Salubrious choices in Slim River
THERE’S often that wonderment that accompanies the discovery of an old town that has escaped our attention much of our adult life.

Take for example, Slim River. A couple of decades ago, motorists travelling on that old trunk road, know that Slim River is one area where you can put pedal-to-the-metal at certain stretches along the trunk road.

We often have little time for Slim River because we are far more interested in making a pit-stop at Tanjung Malim. Almost everybody knows Tanjung Malim is THE place to have that cuppa and a couple of pau (buns) whether they are filled with red bean paste, curry chicken or just plain kaya (coconut jam).

So the years have done a little joget around Slim River. It just so happened that an inexplicable tugging of the heart prompted our car to swerve into Slim River via the North-South Highway.

Kuchi Town Pull

Slim River sits nicely on the southern part of Perak and is about 20 kms from its bigger sister Tanjung Malim. It is also the second largest town in the district.

When commercial hub of Slim River looms into view, you can almost hear the comment: “What is this kuchi town doing in the middle of nowhere?”

Our jaded city eyes were not used to seeing so many low-rise buildings of unspectacular designs. It was the beginning of the Ramadan month and the rows of stalls selling Ramadan dishes were eye-catching.

The heat and the sun almost arrested our curiosity to mingle with the afternoon crowd who were out to fill their tables for the buka puasa.

But experience told us that small towns sometimes served the best traditional Malay cuisine. A leisurely walk among the 60-odd stalls revealed that even though the onde-onde, murtabak, curry-puff, cucur udang and kuih lapis were common elsewhere, the taste was an entirely different experience.

Somehow the kampung folks have done themselves proud with their generations-old traditional snacks. I was tickled pink to find that the onde-onde was simply marvellous. Even the cucur udang was more delectable than those found in Petaling Jaya or Kuala Lumpur.

Friendly Banter

When a stall owner spied my clicking camera, she exclaimed in a jovial tone, loud enough for her nearby friends to hear: “Jangan lupa, malam esok tengok TV3. Ada dokumentari istimewa mengenai makanan kampung kita.” (Don’t forget to watch TV3 tomorrow night. There’s a special documentary on our village food)

I replied “Bukan TV3, tapi TV10!” (Not TV3, TV10!). That sparked off a chorus of laughter from the adjoining stall owners who chipped in with their own verbal responses.

With that impromptu conversation of sorts, the gaiety of the occasion defined the persona of Slim River. Simple town folks are most charming when they are their natural selves. They are very decent folks who work hard for a living and have low expectations of themselves and others.

Food Galore

The Ramadan fare was visually impressive. At one stall, there were no fewer than 50 types of snacks, some of which were probably never seen in the bigger towns.

Even the list of iced drinks was something that we were not familiar with. Try names like air jagung (sweetcorn), air keladi (yam), air cincau bandung and air asam masin (salty tamarind).

Among the more popular grilled fish or ikan bakar were kembung, baung, jelawat, kelah, keli, talapia, pari and lampam. Some species of fish probably sounded strange to some of us.

However, my family’s preference had always been the kampung-style bubur lambuk. We found at least two stalls selling this. One really couldn’t complain when a packet of bubur lambuk was priced at RM2 and it was quite sizeable. The taste of the Slim River Ramadan bubur lambuk easily surpassed that of its counterparts elsewhere.

Visitors needn’t worry about breaking their bank accounts over the food at these stalls because prices per item are from RM1 to RM2.

It’s comforting to know that in many parts of the country, in particular Slim River in the Tanjung Malim district, a RM10 note will take you very far indeed.

Culinary satisfaction is mostly guaranteed and, unless you are a real fuss-pot, you will be greatly tempted to re-visit the little town very soon.

Good Old Days

Slim River got its name back in the 18th Century from a British captain whose surname was Slim. There’s a river running somewhere in the district which served as a thoroughfare for traders back in the buffalo-cart days.

During the Second World War, Slim River received a significant share of media coverage because it served as a mid-point between the north and south of Malaya.

It was the Battle of Slim River that marked the collapse of the British defence of Malaya when Japanese forces defeated the combined forces of Indian, Australian and British soldiers.

Today, Slim River has a population of about 100,000, comprising Malays, Chinese and Indians. The town is accessible by road and rail. Sorry, there’s no airport here.

There’s a famous waterfall called Sungai Bil but that story will have to be told another day. There are only so many hours in a day and small towns like Slim River are best savoured in small portions spread over weeks and months.