Leading the wild into the ways of the manβ¦
You know the saying right? When in Rome, do as the Romans do. There are several must-eat dishes in Korea – and one of them is live octopus. I also had a dish that is…er, decidedly canine in flavor but that’s another post. Live octopus (octopi?) is served with the eight armed creature still squirming with the suckers trying to stick on your tongue.
It’s surprisingly good – videos up soon, I just finished working, am so tired I’m about to pass out.
Posted: 10:58 pm Korean time
Penang has an abundance of seafood due to its status as an island, and for the very same reason, the seafood also happens to be disgustingly cheap. Thus, a trip to Penang without having seafood is kinda like going to Egypt without visiting the pyramids.
We travelled from Tambun, Ipoh to Tambun, Penang after the hot springs trip. Tambun (the one in Penang) is famous for seafood and lies just before the Penang bridge connecting the mainland to the island.
We had dinner at Restauran Gee Seng, which looks small on the outside but actually has a huge amount of space which can easily accommodate 30 tables or so, with its own pier for fresh hauls of seafood to boot! Parking is a bit of a nightmare here though, since the road into this area is narrow and the parking attendants frequently shuffle the cars (along with their drivers) around when some poor sod stuck at the back of a matrix of cars has to exit after his/her dinner.
However, I’m sure you don’t want to read about the tribulations of the complicated parking system, so I’ll let the photos do the talking:
This is some sort of spiked clam that requires a toothpick to dig out.
The flesh tastes good dipped in chilli sauce, once you’re able to get the damn thing out. It takes a bit of practise.
Jolyn here shows us that chopsticks are not merely eating implements.
We also ordered boiled octopus…
…and a serving of greens to balance out the marine meat. It had shrimps in it anyway, keeping true to the seafood restaurant roots. π
The baked crab at this place comes with a mallet made of wood. You use it to crack open the shell.
This style of cooking preserves the natural sweetness of the crab meat.
The signature tofu dish at this establishment is different – it’s deep fried into triangular shapes and is a mixture of tofu and some vegetables. It’s quite tasty.
The oyster pancake (o chien) isn’t what Sarawakians are used to. Ours is a crisp pancake with juicy oysters in the middle – click here to see a sample. The oyster pancake over here is more like a classic omelet, except with oysters.
Next up is one of my favorite dishes – chilli crab served with a side of bread rolls to soak up the gravy with. Let me attempt to describe the pure awesomeness of the chilli crab. The gravy is cooked with starch and tastes sweet and tangy, with a slightly salty note in there somewhere.
It’s also infused with egg and at one point; I just discarded all social graces and started scooping up the sauce with my spoon and drinking it. Pure heaven!
This is the mantis prawn. I’ve written about the mantis prawn experience here in a post filled with (very justifiable) hyperbole.
It’s my first time eating mantis prawn and the tender and sweet flesh is simply orgasmic! This is what it looks like in the aquarium:
I can’t believe I haven’t had mantis prawn before! To this very day, it keeps me awake at night, doubting my own judgment and fitness to live.
The bill came out to a grand total of RM 253.20 for the six (6) of us. We thought there was an accounting error on the restaurant’s part and made plans for a quick exit strategy since a dinner like that has gotta cost around RM 400.
However, upon further inspection, it seems that we were billed for everything we ordered after all. Tambun seafood is dirt cheap and it’s fresh and delicious to boot! I highly recommend stopping by Tambun for dinner when you drive up to Penang! You’ll be missing out if you don’t. π
I know…who the hell goes to Klang to eat BKT at an eating establishment inside a mall instead of sweating it out like a man in some authentic looking (preferably run down) and well loved coffee shop?
The new port coolies of course!
Although our line of work has more to do with computer ports than harbor ports, nothing beats a bak kut teh breakfast!
The pork knuckles with enough fat to make 20 whales clutch their hearts with their flippers and float belly up.
The meaty pork ribs that just slides off the bone…
There’s nothing like the hustle and bustle of salt-of-the-earth hardworking men chowing down on bak kut teh before their daily honest backbreaking toil.
Please excuse my wanton exhibition of the flavorful pork knuckles that squirts out its juicy secrets as you bite through the layer of fat into the meat, bursting into a million taste bud orgasms in your mouth.
It’s too good! I’m going to go off and…er, lift some heavy objects or something now.
This has gotta be one of the more decadent dishes you can afford to eat every day. Weighing in at a relatively easy-on-the-wallet price tag of RM 5.50, it’s practically a steal! This Shark Fin Noodles is located at Ming Tien food court, and I feel obliged to proclaim the goodness of this particular dish to all and sunder.
The Shark’s Fin Noodle stall serves up shark fin soup and shark fin noodles. Imagine noodles dumped into shark’s fin soup and you’ll have an idea about what this dish is all about. It’s almost criminal that most places do not serve this – it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that chucking some good ol’ noodles into leftover shark fin soup would make a tasty dish.
Granted, at the price you’re forking out (RM 5.50) you shouldn’t expect prime fin from a 3,000 kg shark inside your dish…my agaration tells me that there’s only a sliver (or two) of real shark fin inside the dish.
However, the texture is authentic enough, and the crab sticks and other miscellaneous ingredients coupled with the starchy and vinegar-ish soup fabricates a more-than-passable approximation of shark’s fins soup (with noodles).
I am actually quite intrigued about shark’s fin noodles. It’s almost a no-brainer to create something like this. Leftover soup? No worries! Just reheat and dump in some noodles for a meal. It’s the first time I’ve sampled this dish and it has already engendered a craving, nay, a hunger for shark fin noodles with a healthy dash of vinegar.
It’s a bargain at RM 5.50!
Ming Tien food court has a lot of great stalls and they open until 3 AM…perfect for washing down your alcohol with some solid food. π
I’ve always believed that the best and most delicious food is found in the dirtiest of places. It’s a Malaysian thing. Heh! The places with great food aren’t really big on hygiene. Jennifer and Wye Meng told us about this awesome dai chow place beside the “smelly PJ Old Town main pasar” and we all headed down for lunch.
It was better than I expected – overflowing rubbish bins, the smell of pork and fish from the main wet market, flies buzzing around. I was very pleased…the ambience is unbeatable! π
The stall you want is called Thong Kee – just look #47. Thong Kee is very popular, so look out for the teeming mass of hungry customers congregating there.
Wye Meng told us that the stall beside Thong Kee serves up a mean bowl of cendol. I ordered mine with extra gula melaka and fu yoh, it really is something wicked on a hot afternoon. It’s one of the best cendol I’ve had.
She’s quite familiar with this place so she ordered all the signature dishes:
This is η¦ε»Ίη±³ (fuk kin mai) otherwise known as Hokkien style fried bee hoon.
The rice vermicelli doesn’t look like rice vermicelli at all, but it more than makes up for it with the amount of seafood present. It’s an aquatic celebration! I ate quite a few marine species and pronounce it good!
This is ζ»θζ²³ (wat tan hor). It’s kwong fu style fried kueh tiaw. I obviously didn’t write the Chinese characters – those were kindly furnished by Wye Meng. I can’t write Chinese.
The wat tan hor is starchy and they’re quite generous with the seafood too. Marine treasures abound inside the dish – everything from cuttlefish to prawns. Wat tan hor does not have a “taste” per se – it’s a rather plain dish, but it’s good to balance out the two salty dishes. I also like how they cracked a raw egg into the wat tan hor. Authentic!
This is ζιͺ¨ηηι’ (pai guat man sang meen) – stew pork rib fried with wantan noodles. It’s called Specialty Sang Mee on the menu and it’s their flagship dish.
The cook is magnanimous with the pork ribs – just look at the CHUNKS of pork ribs in the dish. The noodles is done well, chewy and slurp-ilicious! I like the gravy too. Mmm…salty. Two thumbs up for this one; it’s the best dish at the place!
The food was so good that I ate four (4) plates…and it nearly sent me into a post-lunch coma. I would definitely go again; it’s seriously first-rate hawker style food. Thanks to Jennifer and Wye Meng for buying us lunch. Next one on me! π
“It’s like lok-lok…but with peanut sauce!”
Satay Celup originated in Melaka but like most other things it has migrated far and wide. I hear it’s even available at the mobile lok-lok trucks around here, but for the Real Deal (TM), nothing beats going to Melaka to eat satay celup!
The place we went to is none other than Ban Lee Siang – one of the renowned satay celup establishments in Melaka. There are two other satay celup places flanking Ban Lee Siang and it’s very telling that Ban Lee Siang is the only one packed to the rafters, with people waiting for a free table while the other two are practically deserted.
Satay celup is a Malay word meaning “sticks of stuff” and “dip”. The skewers are kept refrigerated and you walk around with a tray to choose the items you want. There’s easily 50 different items on offer, ranging from clams to quail eggs and everything in between. The prawns are surprisingly fresh and sweet, and the balled up vegetables provides a nice, crunchy texture. The mushrooms and stuffed chillis are pretty good too.
Satay celup invariably comes with the same setup – there is a communal satay celup pot in a recessed pit in the middle of the table. The satay celup pot is constantly kept full by the staff, who roams from table to table to refill the sauce. The sauce is none other than satay sauce a.k.a. peanut sauce!
This is what makes satay celup interesting. It’s like lok-lok (where you dunk food skewers into boiling hot water or broth) except you dip this into a simmering pot of peanut sauce. The sweet (albeit diluted) satay sauce tastes delicious with the meat, vegetables and seafood on sticks. It’s a great twist to a classic dish.
The satay celup system, for the uninitiated, is rather like a buffet. You pick the items you want from the bank of fridges and put it on a tray. Each stick is RM 0.50 except the red color coded ones, which goes for RM 0.60.
You’re free to eat as much as you want and by the end of the meal, a waiter comes over to count the number of sticks you’ve consumed and you pay accordingly. Easy!
Satay celup in Melaka is served with bread. The bread is used to soak up the delicious peanut sauce.
I think the peanut sauce actually tastes better after a lot of people have eaten from the same communal pot. The satay sauce absorbs the taste of the ingredients dumped into it by previous diners since the pot is never emptied but refilled.
It’s the shiznit, yo.
Melaka is famous for chicken rice balls. It’s practically an institution over there, with shops dedicated to the golf sized morsels of delight every few meters (or so it seems). There are a lot of established chicken rice ball shops in Melaka, with each person having their favorite. Jennifer brought us to Chop Chung Wah at Jalan Hang Jebat, off Jonker Street.
This place is arguably one of the best chicken rice ball shops in Melaka. The line snaking out of the shop is a testament to the popularity of the chicken rice balls. People actually wait under the hot Melaka sun just to eat the chicken rice balls here. Don’t play play, got queue one this place.
The interior of Chop Chung Wah is basic, with seating arrangements that harks back to the 60’s. Think marble tables and stools. It only registered to me while writing this that I could very well have fallen off the stool coz I usually sit on chairs. There are articles from newspapers adorning the walls and an interesting anecdote here is that the place got on The Star in 2006…and Jenn was part of the entourage who went for that food review.
The chicken rice balls is hand rolled by an old lady, conveniently stacked five (5) to a plate in an endless stream to cater to the never-ending march of customers filing into the coffee shop. I’m amazed that they can cope with such demand at all – every single table is full, with people queuing up outside waiting to get in. It’s an exercise in efficiency, I tell you.
The chicken chopping is done by the son of the owner (who can be rather grumpy sometimes ;)). The family operating this place is Hainanese, and word is, the son is so busy with this chicken rice ball shop that his wife was literally shipped in from Hainan, China to help with the business. It’s a true Hainanese place, they take the phrase “keeping it within the family” to new heights.
The chicken in Chop Chung Wah only comes in one variant – steamed chicken. It’s very authentic Hainanese chicken indeed. I found the meat juicy and tender, and you can even see the essence of chicken forming a bed for the steamed chicken. The key ingredient in chicken rice is the chilli, as most would tell you, and this place dishes up really good chilli sauce.
The chicken rice balls are actually flavored with chicken stock and have a slight glutinous texture to it. It goes down really well, and we ordered another plate coz five rice balls each is just not enough. Apparently, five rice balls is equivalent with a regular plate of chicken rice. It tastes delectable dipped in chilli sauce!
It’s definitely a must try if you haven’t eaten chicken rice balls in Melaka before. Just look for the awe-inspiring queue to find the place. π
Allow me to wax lyrical about my favorite pork lunch. Restaurant New Yew Sang Seafood is a dai chow place that magically transforms itself into a chap fun (mixed rice) place in the day. It has a rather unassuming façade, but dishes up hearty meals for the office workers around these parts.
The crowd here during lunch is formidable – the tables and chairs snakes lazily out the front of the restaurant and runs along the side and all the way down, illegally infringing on the sidewalk of the other business establishments as a testament to their popularity.
The place isn’t really optimal for eating though – the corrugated tin roof causes major heat retention in the afternoon sun and the place is always so packed it’s hard to even find a seat. There are two mixed rice places here – one is Malay and the other Chinese. Needless to say the Malay one doesn’t serve pork.
I usually come here if I want to take away. The pork has been calling me the entire week – this is the fourth consecutive day I’ve eaten here. I would eat here at night too, except they don’t open at night.
The owner with ready packed rice in Styrofoam boxes for easier distribution.
What’s so special about the chap fan over here? It’s just chap fan right? Yeah, when it boils (haha) down to that, I can’t exactly put my finger on why I like this place. It has an impressive repertoire of dishes with enough variety that you can go for a fortnight without having to eat the same dish twice. That’s not the reason though – I always get the same stuff every day. If I was forced to cough up a reason, I’ll say it’s the pork.
The left flank of food.
I’m particularly fond of the stewed pork over here. It’s unashamedly swine: loud, brash and full of fat. It’s like there’s a neon sign saying PIG over it.This is not a place which believes in taking off the skin and fat before serving pork – the huge chunks of lard and chewy skin is not discarded, but celebrated. Totally unapologetic. I like.
Center.
I always take one huge steamed chicken drumstick in soy sauce – it tastes like the “Asian marinated chicken” I used to get in Countdown (a chain of grocery stores in NZ) to microwave before eating. I think you’re supposed to take one piece (each drumstick is conveniently chopped into three bite sized pieces) so perhaps this is why my rice tends to rack up a bill on the high side.
The right flank – the pork is here.
I also like the tomato cooked with eggs and starch, producing that distinctive look. I’ve never been a big fan of this when I was a kid, but it was the best (as in palatable) dish that the cook in rehab could come out with. You can’t exactly go wrong with a couple of tomatoes, an egg and starch.
It usually costs RM 7 for my pork extravaganza…and it’s worth every penny (or sen).
View SS 6 Pork chap fun in a larger map
Guaranteed to send you into a post-lunch coma. π
I am told there’s an undiscovered gem serving awesome Hoi Seen Meen (Seafood Noodles) in SS4, Petaling Jaya. A couple of us went there for lunch. The unassuming place is either called B & Best Restaurant or Restauran Rasa Sayang. I don’t really know which really, since there are two signboards.
The trick is to peek in and find this stall. It’s conveniently labeled Seafood Porridge & Noodle for those of us who have problems with Chinese comprehension. I’m told it serves both clear and spicy broth. There are reports that you can opt to add in abalone as well, but be prepared to fork over the cash for that. I think its RM 68 for abalone. Not that hoi seen noodles are cheap, it’ll set you back at least RM 12 (not RM 11 as the sign says).
You can order a side of fish cake (RM 7) to go with your seafood extravaganza. Might as well do the full Monty right?
There are two variants of Seafood Noodle that you can order:
Spicy Soup Seafood Noodle
Dry Seafood Noodle (the Soup Seafood Noodle looks like this too – just imagine the noodles dumped inside the broth)
I had the dry seafood noodle since I’m not a big fan of hot, soupy things…especially in the midday sun, where you’re apt to sweat 2 liters just from attacking the broth.
View SS4 Seafood Noodles in a larger map
It should be noted that all dishes are RM 12 and not RM 11 as the sign states. You can micromanage the type of fish you want too: Choose from garoupa, pomfret, or whatever the catch of the day is. It’s pretty good seafood noodles, filled with aquatic goodness!
I’ve always been a big fan of Penang Asam Laksa. I prefer asam laksa over the santan (coconut milk) saturated variants out there. Cheryl brought us to the best Penang Asam Laksa in Penang when I was there for the long Labor weekend.
In true Penang tradition, the best Penang Asam Laksa lies not in an air-conditioned food court but at Jalan Pasar in Air Itam. The stall is a bit dingy and the seating arrangements nothing more than plastic stools and slightly shabby tables beside a drain.
Appetite stimulated by the authentic smells and ambience, we ordered ice cold five fruits soup (it’s a shaved ice dessert popular in Sibu too, except we call it five tastes soup) and fried popiah with century eggs.
The Penang Asam Laksa (RM 2.70 and worth every cent) at Pasar Air Itam did not disappoint – it came in a broth that had the signature medley of tastes distinctive of asam laksa. Tamarind? Check. Lemongrass? Check. Onions? Check. The hearty soup went down really well with its minced fish pieces. It’s awesome-ness!
I also learned a trick from Cheryl – dipping popiah into the rich Penang Asam Laksa broth is addictive! I’m lovin’ it.
“Over here in Penang, we just call it laksa”. π
