Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels: Broth

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Wednesday, March 30, 2016

YummY! - Squatting Teow Chew Porridge @ Bee Hong Coffee-shop, George Town, Penang

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YummY!

Jotaro's Food Review

Squatting Teow Chew Porridge @ Bee Hong, George Town, Penang

George Town, Penang, Malaysia - March 2016

Squatting down to eat, now this is either a cute thing to do or a difficult and funny way to eat! Well, it's not actually squatting down per se, patrons to this stall sit on stools (locally called bangku) that are put on long benches to eat the porridge served by the vendor. They sit on the bangku and fold their legs up to put onto the bench in a squatting manner. For casual visitors and tourists (like me) it's a quirky memory; but for regular patrons, it is a style that goes with their daily lives.
There were a few of this type of stalls in Penang decades ago and they were mostly patronised by trishaw pedallers and there is a reason for them to eat this way. After long hours of pedalling their trishaws, their legs ache and the squatting position pulls their leg muscles back, offering some comfort to their tired legs.

The stall is small, occupying a small light pastel blue counter next to the next to the Bee Hong Coffee-shop at Jalan Magazine. It's easy to miss, look out for the 1st Avenue mall, it's opposite. This place had a colourful history, back then Jalan Magazine was called Thau Tiau Lor which meant in local Hokkien the "First Road" as it was the first road running after the Prangin Canal (it was an open canal back then). It was the first of seven parallel road after the canal and the area was called the "Seven Streets Precinct" and was then a rather notorious gangster area. These days, the area is an extension of the George Town UNESCO Heritage Zone, the gangsters are gone and have been replaced by boutique hotels and quaint modern eateries.
(Correction: There are actually nine roads starting with Jalan Magazine and ending with Lebuh Sandilands. See the comment below by a helpful reader, perhaps this area should then be called the Nine Streets Precinct.)
The stall's operator (Mr. Tan Jin Hock) is a seventy-five years old man and has been running the place for almost forty years after taking it over from his father. Let's hope his stall won't be replace by those quaint modern outlets.

They offer a good range of simple home-cooked dishes. Having flown in from Kuala Lumpur, and having had a leisurely cycle jaunt down from the Bayan Lepas airport, I was there close to 6:00pm, past their normal operating hours and was lucky that the stall was still opened, although not that much dishes were left.

Here I am sitting on one of the bangkus with legs squatting akimbo. Squatting there with my tired legs made me realise how the trishaw-men must have felt; the squatting pulled back my leg muscles, stretched them and slowly relaxing them

Here's what I had (from left to right):
- white taukuah bean curd stir fried with leek. This was a simple dish with the slight bite of the leek leaking it's flavour into the bean curd.
- mui choy stir fried with slices of pork. The salty flavourful gravy went very well with the two bowls of white rice porridge that I had.
- omelet fried with slices of large onion.
And IT'S CHEAP; this dinner of mine just cost RM3-80 (less than one USD)!

There used to be several stalls of this kind here and also a few at Kampung Malabar. Sadly this is the last stall left and may be the last of it's kind as the old man's children are reluctant to take over the stall.
So quickly visit it and enjoy the experience; the bangkus are there waiting... but not for long!

SQUATTING TEOCHEW PORRIDGE @ GEORGE TOWN PENANG

Jalan Magazine, George Town, Penang, Malaysia.
(The stall has no name. It is next to the Bee Hong Coffee-shop and opposite the 1st Avenue mall)
Hours: 10:30am to around 4:30pm
GPS: 5.41293, 100.33078

(Click here for Google Street View)

Related Blogs :

Penang Bayan Lepas Airport To Tanjung Tokong - A Homecoming Ride October 2015

From Penang International Airport I rode home, it was a 33 km little adventure that took me seven hours!

Monday, October 20, 2014

YummY! - Yee Sang Kai Chok @ Kampar Gold Wing

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YummY!

Jotaro's Food Review

YEE SANG KAI CHOK NOODLES @ KAMPAR GOLD WING

Kampar, Perak, Malaysia - August 2014

Sometimes its the simple food in life that surprisingly satisfy us. One such no-frills meal is the Yee Sang-Kai Chok (Raw Fish-Chicken Porridge) selling from a small stall at the Gold Wing Coffee-shop in Kampar. Raw fish and Pak Cham Kai (boiled chikcen) isn't that odd a combination. For westerners perhaps yes, but for us Chinese it's a normal fare, although stalls selling raw fish are not easy to come by these days.

The combo came as a set in separate bowl and plates. The porridge is without any taste, just plain white congee, the photo above shows some of the fish already added in.

Toman (Snake-head Fish) is usually used for these porridge. Cut into almost wafer thin slices, they are presented in a plate together with slices of Chinese Cabbage and spring onions, and marinated in a soy sauce-oil mixture.

Unless you like the fish raw, quickly take the slices, put them into the hot porridge and stir them around. Within seconds the fish will be cooked while at the same time imparting some of their flavour into the congee.

Now comes the part I like best - the Pak Cham Kai (Boiled Chicken). The chicken is boiled whole and then cut into good sized pieces. A simple soy sauce/oil is added and the the dish is topped up by short cuts of spring onions.

For this simple dish to be good, the chicken has to be a respectable size and the skin adequately thick. Boiling has to be done perfectly so that the skin attains a nice, soft lustre.

The stall is at the far corner of the shop (the sharp corner) and the operator is a friendly, smiling fellow.

Their price list.

A simple and wonderful meal, this Yee Sang Kai Chok should not be missed if you are up in Kampar. The Pak Cham Kai here is one of the best I have tried; in my humble opinion, I dare say even better than most in Ipoh.

While there, also try the Pegaga juice, it's a cool, refreshing drink with some medicinal qualities.

YEE SANG KAI CHOK STALL
Pusat Makanan Gold Wing, Jalan Pejabat Pos.
Stall's Tel. No. : +6012-571 3177

GPS: 4.310511,101.15046

View Raw Fish-Chicken Porridge @ Gold Wing Kampar in a larger map

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

YummY! - Cheap & Good Seafood @ Jeti Restaurant, Kuala Selangor

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YummY! Jotaro's Food Review
CHEAP & MIGHTY GOOD SEAFOOD @ JETI RESTAURANT

Pasir Penambang, Kuala Selangor, Selangor, Malaysia - 20th April, 2013

While on a bike-packing trip to Sekinchan (see Scenic Sekinchan Bike Ride), en route we stopped by at the Jeti Seafood Restaurant at Pasir Penambang, Kuala Selangor.
There were no regrets stopping here as the food is mighty good, and very reasonably price.
Ok.... ok... the term should be cheap. But it was not cheap in terms of quality, it was really inexpensive - a real value for money.

The restaurant building sits on stilts and projects out onto the Selangor River.

Situated at the Selangor River mouth and ...

... with a hillock on the opposite side of the river, the setting has the right ambiance for a seafood eating experience.

Ok, the ambiance is right - How about the food? We shall see...
Our meal started off with the seafood broth, one that's been cooked with fairly large size prawns and crabs.

Both the prawns and crabs had been slightly fried until they are burnt on the outside before being used to cook the broth. This has imparted a burnt seafood aroma into the broth itself, Mmmm..... YummY!

Next we had the Fried Beehoon, fried with eggs and dried prawns. A simple but delicious dish nonetheless.

The Spicy Mantis Prawns came garnished with dried chili, cut onions, and spring onions.

The mantis prawns are firstly dipped into tapioca starch before being deep fried. Then they are stir-fried with the sauce and garnishing added in. This made the prawns have a crispy but at the same time slightly sticky texture. The sauce have also been absorbed into the starchy skin. An all in perfection of texture, taste and feel.

Halfway through our meal, I heard a whirring sound, looked up and saw a motorized sampan passing by. Yes, that rustic, slow pace atmosphere is here.

Next came the Stir-fried Baby Chinese Cabbage, garnished with some slices of carrot to bring out the color.

The chef had done a good job on this. With a hot wok, he had quickly done the frying to spread the oil evenly over the vegetable; but at the same time the quick frying had maintained the fresh crispiness of the cabbage.

Lastly came the Stir-fried Sweet Potato Leaves, with slices of deep fried garlic. A good dish for our riding health.

The restaurant is quite large with generous seating space.
The food here is not only good but also cheap. For the nine of us, our meal cost us around RM13-00 per pax.