Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food & Travel

“Enough with the posts with crazy-loads of photos already!!!!”

Are you tearing your hair out, wondering what’s gotten into Motormouth lately, with consecutive travelling posts, food and sights from my hometown of Ipoh, and leaving no stones unturned with every writeup (Read : DAMN long-breath aka ‘cheong hei’ aka non-stop ramblings)?

Yeah, blame it on the procrastination. The haphazard drafting of posts without a proper chronological archiving or geographical border. But then again …. that’s part of the charm when anticipating random ‘garbage’ from this glutton anyway, right?

The future in the making; a small ‘tauke’ (boss) learning the ropes, and the bloggers in action. And no, this was not an invited review.

It’s no secret that I absolutely LOVE street food. That’s an understatement, really. I can’t imagine Kuala Lumpur being the hub of fine dining restaurants or gastronomic heaven (Michelin-starred, anyone?) in this part of the region. At least not anytime soon.

So okay, some of the best restaurants (Cilantro was voted into the Miele Guide’s Asian list of the finest restaurants) might be climbing their way up the vines of ever-growing lengths; tipping the great beyond where the blockbusters sit perched comfortably on the horizon.

Not fishballs. Not some gross chicken’s or bull’s testicles. These orange balls are made from sweet potatoes, and if you haven’t tasted one before, you do NOT know what you’re missing.

I have nothing against the likes of fine dining restaurants in Malaysia, really. There MUST be different tiers of restaurants catering to differing tastebuds (and of course, the marginal divide between the rich and the …. erm, average Joe’s like yours truly), hence where there are hawker stalls plying the back streets and alleys of Kuala Lumpur, there has to be one premium, overpriced establishment somewhere to balance out the other dozens of stalls operating beneath the prime spot.

Eh … Bukit Tinggi in Pahang, or Bukit Tinggi in Klang?

And thus, whenever we have food bloggers get-together, or plain friends meeting up over a simple feast, I would almost always propose for an eatery that is ….

“Delicious, by the roadside, and preferably WITHOUT air-conditioning.”

Don’t worry if you’re one ‘banana’ like me, the menu should lead you to culinary goodness well enough. (Banana refers to Chinese who don’t speak, read or/and write in their native language. I speak Cantonese and a smattering of Mandarin okay … just fail at reading/writing in Chinese)

And so, when we had the chance to gather for a once-a-month dinner few weeks ago, we let the maestro himself picked the place for the occasion. A strenuous task, I can assure you.

Especially when the guests (in this case, we were not hosts nor guests) are of legendary stature, and another with a DAMN picky palate (ahem ahem).

The ‘Siong Tong La La’ (steamed clams in a gingery, peppery broth with a dash of cooking wine), the Vinegar Pig’s Trotters with generous slices of ginger, and the puree-like consistency of the Stewed peanuts and lotus root.

And so we ventured further away from the usual haunts (Petaling Jaya mostly, yeah … we are creatures of habit), to Cheras. Taman Midah, to be exact. A neighbourhood that best described as modest and close-knitted, with an amicable nature reflected in most faces we saw.

Or they could be just as hostile when hungry, but satiated when fed.

And oh boy, aren’t they pampered with choices!

The whole street of Jalan Midah was jam-packed with various stalls proclaiming to be serving the best of what they’re good at. Wait, that’s almost an oxymoron statement there …..

A meal that came to less than RM10 per person, and leaving us pretty full from the experience. Yes, beads of sweat started trickling from my forehead, but then again … it’s part of the experience.

And this stall named Pork Organs Pepper Soup (actually named Wong Hoi San, but cannot see from the signboard above the stalls) reminded me of Paramount’s soup haven. Dine al fresco if you want to, and you usually NEED to since the seats are limited indoors. Or should I say, under the shacks?

Anyway, their forte lies in their dishes heavily dominated by the influence of pork and various pig’s offal. Their wild boar curry was touted to be of excellent quality, but sadly they ran out of that.

We had four dishes, plus a serving of crunchy prawn crackers (fresh from the wok) and sweet potato balls from the stall further away. The dishes leaned towards a very home-cooked aura, served in elevated metal trays above continuous heating element. The vinegar pig’s trotters failed to impress; especially when compared to stalwarts like Ipoh’s Ah Jik’s. The lotus root with peanuts and long beans with roast pork were perfect complement to bowls of rice though, more so because of the moreish gravies that came along with the ingredients.

No proper signboard or address, so I guess you just have to look for THIS blue and green sign above the stall. Or if lost, ask the locals. Or drop me a mail.

Proudly (shamelessly?) nicked from Jason’s blog:

Wong Hoi San Pork Organ Pepper Soup
Gerai 2 & 3, Jalan Midah Besar,
Taman Midah, Cheras,
56000 Kuala Lumpur.
*Close on selected Saturday night.
All dishes price ranging from RM6 – RM9.