Toddy, Iguana and Wild Boar Curry @ Banting

A Banting we will go.. A banting we will go.. hey ho the merry ho, a Banting we will go…

Knowing how to spell “wild boar” won’t help you find this well hidden shack of a place, tucked behind something that looks like someone’s backyard, in the sleepy town of Banting, any easier. Here sits one of the long standing, famous toddy and wild boar joints in the district of Kuala Langat, Selangor.

(before we go on, we must tell you that our post here on Banting Toddy was linked in the Malaysian Insider. Read about it, here!)

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hello! I am the guardian of these grounds.. and keeper of peace.. You will find Banting’s famous Toddy shop in my backyard!

Some believe that the act of rubbing cash on the back of a wild boar, will bring you good luck. Some discerning people can see numbers appearing on the boars’ body, whilst others are rumoured to have struck the local lottery, Magnum 4D, by buying these numbers. On a less happy note, it was reported that about 2 years ago, a 19-year-old youth on a motorcycle died after he crashed into a wild boar. Last year, a 45-year-old man suffered a similar fate. In Malaysia, wild boars are known to roam plantations and farms in the villages/kampung areas and these animals are also notorious for destroying crops in the villages. For the adventurous foodie, the wild boar represents a delectable meal and a great way to experiment with exotic meat, without venturing too far out of your comfort zone. It is afterall, a leaner version of pork. And indeed, the health benefits do make intriguing conversation. Lined up against the big four of pork, chicken, beef and lamb, wild boar contains the least cholesterol, and, bar chicken, the least saturated fat.

Now lets talk about the other great thing you find at this nameless “restaurant” in Banting. Toddy.

Toddy is the partly fermented sap of the coconut palm. Toddy used to be a popular drink in South-East Asia and the central Pacific Islands, and the Indians use it as a substitute for yeast when making apam and other Indian delicacies. I love the ‘first press’ collected early in the morning, and there is no greater feeling than drinking it fresh from the tree, as the sap is sweet and cloying, characteristic only to Toddy. As the day progresses, the collected Toddy starts to ferment and releases a slight “pong”. The only way for you to know what I mean is to drink it. It’s one of those drinks that smells worse than it tastes really. Toddy is what I would call, an acquired taste. One of its attributes is that the sap will naturally ferment and turn into alcohol, without any additional ingredients. Within four hours of being tapped, it can become tangy and contain up to 14% alcohol. Not only do drinkers get an instant kick out of the inexpensive drink, one too many glasses can cause intoxication. I like the way Toddy slowly ferments in your stomach, making you feel a lot more trashed after a few hours. There is nothing quite like the insidious high that one can get from Toddy. Magic.

Today, it’s not easy to find toddy in the market. In fact, you will not find toddy readily in just any shop on the street or in the city at all. The toddy trade is slowly dying due to the availability of cheap liquor and the difficulty of sourcing for skilled tappers. In the past, there were many toddy shops in the city, but most have since closed, the latest being a century-old shop in Brickfields. Now, toddy can mostly be purchased at selected oil palm estates, in Kapar , at Klang seafood restaurants, and here in Banting, is another place you can find this affordable addictive alcoholic tipple. And oh.. have I not mentioned that it tastes fab, when drunk with the wildboar curry..

So finally we get there.. C&C and our buddy M, had to travel 1.5hours from Kuala Lumpur to find this nice little place for lunch. After a series of wrong turns and backtracking, we found it. For the benefit of you, our readers, we have taken a photo of the little lane, into which you must turn, off from the highway. Therein lies Banting Toddy and Wildboar for your enjoyment!

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a simple unassuming kampung house..

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makes you feel like you wandered down the wrong backyard..

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but lo and behold, as you turn the corner, you see this..

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a wide space under shady trees, coconut trees, and a rather cool backyard restaurant!

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Mrs Nava is a lovely, soft spoken, charming lady

Mrs Nava, is the owner of this place. She runs her unusual, outdoor backyard restaurant from 10am to 6pm everyday. Her Toddy plantation is located in Morib and her husband runs the show there.

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Some of the big specialities here that people come to eat include, the Mutton marrow, head and belly of the lamb. Also in fascinating abundance is the Iguana (Giant Biawak) lizard and wild boar which we wasted no time ordering. The Wild boar they serve here is very young, characterised by the tender meat, and the oh so chewy skin.

The family also breeds Great Dane pedigrees, from harlequins, merle to mantles. We visited the cages and they were so noisy!

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you can pet me.. I am friendly!

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sitting outdoors is really relaxing – we finished an entire bottle of Toddy between us!

We try the iguana and the wild boar. I particularly like the wild boar as the meat is succulent and the chewy bits (the skin) is rather addictive especially when eaten with bread. The bread mops up the curry – what a heavenly flavour! The Iguana meat just tasted like tough chicken to me. Not my cup of tea.

soaking up the curry with bread.. yum yum!

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Cumi and M contemplating life.. and the getting a little merry on Toddy

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You can always have the Toddy, to go, if you are in a hurry. There are 2 versions on ‘tap’; sweeter or less sweet. These guys will pack it for you. A cautionary word on the bottled toddy. As fermentation continues and is sped up with heat, gas pressure increases in the bottle so you need to release the pressure out of the bottle, ever so slowly. Be sure to do it gently or you will get sprayed by the toddy under pressurised form! … hopefully not in your face, in your car or on your designer wear.

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Directions:

OK, let me try and simplify the directions for you because we had some trouble spotting the wee turning, in the beginning. Head towards Banting. Once you see the sign Telok Datok (on Route 5), it means you are getting closer. The first landmark is the school you see (photo above) – Sekolah Menengah Sultan Abdul Samad, on your right.

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You will then see the road sign above, on your left, and the turning is immediately on your left. It’s hidden behind this road sign.

 

 

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Now you should turn immediately into a small path, which is easy to miss. After a short distance you will end up in someone’s driveway and see a kampung-styled home. This is it! Go around to the back of the garage and you will find the open space where the restaurant is located. Easy-peasy!

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Mr Perak (who is from India), says.. see you soon!

 

Contact no. incase you cannot find the place:
Mrs Nava – +603 3181 5657
Opening hours – 10am – 6pm
[Olympus logo]

18 Comments

  • Sean says:

    oooo, i recall crocodile also tasting like tough chicken. so if iguana tastes like chicken too, maybe it’s safe to assume that many reptiles taste like chicken? we should hunt some chameleons to find out, heheh! 😀

    • ciki says:

      “it tastes just like Chicken!” how many times have i heard that and rolled my eyes.. but yeah, it does:P you would probably have an affinity for the iguana, Sean, since you LOVE exotic meat:P

  • babe_kl says:

    *gulp* i only remember drinking sei keok seh herbal soup when i was very young, din eat the meat though

  • ayngelina says:

    I love wild boar, as always the dishes look delicious.

  • Oh my goooosh! The last time I had some real moonshine and Indian wild boar curry was like ages ago.. probably when I was still in school. Then again, I had some sinalau bakas (grilled bearded pig) last month in Borneo 🙂 Nice coverage Mei!

    • ciki says:

      Did the pig have a beard bigger than yours? 😛

    • Toffee says:

      Whaaat!!! moonshine? You got to be kidding things like Scotch and beer are more akin to moonshine, they are all brewed the same.
      Toddy is not brewed no processing, it is fresh tapped from the tree, it is real natural goodness and the longer you keep it the higher the alcoholic content.
      Drink it Fresh fr the best effect.
      Use it to make cakes, use it to make your own sour dough for bread, and to make Indian Appam and Chinese Pak Tong Kor it is the best.
      Moonshine I think you better study what it is, in Malaysia the Indians used to call it “lallang tani” moonshine that is.
      Toddy is Toddy the Indians call it “Kulle” which means stone and probably it is that term that the English borrowed when the use the term, “got stoned”.
      If you go to Botak Kiri and Botak Kanan in Perak you’ll spot Malays selling it by the roadside they call it Nira, so I guess this is halal.

      It can be tapped from a variety of Palms not necessarily Coconut.

  • Camemberu says:

    What an amazing place! I love wild boar…no matter how tough and chewy!
    I wouldn’t eat lizards though, I prefer them alive and propagating.
    Great find, Mei!

  • J2Kfm says:

    Hmm, IGUANA?! That’s a little too far-fetched. But wild boar curry? Yeah. Though eating that with toddy is a little weird of a combination, usually prone to having toddy in Sitiawan with seafood instead.

  • azim says:

    toddy is also a traditional drink in Maldives but it is drunk before it ferments or they will cook the toddy till it becomes syrupy and all the alcohol has been evaporated…this is then called dhiyaa hakuru (liquid sugar) or simply maldivian sugar – its usually brownish gold but sometimes they let it solidify then its golden color…its used in making local sweet dishes…

  • Pureglutton says:

    Nice adventure, exotic food!

  • GH Tan says:

    Reach the place at 4pm from yr directions. My in-laws are with me but I could have swear ed the sign says outlaws only! Coz the place was full of grim looking men. I feel like im waliking into a saloon of an old western. No joke! I can feel all eyes on us ‘strangers’ Maybe ’twas my gwai-loh bro-in-law, me wife & kids that got their attention. (There’s no women & children in sight). We sat down an quickly ordered their specialty- Curry boar and toddy! Both are authentic and quiet good. The kids drank 100+ from their own tumblers coz all the glasses reek of toddy ‘juice’ We half finish the liter bottle of toddy partly I’m driving but mainly coz de place is just not right for women and children. All in we finished three small plates of curry boar and a plate of scrambled eggs. The set back was RM27 which I think is pretty steep for a god forsaken place. Anyways its a dining experience like no other. Only in the cowboy town of Banting.

  • Mac Mahendran says:

    A few days ago, a dear friend, Nallia took me there after 23 plus years away from Malaysia. Yes it was a challenge in finding the place but with the help of some friendly Banting residents, we found it.
    We were lucky because the owner agreed to serve us some fresh toddy right from one tree instead of mixture of many. It was super delicious. There was a local guy who was grumpy for all the special treatment the outsiders get. Heck… as he was bitching, we kept sipping the delightful toddy.
    We got to meet some cool local people and had a great conversation. It was worth waiting that 23 plus years. The toddy was enchanting. You must go to this particular place because they only serve the fresh.

  • ramesh says:

    iguana? its called monitor lizard

  • Babu says:

    Hi Guys,

    Leave the animals alone if you can. Don’t be greedy in life…Eating Iguana and Wild Boar brings much bad luck actually…
    If you do not believe, go on eating and you will experience it yourself.

    Regards,
    Babu

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