WHEN Ramadan arrives, Muslims will often look for sweets as an appetiser for breaking fast – in Kelantan, a favourite is 'locong'.
Locong entrepreneur Mariani Ismail, 48, better known as 'Mariani Locong', said the sweet is like cendol, but more colourful. It comes in red, pink, green and yellow, and has a chewy and soft taste.
"Locong actually originates from Thailand and rarely do locals make it. Therefore, because the demand is also extremely high, I have been making it myself at home for the past 10 years.
"Roughly speaking, this locong is easy to cook but requires a lot of patience and research. It takes skills to mix, cut, boil and mix the dyes, as well as shape so that it looks attractive," she told Bernama when met at his house in Kampung Kebakat, Wakaf Bharu, Tumpat.
Mariani said during Ramadan, she would start making locong from 11am to 4pm to produce about 350 packs a day, which were sold wholesale at RM1.50 per pack.
“Among the ingredients needed to make locong are starch flour, water and dyes.
"The way to make it is to add a little water into the starch flour to be mixed, while dry starch and wet starch are mixed until it becomes a little hard to ease the process of forming it," she said, who was also assisted by her husband, Zaki Ali, 49.
She said the dough is ready to be cut, then boiled in boiling water for about a minute until it floats and is tossed to prevent it from sticking easily.
"Apart from being oblong and fine, there are also locong that are shaped like pomegranate seeds because they are delicious to enjoy with air bandung (syrup with milk), ais batu campur (ABC) or served with evaporated milk," she said.
Mariani added that her business also received demand from customers around the Klang Valley and Perak with a profit of RM450 a day. – Bernama, April 11, 2022
