Last weekend when we went to Penang for a bit of a gluttony affair, our first stop was at Tanjung Bungah for a plate of mee goreng. That stall did not open for business, so we turned our heads to the Goreng Pisang stall opposite.
Goreng Pisang stall at Tanjung Bungah, Penang
The place did not bring about any special recollection until my sister commented on instagram about a piece of childhood memory we share.
See, back when we were kids, dad will take us to Teluk Bahang for picnic and “korek siput” session by the beach almost every weekends. This goreng pisang stall then served as sort of a half way point where we would tapao some snacks to be eaten later in the morning. Thinking back, this was almost 30 years ago, and I’m really glad that the same stall still exists and operating well by the original owner’s son, now in a van instead of tricycle.
my favorite fried nian gau
Anyway, my favorite from here is their fried “nian gao” (RM 1.50). It is basically a slice of nian gao (Chinese New Year’s cake) sandwiched in between slices of sweet potato and yam. When eat hot, the nian gao is in a half liquid state, together with the sweetness of yam and potato covered in the crunchy batter that is just ever so slightly salty, it is awesome!
They also serve goreng pisang (fried banana), cempedak, kuih kodok, ubi keladi, ubi kayu, kuih bakul, ubi keledek, and kacang hijau.
The streets of Bangkok is dotted with many hawkers selling all sorts of food for those with an appetite for adventure. While noodles and rice dishes are mainly found in food courts and small restaurants, many hawkers offer bite size snacks at road side. From the more mainstream sausages to cold drinks to fried insects, you can find virtually anything.
Bacon Stick for 20 baht each
I noticed that many snacks choices consist of pork. There are pork sausage, bacon sticks, grilled fried pork, deep fried pork skin, roasted pork, ah, it was good for the pork lovers, maybe not exactly so great for health, however.
My favorite would be the bacon stick we had at the Chatuchak weekend market. For 20 baht (around RM2), you get mini sausages wrapped with bacon on a skewer. The union of sausage and bacon was a match made in heaven as the juice and slight saltiness from bacon compliments the texture and taste of the sausage oh so well. You have to try this if you manage to find the stall!
grilled pork strips on a ring
Grilled pork strips on bamboo string is a pretty common snack that can be found at many places. The meat is marinated and carries a pretty salty taste, while pretty good, eating too much of these will make you very thirsty.
deep fried pork skin
Another sinful snack would be this little bowls of deep fried pork skin that goes for 10 baht that we found at Chatuchak. These are very crispy and goes well with a little bit of Thai chili sauce. Now imagine having this with a cold beer watching your favorite football teams on a big LCD TV, with the air-cond full blast, and maybe a hot chick dancing on the side…
roasted pork (siu yok)
Roasted pork isn’t usually served on rice over here, you just have it as snacks to munch while walking around the weekend market. I guess we deserved it since we were getting enough exercise from walking under the searing hot April weather in Bangkok anyway, right?
colorful Popsicles
Then there’s the Popsicle stalls. The popsicles are actually made on location, usually with bottled fruit juice poured into a metal mold. A wooden stick is added as the handle. The mold is placed in a contraption consisting two parts, a top with little holes to hold the molds, and the bottom container filled with dried ice.
The seller often stirs the top part of the popsicle maker attempting to freeze the products faster. A stick costs something like 5 baht, and they were perfect for the weather.
fried mini banana (including the skin)
Other than the meat items, I also tried this curious little deep fried banana Terence bought. It was basically some species of mini banana sliced down in the middle, deep fried. While they look rather uninspiring, these things were actually very sweet and rather tasty. It is similar with our own “pisang goreng”, but sweeter and more concentrated.
Of course I enjoy every bit!
You can do a fair share of walking and eating in this city. Next up would be the various type of meals I had to sit down to eat. Stay tuned!
A couple weeks ago three of us went to the much blogged Indonesian food outlet Waroeng Penyet at the Curve. For those who can’t read the Indonesian (or Malay) language, waroeng (or warong) is a traditional hut, while penyet translates to flattened. So I guess you can call it a flattened hut though the place doesn’t look exactly like a hut nor is it flattened.
no frill fast food outlet setting
As their logo suggests, the signature dish at this outlet would be the ayam penyet (flattened chicken). We ordered 2 servings of that, a bawal bakar (black pomphret), udang penyet (flattened prawn), pete udang belado (prawn with petai), and a sayur asem (vegetable soup). Of course, we were not able to deny the temptation of the curious soda gembira (happy soda).
Just like Carl’s Jr., you get a number after you order, and the food is served to the table fresh and steaming.
how do you like the soda gembira?
The chicken were absolutely stunning. Crispy on the outside and still juicy on the inside. The sambal was very flavorful, with the taste of fresh chili and a slight tangy sensation, it compliments all sorts of meat nicely. The prawn and pomphret were equally good as well. The soup though, it something I wouldn’t order again, it was a bit weird to me with the slightly sourly taste that is everything wrong between tomyam and chicken soup. I guess it might be an acquired taste… but perhaps not for me.
These dishes were served with rice, so you do get a proper traditional meal in a modern setting.
flavorful, spicy, and absolutely delicious
If I remember correctly, each dishes were priced just under RM 10. The excellent sambal (3 types actually) can be refilled at will, and I will definitely go there again. Give it a try if you are one of those who love spicy flavorful food!
Waroeng Penyet is situated on the first floor near the bridge connecting Ikano Power Center to the Curve.
Address: First Floor, Lot 1.32
The Curve
Mutiara Damansara
Petaling Jaya GPS:3.157699, 101.611540 Tel:017-200 3988
My Vietnamese friend, Trinh invited me to his house for dinner, and knowing that I am some sort of an explorer when it comes to food, he got his wife to prepare one of the more interesting dishes I’ve had recently. Fried bee’s pupae!
don’t they look lovely?
The dish is prepared by frying the pupae lightly with minimal seasoning, looks to me that only oil and some shallots was used. My friend told me that there are many ways the dish is prepared. As you bite this strange looking creature, the liquid interior of the insect bursts in your mouth, the texture is certainly interesting. However, to be honest, the taste is rather blunt, I think a stronger seasoning might help.
very good Vietnamese hospitality
My Vietnamese friend’s house is quite narrow and short in Malaysian standard, but in the city of 7 million, land is pretty expensive. This particular house is slightly less than 3 meters in width, and probably some 10 meters in depth. It was a pretty interesting experience.
I actually got the idea to make this dish from the “tai chau” place near one of the badminton halls I frequent. It tasted so good the first time I had it, we ended up ordering a second plate of the same thing. So when I decided to make a vegetable dish for lunch, it was just natural that I had to try to reproduce this french beans with dried shrimp (虾米玉豆). With this KY’s recipe, you can make it too!
this stuff was really good
Ingredients:
French beans
dried shrimps
cili padi
garlic
Steps:
mince the dried shrimps and cili padi together and chopped some garlic separately
heat the frying pan with cooking oil and start frying the chopped garlic
add minced dried shrimps and cili padi after 20 seconds
fry the mixture till golden brown, then add French beans
add a sprinkle of salt to taste, fry the beans over high heat for a minute or two
ready to serve!
very simple ingredients and preparation method
This is my very first trial in making this dish, and I must say it didn’t turn out bad at all. I had a little too much dried shrimp going on, and definitely way too much cili padi. However, the taste was still very good, crunchy and fresh tasting beans contrasting with the flavor of minced dried shrimp and the hotness of cili padi, a great combination. Try it yourself!
