The bold aroma of asam pedas filled the air in the Ampang parliamentary service centre as its MP, Rodziah Ismail, stood in front of a pot, stirring the dish while directing her assistants.
Despite the rush to prepare hundreds of food containers, Rodziah paused to joke about her latest venture during an interview with Malaysiakini yesterday morning.
"If Khairul Aming has Rembayung, we are Rembawang," she laughingly quipped, referencing the restaurant of a popular local food entrepreneur.
Rodziah has turned to selling asam pedas after claiming that her service centre is no longer allowed to access the MyKhas system used to manage constituency development allocations.
Each container of the sour and spicy fish stew is sold for RM10, with proceeds going towards assisting Ampang residents in need.
She admitted that cooking on such a scale was a far cry from preparing meals for her family.
"Usually, I cook for 30 or 40 people at most - today we are making hundreds," she said.
Yesterday marked the first day of her efforts, and she had targeted to sell 50 packs.
Mother's recipe
The asam pedas recipe is not one that Rodziah had created for sale, but one lovingly handed down from mother to daughter for generations within her family.
The recipe gained attention when she prepared the dish during the korban (sacrificial ritual) programmes throughout her nearly four terms as an elected representative.
"Every time during korban, we have meat. So there came a time when I said, why don't we cook asam pedas," she said, adding that many constituents had praised her dish.
Faced with financial constraints, she decided it was something she could do to raise funds while staying engaged with constituents.
"So, I thought maybe since many people like my asam pedas, this is the time for me to share it with others," she said.
She also took time to "promote" the versatility of the dish.
"This asam pedas is very special. You can eat it with pancakes, bread, whatever you like. It's up to you," she said.
Saving every ringgit
Fortunately, Rodziah was not alone in carrying out her efforts.
While she had purchased some ingredients like chillies, onions, and fish with her own money, other necessities - such as cucumbers and cabbage - were obtained from donors. She also obtained rice at a lower price.
For Rodziah, every ringgit that can be saved means more money can go towards helping residents.
Besides that, the side dishes depend entirely on donations, she explained.
If there is okra, she said, it will be added. If there are eggplants, they will join the dish.
One order stood out: a supporter bought 100 meal packs but asked Rodziah to donate them instead.
"The person bought 100 packs and said, 'YB, I can't eat all this. YB, donate it to the Ampang health clinic'," she said.
When asam pedas becomes public fund
The sale of asam pedas is the first subproject of "Projek Amal Rakyat" (People's Welfare Project), which Rodziah launched in response to the freezing of her constituency allocation as an MP, effective July 29.
She said the proceeds will be used to help residents who had previously submitted applications to her service centre.
"We will close the accounts every week, see how much we received, and I will announce how many individuals I can help," she said.
According to the service centre, it faces about RM300,000 in pending aid requests, including RM40,000 for healthcare, RM60,000 for education, RM50,000 for welfare, and RM150,000 for socioeconomic and community programmes.
Rodziah hopes to raise the amount within two to three months, while acknowledging that asam pedas sales alone may not be enough.
At the time, she said sales and early orders had reached about RM5,000.
"If we can't reach the target, we'll adjust. What's important is we understand that those who come here really need urgent financial help and that we help them," she said.
The effort to cover the funding shortfall started with something simple: a mother's recipe, a large pot, and hundreds of RM10 containers of asam pedas from Ampang. - Mkini
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