Tag / char kuih teow
April 12, 2013
While back in Penang for cheng beng last weekend, I also decided to try a char kuih teow place which I haven’t been before. After all, after having not lived in Penang for the past 18 years or so, there are many places that aren’t exactly new, but they are new to me.
A bit of Google-Fu and I ended up at Ah Leng char kuih teow at Kafe Khoon Hiang, located on Jalan Dato Keramat, between Penang Times Square and the old Stadium Bandaraya Pulau Pinang.
Ah Leng char kuih teow at Kafe Khoon Hiang
The kopitiam is just like any other in Penang, with an assortment of hawker stalls offering many local dishes. Situated right at the front of the shop, Ah Leng char kuih teow is their most prominent stall (by the way, Leng means “Dragon” in Hokkien)
A plate of “normal” char kuih teow is priced at RM 6, and RM 10.50 gets you one with “extras”. If you prefer duck egg instead of the usual chicken egg, chip in another RM 0.50.
glorious char kuih teow with extra ingredients – big prawns, mantis prawns, duck egg
Being a person who’s slightly weak when it comes to resisting temptations, I naturally went for broke and ordered a plate with duck egg and everything in it.
The result was RM 11.00 lighter on my wallet, but in return I had a plate of absolutely gorgeous char kuih teow that has four really huge prawns, duck egg, bean sprouts, chives, kuih teow, and another ingredient that’s pretty unique to Ah Leng – mantis prawns.
yep, these prawns are massive!
While this costs a bit more than your usual hawker dishes, the prawns were super juicy and fresh, and the kuih teow too had just enough wok-hei for my liking. If you discount all the ingredients, it’s still an above average plate of kuih teow, but with all these extras, man, I can have it pretty frequent!
If you’re in Penang looking for a plate of memorable char kuih teow to have but don’t want to go to Lorong Selamat, this is definitely a more than worthy alternative.
Address:
Ah Leng Char Kuih Teow
Kafe Khoon Hiang
358 Jalan Dato Keramat,
10150 Penang
GPS: 5.412985, 101.319595
Tel: 012-498 3962
Hours: 8:30 am to 2:30 pm (closed on Thursdays)
July 4, 2012
It’s not a secret that one of my favorite hawker dishes is the venerable char kuih teow, a dish that always remind me of Penang, hawker food lovers’ paradise, and not coincidentally, the island where I grew up. So when I saw this “new-ish” char kuih teow place popped up at Lot 10 Hutong, I had to try it.
Especially since they also serve duck egg (or normal chicken egg if you prefer).
Penang char kuih teow at Lot 10, Hutong (non halal)
As with every place that serves Penang char kuih teow in Klang Valley, I started conversing with the operator in Hokkien, and this guy checks out. The skinny chef is definitely from Penang.
A plate of duck egg char kuih teow here cost RM 10.40 including tax, with the chicken egg version about a buck cheaper. Expect to wait for a little while if you are there during lunch hours as each plate of CKT is prepared individually. Some swears by this as the only way to prepare them.
The result is a plate of char kuih teow that’s one of the best you can get in KL. There’s the pretty good size prawns, cockles, lap cheong (Chinese sausage), chives, bean sprouts, and even pork lard. The kuih teow too is properly oiled, and with that fire going, you get that slightly charred taste to it too.
I always go for the duck egg option as it has a much richer taste and a more flavorful yolk too.
Not disappointed at all. 
now that’s a proper way to prepare CKT
Anyway, if you haven’t been to Lot 10 Hutong yet, you should. It is the go-to food court for me, and one of the very few non-halal food courts in the country that is air conditioned and comes with some class. More food posts from Hutong can be found here.
Address:
Ho Weng Kee at Hutong food court
Lower Ground Floor
Lot 10 Shopping Mall
Jalan Bukit Bintang
GPS: 3.146462, 101.711758
March 7, 2012
A couple days ago we were invited to The Saujana Kuala Lumpur to sample the food that they have for Penang Food Festival. – a little thing that this classy hotel near the old Subang Airport is having from 1 – 14 March, 2012.
It was the first time I find myself at Saujana, the traffic heading there was rather agreeable, and parking is ample and free, what a refreshing idea right? It baffles me why most hotels that aren’t located in the city centre still charges exuberant parking fees that pisses many potential guests. Saujana, you are doing it right.
Penang food festival at The Saujana KL
Overseeing a huge lake and lush green golf course, Suria Cafe surely have one of the best ambiance around town, especially if you are the sort that loves alfresco dining.
For the two week period that Penang Food Festival is running at the restaurant, three chefs from my home town (yes, I hail from Penang) are flown here to prepare many traditional Penang hawker delights to be served right along the usual array of buffet dishes. For those who loves to sample different Penang foods all at one go, this is a perfect chance.
Chef Desmond’s char kuih teow, original Penang style
I got the chance to speak with Chef Desmond, who specializes the fine art of Chinese cuisine but at the same time is also well known for his char kuih teow. Of course, we spoke in Hokkien, as this is almost always my litmus test for anyone who claimed to know the art of Penang food, he did not disappoint.
The char kuih teow that he prepared too, was a plate of mean hawker dish that ranks right up there with some of the bests. No small feat considering this is a pork-free version, I finished the whole plate, every single bit.
char kuih teow, poh piah, apom with banana
Together with Chef Badrol and Chef Wafi, who are also from Penang, these three gentlemen oversees these live cooking stalls at Suria Terrace -
- Char Kiuh Teow
- Oh Chien (fried oyster)
- Sar Hor Fun
- Ee Fu Mee
- Chee Cheong Fun
- Lam Mee
- Prawn Mee
- Char Kuih Kak
- ais kacang (ABC)
- masalah and ginger tea
Of course, all these dishes are of Penang variety, and in most instances, stays pretty true to the style you get off any streets in Penang, tho some of them are a bit too dressed up.
Haze loves the asam laksa, mee goreng, fried oyster and char kuih kak
I’ll be lying if I said I tried everything, I don’t have a huge stomach and at this .. ahem.. age, I don’t exactly eat like a teenager anymore lest the circumference of my waist be overtaking my manly butt.
Anyway! As mentioned, the char kuih teow was very good. The mee goreng stayed true to Penang style, and while slightly dry for my liking, was pretty decent. Char kuih kak too was again a little dry, but the fried oyster was very agreeable with my taste buds. I really liked the blend of spiciness to the point that I was enjoy the egg even after I’d finished the oysters.
Haze had two bowls of asam laksa, that’s cos she is now a bit of an authoritative figure in asam laksa, being a fanatic and all. She proclaimed that it did not disappoint.
chee cheong fun, ais kacang, kopi tarik
I was also happy that they serve Penang style chee cheong fun at the festival, and got the chef to cut me a portion. I always like my chee cheong fun still wrapped, and with all the accompanying sauces, I was happy.
The ais kacang was pretty decent, but perhaps with slightly too much ingredients? Then again I’m sure you can always ask for less during the preparation stage.
appetizers and desserts on the buffet lines
Other than those live cooking stalls, there are also prepared Penang food, these includes sotong kankung, pasembur, chicken loh bak, Penang rojak, pohpiah, and so forth.
Then there’s the buffet lines where you find the usual suspects – croutons, turkey bacon, tomatoes with herbs, olive, tomato, cold cuts, various types of cheese, fruits, salad, soup, kuih, and way too many type of cute little cakes and such. Heaven for those who love it sweet.
some of the other dishes – the lamb cutlet was outta this world
Oh, and how can I forget the lamb cutlets?
The lamb cutlets with herbs and cheese was so tender and awesome that I ate two whole pieces, that is almost a cardinal sin of buffet dining where I usually try to sample as many dishes possible, but the cutlet was worth it, and deserves its own paragraph right here!
Fresh, Lainey, Haze, KY
The Penang Food Fest at Saujana runs from 1 – 14 March, 2012 and are priced at RM 68++ for lunch and RM 84++ for dinner.
Bon Appetit!
Address:
Suria Cafe
Saujana Resort, Jalan Lapangan Terbang SAAS,
40150 Selangor
GPS: 3.108849, 101.578474
Tel: 03-7843 1234
email: info@thesaujana.com
January 27, 2012
There are plenty of people who are from Penang that will tell you that Lorong Selamat char kuih teow is over hyped, over priced, overly crowded, and that there are many better alternatives.
Well, I am from Penang and to heck with all those comments, I still love my Lorong Selamat char kuih teow, and whenever I’m back on the island, it is always one of my must-eat hawker food. The massive prawns is something you almost never find at any other places outside of this famous lorong.
every bit just as good as the “original” lorong selamat ckt
There are two big CKT stalls at Lorong Selamat. The so called “original” one is operated by an aunty who wears a red cap at Heng Huat kopitiam.
Today, we’re gonna talk about the “alternative”, the KTG cafe’s char kuih teow, manned by a dude with massive sun glasses wearing orange polo.
I initially had a bit of a doubt on this stall, but after a few trials back and forth, I believe that they are basically on par with each other – both are excellent and just about as good as CKT can get.
char kuih teow at KTG cafe, Lorong Selamat
The CKT comes with three massive prawns, cockles, lapcheong (Chinese sausage), egg, bean sprouts, and of course, kuih teow. The secret ingredients would be the usage of pork lard instead of normal vegetable oil. A plate of CKT goes for RM 7.50. For those prawns, hell ya it’s well worth it for me.
Don’t bother tapao the kuih teow though, anything that is fried with pork lard is best consumed piping hot, and will get a bit too “jelak” when the temperature cools down.
On a busy day, the waiting time can get quite long. For this session, the dude told me (in honest and almost apologetic tone) that the waiting time would be an hour. So I actually went off and ran some errands before returning, and sure enough, our CKT was up next. 
Thumbs up for honest operator.
Address:
K.T.G. Cafe,
Lorong Selamat,
Penang
GPS: 5.417343, 100.324917
November 17, 2011
Ask anyone from Penang, and chances are char kuih teow is in the list of their favorite hawker dishes. So for those Penangites living in Klang Valley, there’s always a constant urge to find a good plate of char kuih teow.
So when a colleague who was also from Penang talked about this CKT place at Imbi, I knew that we will surely have to try this over lunch time, even thought it meant a good 1km+ walk under the sun.
Mei Sin kopitiam Char Kueh Teow stall
Mei Sin eating shop is a kopitiam just off Jalan Imbi, and just like another famous kopitiam nearby – Win Heng Seng, this one is usually packed with white, blue, and no collar workers during lunch hours.
glorious char kuih teow, just need even bigger prawns actually
We went there by around 12 p.m. and the crowd was just building up. The char kuih teow we ordered (of course I ordered in Penang Hokkien, always as a litmus test) took just 15 minutes or so to arrive.
The plate of RM 4.50 goodness came with lightly cooked cockles, prawns (medium size), egg, kuih teow, bean sprouts, and of course, chives. It was lovely, spicy, full of “wok hei”, and positively delicious.
I would rate this place a little better than the CKT stall at Win Heng Seng a stone’s throw away.
Sheng loves the CKT, and do try the fresh yao char kuai too
When you are at Mei Sin kopitiam, don’t miss out on the yao char kuai too. The freshly deep fried yao char kuai I had was very crispy and had just the right amount of saltiness with it. I wished there were some bak kut teh soup to go with, but I guess kopi-o wouldn’t be a bad substitute either. The yao char kuai place seems to be off on Thursdays.
Address:
Restaurant Mei Sin
No. 16, Jalan Melati
Off Jalan Imbi,
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.14396, 101.714768
