Archive for October, 2007
October 31, 2007 at 2:32 am · Filed under Food, Malaysia
Imagine my surprise when I discovered Hokkien Mee in Penang means Prawn Mee! Having mentioned my parents’ favorite dishes, you are looking at a Prawn Mee connoisseur.
Penang Prawn Mee is well known throughout Malaysia and Singapore, so to be the best in Penang is really something. Everyone seems to agree that the stall you see above (in a food court off Swatow Lane) serves the best Hokkien Mee and it really shows in their attitude to customers. We showed up at 11:00am and it’s already sold out (!!), asking us to come back tomorrow.
The following day we went at 9:00am and they still had the balls to say they’ve sold out !!! Personally, I think he’s giving preference to regulars which is a bit frustrating. Anyway Marianne made some noise and he said that if we really want to try, we’ll have to wait for an hour. And We Did !
I really wanted to hate them (so there’s no need for me to return) but unfortunately the Prawn Mee is really the best I have ever eaten. Whether it’s worth an hour’s wait really depends on your love for this dish. Perhaps I need to earn my penance by waiting an hour every morning for a week, and earn Regular status.
Hmm, definitely conceivable for someone like me.
October 31, 2007 at 2:22 am · Filed under Food, Malaysia
Loh Bak stands for Seasoned Meat but it is also served with other deep-fried goodies. At this point of time, the names of new foods have stopped sticking in my brain so I can’t remember what I ate in addition to Loh Bak.
We sampled the one on Penang Road. The dipping sauce has a slightly starchier consistency than normally found elsewhere in Malaysia but the flavour is smacked on the sweet spot. The sweetness, saltiness and umami (trans: Japanese for the fifth taste, savouriness) perfectly balanced.
It’s close to Sri Kayu Nasi Kandar. Do try it because it was very close to mindblowing. He’s also the person who gets invited and flown to Singapore to cook Loh Bak for the Penang Food Fest once a year.
October 31, 2007 at 2:13 am · Filed under Food, Malaysia
I was blindly following the guidebook for this one, just to find out what it is. But upon arriving I realised it’s what the Cantonese call Loh Bak Gou (trans: Carrot Cake).
We bought some anyway since I’m a completist. It’s nothing super incredibly outstanding but I’ve never seen carrot cake fried so violently. He was banging the wok louder than a drum kit.
October 31, 2007 at 2:10 am · Filed under Food, Malaysia
While Georgetown is a predominantly Chinese town, Malays and Indians do make up a sizeable portion of the population. Nasi Kandar (trans: nasi – rice, kandar – carry a load at each end of a pole on your shoulder) comes from the once common tradition of the wandering Malay street hawkers carrying dishes on baskets at the end of poles where you pick two or three curries to complement a plate of rice. Nowadays, you eat Nasi Kandar in restaurants. We decide to sample Sri Kayu on Penang Road.
To be honest I wasn’t expecting much but what really killed it for me was the price. Starting off over RM 4, adding a few bite size chunks of fried fish eggs and chicken bumped the price up to an astronomical RM 10 - for something which I’m confident I can cook better myself.
Well, they seemed amazed when they found out that their shop was featured in our Hawker Trekking bible. I guess they weren’t that confident of their cooking to begin with.
October 26, 2007 at 10:05 am · Filed under Food, Malaysia
If my father is crazy about Char Kway Teow, my mother is crazy about finding good rojak. It’s actually quite a bizarre eclectic mix of raw fruits, green mango, cucumber, cuttlefish and various things I still don’t recognise – topped with Heh Koh (trans: Prawn Paste) and crushed peanuts. Acquired taste for some, addictive on the first try for others.
We sampled the Majesty rojak close to Swatow lane. According to Marianne, they are missing some common ingredients (intentionally?) but they make up for it by a mile with their Heh Koh. I concur, the Heh Koh is really something – it’s thick like caramel and undiluted but not overpowering at all.
If the camera could capture the magma-like consistency of the peanuts in the sauce, you might have an idea of how well made it is.
October 26, 2007 at 10:05 am · Filed under Food, Malaysia
In the same shop as the Macalister’s Road Sisters Char Kway Teow is the town’s famous Or Kuih. It’s incredibly pricey, RM 3 for something slightly smaller than two Maggi mee noodles stacked atop another.
Not sure if it’s good enough to keep you awake at night, but I did find myself unhesitantly stealing a scoop or two to complement my Char Kway Teow. Marianne is distracted by it enough to vouch for its quality.
By the way, I found this sign (in the shop) very entertaining …
October 24, 2007 at 11:37 pm · Filed under Food, Malaysia
The elusive Penang Char Kway Teow (trans: Fried Rice Noodles) has legions of die hard fans who spend their whole lives looking for the ultimate version. My father is one of those, and the difficulty of this dish is outlined by the most common reaction I see – that of disappointment.
From the dilemma of adding cockles and chinese sausage or not, to witnessing incredibly passionate debates over which stall cooks the best Char Kway Teow, I’ve never came across another dish this controversial in Malaysian cuisine.
The Macalister Road’s Sisters (Jie Mei) Char Kway Teow not only has plenty who swear by its goodness, but also plenty who swear against it. If time is on our side, we would have done a Char Kway Teow tasting special but we have to make do with just this one.
While I’m not even close to the Char Kway Teow connoisseur my father is, this version is definitely top class - with just the right amount of chilli, soy sauce, bean sprouts and a whiff of wok hei (trans: Wok Smell – hard to describe).
Singaporeans might find this light soy sauce version not as sweet. And from what Marianne could taste before the chilli overwhelmed her after the third spoonful, it is still outstanding.
Must try!
October 24, 2007 at 11:33 pm · Filed under Architecture, Malaysia
Other than Dutch Square in Malacca, Fort Cornwallis is probably one of the most mentioned location in our school textbooks. So it’s incredibly sad to say that it not only did not live up to its hype, but I fail to see anything worth hyping at all.
There’s really nothing more than a few rusting cannons pointing at the sea on an earth-rammed wall. Can’t believe they’re charging an entrance fee for this!
They should pay us for having to walk through this, the most boring stretch in Penang!
October 24, 2007 at 11:31 pm · Filed under Architecture, Malaysia
Family clan temples is a cultural phenomena that can only arise from the deeply-rooted Confucian values of the far east. Khoo is a family name and Kongsi is a Hokkien word meaning “share” (imported unchanged into Malay) which gives some insight to origins and purpose.
Built in 1906, it is a traditional Qing dynasty temple with some overt European influences, most notably the art deco railings (yes, they were not added at a later date) and a Baroque-esque type of entrance.
What struck me most was, the quality of the materials and craftsmanship. Every granite stone is hewn to fit perfectly and they still do after 100 years. The ornaments look like they could be tacked-on but they are carved in place to “appear” like that, meaning it’s all still one big piece of stone.
October 24, 2007 at 11:17 pm · Filed under Food, Malaysia
Otak Otak is a nyonya dish which means brains in Malay but the ingredients are (thankfully!) a lot more conventional. The base is a fish paste, onto which spices such as chilli, lemon grass, tumeric, coconut milk are added into it. Wrapped into a banana leaf, it’s then grilled over the fire, preferably charcoal.
Compared to the famous ones from Muar, this ones are wrapped into prisms so they’re effectively bigger (edit: this shape seems to be the norm in Thailand, and it’s steamed rather than grilled). Flavours are milder but with a more tangy aftertaste, and the texture is closer to crumbly beancurd than springy fishballs.
I think there’s going to be a lot of split opinions on this one. I’m settling for the Penang version because it’s balanced closer to a mini meal rather than a slightly overpowering side dish.
October 21, 2007 at 6:55 am · Filed under Food, Malaysia
Penang Oh Chien is a Hokkien dish imported directly from China that has remained largely unchanged, for a good reason. Somehow both the texture and taste of oysters and eggs melded in searing oil plays a short but beautiful symphony on your tongue, and your cholestrol levels.
Our book pointed us to Bee San coffeeshop at Ayer Hitam, corner of Jalan Padang Tembak and Jalan Ayer Hitam. He had to heat his wok for about 5 minutes, after which he took less than a minute to deliver his gold nuggets.
Look at his grin when he realised we were food pilgrims!
Aside common mistakes such as unfresh oysters, the difficulty lies in cooking with intense heat to seal in the flavours quickly but still avoid overcooking the oysters. A bit too oily for my comfort, but the taste was truly outstanding!
October 21, 2007 at 6:54 am · Filed under Food, Malaysia
This is it, the gastronomical capital of Malaysia. The Greatest Hits album of Malaysian cuisine, even if you can know exactly where to go and eat all day, you’ll still barely cover a third of every culinary choice Penang has to offer.
Some people get disappointed from the hype, but like any Greatest Hits album you should still expect a few duds, not to mention contingencies of personal taste.
What I appreciate most about this place is the extremely vibrant hawker scene where the hawker (may be rude) are not complacent and constantly strive to be the best.
But … what do you do in the face of overwhelming choices? We have two days and the need to try the best. So we bought ourselves the spanking newly published Penang Street Food Guide (approved by a local friend) and set off … HAWKER TREKKING !
October 21, 2007 at 6:54 am · Filed under Architecture, Malaysia
Ipoh is surrounded by huge limestone karsts. Occasionally they have huge caverns that are so beautifully inspiring that they are turned into places of worship. The most famous one is Sam Po Tong Temple.
What you began to realise is that the site is not only what is underneath you, it is what’s in front of you, at the sides, and even on top of you. The chambers are filled with the smell of incense, and a light meditation chant sets the mood.
At the end, you crawl underneath a tunnel and appear in a bright chasm. Once your eyes adjust to the light, you find yourself surrounded by sheer cliffs with lush rainforest vegetation precariously hanging on all sides. And when you least expect it, a towering temple makes the space even grandier …
Here you can only hear water dripping from above. The light rays from the sky almost seem to sway (very gently) whenever clouds slowly pass by above.
October 19, 2007 at 1:14 am · Filed under Food, Malaysia
When I was very young, I remember rationing myself with Heong Peng (trans: Fragrant Pastry) because this yummy treat was only available whenever my auntie personally brought over a bag to Sabah.
It’s hard to describe what’s so great about it. Imagine a delicate bubble of crunchy matte flaky crust outside – which oozes a sweet, flavoursome chewy filling the moment you bite into one.
It’s only until recently that you can find them in supermarkets. I’ve tried one but, because they’re factory-made, I find the taste severely compromised.
So it’s with great pleasure that we got to visit the one last place (well, that I know of) where they still make it by hand. This family still operates from their semi detached home at No. 177, Persiaran Gunung Rapat 6, 31350 Ipoh.
The biscuits get their distinctive teardrop shape from being stuck to the side of the oven. Still “powered by” charcoal, the heat is still intense and I can feel it from a metre away.
Just to show how good the biscuits are, Julius in his wisdom did not take any closeup shots of this crazily addictive stuff before they were finished. Yummy!
October 19, 2007 at 1:09 am · Filed under Food, Malaysia
What you see below is the real Ipoh Ho Fun, from the soup to noodles to garnish.
Note how thick the stock is (not diluted “salty water” trying to pass off as soup), and together with the special silky bouncy noodles makes for a very appetizing meal. Definitely much better than anything in Singapore or Sydney.
Just to get into the mood for authenticity, we all ordered a cup of Ipoh White Coffee each. I heard it’s white because they fry the coffee powder with butter but I didn’t find the drink particularly oily.
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