Ch'ar kuay tiau
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THE FIRST THING outstation people
think of when they come to Penang
is ch'ar kuay tiau.
The traditional i.e. genuine stuff
is to be found at Lau
Hio Hnui (Kampong
Sireh, Lengkok Burma) where the stall
is located among others
catering for office workers. The kuay
tiau is fried slowly over a charcoal
fire fanned by the man's wife. The pork oil used is
first class and not too much diluted by vegetable
oil. One thing that I did not like was the Cantonese
intrusion, little pieces of lap
ch'eong. But the absence of burnt specks of
kuay tiau was a delight. Duck
eggs, a traditional must, are available, though supplies
from Thailand are uncertain owing to a suspicion
of bird flu. Demerit points: absence
of pork crackling. In some places if you ask for them,
the hawkers are generous.
There is another favourite stall
of mine at Carnarvon Street: "Lau
Hor Ch'ar Kuay Tiau." It was started
by grandfather Lau Hor (Tiger) and
is the best of the "blow torch" fire
breed. The fierce flames are kept firmly under
control and the cook (grandson fries whenever
the son is away) is not compelled to use frequent
doses of water to prevent a disaster. Here the vegetable
oil does not dominate and the taste is, therefore,
not ruined. Duck eggs are available. Demerits:
absence of koo ch'ai and pork crackling.
"Lau Hor" tells me he is now also operating alsos at Prima Tanjong,
Fettes Road.
Where Macalister Road meets
Perak Road in a small coffee shop, once famous
for its curry mee, is a man who not only produces decent
char koay tiau but is also a skilled cook. If
you are lucky and prawns are available ask him for hair
chian. No one that I know of has produced such delicate
batter to wrap a prawn with than him.
At Hillside there is a stall along Jalan
Sungei Kelian which serves very satisfying ch'ar koay tiau.
The man is extraordinarily energetic, scouring the roads
that cling to the hills, with his cry of "ch'ar koay tiaaaaauuuuuuuu",
taking orders, frying, then back to deliver. He reminds me of
Ipoh's Spider, a Penang man, who was a legend in Green Town, Ipoh where
he would ride up on his tricycle after four, when the government
servants returned from work.
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lor bar '
Next to
Lau Hor is a lor bar stall
which is reasonably good. It is the one of
the rare ones to offer the traditional preserved
ch'ai t'au (lopak).
The other one is at Bayan
Baru operated by the former owner of this stall.
ch n'air hoo
And vegetarians will
be pleased to know that Dato Kramat
football field is the place where you get
the best chn'air
hoo, the Penang version of Mama'
passambul. It was a joy
just to watch the man at work. The speed of his cutting
and chopping was breathtaking. He's not there any
more but his successors have maintained
quality. But notice the vegetable part is much
reduced. This is probably because of the increase
in the price of cucumbers and other veges that make
up the dish. But that is no reason for the drastic reduction.
The balance should be maintained and the overall size reduced.
If you are in
Beach Street try the chn'air hoo at Sri Weld Food Court. It is
reasonably good if you don't mind seating in the steamy heat of the place.
While still at Dato Kramat try
the yong tau foo. It's still good.
Wandering about in Pulau Tikus is a stall
on wheels which serves Mama
' passambul with almost the original
taste but we have discovered one even better
along Fettes Road. His prawn crackers are really
good to chew.
curry mee.
I
find the curry mee at Fettes Road very much to
my taste, nearer to the curry type without the lemak
added. Two night stalls at
the Pulau Tikus market offer the lemak
variety, but not too lemak for me to condemn them.
I am not
too fond of the
lemak
type which
came into fashion after
the 50's owing to the Thai influence
and the demands of Singapore tourists.
All these stalls serve the required
tau pok and blood cubes. This
dish is also to be found at the Public Cafe
along North Beach, lunch time. The cook produces
a mixture with an Ipoh
flavour, which is very welcome to those
who want a change. An added attraction here
is that lor bar and rojak
are available for those with larger
appetites. There
is a new stall on Hong Kong Street (now renamed Cheong Fatt Tse for some
unexplained reason)
If you try
the dish elsewhere, make sure that it
does not have a powdery taste, - the tell tale
sign that curry powder is used. And make sure you get the right
mee, the soft Hokkien mee and not the
hard Cantonese variety. Those from KL, who are prone to distorting
Penangese and call this dish curry laksa,
please remember to ask for "curry mee"
to save yourselves embarrassment.
If you are in Kuching, Sarawak, you must
not miss their curry mee which they call curry
laksa. It has a character all
its own and is superb.
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goo
bar kuay tiau
Those who love beef soup
and despaired at the disappearance of favourites
at the Victoria Street bus stop
and at Acheen Street need worry no more.
They will find that the stall opposite the Bomba
at Beach Street provides excellent goo
bar kuay tiau; in fact, the meat is better
cooked. The coffee shop which houses this stall
is unique because those who run it are English
educated,
a very
rare phenomenon.
There is a stall at Perak Road which
also cooks well, near the Francis Light
School
Hokkien
mee
When Penangites
say Hokkien
Mee they mean
Hair Mee (prawn
mee). Elsewhere the term identifies
the fried variety, which is perversely called
here, Hokkien Ch'ar.
So, in Penang Hokkien Mee could either mean
prawn mee or bar koot mee.
We have never been good at hair mee but our
bar koot mee
is excellent . Try
the stall at Hong Kong Street.
kuay
tiau t'ng
It
is very difficult nowadays to find a good kuay tiau t'ng
hawker. The fish balls at most stalls are unreliable.
But there is one at Armenian Street which offers first quality
fish balls.
lark sar
And if
you are crazy about lark sar (laksa)
you will find an excellent version
next to a ch'ar
koay tiau stall along Burmah
Rod, opposite Bangkok Lane. After your
first bowl, try the lemak version
and, for a third bowl, have the two versions
mixed. You will love
it.
larm mee
Since Ah Kee's excellent larm mee along
Burma Road stopped business we despaired of getting good larm
mee. Someone introduced us to the stall at the Tanjung Bungah market
which we found to be a satisfying compensation for the loss.
bair t'ay
sor
The Penang-made biscuits deserve their
popularity because they are excellent but
if you pass through Ipoh try the Gunong Rapat variety
and tell me what you think.
see kak pniar
Those who are nostalgic
about this type of biscuit should go to Simpang
Ampat where they make very crunchy "simply
melts in your mouth" biscuits.
tau
foo far
There
are two stalls which use black sugar.
One is along North Beach after
4 p.m. and the other is
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itinerant and to be found
at odd hours along Pulau Tikus, near the
Malayan Banking office. I see that the stall at the Market
now offers black sugar too.
iu char kuay
Excellent
iu char kuay will be found near
the Pulau Tikus market Mondays, Wednesdays
and Fridays. Those who wake up late will
get the same at most afternoons at the
Batu Lanchang market, and at Leandros Lane.
Best of all, try the Cecil
Street Market.
goreng
pisang
The stall along Tanjung Bungah Road is continuing
to be popular but try the one at Fettes Road which serves a variety
which includes koay kodo'.
Restaurants and coffee shops
Nyonya
It is sad to report that Hitam Manis has closed
down. This truly genuine Nyonya food restaurant gave pleasure
to thousands during its short existence; its gulai toomee
and jiu hoo ch'ar and tau iu bar' especially
pleased. Now we are happy to report that Siang Pin at Tanjung Bungah
serves execellent gulai toomee; the traditional
pair chnioh is always available. Next
door, the coffee shop also serves cooked meals. It is the only one
I have seen with a "Monday closed" sign instead of " XX close" and it
boasts a few posters advertising Thai massage.
Opposite is an enormous deserted bus stop, unused
because either the state government or the federal decided in
the Thacherite economics manner that the boondocks should be deprived
of their feeder bus services.
Thai
"Prontip"
along Peel Avenue offers genuine Thai
cooking at reasonable prices. Its
kensom will blow your head off.
Mama' rice
Nowadays impertinently called by
the KL imported name of nasi kandar.
My view is that Mama' ("Uncle") is a respectful
and historical form of address used by
the Baba and should continue to be used.
It is difficult to find the genuine
stuff because of the Mama' habit of
going back to India without teaching anybody
their cooking secrets. But there is
a place at Kong Bee Lee Coffee Shop opposite
Bangkok Lane with flavours nearest to the original.
The present owner inherited the business
from his father and continues the tradition. The
stall at Batu Lanchang market also serves food which
has the flavour and taste of the original.
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It is no
use looking for Mama ' fried
mee or mee rebus. The
secrets have not been passed on and
visitors will be disappointed.
The nearest
to the original flavours is the stall at
Armenian Street which has a hint of past
glories but the high price of sotong
restrains the essential flavours. But the
man knows how to fry his mee, not too dry and burnt.
Afternoons
The Batu Lanchang makan
place, next to the market, a market that
operates in the afternoons, is an excellent place
to visit if you sleep late. The iu
char kuay, ch'ar kuay tiau
(RM2.20 plain, 2.70 with egg and 3.00 with
duck egg - how prices have doubled the last ten years!).
chn'air hoo (Chinese passambul)
and po pnia should please
you. But be warned. Typically this place has no public
facilities
You
will have to go to the back of the market
next door which is awash with
water and stinks. You will also catch one or
two sarong clad serfs of the money pinching stall
holder washing his slaughtered chicken in the wash
basin - the water is free, you see.
Along Jalan Bawasah, in the afternoon,
excellent Mama po pnia
chnee is to be had with the right chilly
sauce. And the nyonya cakes are a
delight.
Norman, which serves what they call Malay food
but which is really Malay-fusion food, serves excellent
and unforgettable sambal. Their
krabu towgair and kachang botol
are excellent. So also is their fish, which is always fresh.
The fried fish reminds me of what we used to have along Tg
Tokong and Tg Bungah, just the right frying to enable
one to chew up all the bonesl.
In Bandar Baru there is a coffee shop
along Jalan Angsana which offers excellent
Indian rice and curry (non-beef), excellent
sio bar and good ch'ar kuay tiau.
If you are in that area you will be very satisfied
with your lunch.
We also found a coffee shop along Fettes Road
with ready cooked food which is cheap and good.
And it was service with a smile. This road serves ready
cooked food morning, noon and night, something to keep
in mind.
Night time
New Lane is about the best place at night
for hawkers' food. The variety is
very wide. It is here that you will find
heng jin tair done the Hokkien
way without the flavour that the Cantonese
like. If you are a vegetarian your needs will
be met by 6 or even 8 different dishes
At North
Beach the Song River Cafe has
very good jiu hoo eng ch'ai
and chicken wings. And if you can wait long
enough the grilled prawns that come
about 10 pm are a delight.
The night stalls at the Pulau Tikus
market are second to those at New
Lane and also have a variety to offer.
Their present site is a disgrace.
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Seah
Boay
The historical and lively seah boay
market was destroyed in the interests of
the Manhattan Project - the dream of Penang's
rulers to conjure George Town into a little New York. With
it went the special rice and moi stalls where
you perched high on bangku (stools)
standing on long benches and had excellent and cheap food
like preserved crab, lopak-egg omlettes, groundnuts and salted
eggs. The bangku style of eating has not quite disappeared
and you can squat and eat to your hearts delight at Magazine
Road.
For those who would demand a better ambience
three restored buildings offer attractive
restaurants in different parts of the town: Edelweiss and Spice
& Rice. Jaipur Court, located in a 1920s buillding
is sadly no more.
Those who like to sit by the
sea should enjoy an evening out at North Beach Cafe (next
to Kedah House) which offers a view of glittering North Beach
on one side and the lonely, winking darkness of Province
Wellesley on the other.
Tanjong Bungah
Tanjong Bungah market
Tanjong Bungah deserves a special mention. This
is because here you step into an older world of infinite courtesy,
a thrilling experience which starkly contrasts with the nonchalant,
sometimes even rude service that affronts one in George Town. It is
close to the frisson of delight that lifts the weary traveller reaching
Taiping from sour puss Singapore. Among the attractions of this area
are the excellent chicken rice along the Vale of Tempe with first
class crackling pork at request and a pet cockerel that crows unexpectedly,
standing on a chair, while you are eating. The t'au k'air
so tells me that he has adopted her shop and comes in before closing
time to spend his nights there. His hen, she says. was killed by a
dog only recently
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For
travellers
When in Ipoh don't
forget the koay tiau t'ng along Leech Street.
The stall is third generation old and still good.
If you ever get
to Kluang there is a unique coffee shop which calls
itself the Cake and Coffee Shop otherwise Honeyland.
It is in fact a house of confectioneries and provides a wide
variety of cakes, buns, curry puffs, popnia
chnee, ch'ai koay, cream puffs
and many other delights. The confectionery hides
the special role of the coffee house in providing a frivolous
cover for serious contractual negotiations between hard headed
businessmen. #
A reader asks
A reader wants to know about vegetable curry. I am not
aware of Penang was famous for vegetable curry. Can you please write
in giving us details and we shall investigate.
Another asks how to avoid powdery curry. If the stall has ground the
rumpah the traditional way with a rolling stone the powdery
taste will not be there. #
Chief cook Ah Boon
Ko
North Beach - otherwise
Coast Road, now called Gurney Drive
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