets.

The most important is the dipping sauce or rojak sauce which  is made of black soya sauce, sugar and shrimp paste, garnished with a sprinkle of toasted belacan (dried shrimp paste), grounded peanuts and finely chopped chili padi (bird's eye chili). A good dipping sauce is what differenciate a popular rojak seller than the rest. I think it is the toasted belacan that makes all the difference. Belacan is something you either love or hate and the smell can be pungent and obnoxious or just heavenly. It depends on the person's taste buds. Like kimchee, cheese, smelly tofu and durians, some people just love it while others can't stand it.

Besides fruit rojak, we also have mamak rojak, Indian rojak, Penang rojak and Indonesian rojak. When in Malaysia, why not try our colourful and tasty rojaks. Afterall, this is a good way to sample some of our tropical fruits.

What is your favourite salad and does it have a fancy name?

The word "Rojak" is a Malay word meaning "mixture". In everyday life, this word is also often used in colloquail language, e.g. "you are speaking rojak" meaning you use a mix of different languages in your conversation.

This is my entry for That's My World Tuesday Season 3 Episode 2. MyWorld is the place where we become virtual tourists guides and show others the best of our world! To view what others have in their world, please visit here.