Malaysia 2012 : Jugra

During the weekend when I was back home, my mum decided to make a trip to Jugra, a town located about 15km away from Banting. It was my first time going back to Banting after a lapse of around 15 years. The town has changed quite a bit, as a pang of nostalgia hit me when my mum drove past the petrol station that my dad used to operate. I couldn't really remember how the place used to look but for sure it is different from its current look and feel. In fact, Banting town feels like Klang town in the early 90s!

We reached Jugra at approximately 1pm, as per our reservation with the restaurant. It wasn't that hard to find since it was the only restaurant at such a secluded area! I must say I was quite taken aback to see that it was an attap house with really bad sanitation. I believe it is a stilt house on a swampy land. Nevertheless, it is altogether a different experience for me to be in such a place though I always think that I'm a kampung kid. In fact, when I first reached the eatery, I thought to myself, "this will never pass the hygiene grading in Singapore"!

Being in a small town also has its privileges. For one, the people are a lot friendlier than people in big cities. We were shown around the place to see how the infamous beggar chicken of Jugra is prepared. There is a shack near the house where heaps of charcoal were stored together with a few tongs of 'mud'. In the picture above, you will see the place where the beggar chicken which is already wrapped in layers will be cooked in the second picture on the top row. The third picture shows the uncle putting hot charcoal on top of the different bags of chicken to cover them and to ensure that they're thoroughly cooked in 4 hours. In the bottom row, those are the pictures of the well-done beggar chicken and the ladies opening up the wrappers and serving them on plates.

Besides the beggar chicken, the traditional glutinous rice is also cooked in the same manner. Their pig's stomach soup is also pretty famous, according to mum, but it was a little too pepperish for me. The restaurant also serves seafood but all needs to be pre-ordered. We had a pretty sumptuous lunch for a table of 5 but for all the effort to get there and the price paid, I'd probably rate it 3 out of 5 stars.