A Malaysian Farmer's Market

One place I always enjoy going to is a Farmer's Market. You are outside buying products from the people who worked hard to produce them. You can talk to the farmers, ask them questions about their products, and learn what goes into the food we sometimes take for granted. Well, in Malaysia there always seems to be a Farmer's Market going on. However, it isn't called a Farmer's market here but is simply the way the fruit, meat, and vegetables are sold on a daily basis. After teaching English to the teachers at my school today my principle, Sylvia, needed to run to the market. We have swung by there before but she was hurried so I waited in the car. Not this time. I went and took a look around and was fascinated by what I saw and kicked myself for not having my camera charged and handy. (Next time!) There were numerous stands full of fruit and veggies. I don't know what half of the items where but they all looked delicious. There was one called long bean (looks like a string bean) that was at least 12 inches long. I asked Evelyn, a fellow teacher who came along, what some of the names were. She didn't know what a lot of them were and the ones she did know where the Chinese names. (I have no idea how to spell them.) Walking around this market showed how similar and also how different the Malaysian and Mid-West crops are from one another. There were a few things I recognized: cucumber, eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, beans, and more. But also there are some fruits only grown in this part of the world. (I have had the opportunity to try a bunch of them and they are delicious!) After spending time and the fruit/veggie market we went and enjoyed fried bananas, fried potatoes, and tea. The fried items reminded me of the Minnesota State Fair. All you would need to do is throw them on a stick and you are set. However, the real treat of this outing was yet to come.

After eating and drinking we walked over to the fish and meat market. Let me just say you can smell this market a block away. It was crazy to see piles of fish and meat just laying out on counters. Some of them looked like they might start flopping around if you poked them. I don't think I have ever seen so much raw fish laying on slabs of counter in my life. Looking around I realized that it wasn't just fish but also squids (they look like jelly and I was tempted to poke one), prawns, and crabs too! Sylvia bought some fish and they gutted for her right there and then. It was interesting to see this process. They scrape off all the scales, cut the at the bottom of the head, slice underneath the belly, and gut out the innards. This process is completed in mere seconds and then the fish is bagged and handed to the buyer for supper. Now, the meat section is another story all together. There were some large slabs of meat and some smaller ones depending on what you are looking for. Honestly, this part was both fascinating and sickening to me. Many of the legs still had the hoof or claw still attached and on some tables there were heads. I'm not going to go into to much detail. Let's just say you probably could have reassembled the whole animal if you were their early enough or even see it whole before they slice and dice.

Overall, the Malaysia market is an adventure and the next time I go back there will have to be a camera involved!