Kelantan is quite famous for its delicious foods and pastries. If you go on holiday to Kelantan, don’t forget to try traditional Kelantan food. Where there are many strange names and there are also horrible names but they taste good. One of them is Etok Salai. This food is very ‘rare’ but it is not difficult to find it in the east coast state.
Etok Salai
Etok, is a type of freshwater mussel or its scientific name is Corbiculacea. This food is cooked with salt and lemongrass. Actually, there are many ways to cook etok and the traditional style of Kelantan is “salai”. It means the mussels will be cleaned and marinated with some spices such as lemongrass, ginger, garlic and others.
Etok Salai is often served as a snack, especially when watching TV or having a leisurely picnic. Etok is believed to have significant health benefits as it contributes to the enrichment of the blood as well as being a clean organism that mainly feeds on green algae. However, fellow connoisseurs and fans of Etok Salai advise not to continue drinking water (especially cold water), immediately after taking Etok, as it may cause stomach discomfort.
Most of the people who live near the river or village, are able to generate income by selling etok. Originally, they only sold Etok with original flavors. Now the food has been improvised by etok traders and they sell four types of smoked etok such as spicy, original, sweet and tomyam flavors but the most popular are the original and tomyam flavors.
Overall, this Etok Salai is a traditional Kelantan food that is very much loved by the people of Kelantan themselves. Although the method of preparation is a little difficult and time-consuming. Nowadays, this food may already be known and grown in several places in Malaysia. What are you waiting for? Let’s try to taste this Etok for ourselves.
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Articulates by Syuriana Ibrahim
