Fish head curry? Wherefore art thou? Where can we go now that the favourites have shut down or gone the franchise way? Luckily there are still people out there cooking it honest and so, so good. Everyone, welcome to the Stall in the Wall...
Kari kepala ikan is a dish that I am passionate about because it is a special food exploration activity with your intimate friends and kakis (long do I remember my Saturday lunch adventures with my kari kepala gang...but that’s another story). Problem is that it comes with the risk that the curry no matter how delicious is not served with a fresh fish head. So... experiences with kari kepala ikan exploration ranges from the extremely orgasmic to the downright dreadful. Alas! An average experience is disappointing to say the least because of the high cost of planning and anticipation involved prior to the high seas adventure. It’s the equivalent of pirates finding a fish head in a treasure chest...($%#?**& censored for pirate language) Shiver me Timbers!
Enter the antidote for this freshness issue. Salma's ?? (there’s actually no sign for this modest eatery in case you look for a Salma’s and find none. I guess the owner did not have the time yet to put up a sign) original recipe comes into the grotty but lovely category. This lovely gem of a place is situated in a hole in the wall surrounded by car workshops in Taman Mayang PJ. If you wear office attire here you will be lost amongst a community of tough-looking mechanics who are a hard crowd to please when it comes to food. The competition for fish curry here is intense as Salma’s starts cooking at 10am, completes it by 11am and normally finishes by 1pm.
Yo lucky me that I send my car here for servicing and had the experience of tasting a freshly cooked piping hot fish curry at 11am one day. It was a phantasmagorical experience (Chitty chitty bang bang style) to say the least. The curry is a lovely and delicately cooked thin sauce, lightly spiced and not too salty. The curry captures and enhances the taste of the fresh and tender fish. Zaman the cook insists on buying the freshest fish for his fish curries which says a lot in terms of his integrity to his loyal hardcore customers. Zaman has offered me for a long time to cook custom made kari kepala ikan merah if only I could give 24 hours notice. So I finally took up his offer and brought the kari kepala loving Friedchillies crew there last week. I told Zaman, “you better get your curry right”, as the Friedchillies crew are a tougher lot than his mechanic customers.
"It was a phantasmagorical experience"
He didn’t flinch and took my warning in his stride and happily went to the market to get the freshest ikan merah heads available. We were not disappointed. It sure was yummy. The freshly cooked curry was thick this time with a hint of assam to perk it up. He cooked it just right and the curry spices hit just the right notes. (Note from Editor: The fish head was so fresh, it squeaked between our teeth). We had 2 curry heads and just as we finished came 2 more...yessss. The accompanying dishes were a lovely mutton curry which was also legendary and fried chicken as well as two vegetable dishes. Zaman cooked for us a nice omelette as well which disappeared in 5 seconds. Omelette and curry... match made in heaven. At the end of the aftermath there was not much left on the table as everyone went curry beserk. Anyway Zaman was lucky that we went home happy or there might have been pillage and plunder... hehe. And the price for 5 people eating curry fish head? RM85.
I am inspired to give my rendition of the Sponge Bob anthem here: ahoy mateys..aye..aye..captain..i can't hear you..AYE AYE CAPTAIN..oh who cooks the best kari kepala ikan in the PJ sea? Zaman Zaman..who makes you lick the curry plate clean..Zaman Zaman..
You food pirates better check out this treasure island for fish head gold...
More Photos To Drool On
Some crunch to the meal
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Foodster's Verdict
Stall in the Wall a.k.a. Salma’s
Address:
28, Jalan SS25/34, Taman Mayang, Petaling Jaya (look out for Skynet vans, it's somewhere in between them) Tel: 016 235 9271
Open:
Pros:
You can service your car whilst licking your chops over the curry fish here
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