You know, when it comes to Penang food, most of what people recognize will be from the island – char kuih teow, laksa, prawn mee, curry mee, and such. However, the bigger, less glamorous landmass Penang government “rent” from Kedah does in fact offers a few gems of its own when it comes to hawker food – one of which is the topic for today – yam rice with pork offal soup.
Yam Rice stall at Tien Tien Lai, Ara Damansara
While my favorite version in Penang is from Chip Heng kopitiam at Chai Leng Park, Butterworth, I was recently introduced to a stall offering something pretty much equally as good right here at Klang Valley, at Ara Damansara’s Tien Tien Lai kopitiam.
This particular yam rice stall is in fact introduced to me by my mom’s friend (who is also from Penang). A bowl of soup goes for RM 8 and comes with plenty of ingredients you’d expect in this dish – including pork ball, pork slices, tongue, intestine, coagulated blood, tofu, salted vege, and parsley. You’ll then get to choose to have it with yam rice (RM 2), or white rice (RM 1), and if you ask me, there’s no question the former is the version to go for.
yam rice plus pork offal soup with salted vege and tofu
The yam rice itself is properly flavored with good aroma from yam, and the soup is packed with porky goodness properly balanced with the saltiness & slight acidity offered by salted vegetable. Grab a piece and dip in the homemade chili sauce with dark soya sauce, then mix it up with a spoon full of yam rice, put it in your mouth, and follow up with a spoon full of soup… yums!
If you want some proper yam rice with pork soup without having to travel up to Penang, this is one to check out.
Address: Tien Tien Lai kopitiam Ara Permata, 33, Jalan PJU 1a/42, Ara Damansara, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor GPS: 3.117288, 101.587120 Hours: breakfasts
I guess I must be one of the last person to have ventured into the second most exciting food court in the country – Food Village at Publika, Dutamas – the newest non-halal food court apart from my favorite of all time, Lot 10’s Hutong.
A couple weekends ago I found myself at Publika and hungry, and after mentally crossing out most hipster restaurants in the building, we decided to check out the food court. A place that I’ve heard good things from quite a few friends and colleagues alike.
BM Yam Rice at Food Village, Publika – pretty good crowd there
But what caught my attention was this stall that goes by the name of BM Yam Rice. I actually have two ex-gfs from BM (both are married now, thanks for asking), but never did hear about this BM Yam Rice place (maybe that was the problem)…
two sets – yam rice with mixed pork soup and pork knuckle
Horng and I ordered two set lunches – mixed pork soup, and the pork knuckle set. Both are priced at RM 9.90 and comes with yam rice, a side of braised egg with tofu, and the main dish.
The mixed pork soup turned out to be a beauty, plenty of pork belly slices, pork tripe, intestine, couple of pork balls, and even my favorite – coagulated pork blood. The soup had a slight sourish taste which goes well with yam rice, and I love the fact that they loaded the soup with Chinese parsley too.
pork slices, innards, and even pork blood, yums!
The pork knuckle with soya sauce (a version of tau eu bak) was not too shabby either. Though you don’t get the variety as you would with mixed pork soup, the pork knuckle was tender and tasted rather good especially when you pair it with the chili paste that accompanies the dish. It’s not quite as awesome as proper sambal but I’m not complaining.
I think I’ll have to try their other dishes at BM Yam Rice stall the next time I find myself at Publika.
Address: BM Yam Rice
Food Village
UG1, Publika Shopping Gallery, Solaris Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur GPS: 3.170961, 101.665721
