BY CK Lam

A friend tipped me off to a coffee shop serving hand-pulled noodles on the busy Macalister Road. This fairly new stall offers freshly hand-pulled noodles (la mian) and koay teow th’ng. Other specialties include homemade prawn wanton and fish balls.

The owner Mr Loh starts his day by making the hand-pulled noodles at the kitchen. The hand-pulled noodles have a certain tenderness and texture, which is greatly distinct from mass made noodles. The noodle is available in two sizes – either thick rounded or string-thin. Mr Loh quoted that the texture and mouth feel of the noodles are as important as flavor!

We had several varieties, starting with the spicy “ma la” noodle, which is the highlight in 173. Mr Loh had the hand-pulled noodles dipped in boiling water. The blanched fine noodle is served with black sauce with a dollop of chili-red paste (also handmade), a Sichuan specialty with heat of chilies and numbing Sichuan peppercorns.

Priced at RM3.50, the dish comes with pieces of BBQ pork (char siew), chicken, fish balls, vegetables and aromatic chili paste. With the right thickness and nice chewy bite, the noodles absorbed every drop of robust flavor from the spicy and tingly chili paste. For those who prefer less spicy, be sure to inform Mr Loh.

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Tags: 173 Macalister Road, 173 Ramen Restaurant, Barbecue, Bbq Pork, Boiling Water, Char Siew, Chewy Texture, Chicken Balls, Chili Paste, Chilies, Chinese Barbecue Meats, Ck Lam, Coffee Shop, Dollop, Fish Balls, Fishballs, Hand-pulled Noodles, Koay Teow Th'ng, La Mian, Lam Heng Cafe, Light Broth, Loh, Loh Guan Lye Specialist Centre, Ma la Noodle, Macalister, Macalister Road, New Straits Times (Life & Times), Noodles, Penang Food, Prawn Wanton, Ramen, Ramen Restaurant, Rm2, Rm3, Robust Flavor, Sichuan, Sister’s Char Koay Teow, Wantons

BY CK Lam

Poon choi or Big Bowl Feast is an indulgent affair with layers of ingredients in fragrant gravy. It is believed that this traditional dish originated in China, and the name of the dish came from the distinctive basin-like pot in which it was cooked and served.

There are only a handful of places serving this dish in Penang and one of them is Zi Zai Restaurant. Our group of 13 made our way to the restaurant  in Paya Terubong to try its traditional poon choi.

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Tags: Big Bowl Feast, Braising, Broccoli, Chinese Cabbage, Chopsticks, Feast, Fish Balls, Fish Maw, Flavours, Frag, Goodness, Hock, Lam, Mushrooms, New Straits Times (Life & Times), Oyster Sauce, Paya Terubong, Penang, Poon Choi, Pork Belly, Radish, Rich Gravy, Roast Duck, Sea Cucumber, Sesame Oil, Snapper, Soy Sauce, Traditional Dish, Treasure Pot, Yue, Zai, Zi, Zi Zai Restaurant

Located at Cintra Street in downtown Penang is De Tai Tong Cafe. This corner coffeeshop is a favorite food venue for it offers an extensive variety of dim sum and dozens of rice and noodle dishes.

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Tags: Ala Carte Menu, Barbeque Pork, Black Beans, Chewy Texture, Chinese Pastry, Chinese Tea, Cintra Street, De Tai Tong Cafe, Dim Sum, Dinner Fare, Dumpling, Egg Yolk, Fish Balls, Fishhead, Flaky Pastry, Fried Fish, Glutinous Rice, Har, Lotus Leaf, Metal Trays, Noodle Dishes, Noodle Lovers, Push Carts, Red Bean Paste, Rice Noodle, Salted Egg, Spring Rolls, Traditional Chinese Pastry, Trolley Service

* This article was published in the New Straits Times (Life & Times) on 15th June 2011.

Chulia Street in Penang is not only known for its many budget hotels but also for inexpensive meals. It’s a popular dining destination with locals and tourists alike. At night, a section of the road is lined with stalls selling a good mix of street food. Do not make your choice immediately. Take your time and have a closer look at what’s on offer.

Worthy of mention are curry mee and wantan noodles. Springy wantan noodles are served with slices of char xiu (barbecued pork) and wantan (dumplings). For the curry mee, medium-sized fish ball is added to the standard ingredients of coconut milk, cockles, blood jelly, cuttlefish and tau pok (fried tofu). The slightly sweet coconut milk is flavoured with a blend of aromatic spices. Expect a queue as the curry mee is popular.

Chulia Street curry mee

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Tags: Aromatic Spices, Barbecue Pork, Barbecued Pork, Charcoal Fire, Chulia Street, Chulia Street Curry Mee, Chulia Street Hawker Food, Chulia Street Penang, Coconut Milk, Creamy Sauce, Curry Mee, Deep-Fried Snacks, Fish Ball, Fish Balls, Fried Noodles, Fried Snacks, Fried Tofu, Generous Portion, Hainanese Satay, Hawker Food, Inexpensive Meals, Meat Rolls, New Straits Times (Life & Times), New Straits Times (Life & Times), Red Bean Paste, Sized Fish, Sour Plum, Street Hawker, Sweet Coconut, Wantan Mee

* This article was published in the New Straits Times (Northern Streets) on 12th May 2011.

Lameizi Restaurant in Bayan Lepas is famed for its spicy Szechuan-soup (ma la) steamboat. The soup is filled with dried chili, with a layer of chili oil floating on top. Besides this signature soup, there are several other tasty soup bases to choose from — chicken, old duck, pork knuckle, tom yam and fish. The clear chicken soup offers a welcome throwback for those who prefer a more traditionally-flavoured steamboat stock. Each of the stock is boiled for hours for it to acquire its natural sweetness and flavour.

The steamboat at Lameizi is cooked on an infusion plate, which is faster than the conventional potable gas stove or charcoal pot. We choose to have a sectioned pot with the old duck soup on one side, and the sour vegetable fish soup on the other. The sour vegetable fish soup was rich and sourish and includes plenty of salted vegetables (kiam chye).

Combination pot of sour vegetable fish soup (RM28) and old duck soup (RM10.50)

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Tags: Bean Curd, Beef Tripe, Button Mushroom, Chili Oil, Chopped Garlic, Duck Soup, Egg Mix, Fish Balls, Fish Soup, Jade Blossom Restaurant, Krystal Point, Lameizi Restaurant, Lameizi Restaurant Nagore Road, Meat Ingredients, Natural Sweetness, New Straits Times (Life & Times), New Straits Times (Life & Times), Raw Egg, Raw Meat, Red Chili, Soup Base, Steamboat Ingredients, Steamboat Restaurant, Szechuan Soup, Szechuan Style Steamboat, Tasty Soup, Thin Slices, Tom Yam

We were in Air Itam area on a lazy Sunday afternoon and since we were nearby Kafe Pantai Timur, we decided to stop over there for lunch. Located in the residential area of Paya Terubong, this coffee shop is home to many hawker stalls which mostly operate in the night. Among the sea of stalls includes the Pei Pa Duck stall.

It was relatively quiet, with only one stall selling Yong Tau Foo – an assortment of ‘ yeong liu’ which has fish paste stuffed in a variety of vegetables.

Crispy-crunchy right from the wok!

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Tags: Air Itam, Bitter Gourd, Black Vinegar, Brinjals, Chili Sauce, Chilies, Coffee Shop, Corner Coffee Shop, Dumplings, Endless Variety, Fish Balls, Fish Paste, Fishcakes, Generous Portion, Gourds, Hawker Stalls, Kafe, Kah, Kow, Lady Fingers, Lazy Sunday Afternoon, Pantai Timur, Paya, Personal Preference, Pok, Prawns, Spot Fish, Stuffings, Sweet Bean Sauce, Yong Tau Foo

Love Penang Assam Laksa topped with the pungent hae kor (prawn paste)? I am sure many Penangites and tourist alike love this Penang classic dish for its tangy and sourish taste. My crave for Assam Laksa would have me going all the way out to the Air Itam Market and at times visiting the stall in Gottlieb Road and Johor Road.

All the ingredients for Assam Laksa

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Tags: Air Itam, Air Itam Market, Array, Assam Laksa, Big Fish, Bui, Bunga Kantan, Business Hour, Classic Dish, Coffee Shop, Corner Coffee Shop, Cucumber, Delicacy, Favorite Place, Fish Ball, Fish Balls, Fish Flakes, Fish Meat, Fish Soup, Flower Bud, Fresh Fish, Frontage, Galangal, Going All The Way, Gottlieb, Gps, Hae, Hae Kor, Herbs, Johor, Lai, Laksa, Laksa Penang, Laksa Perak, Lemongrass, Lengkuas, Lettuce, Light Colour, Mint, Mint Leaves, Noodles, Onions, Penang, Penang Assam Laksa, Penang Food, Penang Hawker Food, Penang Laksa, Penang Restaurant, Perak, Perak Road, Pineapple, Prawn Paste, Red Chili, Restaurant Coffee, Rice Noodles, Rm2, Spicy Soup, Sum San Primary School, Sweetness, Tamarind

Koay Teow Th’ng, also commonly known as KTT is a popular hawker food for Penangites besides the overwhelmingly famous Char Koay Teow, Assam Laksa and Hokkien Mee. Lately I have been patronizing the Duck Meat Koay Teow Th’ng at Lum Lai located in Cecil Street Market Hawker Center, just beside the bustling Cecil Street Market. This street is also known as Chit Tiau Lor to Penangites which represent the 7th Road in that precinct.

Duck meat Koay Teow Th’ng!

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Tags: Amp, Array, Assam Laksa, Business Hour, Candid Shot, Cecil Market, Cecil Street, Condiment, Dessert Shop, Duck Blood, Duck Meat, Fish Balls, Fish Blood, Fish Cakes, Flavorful Soup, Garlic, Garlic Oil, Hawker Center, Hawker Centre, Hawker Food, Hawker Stall, Koay Teow, Koay Teow Soup, Koay Teow Th'ng, Ktt, Lai, Laksa, Liver, Lor, Lum, Makan Makan, Market Food Court, Meat Balls, Oomph, Penang, Penang Hawker Food, Penangites, Popular Hawker Food, Pork Bones, Pork Meat, Shopkeeper, Shredded Pork, Soy Sauce, Spring Onions, Stall Owner, Staple Food

Sawara Restaurant is located in a corner shop house along busy Burma Road in Pulau Tikus area. Its main focus is on its fish steamboat and homemade Yong Tau Fu where the fish paste is made from mackerel fish. There are not many restaurants in town making their own fish paste nowadays.

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Tags: Ala Carte, Array, Burma Road, Burmah, Business Hour, Chicken Bones, Chicken Carcass, Chili Sauce, Combination Plate, Fish Ball, Fish Balls, Fish Ingredients, Fish Paste, Fish Soup, Fresh Fish, Jelly Fish, Mackerel Fish, Meat Ball, Meat Balls, Penang Food, Pork Roll, Pork Slices, Pulau Tikus, Quail Eggs, Sawara, Side Dish, Sotong, Spicy Sauce, Steamboat, Thick Chunks, Typical Dishes, Yong Tau Foo