Heritage
Hawkers Down Our Road
Lim Teong Beng on Rangoon Road hawkers 1927
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Heritage
Hawkers Down Our Road Lim Teong Beng on Rangoon Road hawkers 1927
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Rangoon Road 1927 MANY MANY YEARS AGO, the "mama rice" hawker - the more genteel term "nasi kandar" is used nowadays - passed by our house in the early hours of the morning. He was the forerunner of a host of mobile hawkers who would be coming onto the roads later in the day and into the night to go about their business of serving us at our doorsteps every day the snacks and makan compared to the likes of which the KFC, Mac and Pizzas are non-starters. An early vendor was the Indian nyonya koay seller who had a short while before collected his supplies from the house of a nyonya family. The fresh kuay were in two rotan baskets. each containing three trays and carried on a kandar stick balanced on the shoulder. In addition there was also a pot of laksa kua. Customers who had been waiting for his appearance were rewarded with a whole range of nyonya kuay, which he would display before them. He surely did not fail to cater to their fancies. Later in the day the koay tiao t'ng and hokkian mee carts would be around to dish out tasty soups. The occasional appearance of the gado gado man was a welcome bonus and we wished he would come more often. For those of us who fancied a snack after dinner there were the men who offered roti barbee, ch'oon pniar, fried mee and fried bee hoon. With him around there was no call to go to Loke Thye Kee. He was just as good. Late night or early morning eaters could count on the chee uok choak cart for succour. Usual ingredients in a bowl of bar moi were minced pork, liver and intestines. Such luxurious items as kidney and brains had to be paid for as extras. Come to think of it we never heard of cholesterol or of vitamins in the old days. Sad to say, what was once a part of our daily life is no longer with us. Environmental changes have rendered it impossible for cart and kandar stick to co-exist with cars and congested roads. Anyway, who could have an appetite for delicacies that are polluted by dirt and fumes? #
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Notes chee uok choak - Cantonese for the Hock-kian bar moi ch'oon pniar - fried spring roll gado-gado - a vegetable dish served with a groundnut and chillie sauce hock-kian mee - noodles served in prawn soup mama - uncle kandar - a pole kua - soup koay - titbits koay tiao t'ng - rice noodle soup laksa - a Penang dish of rice noodles in fish soup which is ineffably Penang and which defies definition Loke Thye Kee - a restaurant at the beginning of Burmah Road famous for its inchi kabin and other foods. The restaurant has ceased business but the building is still there nasi kandar - rice carried on a stick balanced on the shoulder nyonya koay - nyonya titbits roti barbee - fried bread with pork filling |
A worthy cause
The Children's Protection Society
6 Solok
Scotland
Penang
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_____________________ The Penang File Issue 27 |