Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food & Travel Blog

A maddening pace; the bustling scene at Petaling Street’s (in)famous Madras Lane - Imagine a short distance away you’ll be witnessing the gory scenes of squawking chickens slaughtered on the spot and butchers having a whale of a time dissecting parts, and here we were oblivious to the chaotic surroundings; picking on favourite pieces of Yong Tau Foo, and slurping on plates of Chee Cheong Fun.

Dear fellow Malaysians …. here I am blogging live all the way from down under ….. Singapore, not Australia. A bit lethargic from the eating and paying attention in class; attending a workshop for 4 days and good to know that this one adheres strictly to the 8 hours per day maximum rule, and NO homework in the evening! Jump for joy?!

And Orchard Road is within walking distance; this shopping haven that most would be tipping over their toes and falling head over heels at the mere mention of retail therapy. Although for this Motormouth who has been warped from the quaint, renegade town of Ipoh to KL for a good 1.5 years, the sight of towering (menacing) cold, lifeless towers and mega malls spanning floors after floors of temptations (evil … temptations) holds lesser of a charm.

Still, allow me to pen down a few jarring thoughts playing over my head for the last few weeks; and this evergreen story of Petaling Street …..  CONTINUE READING THE REST OF THIS ENTRY »

IMPORTANT : In case you’re one who scrolls through the pictures without pausing to digest the (bountiful of) words in the post, please take note that Mek T has ceased operations from May 1st onwards. The pop-up notice on their website revealed that they’re ‘taking a break’ now.

Laksa Terengganu – Lots of fresh ulam, herbs and spices went into this killer of an east coast rendition of Malaysia’s favourite noodles; the Laksa. The thick, chunky gravy was laden with robust flavours of curry and spices, and bits of pureed fish for that distinct kick. Warning : not for the faint-hearted.

Wait. And why is Motormouth writing about an outlet that has closed for busines?! Senile? Amnesiac?! Or for the sake of annoying lost sheeps travelling all the way there to try the Terengganu delicacies?!!

None of the above. Yeah, so I can be cruel sometimes but I am not heartless. Hence the warning message above. Unless you missed that, of course.

This visit happened almost a month ago; but I was holding back on the review because we vowed to return to try the other sumptuous-looking stuff before I compile everything into a single post. The ‘Nasi Dagang’, Nasi Sedap Sokmo’ and ‘Laksam’ did tickle our fancy. But read on to see what we ate that had managed to capture the very essence of east coast delicacies. CONTINUE READING THE REST OF THIS ENTRY »

Ayam Buah Keluak – Evidently the BEST dish of the evening (for me), even the ‘buah keluak‘ known as black nuts were devoid of the very common pungent, bitter taste. The rich, pureed texture of the fillings had this intense flavour that could be best described as earthy and bittersweet.

You know, the funny thing with us Malaysians is that … when any special occasion calling for a feast arises; be it birthday, Valentine’s Day, anniversary, annual reminiscence of the cat giving birth to her first litter, the first step by a toddler or the first growl of “Papa, Mama .. or … FOOD” etc (you get the drift), almost always the first option of dining out would be … WESTERN.

Okay, so we are dead influenced by sitcoms, movies and what-nots whereby celebrations must always include champagne, steaks and a stalk/bouquet of roses.

For once, throw caution to the wind, let your hair down and bring your beloved mother for a sumptuous spread of Nyonya food this coming Sunday. In case you’re scratching your head in disbelief …. do read on. But if you’re puzzled by why this Sunday of all dates ….. then by all means, give yourself a tight slap on the face. CONTINUE READING THE REST OF THIS ENTRY »

This … is my “Lazy Song”

You know those gorgeous days when you wake up to a drizzling weather; raindrops pitter-pattering outside of your windows and the sun barely stealing a glance over from the horizon even though the time was nigh for a sunny jog?

Ahhh … the blissful thought of a homecooked, heartwarming breakfast (or brunch) to kickstart the day with.

Sorry, not for me.

I for one, will never stay in bed for hours even on rainy weekends; wasting precious minutes on idling around while there are golden opportunities out there to eat, eat and eat without the hassle of jostling with the usual weekend mornings’ ‘yum cha’ crowd, the ones hogging the seats after a “morning walk” (so-called, just so they can gorge on sinful plethora of dim sum and what-nots!) and eardrum-blasting yells of kids dragged out of bed by eager parents.

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Ipoh’s signature “Kai See Hor Fun” (Chicken Kuey Teow) @ Soo Kee served both ways; in a savoury broth boiled with various parts of the chicken and a light dash of prawn oil, and the dry version tossed in a greasy mix of sauces; garnished with lots of fried shallots and chopped chives

Since the previous post was on Annie 1; a kopitiam in Damansara Uptown serving pretty delicious Ipoh hawker food like wantan mee, chee cheong fun and even a caramel egg custard that vaguely reminded me of Thean Chun‘s, let’s continue the theme here with Soo Kee; an old classic in its own right here in Seapark.

For decades now, Soo Kee capitalizes on the lack of honourable hawker fares in KL/PJ that bring forth the sense of rendezvous to one who misses Ipoh food; “Kai See Hor Fun” (Ipoh’s style of chicken noodle soup; served with Hor Fun/flat rice noodles ONLY) to be exact. CONTINUE READING THE REST OF THIS ENTRY »

Menglembu Wantan Mee; staying true to its roots, the egg noodles here promises a bounce (more like a crunch) without any lingering curse of alkaline taste, nor soggy over-cooked noodles gingerly decorated with ‘generic’ red-dyed char siew. In short, this was delicious.

After the umpteenth posts on Ipoh, I guess you must be dazzled not by the mouth-watering shots but confused by the sheer assault of posts from up north and all over the place instead of sitting still in KL/Selangor.

To set the record straight, I AM still staying and working here in Petaling Jaya. The backlog of photos awaiting to see the light of day has been inching closer to push me off the edge. Heck, I lost most receipts and recollection of the dining experience has been on a gradual decline.

On that note, I began to wonder. Is there NO restaurant, cafe or stall in the Klang Valley that can conjure up something vaguely reminiscence of good old street fares from my dearest hometown of Ipoh? Yes, anyone can claim to serve authentic Ipoh hawker food yet the claim may hold no water, but Annie 1 is another story altogether (cheesy pun, I know … )

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A ray of sunlight falling on the peeled pomelo; a fruit indigenous to Asia and here in our country; the small town of Tambun in Ipoh steals the limelight for mass cultivation of the citrus fruit.

“The pomelo (Citrus maxima or Citrus grandis) is a crisp citrus fruit native to South and Southeast Asia. It is usually pale green to yellow when ripe, with sweet white (or, more rarely, pink or red) flesh and very thick albedo (rind pith).” (Source : Wikipedia)

Pomeloes are also known as ‘limau Bali’ referring to its island of origin more than a century ago where legend has it that a Chinese trader brought the fruit to Malaya, and also ‘limau Tambun’ since the Perak state government had laid claims to the citrus fruit that has become a hot favourite of publicity/media coverage and incorporated into a key development segment in agro-tourism for the state.

However, Tambun is not only famous for the pomeloes. There is also the renowned hot springs of Tambun, the Lost World of Tambun (a theme park near Sunway City) and a Tibetian Buddhist Temple lying by the foothills of Ipoh’s impressive stretch of limestone hills.

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