Whenever I go back to Penang, there are a few hawker food that I usually do not miss. The char kueh teow, curry mee, mee goreng, and also kueh teow soup such as the one at Lebuh Armenian. The other dish would be this famous dried kuey teow at the Mt. Erskine road side hawker center.

the kueh teow soup stall

This particular stall has been in operation for at least the past 20 years or so, back when this make shift hawker center only had a couple of stalls operating under the trees. There are many places that sells kueh teow soup, but when it comes to the dry version, this place probably came up with the best concoction.

dried kueh teow, with soup on the side

Much like wantan noodle , this dried kuey teow is served with a bowl of 4 types of fish ball soup on the side. The kueh teow then is served with some dark sauce, shredded chicken, and raw vegetables.

The different types of fish ball has their own unique texture and taste to it, some softer, some firm and bouncy, and all very delicious. I particularly love the sambal belacan that is served as the condiment, made from fresh red pepper, belacan, and lime that is rather spicy and perfect with those fish balls.

my favorite sambal.. slurps

A bowl of the dried kuey teow goes for RM 3.50, but as with most Penang hawker dishes, the portion is quite small, which is just as well so that I can order another bowl of curry mee or mee goreng to fill up my stomach.

map to the hawker centre at Mt. Erskine

The hawker centre operates from around noon to 4-5 in ther afternoon.

Tags:  hawker-food,  kueh teow,  mt erskine,  penang-food,  road side,  soup

Posted by KY | 15 Comments »

Being a Penangite living in KL, one of the many hawker foods that we always miss is the famous Char Kueh Teow. When I first came down to this part of the country many years ago, this is the dish that I always avoid when fixing my stomach at various kopitiams. On the rare occasions that I gave it a try, the experience was usually quite horrid.

yeh, that’s the size of prawn i love

However, recently I have started to experiment with the various “Penang” char kueh teow places in KL again, thinking that there must be a few good stalls around. I now employ a standard litmus test before I make my order. It is very simple, I will order in Hokkien, and if the hawker answers in anything other than a perfect Penang version of Hokkien, I simply excuse myself and go for my second choice. The test has proven to be very useful thus far.

now you see it, now you don’t

I have actually heard of this place from FA before decided to give it a try. The kopitiam is nameless and is located at the other end of the same row of shops that has the famous kopitiam with loh ngap (duck), very good roti bakar, and seafood porridge, among other things.

The char kueh teow was surprising good, not as great as the two famous Penang stalls, but plenty close enough to warrant a trip for anyone who loves this dish. The prawns are pretty big, and the dish comes complete with cockles and Chinese sausage too. I usually like to have mine extra spicy for some extra kicks. I finished the plate in no more than 5 minutes.

the unnamed kopitiam housing this char kueh teow stall is situated by MBPJ building

Upon looking at me snapping pictures, the stall owner actually came up to me for a chat. Apparently he is the 2nd generation owner of the stall, handed over from his mother and the stall has been in operation for some 20 years.

As usual, there will be people who are quick to point out that it used to be better, and the son isn’t as good as the mom’s char kueh teow. To me, I think most of us don’t realize that char kueh teow is not something like great art works, where Picasso’s son wouldn’t do better. Our taste buds are getting less by the days, and most often than not, we would have been exposed to wider variety of good food since 5 years ago. Don’t commit the fallacy, just give it a good honest try, I think you’ll like it.

Tags:  char-kueh-teow,  char-kuih-teow,  delicious,  hawker,  penang-food

Posted by KY | 21 Comments »