Food Finds
After the wild success of MyKuali’s Penang instant Curry Mee, and perhaps not surprisingly, every other player in the market was quick to come up with their own version of this Penang’s favorite hawker dish in instant format.
I was contacted by the representative from Kim Curry to sample their interpretation of Penang Traditional White Curry Noodle.
the end result – Kim Curry Penang White Curry Mee
So a few weeks ago I received a few samples of this instant noodle via mail from Kim Curry marketing all the way from Butterworth, Penang.
The instant noodle seems to be following the ideas from MyKuali, packaging 110 gram of noodle instead of the usual 85 grams like other instant noodle products. Additionally, there’s also separate packets of craemer and chili paste. Total energy from this product is rated at 466 kcal with 219 kcal from fat. So far so good.
the packaging, with sambal paste and white santan flavored powder
To test the Kim Curry Penang White Curry Mee, I went to market to obtain some prawns, long beans, and tofu skin at the cost of about RM 12 to prepare for dinner for two.
Cooking instruction is simple, bring 350 ml of water per packet to boil, add instant noodle, then add creamer and paste. I also threw in the prawns and other ingredients for the last 2 minutes.
a few prawns go a long way for this curry mee
The result is a version of instant noodle that is unmistakenly Penang Curry Mee. The aroma of curry is pretty decent, but not nearly as strong as the version from MyKuali. This would suit those who can’t stomach that sort of spiciness level MyKuali offers.
Additionally, the noodle itself is a little thinner. So if you prefer Penang instant curry mee with a little less kick but still retains the essential aroma, this version may be for you.
As someone who’s born and bred in Penang, we obviously love our hawker dishes, and hence it is always a mission for many of us Penangites to find the local taste right here in KL whenever we can.
New Apollos kopitiam at USJ 4
Now when most think about hawker foods in Penang, curry mee, prawn mee, laksa, and char kuih teow is often high on the list, and if you mention kuih teow th’ng (or kuih teow soup), many don’t even realize how difficult it is to find a place that offers the dish here in KL. Hence when I accidentally ended up at Restaurant New Apollos in USJ 4 and saw this stall, I knew it was something I had to order.
proper Penang style kuih teow th’ng
The operator (not the one in the picture, she was just the helper) speaks Penang Hokkien, which passed the first litmus test whenever I order Penang food.
When the bowl of kuih teow soup arrived, I was already pretty happy. The dish looked the part, with three fishballs, shredded steamed chicken, a few slices of fish cakes, vegetable, fried garlic, and a few bits of lard.
I was well satisfied with the kuih teow soup
As for the taste, this RM 5 bowl of goodness hits all the right spots. It might lack strips of duck blood, but the fish balls and fish cakes had the right texture and tasted rather good. Portion was not overly big like other KL hawker dishes, and the shredded chicken cooked just right as well.
In fact, I liked it so much I rode all the way from Damansara Perdana to USJ 4 just for this yesterday. This kuih teow soup is now on the top of my list so far as Klang Valley is concerned.
Address:
Restaurant New Apollos
2, Jln USJ4/6B
Subang Jaya
GPS: 3.051770, 101.576209
Hours: Lunch and Breakfast, Closed on Tuesdays
Penang is often know as the heaven of hawker foods, from char kuih teow to asam laksa, and kuih teow soup to nasi kandar. However, you don’t often hear people talk about ikan bakar, also sometimes known as ikan panggang as the locals like to call it, and that I think, is a grave mistake.
Here are top three different grilled fish places I think you should check out if you’re in Penang.
Ikan Bakar Adnan bin Hassan, Kampung Teluk Tempoyak
If you fancy a little drive to the southern end of the island, ikan bakar Adnan bin Hassan at Kampung Teluk Tempoyak is definitely a place worth checking out. There isn’t many choices of fish to choose from as they’re sourced from the local fishermen, but there are siakap, kerapu, jenahak, ikan merah, and bawah talang to go with prawns and crabs.
I also particularly like the way their fillet the fish with sambal on the inside for easy access to those tender and absolutely satisfying meat. Starting from RM 35 to about RM 50 per KG, these grilled fish isn’t heavy on the wallet either.
Just one thing, you gotta be quick to grab your share before your mates.
better get your share before your friends finish them all
Address:
Ikan Bakar Adnan bin Hassan
Medan Selera Kampung Teluk Tempoyak
11960 Bayan Lepas, Penang
GPS: 5.277330, 100.287968
Tel: 019-413 2572
Hours: 6pm – 11pm (Closed on Mondays)
Ikan Panggang stall at Song River, Gurney Drive
One of my favorite “kopitiam” ikan panggang (more appropriate since it’s not strictly grilled) stalls is the one at Song River, Gurney Drive. The fish is covered in a special sauce that has a strong presence of fermented beans, belacan, chili, and shallots. Together with the sambal, this makes for an excellent treat.
There’s always quite a selection of different fishes and squid, but my favorite is stingray since the meat soaks up the paste easily and there’s no fish bones to deal with.
The same restaurant also offers great chicken wings too.
full flavor with plenty of chilli and garlic
Address:
Song River Cafe
65 Persiaran Gurney,
Georgetown, Penang
GPS: 5.432392, 100.31738
Tel: 012-488 8275
Hours: dinner and supper
East Coast BBQ at Jalan Pinang food court, Penang
For those who love something slightly different than just fish, squid, or crabs, East Coast BBQ at Jalan Pinang food court is a place you must visit.
On top of the usual fish and squid, there are different types of shellfish and even vegetable for grilling. My favorite here would be their grilled scallops. Topped with garlic and spring onion, then grilled to perfection, this is an absolute must try for anyone who loves scallops. At RM 5 a pop, it’s quite reasonably priced as well.
Grilled brinjal is done with similar toppings and tasted fantastic, while the slightly spicy long bean might perhaps give you an illusion of having consumed enough vitamin C for the trip.
BBQ scallops, egg plant, and long beans
Address:
East Coast BBQ
Sungai Pinang Food Court
Jalan Sungai Pinang
Georgetown 11500 Penang
GPS: 5.400029, 100.325711
Tel: 04-281 0943
Hours: dinner and supper
If you haven’t check out the inaugural The Star People’s Food Awards yet, you should. Head to mob.com.my to nominate and vote for the different categories of food every month for a total of 12 months, from June 2014 to May 2015.
I’m honored to be chosen as one of the seven judges for this awards, and last week, five of us met up at Menara Star for a small get-together and had a little chat. The following article is the result from the meet up.
The article is shamelessly reproduced from The Star Online titled “More than just good taste” on the Saturday, 12 July 2014 and written by Kathleen Michael.
Ready to eat and decide: (from left) Wong, Kar-Yeong, Adly, Wan and Yong
are in the line-up of judges for The Star People ’s Food Awards
Since June, The Star in collaboration with Metro Online Broadcast (MOB), a citizen journalism portal, has been calling out to street food lovers to nominate and vote for their favourite street food eatery.
The initiative is to recognise the best Malaysian street food in the Klang Valley, aptly named The Star People’s Food Awards.
Each month, a new street food category is introduced and readers nominate and vote for their favourite category-based street food.
The categories include nasi lemak, chicken rice, roti canai and nasi kandar.
The award was set up to give recognition to restaurant or vendors who continue to excite their clientele’s taste buds.
It also hopes to promote and encourage culinary excellence in street food culture while preserving the country’s food heritage.
The people powered award is not just based on public opinion, as part of the decision is made by an esteemed panel of judges.
There are seven judges who know where to head to for the best of the best, but are able to debate on all things street food.
The judges comprise of blogger at pureglutton.com Chris Wan, food adventurer and blogger at KYspeaks.com Kar-Yeong, PR consultant, writer and blogger at jommakan.blogspot.com Alice Yong, FriedChillies founder Adly Rizal, HungryGoWhere Malaysia managing editor Joyceling Tully, Star2 Features senior editor Julie Wong and StarMetro deputy editor Sam Cheong.
Five of the seven judges sat down with StarMetro to share their opinion about the awards and the state of street food in Malaysia.
Kar-Yeong likes the idea of championing street food because he was of the opinion that the street food culture was slowly dying in the country.
“As long as people are aware of street food and where to have them, it keeps the street food culture alive and I’m glad to be a part of it,” he said.
Out of the 12 categories, the group agreed that they were looking forward to thepopiah and nasi lemak categories.
These judges love their street food so much that when asked, “What’s your favourite street food?”, StarMetro was given the grunt of despair by judges.
“We can’t just pick one. We need the option to select at least three,” Kar-Yeong said.
The judges agreed that roti canai and nasi lemak would stand at the top of the list.
As food critics, there are certain things they will look out for when judging the eateries and their food.
Wan said taste and price mattered when it came to choosing street food.
Wong said her pet peeve was the excessive use of Monosodium glutamate (MSG) by street food vendors while Adly said great street food would depend on the consistency and passion of the cook.
“Good food in Malaysia is easily accessible at a good price. Those who make good street food are the ones who do not put lousy ingredients and are passionate about their food,” he said.
He is against stalls or restaurant that lie to consumers about the food served.
“There are so many who claim they serve Penang char kuey teow (mind you, this dish is number three in his top three list) and then when you try it, it is nothing compared to the real thing,” he said.
These days, it is also common to see foreigners as cooks, dishing up street food.
“The taste changes as they wouldn’t know how it is meant to be,” he added.
For Kar-Yeong, time spent waiting for his food plays a role in determining how he would rate his meals.
“I can tolerate waiting for about 45 minutes, and will probably return to the shop once more,” he said.
Wan and Yong agree that Malaysian culinary students did not take pride in the street food culture.
“They need motivation like the recent win by a Malaysian in Masterchef UK to tell them that Malaysian food is on par with Western cuisine.”
“Otherwise, they take street food for granted,” they said.
They also stressed that there should be classes to encourage Malaysian culinary students on local dishes and not just Western meals.
The judges agreed that besides highlighting locations with great street food, the awards would also help Malaysians find restaurants or vendors who were unknown to the masses.
“I didn’t know about Restaurant Prosperity Bowl and when it was nominated, I tried it and enjoyed their chicken rice,” Yong said.
The judges also agreed that the quality of street food was changing and the awards would hopefully help restore it to its former glory, instead of allowing it to deteriorate.
The public can take part in nominating and voting for the best street food category each month by signing up on mob.com.my
Public nomination for the current best roti canai category is now over and voting will begin on July 15 to midnight of the last day of the month.
The official announcement of the award winner and prize winners will be announced on the first week of the following month.
For details, on the Star’s People Food Awards, visit www.mob.com.my
Selamat berpuasa to my Muslim friends!
In a short few weeks it will be Hari Raya, and many of us, Muslim or otherwise, will be taking the opportunity of the holidays to travel back home to visit our love ones. To ensure a good and safe journey home, it is imperative that we get our vehicles be in a fit condition.
For that, Carama by Castrol has something on offer for everyone with their Safe Balik Kampung Promotion - for only RM 128.00, you get an oil change, filter, safety check, and brake inspection worth RM 200.00.
Carama by Castrol is the first online service for trusted car care in Malaysia. With a huge network of certified and listed car workshops (200+) in Klang Valley. This help removes the doubt of choosing the right workshop as the certified shops had to undergo a rigorous accreditation process that assure customers of quality of workmanship, skills, and equipment.
The Carama site also provides one of the most invaluable features we’ve been waiting for – workshop reviews from customers. In addition to the certification process, this really helps us to choose the workshop we can trust without having to resort to just asking around for recommendations.
search for workshop on Carama
Using the service of Carama is simple. First, head to carama.com, choose your car make from the drop down menu and search for the workshop by location. A listing of workshop matching the search criteria will appear, alongside a pretty handy map.
Clicking on the workshop of your choice will bring you to the page that shows a photo of the workshop and other important details such as opening hours, full address, phone number, and more.
booking a workshop on Carama
Booking an appointment is as easy as filling up the form by keying in your vehicle’s information and choosing the timeslot convenient for you, and you’re done!
Bring the voucher to the workshop to get your car serviced, it’s that simple.
One of the service centres certified by Carama
The best thing about the service is that in addition to oil change and filter change, there’s also a complimentary 15-point Safety and Health inspection for your vehicle that includes the following:
In total, the packge is worth RM 200.00
Castrol engine oil is used
Since my car is currently at the paint shop, a friend of mine gave Carama a try and reported very positive experience (not unlike the old Castrol Auto Serivce I tried in 2011).
The workshop has a air conditioned waiting room with free drinking water and a TV for you to chill while the car is being serviced. The mechanic was very professional and took good care of the car while servicing it. It was overall a very fast and simple process that took less than an hour to complete.
So for this Balik Kampung season, head to Carama by Castrol and get your vehicle ready for the long ride home! Remember to use the RAYA128 code.