vkeong loves good food, travel and photography!
Posts tagged Penang
D Kuang Seafood Restaurant @ Kampung Baru, Bukit Mertajam
Jul 8th
For a cheap and tasty meal, D Kuang Seafood Restaurant at Kampung Baru (Bukit Mertajam) would be a great choice. Here, a dinner for a family of four would cost only a little over RM50 and you could have five dishes inclusive of seafood, meat and vegetable. Sounds good? Read on.
Kung Pao Mantis Prawn @ RM8 – one of the crunchiest and freshest mantis prawns I have tasted so far. The portion is small but definitely sufficient to share among three or four pax. One of the things I like about D Kuang is that they prepare the dishes’ portions according to your preferences. Some restaurants would deliberately prepare dishes in big portions in order to charge more in the bill later. Here, you get to specify the portion in headcount. No need to worry about being ‘chopped’.
Fried Squid @ RM8 for the smallest portion. About two large sized squids were used and they were great because of the freshness and not to mention the really crispy coating. Soggy coating is a no-no in any fried seafood caused by low temperature of the oil.
Seafood Popiah @ Gerai Gerai Padang Brown (Dato Keramat Stalls)
Jul 4th
I believe the Seafood Popiah at Gerai Gerai Padang Brown (or also known as Dato Keramat Stalls) is one of the oldest in Penang with a history of over 60 years, even older than the food court which was opened back in 1966. Currently run by uncle Ong, it could might as well be the only popiah stall in town that include real crab meat as one of the ingredients.
Two pieces are the minimum order priced at RM2.80. As you can see the popiah is done the wet way, drowned in the ‘bangkuang char’ (stir-fried turnip/radish) gravy.
Firstly, a quick glaze of Hoisin and chili sauce on the paper thin crepe for the basic flavors.
Then a leaf of lettuce is laid on top of the crepe and followed by the remaining fillings of shredded omelette, a scoop of ‘bangkuang char’, a handful of crab meat and a sprinkle of fried shallots. Some fillings that can be found in the other popiah stalls like the sinful lard, crushed peanuts, bean sprouts and sliced meat are not included here.
Koay Teow Theng (阿海粿條汤) @ Kedai Makanan Kim Lee, Lorong Macalister
Jun 27th
When I was talking to the Chinese Jawa Mee seller at Kek Seng I asked him about his favorite food. It turned out to be Koay Teow Soup. Then he recommended me to try one of his favorites at a nearby coffee shop called Kim Lee. According to him the stall has a long history and they use duck meat to boil the soup, which makes it really delicious.
“Just look for an old man preparing the noodles”, he said. And little did I know Kim Lee is located just next to Seow Fong Lye, where the delicious Chee Cheong Fun can be found.
Uncle Ah Hai (阿海) started following his father to sell Koay Teow Theng since he was 12. It was during WW2 and Penang was under Japanese occupation then. Their first stall actually started out at the old coffee shop where the Chee Cheong Fun used to be at too.
Later when Hong Leong bank purchased and turned the coffee shop into their branch, they shifted to the five-foot way just across the street. But continuous summons issued by the local council forced Ah Hai to move again five years ago, this time to Kim Lee – his current location.
Ah Hai’s Koay Teow Theng is still done according to the old recipe he inherited from his father and it still produces the same traditional flavor. While pork bones have always been used as the main ingredient to season the broth, chicken or duck can be included to improve the taste. But here both chicken and duck are used by Ah Hai, which makes the soup deliciously sweet despite its clear appearance.
Char Koay Kak @ Seow Fong Lye Cafe, Macalister Lane
Jun 25th
The Char Koay Kak stall at Macalister Lane, currently run by the Eoh sisters has been around for 40 years. Since taking over from their father’s helm 30 years ago only one thing has changed in their Char Koay Kak – oil.
During the old days pure lard was used as the base frying oil to produce perhaps the most aromatic and delicious albeit unhealthy Char Koay Kak. But as time goes by, people have become more health conscious so most of the oil used by them currently is mixed with vegetable oil. Other than oil, the other ingredients crucial enough to affect the Char Koay Kak’s taste are the quality of chai poh (salted radish), carrot cake as well as the dark soya sauce.
