Archive for Food
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 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.
October 16, 2007 at 12:44 pm · Filed under Food, Malaysia
Since it wasn’t holiday season and most young Ipoh girls are probably in school or working in KL, I couldn’t test the water theory.
BUT I must say that the water here is doing something magical to the chicken, bean sprouts and Ho Fun (trans: flat rice noodles).
Sidenote – Say hello to my auntie and uncle on the left.
Ipoh’s water is very hard, saturated with minerals after filtering through many layers of limestone. Boiling chickens in this water is apparently what gives them their super smooth and springy texture. I can personally vouch for the Ho Fun, they are exceptionally smooth and springy too.
Look closely at the size and shape of those super healthy Ipoh bean sprouts ! They’re like tiny white carrots !!!
October 13, 2007 at 10:09 pm · Filed under Food, Malaysia
The locals seemed inclined to only mention Pineapple Tart when asked where to get the best nyonya kuih. I tried it, it’s good. But where are the rest of the nyonya kuihs ???
Chendol however, is really legendary. Stays solid enough in the sultry weather but still melts in your mouth, just sweet enough to actually quench your thirst instead making you order more water.
October 13, 2007 at 10:03 pm · Filed under Food, Malaysia
There are times when you can find more authentic cuisine of particular cultures in smaller places, and I believe this is one of those instances.
We heard about this place a lot called Teo Soon Leong, a tiny half-shop in the middle of old town Malacca that requires reservations but doesn’t even have a backdoor. We’re constantly reminded that there’s no real way to escape if the kitchen catches fire.
Anyone familiar with Teochew cuisine will immediately recognise the dishes, Orh Mee (trans: oyster noodles), Lou Ngap (trans: Soy Seasoned Duck), Koh Gua Pai Kut (trans: Pork Ribs with Bitter Gourd) and the essential Steamed Pomfret. In fact we only had to choose the ingredients, the cook determines the style.
To be honest, I wasn’t blown away until I tried the Oh Ni (trans: Mashed Yam).
THIS … is completely mind-blowing. Obscenely fulfilling, normally you can’t get pass the first two spoonfuls after being knocked dead from sugar or oil overdose, but this one – I lapped the whole bowl clean. Do make an effort to sample this if you pass Malacca.
September 29, 2007 at 10:00 am · Filed under Food, Singapore
In Singapore, silken tofu (ie. beancurd) is synonymous with Rochor Road.
I was first convinced of its greatness when I was told that you can always spot at least one Mercedes-Benz double parked nearby, most likely belonging to a rich Tai Tai (trans: Housewife) trying to get take-away before the traffic police gets her.
But I highly recommend that you discover its greatness with your tongue. I’m sure you’ll find yourself, like most Singaporeans, making pitstops to this shop whenever it happens to be on the way.
September 29, 2007 at 9:39 am · Filed under Food, Singapore
Okay jokes aside.
Turns out half my crew decided to join me in Malaysia. Since Singapore is my second home, I prepared for the days ahead rather than visiting the typical tourist traps that characterise my initial posts of cities.
But fear not, I’m not altruistic towards Singapore. In fact, I plan to cover this place (especially food) on the return leg of my journey for the sake of faithful readers who’ve never been here, hmm … in a narrative vaguely reminiscent of a famous film by George Lucas.
In the mean time, I believe I’ve found one of the top chicken rice in Singapore! In a shop called Boon Tong Kee at River Valley Road.
As a local, I’m always a bit put off by gentrified kopitiams (trans: Coffee Shops) because they appear to “Try Hard” with inferior cooking. Once I put the chicken rice in my mouth, I’m almost certain its so authentic my late grandfather will think it’s still 1959.
In a super bizarre twist … they decided that Ferrero Roches will make a great addition as tidbits before the meal. That should send anyone back to the future.
October 10, 2005 at 1:38 am · Filed under Architecture, Finland, Food
As you can tell, this is a mightily cold place. Jeff kept reminding that we’re only 600 kilometres from the Arctic circle. The highway speed limits here are 120 km/h, it’s quite tempting to just drive there and back just to brag that you’ve been there.
But we held off our dreams of being chased by polar bears.
Vernacular Nordic/Scandinavian architecture does have a mystical quality, it remind me of Studio Ghibli’s work.
At their fish market (a real open air one, not like Sydney’s oversanitised one), they sell what they call Lapin food. Finland cuisine is, not exactly outstanding. Some stalls had signs trying to pass their rice creations off as “Finnish paella”. Pretty strange considering I was eating the real thing just days before in Barcelona.
This is their parliament, palace or government’s symbolic centre. Seeing this opposite the fish market makes you feel how cozy this country really is.
Here’s one for Benji Yap!!
This photo is taken at midnight (12am), could still see twilight.
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