USJ4 Ramadan Bazaar
The great thing about Ramadan bazaar season in Malaysia is that you don’t have to drive far from home to find a spot that delivers all the Malay food classics for a satisfying iftar meal. Take USJ4 Ramadan Bazaar, for starters. It’s a popular spot among Subang Jaya folks looking to bungkus food for iftar, and also residents from neighbouring housing areas with so many tempting options to choose from.
The bazaar has a good number of stalls lining the 200m road of Jalan USJ 4/5, with vendors selling a mix of classic Ramadan staples such as the colourful air balang, satay, crispy fried snacks, and chocolatey desserts.
If you’re curious, here’s what you can get with RM50 and under at the neighbourhood bazaar.
What you can get with RM50 at USJ4 Ramadan Bazaar
Mango Yogurt Homemade from Air Balang Abang
Air Balang Abang USJ4 sells a mango and yoghurt drink combo for only RM5, which puts a unique spin on the popular mango milk drink that is commonly found at bazaars. It combines the fruity sweetness of mango with the slight tangy sweetness of yoghurt.
The drink was not too sweet. We could still taste the balanced flavours of the mango and yoghurt too, even though we left it for a bit and took a stroll around the bazaar before trying it out. It was also served in a tall plastic cup, with plenty to go around you and another person if you don’t end up downing the whole thing on your own.
Air mata kucing from Air Mata Kucing & Laicikang
Air mata kucing is a local traditional herbal drink commonly served chilled. It’s also a popular choice for cooling down on a hot day, perfect for the Malaysian heat, so consider it your next drink of choice, as it will set you back just RM3 here. Plus points to the stall for giving us a biodegradable paper straw over the usual plastic one.
By iftar, the beverage tastes like the usual air mata kucing drink: refreshing, sweet, and healthy – a nice break from overly sweet drinks for iftar.
Popiah sira & popiah otak-otak from Lili Popeaa
Popiah is a spring roll made with a thin wheat wrapper filled with vegetables and a variety of other savoury ingredients. At Lili Popeaa, you can get non-traditional fillings such as wantan crab rangoon, popiah sira sambal, popiah otak-otak, and popiah Big Mac.
We bought five pieces of popiah sira for RM5, and five pieces of popiah otak-otak for RM5.
The popiah sira was not too spicy and had a balanced savoury and sweet taste. The vegetables inside were cooked well and not oily. As for the popiah otak-otak, the fried outer shell of the popiah was still crunchy by iftar.
The crunch mixed with the soft, savoury otak-otak filling gives a satisfying texture to the tastebuds.
Cucur udang sarang burung from Jasmi Bin Che Ismail
Cucur udang is another Malaysian snack made with savoury batter and prawns. But for this stall, their cucur udang is called cucur udang sarang burung. Rather than making small bite-sized fritters, this stall forms its fritters in a disk shape that resembles a bird’s nest.
You can get this big piece of cucur udang for only RM6. The stall hawkers will chop them up and serve them with a chilli blend sauce packet to dip the fritters in.
However, once we brought the delicious snack home and bit into it, we found out that the fritter was topped with just a single fried shrimp. With udang in the snack’s name, we expected more shrimp in it, including inside the fritter and not just a single one to crown it.
Nevertheless, the fritter was still crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Chicken satay from Sate Warisan Ibu
No Ramadan bazaar is complete without a few satay stalls smoking up the aisle of vendors congregating on the street. The classic skewered meat grilled over a charcoal grill is a staple food you can’t miss.
At Sate Warisan Ibu stall, they sell chicken satay for only RM1/stick, and beef satay for RM1.20/stick.
We bought RM10 worth of chicken satay from them, and the taste is the usual savoury chicken taste that all Malaysians love. There’s also a slight sweetness to each skewered meat, leaving us wanting more.
Mangga Manis from Ahmad Zhafran
If you’re craving something sweet and refreshing, there’s sweet mango readily packed for you. One of the stalls at this bazaar sells a variety of food options, including keropok lekor, mango sticky rice, kerabu mangga, and kerabu kaki ayam.
At the stall, we also found nature’s simplest dessert: the mango, in its fresh, untouched form. This stall sells what seems to be half a mango for only RM5, which is a recommended dessert to have that’s healthy, sweet, and satisfying after you’ve gobbled up an array of crispy snacks and savoury dishes.
What to get at USJ4 Ramadan Bazaar in Subang Jaya
All in all, our total spending came up to RM39, proving that it’s still possible to enjoy a satisfying iftar spread without exceeding the RM50 budget. With a mix of refreshing drinks, savoury snacks, and grilled favourites, the USJ4 Ramadan Bazaar offers several affordable food options for the masses.
For Subang Jaya residents, this bazaar is a convenient spot to drop by for budget-friendly choices and maybe splurge a little on the available Western cuisine choices.
Address: Jalan USJ 4/5, Usj 4, 47600 Subang Jaya, Selangor
Opening hours: 3pm-8pm, Daily
Cover image adapted from: TheSmartLocal Malaysia