LOH BAK

Marinated spiced  pork, then rolled in thin soybean/beancurd sheets, crispy spring rolls with chicken and beansprouts, deep fried beancurd, cuttlefish, prawn cakes, prawn fritters, sausages and much more. Served as a snack or as a main dish they are deep fried and come with 2 sauces: a spicy chilli sauce and a sticky starchy sauce called loh. Bak means meat.

At Kheng Pin Café (since 1971) at the junction of Penang road and Jalan Sri Bahari or 100 meters further at the Ho Ping Café  (corner of Penang road with Lorong kampung Malabar) are two places that in my view offer excellent Loh bak. But then again as it is a very popular dish all over the island, there really is no “bad” loh bak, only the variety on offer may be different from one place to another. The thing to keep in mind is to go as soon as the stall starts its operation, because the fresher the oil, the better the frying for the best yummy results.

 Ho Ping is situated at the junction of Lorong kampung Malabar and Penang road.

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Penang Hokkien Mee

I already wrote about Kopi Classic and its famous Hokkien Mee some time ago. See: https://diehardowl.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/kedai-kopi-classic-hokkien-mee/  

I don’t pretend to have tried all the Georgetown Hokkien Mee stalls but this one remains my favourite. For those of you who haven’t visited Penang before and are going to look for a Café with a sunscreen like the pic just below: don’t, because last year the kopitiam invested in a brand new flaming red sunscreen. 

The former sunscreen at kedai kopi Classic

Have a look at  the video below. It shows the new outside look of the kopi Classic.

Now what is so special about a dish serving a bowl of noodles in a broth? As far as I’m concerned the most important part is the making of the broth itself. It’s a shrimpy and spicy soup and I guess it’s all about balancing the ingredients with a not too sweet and real spicy shrimp/pork broth.

Penang being a food paradise has of course many signature dishes but for me personally, a big bowl of kopi Classic’s Hokkien Mee is the best way to start the day. So, for the newbies, what is it all about?

Mr Ooi's hokkien mee

Hokkien Mee is a mixture of yellow noodles, rice noodles and bean sprouts  served in a prawn and pork broth. What makes it special in my experience and view is the balance of the strong, spicy and flavourful shrimp/pork taste. It’s usually served with sliced and fried shrimps, thin slices of lean pork and sprinkled with crispy fried shallots. If you come very early to kopi Classic you also can get great fried lard crisps adding an extra kick to your noodles dish.

The bowl comes also with a spoonful of added chilli for people who really like it hot. YES, I do!

Noodles for HM

Some stalls in Penang add too much extra pork meat while cooking the broth;  in my view that makes the soup way to sweet. Some also add sliced hard-boiled egg (what I like) but no extra egg in the Classic’s bowl though.

The Classics' Mrs & Mr Ooi crew in full operational mode

The place usually starts business at 8 in the morning. Regulars however are already sitting round the tables as early as 07:30! Just bring along a book or a newspaper. Or you also can admire the team getting prepared to fire up the gas-cookers, unloading bags of noodles to start a new day for us to enjoy delicious Hokkien Mee. 

There is another Hokkien Mee stall in the “One Corner café” coffee shop (Jalan Bawasah).First we tried to visit the place on tuesday, kopi Classic’s closing day. No good as it was also their closing day. Then we tried again 2 day later ( it was not yet 11:oo am), they already were closing down: sold out!  We’ll try again on a next visit as it also has a reputation for being one of the best in town. As a matter of fact,  I later read somewhere that Kedai Kopi Classic Hokkien Mee’s Mrs Ooi is the elder sister of Mr Lim Bok Huat, owner of the stall at One Corner Café.  So, I guess they share the same recipe and in fact are having 2 of the most popular HM businesses in Georgetown. Both stalls closing Tuesdays,… to avoid losing customers to one another? A good alternative in my opinion is the Hokkien Mee stall in Swee Kong café, across the police station in Pulau Tikus. They open very early and close already round 09:00 in the morning.

Hokkien Mee (Swee Kong)

Just a little warning: when asking for Hokkien mee in Singapore or KL, don’t expect the same dish  as in Penang. In Singapore they use both the egg noodles and rice noodles, stir fried in lard and served dry without soup. It comes with shrimps and sliced lean pork, sambal (chilli) and lime. In KL they use thick egg noodles braised in thick dark soy sauce. Ingredients include cabbage, squid, fish cake, pork and crispy fried cubes of pork fat.

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Lok Pin Café – Anson Road, Penang

 

   Lok Pin at Anson road is a place selling Fish Head Behoon, Chicken Rice, Hokkien Mee, Wantan Mee, Loh Bak and (according to the stall’s owner own saying) “Famous Asam Laksa Anson Road”. On the street in front a few more hawkers selling pancakes, fruit, Mee Goreng…

The café itself was under renovation. I don’t know what it looked like before but now it seemed  they were busy turning it into a more modern place, with more fancy seating and tables and a few flat screen TVs on the walls and giving it a so-called trendy look. We’ll have to come back another time to see the final result. I’m always a little wary about this kind of renovation. Most of the times it turns a beautiful place into a cold venue with no traditional or heritage feel left at all. I wonder what the stance of Unesco is.

 The Penang Asam Laksa we ordered was worth every sen. Nice sourish, not watery it is one of my favourite plates and one of Penang’s signature dishes, totally different from laksa from other Malaysian regions. A yummy balance of sweet, sour  and spicy flavours. One suggestion: don’t miss it!

Loh Bak is also very good, …especially as I forgot to pick the most important item when I was chosing among all the different goodies… Hmm, yes after they fried our plate and served it to our table, my wife wondered where actually the Loh Bak was???… Right, my blooper for the day.

 Where is the Loh Bak hiding, he?

Some tropical downpour all of a sudden helps to cool the temperature at lunch hour. 

 According to pancake specialists (not me… yet), the pancakes from this stall just opposite Lok Pin are among the better on offer. Have a look at this review of a Ban Cheang Koay stall: http://www.penangtuapui.com/2008/06/speedy-makan-makan-part-4-ban-cheang-koay-anson-road/

After a huge but short downpour, the streets are drying in only a few minutes and everybody resumes cooking, buying and eating. This place below, called “Kedai Kopi Juventus” is the neighbour of Lok Pin and sells among others Curry Mee, not FC Juventus T-shirts. It’s the old style small kopitiam with neon tubes, not fancy but I like the atmosfere perhaps more.

Have a look at this café just a little round the corner, I think on Siam street. These are the ones I personally like much more than the new modernised places. All it needs is a decent maintenance and eventually some restoration, not modernising. No need to make it look like boring western places without a soul.

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Hokkien Mee & Penang Assam Laksa at Kampung Jalan Baru

After the accidental discovery of a Malay stall proposing a do-it-yourself Assam Laksa dish, we finally were about to reach the initial target of our expedition journey. It’s situated close to the sea, along a small river in the Kampung Jalan Baru, a Chinese community close to Batik Pulau.

I saw a lot of private houses that were having hawker stalls on their grounds, although most of them were not in operation. We got the impression it was a  friendly small community where everybody knew everybody. Next time we visit, I want to walk a little around in the village and also follow the river to the sea. Maybe we could try to ask some of the locals to show us around in one of their little fishing boats.

So,there it was! We finally found the place. We drove into a big parking lot and were ready for some reputed food. The house in the background was the major cooking place. Alongside a house in front, there were also a few stalls, selling Loh Bak and fruits.

Loh Bak and Fruit stalls

Assam Laksa & Hokkien Mee ready to be served!  At the left side of the house in the back, there is a covered terrace with tables and seats for the customers.In the beginning there only was one other table being occupied but by the time we left, people were already waiting to be seated.

About the quality of the Hokkien mee and the Assam Laksa, we can only agree that it is up to its reputation! I really recommend this place without hesitation and I suggest that you gals and guys go and try it out for yourself. The people serving and cleaning the tables were all very friendly. It’s a small family business from their house, only open for customers during the weekends.

The Loh Bak was also very tasty.

 A big bowl with tasty succulent Hokkien Mee.

 The Laksa, very rich with a thick fish soup.

 It was our first visit but clearly, we will be back for more.

All those little fishing boats along the river leave a very nice impression and add to the attractiveness of  this Kampung. It’s clearly not yet a site for visiting tourists and I hope it stays that way. 

 

Location:

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Sisters’ Char Koay Teow – Lam Heng Cafe

Lam Heng Cafe is a corner coffee shop at the end/beginning of Macalister Road. It’s in this place that the sisters operate their business. The kopitiam also offers Assam Laksa, Mee Jawa and their own Otak-Otak. They say the Laksa is also of superior quality but I haven’t tried it out yet. Next time…

2007 Picture courtesy to Jay Jun's blog

Regarding the Sisters and their reputation, I admit being a tad sceptical. No doubt that their Char Koay Teow is among the better on offer in Penang but I must say that the quality is lacking consistency, especially when the skinny Sis is stirring the wok. Sometimes it’s completely out of balance, like on our visit in June, but then again, last week the plate was perfectly cooked. I don’t know how to explain those inconsistencies unless maybe that the girls are getting older and are loosing some of their skills. Not impossible, as I experienced the same with some elderly members in my own family.

I prefer the CKT cooked by this sister:

Anyway, my biggest complaint regarding this stall/cafe is their use of styrofoam plates and throw away chop sticks. Ok, there is no need for using their best china plates, porcelain spoons or high-end ivory chop sticks. Good hard plastic plates/spoons/chop sticks will do, thank you very much.  I’m thinking to bring my own plate and chop sticks but am a little bit afraid that might cause a tantrum… Anyway, someone with more guts than I have, ought to tell the sisters that they are really a lazy bunch, apparently oblivious regarding the impact on the environment. We, our kids and grandkids do really appreciate.  NOT!

 

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Char Koay Teow – Ah Leng hawker stall

Location :  Kafe Khoon Hiang, Jalan Dato Keramat/Corner with Jalan Dunlop, Penang. Opening hours are from 8am till 2pm and their closing day is Thursday.  It’s situated in the same  neighbourhood as  Padang Brown food court and Kedai kopi Classic. A highly recommended area for food lovers.

Anyway,  after some 12+ visits in 5 years, [trying  to make that now a 4 times visit per year] I’ve made up my mind about the Penang Char Koay Teow. It’s basically a great dish but at some places it’s way overrated. So, I stopped asking for the special or extra add-on stuff, as I personally feel that the basic dish is the right one. No need for extra big shrimps or prawns, neither for (too sweet) mantis prawns. Just K.I.S.S. =  keep it stupid simple.

I’ve had the CKT at various places and personally I prefer it with regular chicks… Oops, I mean chicken eggs, instead of duck eggs.  Anyone out there tried with goose egg? (Grin).

Thus, when we made our way to Ah Leng, I already knew I was going for the regular dish and boy, THE WORKS! It was simply a great treat!

 Tastewise?  The fast frying-and-tossing-noodles technique of the wokmeister plus a professional handling of the heat, resulted in a most delicious Char Koay Teow dish.  Malaysia, truly Asia? CKT: truly Penang!

Another stall in the same Kafe was selling Hokkien Mee. As I’m a big fan of that dish, I could not resist and ordered a bowl.

It looked very nice but after tasting, it was a bit of a disappointment. Not spicy, not sour, the soup tasted sweet.  A pity for sure, but then again, who am I to judge? Lots of people, looking like regulars, came and ordered the Hokkien Mee. So, lets agree to disagree and accept that personal taste is very different from person to person.

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Kedai Kopi Classic – Hokkien Mee

Hokkien Mee 

 

 Address: 126, Jln Perak, Pulau Pinang.
Open: 8am-12pm – Close: Tuesdays.
Contact Person: Mr Ooi Hee Phen.
Tel: 016-436 8910

Situated  close to Padang Brown food court, this coffee shop is known for its excellent hokkien Mee. A very popular venue among locals. Even if you show up before 8am you still might have to wait some time to get your dish. In our case, we only staid a little week in Penang, went about 4 times for breakfast there and waited always between 3o till 45 minutes to get our bowl of heavenly Hokkien Mee.

Lots of regulars indeed do call to make reservations for picking up several batches. While we were there and waiting at a table, sipping on our drinks, the phone didn’t stop! Calling for take away 3, 4, and up to 7 batches.

The place is a real goldmine in our opinion. I couldn’t really count the number of Hokkien mee bowls that were delivered while we were waiting. I’m sure though that after a few hours of morning service, several hundred batches of Hokkien mee are sold every day.

Also amazing is that the lady in charge of taking the orders never ever writes anything down. It’s all by memory to know whose turn it is and what dish: regular, with more prawns, extra or large. Beats me how she remembers it all but she’s really good at it.

As far as the Hokkien Mee dish itself is concerned: it’s    reallllllyyyy   and trulllllyy  the best I ever had in my life till today. Of course  it’s all about the secret of the broth. The soup here is very well balanced yet very spicy. I also think they add a lot of lala shells in the preparation because I thought eating some of that small shell-meat seafood while finishing the soup.

If you’ve never tried the kedai kopi Classic Hokkien Mee, by Jove,  I’ve only one suggestion for you. Get your butt running for it as soon as you can! You’ll not regret.  No boss, no ma’am, you won’t regret at all!

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Back To Penang. First stop: Sin Hwa Coffee shop.

We flew Air Asia before in 2004 but this was a first for a direct return flight from Hong Kong to Penang. Not a disappointment at all! Agreed, one has to walk a bit more to get to the airplane and you have to walk up a flight of stairs to get in the plane. So what? Even the POTUS has to do that on AF1!

3 hours and a few minutes after take off we walked through immigration, got us a taxi ticket and were on our way to savour Pg Food Paradise for a week. After getting rid of our luggage at mom’s place, we took the car and went for FOOD!

Kedai kopi Sin Hwa, Burma road, Pulau Tikus: here we come!

 

It happened to be “Malay New Year” this Monday 21^st, so the place was crowded. No problem to wait for about 30/40 minutes because at the end of the tunnel there was something better than light: namely Char Koay Teow!

In the mean time we had some refreshing drinks and then, 75 minutes after landing + 40 minutes waiting:

  

However, the CKT was ok but did not convince me as being one of the best. Maybe the cook was under much pressure because of the many customers that day. It seemed to us that the dish was a bit off balance and a little too oily. I noticed he made batches for 4 to 5 plates at one go. Perhaps that influenced the finesse of the taste?

 Then again: hear, hear… are we too picky? We will try again on a next visit. And yes, even if we are critical, the CKT still was tasty!

At the corner of the street, facing Kopitiam See Kong was a hawker stall selling Malaysian pancakes. A big crowd around was telling the best marketing publicity story ever… One day I’ll try the pancakes, even if I don’t have a sweet tooth!

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Sea Pearl Lagoon Cafe – Penang

This place is situated at the seashore in Tanjung Tokong, next To Tua Peh Kong Temple. They serve Egg crab, Meat crab, Sand/Flower crab, cockle sheels, fried squid, fried shells, fried noodles / rice / vegetables.  There is also a little stall selling very good quality Malay satays.

We ordered meat crab simply cooked on the BBQ. It’s that way I always prefer eating crab, lobster or langoust (rock lobster) as the meat gets impregnated with some smoky taste through the shell.

While waiting for the crabs to be cooked we had some satay skewers (Chicken and beef) with the traditional shallots and cucumber and the obvious  satay sauce.A bit further along a dam into the sea some people were fishing with a rod and deeper in the bay there was a small fish farm.

Fish farmSatay

That’s how I like my crab. 

 In fact this place is a prime location and relatively unknown by the tourists. Only locals and we were enjoying the seafood and the view.

After finishing our plates we  had to clean up a bit. Tapwater bassins were available to wash up. No need for soap as there were lots of chopped pieces of green lemons available to clean our smelly hands!

As for the price: 1kg of meat crab for 40 ringit sounds like a good deal.

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