Penang Food Galore

Sunday Street Market At Upper Penang Road

2009-01-04T10:45:00.005+08:00

I came across the Sunday street market at Upper Penang Road by chance recently and it was certainly an eye opener...at least for me. Little did I know that there is actually a street market in our own backyard. Since its inception back in July 2006, the market has grown from strength to strength and is no surprise that the Upper Penang Road is transformed into a potpurri of activities every last Sunday of the month. Come that Sunday and you will find yourself immerse in a cultural and food extravaganza showcasing Penang's culture, creativity and last but not least, our passion for food.

The Upper Penang Road street market consists of several themes. There are sections for arts and craft, a gallery for displaying the works of emerging local artists, book reading area for budding writers to meet and exchange insights as well as showcase their talents, an exhibition area for the use of local NGOs, schools and institutes to highlight their work, a community works tent which promotes community based craft, an eco-friendly area that promotes eco-friendly products and finally, an area called the Space to showcase Penang's performing arts.

Being a ardent foodie, what really caught my attention was the section for food. It encompasses a wide selection ranging from healthy living like homemade bread to pastries, pies, cakes, local delights and finally desserts. The signage below caught my attention but I didn't manage to catch any glimpse of the elusive one. I take it that it big since it cost RM 9.

Some Hokkien dishes.

Freshly bake bread and pastries. Hmm. I wonder if they taste as good as those with preservatives.

Cinnamon bread..this I like. Cream caramel. Oh...me like this too.

Wow. I was standing at this spot for a while and I notice this lady bought a lot of stuff from this stall. The next time I came here again I probably need to check out her stall.

Some local desserts and delights. I'm afraid looks like no takers.

The wood craft section which showcases locally made handicraft made from wood. Check out the wooden toast tong on the left.

A remarkable collection of old postcards.

The Space. I managed to catch the performing arts team in action to celebrate Penang's recognition by Unesco as a world heritage site.

The crowd started to pick up only after 11 am.

If you would like to know more about the activities each month for Upper Penang Road, do visit Little Penang Street Market. Alternatively, you may call 016-4883632 or email littlepenang@gmail.com for more information. The opening time is 10 am to 5 pm every last Sunday on the month.

Improvised Green Chicken Curry (Recipes)

2008-12-06T12:42:00.008+08:00

Ever thought of making your own green curry? That thought came across my mind many times and I did actually put them into motion. Nonetheless I failed miserably because I just couldn't get the spices right. This whole idea of exploring with different spices, sauces and ingredients which sounded wonderful at that time spelt trouble in the kitchen. It was also hard work mind you; with the grinding, pestling of lemon grass, chillies, coriander etc. Finally, I decided instead of taking the road travelled by the few; instead of reinventing the wheel; why not try out some of the spices off the shelves? Why not end the misery now and move on? I did just that without any hesitation!

The game plan is dead simple. All you need is to go to your nearest hypermarket and purchase the green curry spices from One Fine Spice. I chose them because they marketed themselves as using natural ingredients and without any mono sodium glutamate or preservatives. Additionally,I bought some chicken and brinjal or egg plant to make the curry as authentic as possible but hey, it's parts like these where you need to improvise. If you feel like beef or lamb works for you, feel free to change. And may I remind you too that it doesn't take a rocket scientist to cook this especially you do not have to deal with the spices any more. Just add in the spices into a cooking pot and pour in some water and coconut milk to help thicken the gravy. Let it simmer away for 10 minutes and add in the brinjal and meat. Continue to stir for another 10 minutes and you are all set.

I finally triumph over my nemesis! It feels great!

Finally, a piece of advice. If you do have any intention of making your own green curry from scratch, think more than twice before you set out for the kitchen. The pay off may not reflect the amount of work invested and the results may not be desirable. Sometimes.... just sometimes, it does pay to stick to the path travelled most.

JL Steamboat Restaurant (Georgetown)

2008-11-22T13:01:00.008+08:00

One of our favourite restaurants for steamboat has to be JL Steamboat Restaurant. The food is great considering it's a buffet concept, the location is convenient as it's located at Nagore Road with plenty of car park at New World Park and more importantly, it's a all-you-can eat buffet at RM 19.90 nett per adult and RM 12.90 nett per kid /senior citizen. With such a bargain like this, it's no surprise that this place is quite pack especially during weekends.

For those of you who wants to get your bearing correct before making a trip here, JL Steamboat Restaurant is located next to Sugar Dynasty which itself is just opposite the well known Continental Bakery. Just to point out an interesting fact about JL Restaurant. As advertised on the bill board, the novelty of JL Steamboat is that you can customise the buffet to your own preference or personal taste. After all, it's a buffet and you can choose what to include in your pot.

Watch out for the grill section located outside the restaurant as this is the highlight of the dinning experience.

The restaurant itself isn't big and is broken into two sections. The first section has limited dining space as it includes the buffet area. The second portion on the other hand, offers a more comfortable sitting arrangement and quiet atmosphere since it's located at the far section of the restaurant.

So, how does the buffet concept works in JL Restaurant? Firstly, you need to order your steamboat soup or stock to cook your items. The steamboat stock comes in a few variety -chicken, fish, tom yam or herbal. You can request up to two choices of stock of your preference since the pot itself can be separated into half. Once you have done that, you are all set and the fun begins. The buffet itself offers a huge range of items from different types of meat, vegetables to a full range of seafood including oysters. For more novelty items like fish maw, mutton, sea cucumber, kwai fei abalone or Australian scallops, these can be requested as side orders.

Besides steamboat, JL Steamboat Restaurant also has a grill section which dish out an assorted grilled items from prawn mantis, pandan chicken and other types of meat and seafood. Unlike the buffet section which is self service, the grilled items need to be ordered at the grill section. Upon ready, they will be served to your table.

Other selections offered in the buffet may include appetisers like belacan chicken, fried rice or noodles and finally a section for desserts.

All in all, it was a great dinning experience considering the fact that the price was reasonable and the food was good by buffet standards. If you have a huge appetite to fill up, the JL Steamboat Restaurant is worth paying a visit. For details for JL Restaurants, see below:

Name: JL Steamboat

Address: 25 & 27 Jalan Nagore, 10500 Penang

Tel: 04-2101122

Business hours: 5pm-11pm (Weekdays); 12pm-3pm & 5pm-11pm (Weekends)

Special promotion: Ladies Night Every Thursday - RM 17.90 nett per person

Soon Lai Seafood Restaurant (Greenlane)

2008-11-09T20:21:00.006+08:00

If you need to look for a good seafood restaurant in Greenlane, look no further! I recommend that you try Soon Lai Seafood Restaurant. It's located along Lebuhraya Gelugur just opposite the play ground. For those of you who are not too familiar with the area, the seafood restaurant is located not too far away from the Olympic College or the KFC outlet at Batu Lanchang. An immediate observation indicates that Soon Lai is as mytical as it's surrounding. It's layout does not portray a proper seafood restaurant but more of a chu char outlet. Additionally, if you are looking for the fish tanks to see where the fish comes from, don't bother. There aren't any on display. And the fact that it's located in a residential area doesn't help either since it does not give anyone the impression that this place serves good seafood.

An evening shot of Soon Lai Seafood Restaurant.

We come here regularly every week so we are accustom to the choices available. However, let me suggest this. If you are looking for a great meal, you definitely need to try the crab. Everyone comes here for the crab so you shouldn't miss this out. While you can order just steamed crabs, the black pepper or spicy chili gravy that goes with the crab are other good options to consider. Having said this, for those more cost conscious, the har kor or prawn mantis is a good alternative to the crabs or prawns. They are deep fried and then cooked with either sweet and sour or black pepper sauce.

Another recommendation would be to try the sting ray which is usually cooked a few ways. They can be grilled on banana leaves and marinated with curry spices or steamed and served with the special thick spicy black sauce. Either way, they are both worth trying.

Our other normal dish would be the belacan chicken which goes down well with the kids. They usually finish well ahead than the rest of the other dishes.

One of their speciality is also the stir fried brinjal. The one shown below comes cooked in curry spices, shallots, chillies and shrimps. On most occasions, the portion served were rather small. Nonetheless, the wonderful taste makes up for the earlier short comings.

I normally like to have soup to go with the other dishes. So if you are a soup person like me, go for the spinach soup that's complemented with century old egg and shrimps. It's one of the few places that serves as good a dish besides Teik Seng.

Other dishes that you might want to try include; spring rolls, fried egg with seafood or bean curd with mix vegetables and pork.

All in all, you won't be disappointed with what you order. Soon Lai Seafood Restaurant is definitely a well balance seafood restaurant which serves good food at reasonable price for the portion you get. For details of the restaurant, please see below:

Soon Lai Seafood Restaurant

15, Lintang Batu, Greenlane

11600, Penang

Tel: 04-6589799

Business hours: 6 pm -12 am (open daily)

For more details, call Lau Keng Soon at 016-441366 or Fong Mee Chiew at 012-4773063.

Yaw's Roast and Grill Western Food At Gerbang Midlands (Georgetown)

2008-11-09T12:21:00.007+08:00

If you have been in Penang long enough, you would probably be familiar with Top Top Snack Bar and Restaurant. It was previously located in Pulau Tikus and is considered one of the best restaurants serving western food. Of course, that was back in the 80s. However, the restaurant has long been relocated and is now operating from the owner's home at Gerbang Midlands. While it's smack in the heart of a residential area, Top Top or Yaw's Roast And Grill Restaurant as it is called now, isn't too difficult to find. As you approach Gerbang Midlands during the evening, look for the house at the junction and just follow the crowd. There is a good chance they are heading to Yaw's Roast and Grill for to satisfy their appetite for Western food. Alternatively, if you happen to be in the area in the early part of the day, you cant miss the sound of the meat being bash with a meat tenderising hammer. No wonder Uncle Yaw look so fit for his age!

The last time I was there was ages ago. I vowed not to dine there again due to their bad service. They have missed my orders several times and the typical waiting time is usually forty to sixty minutes. And that is if you are lucky! Nonetheless, I decided to give Yaw Roast and Grill restaurant a second chance. After all, the public and the MCA delegates had given the scandalous Health Minister; Dr.Chua Soi Lek their votes to represent them, so why not Yaw's Grill?

I noticed there were several changes to the restaurant. The service was extraordinarily better than it was before. Our orders were promptly taken and the garlic bread and drinks were served shortly. The former was complimentary and to my surprise, they were rather soft. The only thing that would add to the pleasant experience is a hot bowl of soup (Borsh preferably) to complement the garlic bread.

We didn't have to wait long for the main course. We ordered the Bombay chicken, chicken chop (see insert below for pictures) and the fish and chips. Having said this, I can't really comment much about the chicken chop and Bombay chicken as they were quite ordinary. They just do not have the omph to garner extra millage. This is such a pale comparison to the reputation that Top Top (Yaw's Grill) has built over the years.

However, all is not lost for Uncle Yaw. The fish and chips did spark a glitter of hope. The batter itself was somewhat reminiscent of what you might get from the fish and chips shop in the UK. Additionally, the extra lime did add an extra fresh and sharp taste to the already enjoyable flavours.

Besides the usual suspects (of your western food), Yaw's Roas and Grill do offer pies and puff as well. I believe during their glitter years, they used to be their top sellers. Perhaps, I might just pop over again in future just to get acquainted with their pies.

For those of you wanting to break the routine of dinning the same place, do give Yaw's Roast and Grill Restaurant a try. You never know. It might work for you.

Yaw's Roast and Grill (Top Top)
1 Gerbang Midlands
04-2276272 / 012-4848178
Open from Tuesday to Sunday (Close on Monday)
Operational hours: 5.30-11pm

Breakfast At Eng Loh Coffee Shop (Georgetown)

2008-10-27T08:12:00.001+08:00

One of my all time favourite coffee shop in Georgetown has to be the Eng Loh coffee shop. WhenI was working in town, I use to frequent this coffee shop. It's located at the financial center where all the major banks are located ergo it's just convenient to pop by for lunch on the way to the banks. As for the exact location, Eng Loh is located at the end of Church Street. It's partly a budget hotel as well as a kopitiam (coffee shop) on the ground floor. While it has only a few stalls, all of them are really good. And I mean really good. I get to the juicy part later on.

This kopitiam probably serves one of the best teh peng and kopi peng in town. It definitely score points for presentation as it comes with quite an interesting contrast of colours. You can immediately see two distinctive layers. For example for the kopi peng, the milk sits on top of the thick coffee layer and gives it some life to the coffee. I normally have two rounds of the refreshing teh peng or kopi peng when ever I eat here. Just simply cannot resists it! You will also be quick to notice the uncle who serves the beverages - he has got a pony tail which is rather flamboyant for his age! Cool dude.

This is the kopi peng kau kau. Wa liou. I already gulped my own saliva while I'm writing this.

The wantan mee stall is the main attraction in the mornings. It offers an amazing variety of noodles with different add ons- chicken curry, mushroom chicken, drunken chicken, Hakka dried fungus, normal wantan and also dry hor fun.

The hor fun is quite a treat as it comes with not only the usual fried wantan but also some char siew and marinated pork. The hor fun is also delicate which makes it even more pleasant to eat.

This is the mushroom noodles with meat. Equally wonderful.

Another one of my other favourite stall has to be the chicken rice. You really have to try this as the aroma from the rice is simply tantalising. I believe some amount of butter is added in to give it a distinctive buttery fragrance. Additionally, the chicken is also well roasted and flavourful as butter is used to marinate it to give it and added dimension to the flavour. The uncle who operates usually don't start selling until after 11am so do make sure you time yourself well if you really want to try the chicken rice.

For those not wanting a heavy breakfast, the coffee shop operator also serves toasted bread and Western breakfast. There are 13 options for you to choose from so for those with an indecisive mind, this could spell delay in breakfast. We decided on the American breakfast set for the kids while we adults tried out the roti Taiwan. It's basically toasted bread cover in peanut butter and top up with peanuts. This roti Taiwan somehow didnt knock our socks off. We still prefer the roti bakar or toasted bread from Toh Soon along Kimberly Street.

Another good stall to try must is the one that sells home cook Indian food. This stall serves both vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes and they also do out door catering too. It's quite popular especially lunch time when you see a lot people stopping by either to dine in or ta pau.

Finally, the char koay teow is also quite good too but I decided that I wont push my stomach that day. Sadly, I have no pictures to show you but do take my word for it. It's also quite good in it's on way. I used to whack the chicken rice to be followed by the char koay teow but that's another story liau. For those of you interested to make a trip down there, please find the full address to Eng Loh below:

Name: Eng Loh
Address: Jalan Gereja / Church Street, Penang
Opening hours: 8am-3pm (close every Sundays)

Goreng Pisang At Free School Road (Greenlane)

2008-10-26T08:56:00.004+08:00

Ah...it's finally great to be back in Penang after close to 3 weeks of constant travelling outside of Malaysia. Needless to say , i'm dying for Penang food especially the goreng pisang (banana fritters) stall along Free School Road. It's probably one of the few stalls in town that serves the best goreng pisang.

As far as I can remember, the goreng pisang stall has been around for a long time even way back during my schooling days. I would always make my way through the side entrance after the extra curriculum activities and head down the road just for the goreng pisang. Till today, the stall remains unchanged except for the fact that the business is now run by the son. Besides goreng pisang, you can find other yummy fried snacks like tnee kueh (glutinous cake), potatoes, tapioca rolls, yam and also curry puffs. Lastly, the goreng pisang stall is open from noon to 5pm from Monday till Saturday.

Vegetarian Lunch At Nine Emperor Gods Festival (Georgetown)

2008-10-05T14:28:00.006+08:00

Most Taoists in Malaysia will be currently celebrating the Nine Emperor God festival. The festival is celebrated by by all Taoists around the world on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese calender. The Nine Emperor Gods festival or Kow Ong Yah as it is called in Hokkien signifies the return from heaven to earth of the Nine Emperor spirits whom are associated to health, wealth and prosperity. It is claimed that during this festival there will be rain throughout the 9 days of celebration. Well..almost. It rained for the first 6 days in Penang and as mysterious as it is, the tap suddenly went dry today.

Another interesting aspect about the Nine Emperor God festival is that all devotees need to observe a strict vegetarian diet for nine days. This means no meat or meat related products as well as dairy products such as eggs or milk. For those devotees who follow strictly by the book, they even have to use special cooking and eating utensils to prevent contamination with meat or meat related products. While it is encouraged to do the whole nine yards, a lot of Taoists now only observe vegetarian for the 1, 2, 3,5 and 9 days.

I was at Madras Lane this morning to catch the celebration in full swing. Vegetarian stalls these days offer a lot of variety of dishes of which some look and even taste like meat. I took a couple of shots of this stall as they had the most selection of vegetarian dishes to offer.

Just to see how it taste like, I ordered some rice followed by 2 pieces of vegetarian fish, char siew and some vegetables. They tasted quite nice although the texture definitely isn't the same as the real deal. It's also a lot more expensive than eating your usual economy rice as most vegetarian vendors are trying to rake in as much profit as they can during the nine days celebration.

I like the vegetarian roasted duck except that they tend to be too oily. I realise that those food that are bad for your health always taste so much better.

There is even a vegetarian satay stall catering to those who miss their daily diet of chicken satay. It tastes very much like real satay although it is made of vegetarian ingredients.

I even saw a vegetarian goreng pisang stall up ahead. Hmm. I wonder if this is comparable to the one at Free School Road.

As I walked further up the end of Madras Lane, I caught a couple of stalls selling vegetarian snacks and desserts like curry puffs, char siew pau, pork floss bun, pizza, sesame ball and many more.

Honestly, I like to believe I can go vegetarian the whole day but I'm already starting to hear my stomach growling and protesting at me. It's a good thing that rules are meant to be broken as I am definitely going straight to the nearest McDonald's outlet for dinner tonight.

Chu Char at De Lai Sang Ding Seafood Restaurant (Greenlane)

2008-10-02T10:17:00.006+08:00

It never fails to amaze me that Penang seems to be overrun with places to eat. The food and dining landscape in Penang changes so often that it's hard to keep track of what's new. For instance, we recently discovered a seafood restaurant hidden amidst the residential area in Batu Lanchang. To be more precise, it's located behind the Convent Greenland School at Taman Hijau Tiga. To get there, you can drive to along Leburaya Batu Lanchang and then as you approach the traffic lights, take the left turning to Jalan Sri Ibrahim. Look for Jalan Hijau Tiga on the left and turn inside. Proceed straight on till you see the turning on your right with a sign board stating Taman Hijau 3. Take that turning and look for De Lai San Ding seafood restaurant.

As the name of the restaurant suggests, it's primarily a seafood cum chu char restaurant. We decided to order a couple of dishes minus the seafood. First to arrive was the egg and prawns in sizzling hot plate and followed by the rest of them as shown below:

Slice lotus and kachang botol fried with chilly paste.

Stir fry vegetables in garlic.

Deep fried pork belly in Thai sauce.

Crispy lemon chicken.

Fried bean curd in clay pot.

Desserts - this one is on the house.

Truthfully, the food here is really quite average. None of the dishes are outstanding and deserves further mentioning. Nonetheless, it's still a popular restaurant and would be a viable option if you run out of places to eat.

Penang Floggers Gathering At Edelweiss (Georgetown)

2008-09-29T13:25:00.009+08:00

Yes, it was great to have finally met all the other food bloggers from Penang. We recently had a floggers gathering on 26 September organised by none other than the reputable food enthusiast, Lingzie herself. Much appreciation to those who were also involved in organising and contributing to the event- Gil and Jason of Gourmet Garden, CK Lam of What2See, PenangTuaPui of PenangTuaPui and Criz Lai of Criz Food. And final thanks to Ah Shui of Ah Shui's Little Kichen for the lovely brownies.

And so the fun began 7.30pm last Saturday at Edelweiss along Armenian Street......For a full review, please check out Criz Lai's blog.

I also caught the famous Chan Lilian spotting a red t-shirt advertising her website-The Obnoxious 5xmom. Other notable floggers present were Allan Ooi, BuzzingBee, Durian Berry, Nick Chan and many more.

Deliberately blurred out shots of floggers in action. Looks like the sausages are taking all the attention from the lady. Must be one hell of a impressive sausage!

We floggers are one shy lot. We like to take pictures of food but on the other hand we are quite camera shy. Notice they always have their backs to the camera.....

Hmm. Makes me wonder if we are any different from these special ops guys (courtesy of http://www.eliteukforces.info/).

Or these guys. By the way, check out his piece. It makes you think twice about messing with them (courtesy of ikashmer.net). With friends like these, who needs enemies?

So...if you really want to get to know us better (up, close and personal), check out our websites regularly for posting for the 3rd floggers gathering. It's tentatively agreed to be held on 6 December somewhere.....the venue will be confirmed at a later date.

Ice Kachang At Kek Seng Coffee Shop (Georgetown)

2008-09-26T09:27:00.012+08:00

Ahh...It has been a long time since I last went back to Kek Seng. It was only this week that I decided to pay a visit to this coffee shop or kopitiam which is located along Penang road. Kek Seng is no stranger to any Penangnite as it is one of the many old kopitiams in Penang that survived through the decades. In it's heydays, Kek Seng is probably synonymous to some of the more recent local franchises like Old Town that serves good old tea and coffee and many other local delights. It has built it's reputation over the years as the place that serves the best ice kachang although the top spot has now been taken over by the stall at New World Park aka Swatow Lane. Besides the ice kachang, Kek Seng is also famous for it's laksa and koay teow th'ng.

However, it seems like fate have changed quite a lot for this coffee shop. Although it was lunch time, I was rather surprise that it was rather empty. I remember that back those days you have to queue to find a table. It is not only when I looked at the sign on the clean white tiles on the wall that I understand why business has dropped considerably. As brash as it sounds, the statement proceeds to tell all patrons to order drinks or they will be fine RM0.40! With that sort of statement, who wants to eat here? Anyway, while I was clicking away, the owner must have realised that I was a food blogger and I heard her explaining to the laksa stall owner in quite a loud manner; as if to let me hear why they had to execute such regulations. What ever it is, it doesn't justify the RM0.40 and I believe it is a big turn off to many people. As if that isn't already a big turn off but listen to this. The drinks cost a bomb! I mean RM 1.40 for teh pheng or barley pheng is daylight robbery by any standards in Penang. I also notice that the kopitiam owners also treat people quite differently - in an arrogant way and I am sure some people would have been offended. I'm sure a little PR can go a long way to help them improve their business.

While Kek Seng is famous for it's laksa and koay teow th'ng, nobody seems to be ordering any of them now. Everyone seems to be having the chicken rice including me. I guess it's probably something to do with the herd mentality or in my case, I just felt like having rice for a change. It was average by any standards.

I also ordered pohpiah and I must admit that the pohpiah stall at Kek Seng serves quite a decent pohpiah. The pohpiah skin is smooth and the fresh ingredients consisting of lettuce, sweet chinese turnips, bean spruts, garlic, crab meat, minced tow kua and dashes of thick sweet soya sauce harmonizes the flavours nicely. Additionally, the juices from the popiah are well preserved within the skin and they do not ooze out easily and make the outer skin soggy. The pie tee from the pohpiah stall is also a must try as the pie tee shell is very crispy and fresh. It cost RM 2.00 for four pieces.

Sibling rivalry in action - pohpiah and it's little brother; pie tee in action.

For the finale, I ordered the ice kachang with durian ice cream at RM3.50. It has certainly lost it's magic touch although I did enjoyed the homemade durian ice cream.

As a final say, for those of you who which to get in touch with your nostalgic feel with Kek Seng, just remember to play by their new rules. Otherwise, you will be bitterly disappointed. The address for Kek Seng is as below:

Kek Seng Coffeeshop

382-384 Penang Road

Penang, 10000

Operating hours: 11 am to 4.30pm

Homemade Butter Cake (Recipe)

2008-09-22T09:58:00.006+08:00

Some weeks back, both my wife and I went on a baking frenzy and tried to out do each other again. While I promised her that my apple crumble would be better than anything she could dished out at me, I was actually rather worried as the ghost from the past kept haunting me. My first attempt at making apple crumble didn't go as plan and what made it so painful was that there wasn't any comments from the in-laws, uncles and aunties. I could only think that perhaps it wasn't appropriate at that time for them to spit out the crumble hence the silence. It's probably in their poor mouth all the time. Or its better not to say something than to offend someone. Even the nieces and nephews whom I equate to as the local municipal council, MPPP (they clean out anything from the fridge) didn't take the bait either. Nonetheless, after a couple more attempts, I finally got the recipe right. However this time around, I can only take solace the fact that this is probably my wife's first attempt in making butter cake.

Here are the ingredients that she used:

250g butter
210g castor sugar
4 eggs
1tbp of vanilla essence
200g of self raising flour
4 tbp of fresh UHT milk

Here are the steps to follow:

Grease and line a 20 cm cake tin with greased grease proof paper. Preheat oven to 170C.
Mix butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the eggs in one at a time and beat them well after each addition. Keep doing this till the mixture is light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla essence.
Add in the flour into the mixture and continue to fold until it mixes well with the rest. Add in milk and mix until they all combine well.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and level out at all sides except a shallow well in the centre. This is to allow the cake to level up evenly during baking.
Bake in preheated oven for 55-60 minutes or until cooked.

I took a shot at the final mixture before it was poured into the baking mold. Being up, close and personal with the mixture, this is as good as any opportunity for saboteurs to rig the recipe. I must say that did cross my mind but in light of the recent Olympic games and the spirit of fair play, the angle got the better of the devil. At least for now...

My wife got slightly irritated as I was hovering like a vulture in the kitchen. The anticipation was just killing me. Finally, the butter cake came out from the oven and filled the kichen with it's lovely buttery aroma. Damm...I must say I was envious of her.

Personally, the butter cake tasted quite nice as it had the right balance of sweetness and butter. It wasn't too dry or too soggy too either but the texture can certainly be improve. As they were warm and fresh from oven, I woofed down quite a number of pieces.

Some of the butter cakes were packed in plastic containers to be tasted by my wife's nieces and nephews whom are our official food taster. They finished the whole lot the next day ......

The final verdict.....Well, if this has been a prize competition between my wife and I, she probably won top prize for her butter cake. Having said this, I must say I deserve the fair play award if such award did exists. After all, I let fate set its own course and prevented any 'divine' intervention!

Dim Sum At De Tai Tong (Georgetown)

2008-09-18T13:07:00.010+08:00

For most Penangnites, De Tai Tong needs no introduction. Tai Tong as it is more commonly referred to, is located at 45 Cintra Street and is well known for its heavenly dim sum. It is located amid the historic and central part of Georgetown and nestles together with some of the old buildings at the end of Cintra Street.

What makes Tai Tong stands out is that is still preserves the tradition of serving dims sums through traditional push carts. Like some dim sum places within this area, it is solely operated by elderly women in their 60s and above whom had acquired the crafty skills of maneuvering the push carts in tight and difficult corners. While it's hilarious enough to see them engross in their own grand prix, it makes me wonder whether this tradition would continue once this generation passes on. The additional uniqueness that these elderly waitresses bring with them to these rustic dim sum places are they are always loud and brash which makes places like Tai Tong interesting to dine in.

Like most days, Tai Tong is always pack especially on weekends. While most patrons comes here mainly for the dim sum, it is also well known for whipping up good chinese local dishes like assorted noodles and other local delights. I have been told that the 'oh chein' or oyster omelette is good although I have yet to try it.

While the dim sum are considered good by most standards, it lacks in variety. They have the usual suspects like har gau, egg tart, char siu sow, chee cheong fun and a few other variety of dims sums. My wife nieces love the raisin and peanut cupcake while I like the char siew bun for it's softness.

If you do come here for dinner or lunch, you can also order different types of noodles besides dim sum. The sar hor fun and crispy noodles are highly recommended.

For more information about Tai Tong, please see below:

De Tai Tong

45 Cintra Street

Penang 10100

Tel: 04-263 6625

High Tea At E&O Hotel (Georgetown)

2008-09-15T13:17:00.003+08:00

I had not been to the E&O Hotel for a long time and it was about two weeks ago that I had the wonderful opportunity to revisit this hotel. Or to be more precise, the hotel's 1885 fine dining restaurant for high tea. As one might guess, it was named base on the year of the hotel was established. Additionally,1885 proud itself as one of the few establishments in Penang that still serves "traditional English afternoon tea". Now, for most Penangnite, it's quite difficult for them to imagine what traditional English afternoon tea would be since char koay teow, curry puffs, hokkien mee, nasi lemak and many other local delights are some of the common afternoon 'snacks' over here. I was just as curious as any Penangnite and look forward to be pleasantly surprised by the nostalgic atmosphere of the E&O Hotel.

The menu for high tea comes with a selection of teas. You have the option to choose from the usual suspects like Darjeeling, English, Earl Grey, Jasmine and for those with a more adventurous palette, there is the Peppermint, Peach and many more. As conservative and traditional as I am, I ordered the English tea while the rest selected tea of their choices. Tea came in traditional teapots and it wasn't long before I quickly discovered that all the tea were brewed from tea bags and not tea leaves. This was such a disappointment as the taste was clearly different and to make matters worse, the tea was lacking in flavour and was rather mild. My belief is that the tea weren't brew as per the time stipulated in the menu hence the rather insipid taste.

The star of the high tea is of course the mouth watering sandwiches and scones that came in a two deck silver plated tray. The platter consists of various types of sandwiches ranging from chicken, beef, tuna and cucumber and assorted scones that went well with jam and butter. And as if that weren't enough, you also get a plate of assorted pastries consisting of fruit tarts, brownies, cookies and others.

For those with extra budget to spare or feel like celebrating a special occasion, the high tea at 1885 is worth a try. While it will set you back by RM 38 ++ per head, its colonial architecture, interiors and well manicured lawns will take you back in time to the days of our colonial masters and provide an excellent backdrop to any meal. If you are interested in the high tea, it's from 2.30 pm till 5 pm daily.

Classic Kopitiam Food At Old Town (E-Gate)

2008-09-05T21:16:00.003+08:00

When I decided to write about Old Town, I wasn't sure how to go about it. It's one of those cafes that you either like it or hate it. While the Old Town brand is quite prominent now, it's humble beginnings can be traced back to the late 1950's when it first started off as a coffee shop in Ipoh. Back in those days, it specialises in white coffee and eventually came up with its own coffee and product brand. Since then, it hasn't look back and has set up numerous outlets across Malaysia.

Essentially, Old Town is a high class kopitiam that serves a selected variety of classic local food ranging from nasi lemak, curry mee, Ipoh hor fun. curry mee, javanese mee, nasi rendang and nissin noodles. They also serve different types of toasts namely kaya butter toast, french toast or toast with soft boiled eggs. The coffee and tea selection are somewhat limited to a few brand names like Old Town white coffee ice blended, Xi Mut milk tea, Old Town Hazlenut white coffee, Nan Yang Memorably and Old Town Coffee Lava.

This is the kaya and butter toast with milk toppings.

They have a limited option for the rice section, namely the nasi lemak and chicken rendang.

The noodles section far slightly better with more options like nissin noodles and what looks like spicy noodles.

To be honest, I am quite a simple guy when it comes to food. It doesn't take a lot of punching power to knock my socks off in that department. However, up to now I haven't been able to find that niche within their menu that appeals me. I guess it's just probably me. Anyway, if you want to chill out at E-gate, access free WIFI and pay a lot less for coffee than Star Bucks, then it's probably the place to be in.

Homemade Apple Crumble Recipe

2008-09-04T18:32:00.006+08:00

One of my all time favourite dessert has to be apple crumble. I use to have them almost every alternate day when I was at campus in the UK and that is probably the only reason why I am so nuts about them now. Since settling back in Penang, I haven't come across a good diner that serves a kick ass apple crumple. There are probably some out there but unfortunately not in the sights of my radar. Perhaps I need to upgrade those radar of mine. Anyway, while waiting for the opportunity to stumble upon such places, I decided to embark on another misadventure in baking. Why not bake my own apple crumble? That was what I told my wife and she burst hysterically into laughter. Thanks for the vote of confidence. Regardless of this, I decided to pursue this matter as after all, I have my wife's nieces and nephews who are always so obliging when it comes to food.

Here are what I used for the ingredients.

8 apples
4 tbs of cinnamon
200g of flour
100g of butter
150g of castor sugar
50g of oats (optional)
water

The process to bake is quite simple. Here are steps:

Dice the apples into small chucks.
Place them into a pot together and add in some of the sugar, cinnamon and water. Stew them for 30 minutes or until they are soft. Remember to stir them continually to prevent them from being puree. Place them in a baking tray to cool.
To make the crumble base, combine the flour, sugar, oats and butter in a bowl until the mixture has a crumbly texture.
Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the apples. Place the crumble in a preheated oven at 150C for 30 minutes or till brown.

The basic ingredients for the apple crumble recipe.

The apples are being stewed till they are soft but still firm. You don't want them to puree form so keep stirring.

I recommend leaving the apple crumble overnight in the fridge so that the crumble mixtures hardens. It tasted better too. And it goes nicely with vanilla ice cream.

I must have tried this recipe (which I got from the Internet) for the fourth time as the initial crumble mix wasn't right. The recommended recipe either had too much flour or too much butter so you need to play around with your formula. What I had now is just right and got the approval from the kids. That's all what matters. The hunt for a decent apple crumble is finally over.

Hong Kong Cuisine At Kim Gary (Gurney Drive)

2008-09-04T09:19:00.005+08:00

When one thinks about Hong Kong cuisine in Malaysia, it's normally associated with Kim Gary. Kim Gary is a a chain of restaurants in Asia which positioned itself as serving Hong Kong style cuisine such as a variety of toast, noodles and other fusion food associated with that province. There is currently an outlet on the island and is located at the 3rd level of Gurney Plaza. The restaurant is constantly full throughout the day so it is quite common to see patrons queuing up. It's certainly a testament that some people find the food cheap and good.

On a personal basis, I can certainly vouch for the fact that some of the food portion is humongous. It's not uncommon to see noodles being served in over sized bowls. For instance, the nissin noodles here is probably more appropriate for 2 person. What's also famous here are the coffee and tea. The ying yong which is a blend of coffee and tea mixture is extremely popular here. The same goes for the ice milk tea.

Kim Gary also offers a variety of set meals all which could consist of a soup (usually Borsh or mushroom), main course, drink and dessert. Prices for these set meals are quite reasonable. I had the western selection some time back which consists of black pepper chicken, sausages, a perfectly fried egg and assorted vegetables. It also came with a good serving of fries.

The pork with nissin noodles is my wife's favourite dish. However, she always never manage to finish the noodles. Let's just say her loss is my gain. Additionally, the pork chop that comes with the noodles deserves to be mention as it's well marinated and very tasty.

While you can make this at home, I usually order the Korea noodles mainly because it comes with well marinated strips of pork. It goes well with the spiciness of the soup.

Kim Gary is definitely an attractive place to dine because it has got such an extensive menu. There's something for everyone and it will take quite a while for you to try out every item in their menu. Additionally, the service at the outlet at Gurney Plaza is prompt and efficient as they constantly check on your orders. As such, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out why people are waiting to queue to dine at this place.

Homemade Crab Stick Maki (Recipe)

2008-09-04T07:00:00.002+08:00

Since my wife's nieces and nephews are into Japanese food, my wife decided to make crab stick maki for them last week. We weren't sure how it would turn up but decided that since only the kids were going to eat the makis, it was worth a shot :). You don't get volunteers every day.

Here are the ingredients we used:

6 cups of Japanese white rice
6 crab sticks
2 tbps of rice vineger
2 tbps of sugar
2 tbps of salt
1 tbp of soy sauce
6 nori or seaweed sheets
1 tbs of mirin or sweet rice wine

Following this, here are the steps to prepare your maki:

Place you Japanese white rice in a bowl and combine this with vinegar, sugar, salt, mirin and soy sauce. Let the rice mixture set for 10 minutes
Cut off the top half of each nori sheet. Place one nori sheet down on the sushi mat covered with plastic wrap with the longer end towards you. Wet your hand and place 1/2 cup mixture over the nori, leaving a one inch border on one long end of the nori.
Life the edge of the nori closest to you and fold the filling. Lift the bottom edge of the sushi map and roll towards the top edge while pressing firmly on the sushi rool. Continue rolling towards the end of the roll and continue to add pressure to seal the sushi roll.
Slice off about 1/2 inch from each end of the roll and discard trimmings. Slice the roll crosswise into 5 pieces. Repeat the procedure with the rest of the nori and rice.

You can get most of your groceries from the Japanese mini market called Meijiya along Kelawei Road. I got the sushi mat, rice vinegar and mirin sauce here.

While it looks easy, it's actually a lot harder than I thought. You need to add consistent pressure so that the rice firm up and have an even shape.

The maki initially received mix response from the kids. The really hungry ones walloped a whole bunch of the makis while their smarter cousins watched and waited to see what happen. Eventually senses prevailed and they too join the foray. A delightful sight...at least for my wife.

Chu Char At Batu Lanchang Market (Greenlane)

2008-09-03T08:55:00.005+08:00

For those living in Greenlane, Batu Lanchang is certainly a food paradise. While it is a housing estate, it's also home to a wet market, food court and a small shopping complex to serve the needs of the local residence. Since the wet market only starts in the afternoon, the food court only comes to live after 2pm. The food court offers a wide range of hawker food ,economy rice and tit bits so there are plenty of variety to choose from. The pasembur, nasi kandar and mee goreng are notably some of the hawker food that are recommended here. As evening sets and the activities of the hawker stalls wind down, one portion of the food court is transformed to a chu char place. While the food is good by most standards, most people aren't aware of this place.

We normally come here every Thursdays for dinner and usually in a big group. That's when all the relatives meet to catch up with the latest news. While I like the food here, I don't find this place comfortable at all mainly the fact that there's almost always 16 of us. Imagine cramping into 2 small tables like that because they like to 'lau juak'. It's not even shoulder to shoulder as I normally have to tilt my body to the side when I'm eating. I always joke to my wife that if there is record for the most people cramped in a specific sized table, we are probably the record holders. Does that mean we are entitled to a RM 1 million prize money and a pension of RM 5 k per month like Lee Chong Wei? Sadly, no.

Since there are always so many of us, we normally try to appease everyone by ordering their favourite dishes. The chicken fried in coffee is a must! All my wife's nieces and nephews love this and besides, chicken is the only thing they eat.

My FIL (father-in-law) loves anything with bean curd so we are oblige to order something with tofu. Ergo the stir fried bean curd with pork and prawns is now a regular item in the order.

The steamed egg in soy sauce is delicate, soft and tasteful and has won the votes from everyone. The same goes for the sweet and sour pork which unfortunately tends to come in smaller portions.

The stir fried long beans with shrimps and pork in thick black sauce made it to the standard ordering list too. So did the kachang botol in sambal with prawns. Both dishes are rather nice with the vegetables fresh and crunchy.

While prices here are quite standard for chu char, the portion of each dish has reduced to some extent due to higher cost of goods. Nontheless, for those with a curious mind (and stomach), the chu char is certainly worth trying.

Losing Manhood Over Soya Bean Drink At Soya King

2008-08-29T13:41:00.008+08:00

We all know that soy bean drink has been touted as a miracle food for obvious reasons. It contains numerous amino acids required as the building blocks for growth, isoflavones, a source of vitamin E and lecithin and even help to reduce bad cholesterol.

However, recent unsettling studies have shown that too much soy base food consumed by male can lead to lower sperm count. To quote the article EmaxHeath "men who ate the most soy food had 41 million sperm per millilitre less than men who did not consume soy products". Ouch! It sounds as if it's just a tiny weeny drop, but as far as manhood is concern for us male, every drop counts. This is also a blow to any soya bean drink lover like myself. In life, I believe you need to make room for exceptions and I am willing to exercise that right in this case. Hehehe. Similar to the "Get Out Of Jail" card you get in Monopoly.

Every time I window shop at Queens Bay Mall, I need to have my dose of soya bean drink at Soya King. Soya King is located at the ground flour just directly opposite the JayaJusco hypermarket and next to the food court. Unlike most traditional soya bean stalls in Penang, Soya King takes it's product offerings to the next level by providing more variation of soya bean drinks. It's menu consists of bean milk with cincao or colombian arabica white coffee, bean curd with either longan, lychee, red bean, sweet corn, natta de coco, mango fruit pudding or tropical fruit cocktail as toppings. Prices ranges from RM 2-RM 6.

Soya bean drink with normal syrup. Just the way I like them.

For those who like bean curd, you have a choice to add plain syrup, gula melaka syrup or ginger cooked in brown sugar syrup to it. The bean curd is really good as it the texture is soft yet firm enough to retain its shape. It doesnt break up that easily.

Finally, will all this spell the end of my manhood? Hahaha. I dont think so. After a soya bean drink and a bowl of bean curd, I think I'm far from infertile. Those soya beans need to do a better job to rob me of my manhood.

Chinese Restaurant At Red Rock Hotel (Georgetown)

2008-08-29T10:43:00.003+08:00

For those of you who aren't aware of Red Rock Hotel, it's actually the old Agora Hotel. The newly renovated 3-star business hotel is now run by the same family operating the budget Hotel Hong Ping in Chulia Street. Hong Ping is well known since it is a favourite choice by back packers. What make Red Rock unique is that it's strategically located in the heart of historic Georgetown and walking distance to the Penang famous hawker food center along Macalister Road.

While there are numerous places around this area to get great food, one should not overlook the Chinese restaurant from the hotel. Tien Tien Chinese restaurant serves a mixture of regional Chinese cuisine and is located on the 1st floor. The restaurant has a sitting capacity of up to 1000 guests and as well as 12 private rooms. It's therefore no surprise that the restaurant is a favourite choice for weddings and private functions. Although I have been here a few times before, we normally order the same dishes as it's only usual for us to be drawn into our comfort zone. When you know these dishes are good, why venture out and risk unpleasant surprises? Here are some of the recommended dishes.

Pork belly in sweet bean sauce. For those of you who are not too conscious with your cholesterol level, this is a must try. The wonderful sauce goes well with the white rice.

Chicken in sweet and spicy mayo sauce with nuts. Contrasting flavours and quite unique.

Kar Heong tofu or bean curd with dice pork and salted fish. The thick black sauce and the flavours from the salted fish bring much needed dimension to the taste of the otherwise blend homemade bean curd. The contrasting saltiness of the salted fish, the softness of the bean curd and the flavourful sauce will tantalise any taste buds.

As with the tofu, the stir fried brinjal with shrimps rocks! I dont really like brinjal but I have made this dish an exception. This dish brings another dimension to cooking. Wonderful.

By now some of you probably notice that the dishes look similar like those at CRC (Chinese Recreation Club). That's because the chefs used to cook there. As a whole, Tian Tian is quite a nice restaurant as the food and atmosphere are truely a class above the rest. Additionally, prices are quite reasonable depending what you order. For the full address of Red Rock Hotel, please see below for details:

Red Rock Hotel

202A, Jalan Macalister, 10400 Penang

Tel: 04-2266060

For additional review of this restaurant by other foodies, please food hop to LingZie's Tummy Treat.

Hainanese Lor Mee At Harbin Cafe (Pulau Tikus)

2008-08-28T15:14:00.005+08:00

I have past by Harbin Cafe many times but never really been there until recently. What actually caught my attention was the fact that they advertise themselves as having the one of the best Hainanese lor me in town. What's also intriguing is that lor mee is suppose to be a Hokkien dish ergo a Hainanese lor me warranted some investigation on my part.

The typical lor mee consists of a mixture of white rice noodles or beehoon and yellow noodles served with thick starchy gravy made up of corn starch, egg and spices. This is usually complimented by slices of pork and a half boiled egg. In some stalls, they might surprise you with innards like intestines or chicken feet which would put off most Westerners. Lastly, it comes with chili and ginger paste to compliment the thick gravy noodles just like the one shown below.

Hmm. I can't seem to find the slightest difference between this and the Hokkien style. The ingredients are the same except perhaps they added in the pork belly. Not sure.

What a tempting looking pork belly. I could just eat this minus the noodles.

I decided I wasn't in the mood for innards and just had the normal one. I think it cost around RM3-3.5. The lor mee was just average because it tasted like any ordinary lor mee you would get in Penang. Perhaps because of the marketing hype I expected more. Anyway, you are not going to see me doing any back flips or somersaults on this.

Nonetheless, Harbin is still quite a popular cafe since it also sells Malay economy rice and Western food. The Malay food is a crowd puller during the day time where as the Western food seems to do better during the evening. For directions to Harbin Cafe, it is located at the intersection of Jones Road and Burma Road. Alternatively, you can use the SOCSO building at Pulau Tikus as your landmark since it's just directly opposite it.

All Time Classic Chicken Pies From Penang Hill (Air Itam)

2008-08-28T09:42:00.008+08:00

If you grow up in Penang, you would probably remember the delicious chicken pie from Penang Hill. This has to be one of the classic chicken pies I ever tasted since I literary grew up with it. We use to have it during the weekends and there was never enough for everyone.

For some of you who don't know about this, well....it's likely it's going to stay that way unless someone let you into the secret. This guy makes his chicken pies from his home in Penang Hill and delivers them in his motorcycle directly to your home. He makes about a few hundred pies a day and what's fascinating about this is his business thrives on just word of mouth! For deliveries, I do believe there is a minimum quantity but I recently bought only five and encountered no hassle.

I took three and they were certainly not enough for myself. Shall we say old habits die hard?

The chicken pie comes wrapped in a crispy pastry together with chunky pieces of chicken, potatoes, egg, onions, carrots and peas. And to add another twist to the pie, classic Worcester sauce is used as the base sauce. What's worth mentioning is that a piece only cost you RM 1.90. For the sheer size and quality you get, you can't find this anyway.

For those of you who want to taste the reminiscent of the wonderful and classic chicken pie, here's the contact.

Penang Hill Chicken Pie

Contact person: Ah Wang

Tel: 013-5032947

Price per piece: RM 1.90

After all, you got nothing to lose and delivery is free :)

Everyone's A Winner At McDonald's

2008-08-26T08:31:00.012+08:00

Ahh..McDonald's. You either love it or hate it. There's no two ways about it. Luckily for me, I'm one of the many folks who's still loving it. I have to say in some ways we are in debt to Mr.Ronald McDonalds in more than one occasions. This is especially true when you are travelling in some foreign country and the local food doesn't go well with your stomach. The colorful statue of Ronald McDonald's in over sized shoes and baggy yellow overalls with a smile to greet you is a wonderful and relief sight. We go there because we know our expectations will be met. You know exactly what you get. No surprises.

Occasionally, I drop by at McDonalds just to calibrate my expectations. I was there last week for breakfast and dinner. Dinner was actually my wife's idea as she wanted the free contour glass that comes with the Gold Medal meal. For breakfast we had the Weekday special and hotcakes with sausages. I thought the Weekday breakfast special is quite a good bargain as you pay only RM4 for a sausage and cheese McMuffin and coffee.

Flavourful and aromatic coffee made from 100% roasted Arabica coffee.

The hotcakes comes together with a sausage patty complemented with honey and butter. The pancakes were light, fluffy and the contrasting sweetness of the honey and saltiness of the sausage patty was sheer delight. I wont mind have this for breakfast everyday....

The McMuffins comes with grilled chicken sausage with cheese in a lightly toasted English muffin. It's one meal that I wont be counting calories.

The only reason why we had dinner there was because my wife wanted the Coca-Cola contour glass that comes free with the Gold Medal meal. There are five designs in total. As for the Gold Medal meal, it's a promotional meal in conjunction with the Olympic games. The Gold Medal meal comes with a spicy chicken McDeluxe, onion rings, a carbonated drink and a sundae.

The spicy chicken Mcdeluxe as the name suggest is made of breaded chicken marinated with a special spice marinade, topped with fresh lettuce on a corn meal bun.

And for the real meal, this was followed by a Big Mac. Who can say no to two beef patties that comes with fresh lettuce, onions, pickles, cheese between toasted sesame seed bun? Vegetarians perhaps.....

As their tag line goes, every day is a Sundae! The fruity strawberry sundae was lovely.

The real reason behind dinner. I have to eat everything except the onion rings. My wife was reserving this for herself and she also gets to keep the limited edition Coca-Cola contour glass.

Whether you are a kid or an adult, there's something for everyone. At McDonald's, everyone is a winner.

Imagine If You Have This For Dinner

2008-08-22T22:47:00.009+08:00

IF ONLY YOU COULD ......sink your teeth into the juicy soft skin of the lovely popiah....

.....or taste the slightly burnt and smoky sar hor fun that will hit the right spot with the pickled chillis....

.....or the ee foo mee with its thick seafood gravy sauce.....oh, mr ee foo mee....what big prawns you have.....

.....or smell the wonderful aroma of belacan rice....or taste the fragrant and fluffy rice .....or the belacan chicken, fried anchovies or egg.....

.....or bite into the tender meat of the best chicken wings in town.....muah ha ha.....

.....or sniff the aroma of the freshly cooked fried char koay teow ....with extra pig's fat and duck's egg.....bwa ha ha .....

.....or brave the high cholesterol goody in the form of fried oysters.....

.....or taste the famous combo plate of loh bak with the dipping sauces.....

IF ONLY YOU COULD.....have all this for dinner.....LOL....

Burp! (followed by tooth picking). Dont worry if you didn't ........(more tooth picking)......I was there to finish the food on your behalf :)