Malaysian Actress Sasqia Dahuri's Kelate.Sg Pulls In The Crowds In Singapore

By Massita Ahmad SINGAPORE, Feb 23 (Bernama) – A food stall at 93, Lorong 4, Toa Payoh here has managed to entice hundreds of customers even during weekdays with just three dishes - laksam, mee celup and colek malah - listed on the menu. It is learnt that the stall, which is open from 8 am to 2 pm daily, sold out its food three hours early during its opening day on Feb 8. A Bernama check at the stall after a week of its opening showed that customers were still seen queuing to taste these three dishes, which originated from the Malaysia’s east coast state Kelantan. "I have been craving Kelantan food for quite some time. We tried all three on the menu. It turned out to be very tasty,” said Zafran Jani, who is from Johor (south Malaysia) but works here. Zafran, who visited the stall with a Malaysian friend, hoped the stall owner would one day include his favourite Kelantan food “nasi kerabu” in the menu. Salwani Abdullah, another customer who was raised in Kelantan, said the owner was able to maintain the authentic taste of the food. "Satisfied. We can finally enjoy authentic Kelantan state cuisine here. Not to mention (it was) my favourite actress who cooked it,” said the Singaporean, who came with her mother. Yes, this stall called Kelate.sg is run by Nurlisasqia Ahmad Dahuri, popularly known as Sasqia Dahuri, a Malaysian actress and model who hails from Pasir Mas, Kelantan. Cast as Dr Orked in the 26-episode "Cinta Untuk Raf" drama being aired on Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM or Malaysian national broadcaster), Sasqia, 35, has been here since the lockdown in March last year. Sasqia said at first it was just to fill her time by making a "home-based delivery" of laksam during last year's eight-week "circuit breaker", a Singapore version of tighter measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. "Up to a point I can’t do it alone when bookings for laksam, which I made based on my mother’s recipe, reached 300 to 400 a day," said the actress, who is of mixed Thai-Malay blood. "My husband and two other friends who started to like laksam proposed the idea for me to do it more seriously," said Sasqia, who married Singaporean Muhammad Asyraff Khan Baharudin Khan in 2018. Besides the gravy, the graduate of Multimedia Malaysia University herself prepares the laksam, the flat rice noodles, which is made from rice flour, from a brand normally used by her mother. “My mother is very fussy in cooking, including the step of adding ingredients one by one. I’ll make sure it stays that way,” said Sasqia, who employs a few assistants. According to Sasqia, “nasi kerabu” will soon be on the menu in Kelate.sg and she will consider adding “nasi dagang” and “nasi berlauk” in the future. "We are planning to go online as well. We are in the midst of applying it," she said, adding that a "central kitchen" could be a solution to meet the growing demand. -- BERNAMA