Indulge in all things Kelantan at Puchong’s Kak Ar Kelate, especially the irresistible ‘lemak bakar’

PUCHONG, May 5 — Sometimes, the algorithm gets it just right.

Scrolling through a litany of reels and edits of everything from a dancing raccoon named Pedro to Russell “Hardest Geezer” Cook completing the astonishing feat of running the entire length of Africa can get monotonous; that is until I came across a video of a hulking skewer of what I thought was meat being shoved right up to the camera.

It speaks volumes about me that, while this guy braved armed robbery, kidnapping, and the literal elements, running tens of thousands of kilometres and raising over a million pounds for charity, my attention was taken squarely by merely two seconds of a charred-looking skewer.

The queue is to your right when you walk in.

But you see, this was no ordinary skewer; it was a stick of lemak bakar. An indulgent, borderline outrageous skewer of pure beef fat marinated and grilled over coals.

It’s one of the many Kelantanese specialities found at Kak Ar Kelate.

There, one will also find gems like mee celop, ikan bekok, singgang daging, as well as nasi kerabu and berlauk.

The restaurant is located at the corner of a commercial block in Taman Mas Sepang, Puchong.

The selection of ‘lauk-pauk’; some of these can come as part of an individual dish.

During lunchtime on most weekdays, some roadside stalls selling food from Kelantan and Terengganu are also set up close by.

Right inside the entrance is where the queue starts — line up and choose your lauk-pauk, or ask for your individual dish of choice, whether it’s nasi kerabu daging bakar or sup urat ketin, and they’ll dish it out for you.

Order your drinks at the table.

Behold, the gloriously indulgent stick of ‘lemak bakar’.

My eyes were set on the lemak bakar, which I soon learned was even bigger than it looked on video.

This thing cast a shadow on my face. It blocked out the sun for a very brief, beef-fat-eclipse as I held it up to marvel at it.

In Kelantan, it’s an immensely popular treat during Ramadan and is most commonly found at Ramadan bazaars. Here, it’s available on Sundays and public holidays, and is usually ready after 10am.

A closer look at the cross section of a piece of fat.

It is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most unforgettable things I’ve put in my mouth.

The outside is charred, caramelised and just a little crispy, while the very centre of the inside retains some chew. It’s beef fat, so naturally, it covers your entire palate in rich, nutty flavours.

As you make your way down the skewer, each piece is more rendered than the last, which releases more sweetness than unctuousness.

This continues until you get to the last piece, which is the best piece: sweet, savoury and incredibly clean-tasting — but above all, still sinfully fatty.

Don’t be afraid to ask someone, as the labels don’t always correspond to the pots: for example, that is a pot of ‘gulai daging kawah’ labelled as ‘gulai kambing’, which is actually only available on Sundays and public holidays.

If I still had the metabolism of a scrawny 18-year-old, I’d have driven here and eaten copious amounts of just lemak bakar. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case, but thankfully, the rest of the lauk we chose did not disappoint.

Fried ikan keli topped with a distinctly sweet and spicy sambal was another winner, with the delicate flesh staying flaky even after sitting out for a while.

The paru sambal was excellent, consisting of thin, crispy slices of lung that showed only the slightest hint of iron, stir-fried in a dry mixture of chilli and onions.

Clockwise from the top: ‘daging bakar’, ‘gulai daging kawah’ and ‘paru sambal’.

Daging bakar featured thin pieces of beef marinated in the same rempah before being grilled the same way, while the gulai daging kawah was rich and complex, featuring soft and tender chunks of beef. The gulai itself was creamy and tasted strongly of woody spices, lending a warm and slightly sweet flavour to every spoonful of rice.

It’s a good idea to get a portion of ulam for a green and slightly peppery counter to the bold and robust flavours in everything else.

Together with two portions of rice and two glasses of limau ais, the bill came to RM48 — but it’s definitely possible to get a lighter lunch with one of the individual dishes for anywhere between RM8 and RM13.