New south-east Asian flavour at night market

[caption id="attachment_236331" align="aligncenter" width="500"] The pork sisig dish made by Otak-Otak[/caption]

Visitors to the SPAR Goodnight Market are in for something different called Otak-Otak when they arrive at the Tramways Building in Port Elizabeth tonight.

They will have an opportunity to taste Southeast Asian food and get to know dishes such as pork sisig on black rice, adobo chicken wings and pad krapow kung at a new stall with an equally unusual name, Otak-Otak.

They can also treat themselves to stir-fried prawns with basil and peppers, cassava royale dessert and coconut banana shake.

Otak-Otak owner Brian Hall recently returned from Malaysia, where he lived for three years.

“I travelled all over and enjoyed a lot of good food, which I fell in love with. The food we’ll serve includes a selection from all over that part of the world,” said Hall.

His specialities for tonight will be pork sisig, cassava royale and the coconut banana shake.

“Pork sisig is a good introduction to Filipino food,” he said.

“We use pork belly, which is marinated overnight and then grilled on an open fire. It goes through quite a bit of preparation and is served on black rice.

“The dessert is made from the cassava plant and is popular with people who are gluten intolerant. The product is widely used in South America, Asia and in Africa north of Limpopo.”

Hall believed visitors to the market would enjoy “a taste sensation” when they tucked into his fare.

“Southeast Asian food contains a wide variety of flavours. The base consists of coconut, coconut milk, lime, chilli and lemongrass. This makes it spicy, sweet and creamy. There are a whole lot of flavours and colours in the food.”

Hall said when he first went to the market he thought it would be an ideal place to serve the dishes he loved.

“We are opening a restaurant in May and the market has the right ambience and the right audience to introduce visitors to Southeast Asian food.”

Love Story founder Elaine Watson said all the other popular stalls would serve up a feast at the monthly artisanal night market.

“Our usual crowd favourites will be there, such as Lafamilia nachos, Han-Made Gourmet Ice Cream, Wanna Spoon’s seafood paella, pork belly from Rosie’s Kitchen, and of course something for the health nuts too.”

All proceeds of ticket sales go to Love Story, an organisation that serves needy people through feeding schemes.

Regular visitors are encouraged to bring along their friends and a bottle of wine to enjoy while they relax and listen to Joe van der Linden playing his acoustic guitar.

“People are welcome to stay for live entertainment while they enjoy their dinner,” said Watson. “TOPS at SPAR will also present wine tasting in the upstairs area at R20 per person.”

The market is open from 5pm to 9pm and the entrance fee is R20.