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.
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 nights
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.
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..
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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. 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 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.
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.
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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 cup, have
the two versions mixed. You will love it.
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 itinerant
and to be found at odd hours along Pulau Tikus,
near the Malayan Banking office.
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.
Restaurants
and coffee shops
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.
It is no use looking for
Mama ' fried mee or mee
rebus. The secrets have not been passed
on and visitors will be disappointed.
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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
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 towgay 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 the bones as well.
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 Boey
The historical and lively seah
boay market was destroyed in the interests of
the Manhattan Project - the dream of Penang's rulers
to turn 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: Jaipur Court, Edelweiss
and Spice & Rice.
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 right.
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For travellers
When in Ipoh don't forget the kooy 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 confectionaries and provides a wide variety
of cakes, buns, cury puffs, popnia chnee,ch'ai koay, cream
puffs and many other delights. The confectionary hides the special
role of the coffee house in providing a frivolous cover for serious
contractual negotiations between hard headed businessmen. #
Chief
cook Ah Boon Ko
North Beach - now called Gurney Drive
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