woo hoo...i just realized that this is my 100th blog!! wow! i deserve a pat on my back! tee hee anyway my loyal followers, looks like today's blog is going to be all about food, which i hope that will whet your appetite (and im also throwing in some nice scenery into the mix as well!) all the photos that you guys are about to see today were taken during my trip to penang during the chinese new year, earlier this year and im telling you, if you're ever visiting malaysia, do pop by this great island called penang!
penang has 2 "parts" to it , one part is on the mainland of peninsula malaysia (is known as butterworth) and the other is penang island itself. life in penang is not too fast paced (just right if you asked me!) compared to kuala lumpur. there's tons of street food or hawker food everywhere around the island some are open 24 hours and you're definitely spoilt for choices. from high end restaurants to your local fan fare, its a never ending food fiesta all year round trust me.
so now, without further ado, lets get the show on the road. i will plonk photos and tell you a bit about it.
right so lets start off with my mom in law's speciality which is her "lemak laksa". it has been a tradition that we have this for lunch on the first day of every chinese new year. however, this year, it was her sister that made it, which allowed my mom in law to "rest" just this once. hahaha. it was just as good as how my mom in law made hers, but of course with a slight difference, which you can hardly tell.
voila! end product, after adding all the ingredients together. sorry mine looks a bit dry as i didnt add as much gravy/soup to my bowl coz i dont like it too watery/soupy. hehe.
of course penang is also famous for its durian, the king of all fruits. (kindly google for more info on this thorny fruit). and just so happen, it was in season and my uncle bought for us to try. omg! it was heavenly! i love this fruit but i cant take more than 5 seeds coz otherwise i will get bloated (durian produces lots of air just like onions and garlic) and get my spasms/ibs(anyways, that's another story altogether). with this fruit, its either you like it or hate it. the smell...omg! hahaha...if you can overcome the smell, then its a homerun. and if its a darned good durian, when you take a bite, the taste just hits your nostrils just like how wasabi does...its like you're tasting the alcohol XO. im serious! i've experienced this a couple of times and its da BOMB yo!
here we have the "yee sang". its one of my favourite dishes and i look forward to having this dish every chinese new year! only sold for a couple of months before and just after chinese new year. almost every chinese household will eat this starting on the eve of chinese new year (but nowadays, people would start ordering this like a couple of weeks before new year rolls around). another name for the yee sand is "lo hei" or prosperity toss. nowadays, not only the chinese eat this but other races as well as they too like it and you know what, its actually quite a healthy dish. consists of raw slices of salmon, mixed with shredded veggies and a variety of sauces and condiments. you can also google this dish for more info. oh by the way, this so called tradition is only popular in malaysia and singapore.
this 2 photos was taken by our friends. one of them was kind enough to stand in the queue for a couple of hours, just to buy this for us for our supper. they drove from penang all the way to teluk intan (which i think is a couple of hours drive), where a very popular chinese "snack" is sold. people flock to buy this snack from 1 up to 50 packets (or more) of these! imagine that ok. its called liew kee chee cheong fun (steamed rice rolls). actually the stall that sells this is called liew kee and they only open for business from evening onwards till late. great thing about it is that only when you order they would start doing it, made to order, so to speak hence the long long wait.
Liew Kee's ingredients includes short slices of turnips, chopped up salted radish, deep-fried shallots, finely chopped deep-fried dried prawns and finally topped with some pickled green green chilli. there's no gravy/sauces added to this like how we would normally eat our chee cheong fun and its texture is soft and not floury at all. you gotta eat it when its fresh and not keep it overnight preferably. so dear friends, if you should ever be around this area and want to try out this local snack, be prepared to wait long unless you go early in the evening. kindly google for timings and location.
next we have these few dishes that was cooked by one of our close friends. he and his wife decided to open their own little so called coffeeshop or as we locals in malaysia and singapore like to call it "kopitiam" that sells a variety of fried noodles or soup based noodles, rice and curries etc. a group of us decided to pay him a surprise visit one hot afternoon and he was really touched not to mention surprised to see the lot of us trooping into his shop. thankfully it was late afternoon and the lunch crowd had already gone, so he wasnt too busy, thats why he could cook up a storm for us, plate after plate of different stir fried noodles or fried rice etc. for us to try. by the time we left his shop, we were all so full.
one of the days we decided to go to gurney drive, a very very popular open air hawker "centre" in penang island where tons of tourists and locals love to come and eat. selling only street food from fresh fruit juices and fruits to indian, malay or chinese food. gurney drive is located along the esplanade overlooking the sea. you can only see those red ornaments (hung above people's heads) only during chinese new year period. just so you know, there's other cafes, bars, eateries, shopping malls all along the esplanade.
this is what i meant by the esplanade over looking the sea. its a pretty long stretch of road with plenty to do like you can eat and/or shop. happy days huh.
bit of scenery of the city taken from the 17th floor of gleneagles hospital coz we went to visit one of our cousins who was admitted there. he had a nasty fall and had his kneecap busted. ok long story that one. wont get into it.
remember i mentioned earlier about the esplanade and that it was a long stretch of road, so much to do and see like eat and shop? well this was taken in the evening just before sunset. there's all these luxurious condos along the stretch of this road, skyscrapers for condos and some comes with attached malls down below. how convenient is that?
at night on our way our out for drinks, we passed by G hotel (with the purple lighting). the lights changes color every few seconds.we had drinks at a place in straits quay, which is the first seafront retail marina. this place has quite a few pubs/bars/eateries that open until late especially on fridays and saturdays. at the pub we were at called healy mac's irish bar/restaurant, they've got a live band performing. so you can always pop by for a drink or to suck in the ambience of the marina or just to chillout with some friends. pssst..i was there 2 nights in a row ok!
this is the marina i was telling you about. i took this shot around 1am after our drinks session at healy mac's. so peaceful and quiet. besides it being a retail mall and marina, there's expensive condos around it too. therefore quite convenient for people living here to just pop down for a drink or to eat or to buy their groceries. one stop shop literally! and its ok that you dont own a car, just own a boat will do....hahahhaa
my auntie ordered some freshly made sourdough bread from this shop called yin's sourdough bakery. i googled it and its the only bakery in the whole of penang island that sells only sourdough breads and buns. my auntie had already placed her orders a couple of days beforehand (its a mad rush before the new year so better to order in advance) so i had to drive her there to pick up the orders. pretty good stuff!
locals and tourists cant go back home empty handed and this is one place where you can get your hands (and taste too!) on some local goodies like freshly baked cookies or biscuits. alot of stuff are sold there from coffees, teas, snacks, biscuits, sweets, etc which are mostly locally made. you could say its a speciality shop and the stuff thats sold here is pretty reasonable too. thats why tourists like to come here in droves and the shop name is called tean ean.
a friend of mine introduced this bakery - jenni homemade cakes and bakery. he recommended that i get the chocolate chip cookies (which is one of bakery's bestsellers) and let me tell you, its so crispy and not overly sweet and you can taste the chocolate chips and nuts! it just melts in your mouth and it goes so well with a nice cup of hot coffee. omg! besides this, theres also other delectables to choose from like their cakes! oh and best part is, you can taste these cookies for free! (not their cakes tho)
aha! this is definately hands down one of my all time favourite favourite pancakes, local pancakes i mean. not those western type that you see on tv. those folks dont know how to make these! its to die for. take my word for it ok. from the 3 photos that i've enclosed, you can see how this "uncle" is making it, the old fashioned way, using charcoal instead of gas. this chinese pancake is light, eggy, not too sweet and it doesnt make you "jelak" (which means, feeling unpleasantly full) after eating 1-2 pieces. once you start you just cant stop.
you know, i used to order 30 over pieces for my mom who loves this (she stores it in the fridge and takes out a few at a time to eat..slow and steady hahhaa) and the "uncle" knows me by sight. that's how often i buy from him, once/twice a year and i would usually pre order from him a few days beforehand, that is if im ordering alot to take back for my mom who lives in kuala lumpur. otherwise i just buy a few for myself to take back to singapore.
our friends bought about 10 packets of this spicy noodles called called jawi assam laksa (@ wan li laksa). now, jawi is a small town in penang, which is situated on the mainland of the peninsula. this laksa's signature features is that its being served on a plate instead of in a bowl and the laksa noodles are homemade and prawn crackers are given as topping. you see, usually when it comes to the "normal" assam laksa, there's NO prawn crackers given and its served in a bowl, not a plate. thats the difference and moreover it was my first time trying it. the verdict - i loved it! taste way better than the "normal" assam laksa! its flavor is sourish and spicy, not too salty, perfect in every bite, well to me that is.
finally, we have the durian puff (anything with durian i love!) and also the layered cake (as per the second photo). both equally good! freshly made. yummy!! in the pictures i have taken the liberty to add their telephone numbers, so if you want to buy these, just give them a call (or you can always google!)
right, thats it folks, im wrapping it up for now. im tired after all this explaining. hopefully one day you guys will go to penang and try out these places that i've mentioned and explore the food around this wonderful island. as we locals like to say "die die must try" which means no matter what, you've gotta try it! :)
ttfn and be kind to one another!
3.23pm
