Ipoh Street Food – Of Hor Hee & Big Small Feet
February 11, 2010 | 18,484 viewsWhen the night falls in Ipoh, and the werewolves/vampires/zombies come out to play (Wait … deja vu, anyone? Now that everyone on FB is Farmville-ing, probably most would have forgotten how we used to ‘bite’ each other on a daily basis, to gain experience points), that’s when the hunger pangs strike the most.
And worse still, most restaurants/coffee shops would be closed by then. Especially in the older parts of town.
Question is, do you :
a) Hide yer fangs and go home to sleep, with a growling tummy?
b) Get nasty and wallop anything in sight (not to say you’re digesting garbage, I mean those 24 hours mamak stalls, the kopitiams, or even cup noodles at 24 hrs convenience store?)? OR ….
c) Trust your friend who is an Ipoh native (aka sakai like yours truly here), and go all the way out to hunt for GOOD Ipoh Street Food in the middle of the night?
When most geriatrics would be dozing off in beds … uncle would be busy cooking up bowls after bowls of Ipoh Hor Hee Fun …
If your answer happened to be option C, then do read on ……
For a great many years, (okay, okay … so I did not do my homework. Sue me …..) this famous Hor Hee stall on Jalan Chamberlain of Ipoh has been serving thousands or probably millions of bowls of Hor Hee to the noodle-hungry crowd.
Hor WHAT?!! If you’re thinking what’s a dish that sounds like a horse’s laugh looks or tastes like …… imagine fish ball noodles soup. Only with additional ingredients, such as fish cakes, bean sprouts, and sometimes fish dumplings (yue wat). Then served with either flat rice noodles or also known as Ipoh famous ‘hor fun’, or better yet, try the glass vermicelli noodles instead. The dipping of soy sauce and bird’s eye chillies (cili padi) is almost compulsory, and some even swear by the addition of a whole saucer plate of that spicy concoction into their bowl of soup. To enhance the taste, so to speak.
Several stalls in Ipoh are famous for Hor Hee, most notably See See Heng @ Jalan Chamberlain, Li Heng Fatt in old town of Ipoh, Fook Sing in Ipoh Garden East, and Lok Wee Koi on Jalan Raja Musa Aziz, very near to the old Foh San. Awkwardly, the first three places are only opened for business from late evening until night time. (Do correct me if I’m wrong). Only Lok Wee Koi’s Hor Hee stall is opened for lunch.
Here’s a GOOGLE MAP to all the Hor Hee stalls mentioned above. Pardon me for any inaccuracies, for I do not have their respective addresses or contact numbers. If you’re lost, drop me a message or call ok?
I won’t bite. Or charge you. But a bowl of complimentary Hor Hee would do fine. 😉
Wait … so what if one harmless bowl of Hor Hee can barely fill a quarter of your stomach’s space? Still feel the vacuum? Don’t fret. Here’s another place that deserves a mention, for I have eaten here at such UNgodly hours before.
Think along the line of braised chicken feet, blanched ‘taugeh’ (bean sprouts) and smooth chicken noodle soup (Kai See Hor Fun) at 2am …….. Tempting? 🙂
Kum Kee is an almost secluded coffee shop in Pasir Pinji of Ipoh (Pasir Pinji is the place famous for various Chinese hawker food …. remember the ever-crowded Dai Shu Geok aka Big Tree Foot?), that opens until the wee hours of the morning.
Some Ipohans even swear by Kum Kee’s main offering of Nga Choy Kai, or Tauge Ayam. Of course, I can go on and on and on when it comes to Nga Choy Kai in Ipoh, but do read my take on Lou Wong for a better idea.
But quite a number of people, if not ALL, come to Kum Kee for one particular dish. A side dish, if you can call them that. Aptly named “Big Small Feet”, the creation (patented, of course …) combines braised chicken feet (the small one) and pork trotter (the big one) into one dish. Ingenious? Maybe not. But the prospect of sucking on gelatinous, almost slippery smooth chicken feet is almost too irresistible to pass on.
Unless of course, you’re one who despises the humble, meat-less part of a chicken.
They ran out of the BIG feet that evening, hence we opted for the braised chicken feet only. Not that I’m complaining. After some serious chewing, gnawing, sucking and spitting …. the table was strewn with the aftermath of the mass slaughter. And I tell you … it’s freaking fun to be spitting out those small bones, with manners completely out the windows.
Kedai Makanan Kum Kee @ 798-799, Jalan Sekolah, 31650 Ipoh, Perak. Opens from 6pm onwards, until about 2-3am. Here’s a GOOGLE MAP to the place. This is directly opposite of Pasir Pinji police station, and a short distance away from Pasir Pinji wet market. If you’re lost, again, don’t go pulling your hair.
I work for chicken feed feet. 🙂
Not a big fan of hor fun or chicken feet. It’s still looks good though. 🙂
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Yerrrr….the chicken legs…. :p
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still like the hor hee in Holiwood coffee shop in Canning Garden…. the owner has passed away and passed down the stall to the wife and their sons.
apparently they hv another stall under the son operation near the stadium.
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J2Kfm Reply:
February 12th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Got a Hor Hee shop there ah?! Alamak … Never noticed pulak. Only go for the fried dough, and the Indian curry rice.
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I like the big small feet though their dry noodle made our lips a lil sticky at the end of the meal but guess that is what make it unigue.
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J2Kfm Reply:
February 12th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Sticky?! Maybe its the chicken feet’s collagen at work.
Like Angelina Jolie’s lips in the making ….. Hahaha …
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Hey Bro! Gong hei Fatt Choy!
Shall we meet in Ipoh this festive?
Anyway may you this year Po Po Ko Sing! 🙂
from us Sunny & Sid
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J2Kfm Reply:
February 12th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
You’re coming back when ah? Sure, no problem!!! 🙂
Anytime!
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Happy Chinese New Year to you and your loved ones!
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i frequently eat dinner at See See Heng haha…like the “yu peng”/fish slice …happy CNY
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J2Kfm Reply:
February 12th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
Oh, let’s go there someday. Slurp on some noodles for supper? Hehehhe … Happy CNY as well.
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It’s not easy to get yee wat mee these days! Grab a hold of it before it extincts!!! Great write-up, as usual. Happy cny, dude!
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J2Kfm Reply:
February 12th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Same to you Nic!!!! Back to hometown already ah?
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Reminder to self:- memorise all the rules in Zombieland before meeting up with Kayakok J again.
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J2Kfm Reply:
February 12th, 2010 at 8:05 pm
Kayakok J?!!!! Aiyo … I’m now akin to a piece of pastry puff?!!! sob sob ….
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haha i have a funny story to share here. some time last yr, kgboy intended to buy my family a “NICE” meal but all the better restaurants like overseas, dong hoi, etc were full. so we went to dai sai geok, n the dinner for the 7 of us costs only rm30(!!). my sis teased n said that hes reli kiam siap after that.
n the taufufa from kum kee is really really good and tongue burning hot, on par to funny mountain.
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J2Kfm Reply:
February 12th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
Hahaha …. what’s wrong with being kiam sap, but in return, a most satisfying and delightful meal you can’t find in KL leh? 🙂
Read about the tau fu fah as well, but forgot to order that on that night.
Wei you’re back already ah?
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Yes indeed , Ipoh has the best hor fun ( better than the Pg kuey teow t’ng ) , that chicken …
‘and best a few more !
Happy New Year !
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wooo big small feet?
and can call u if lost? 😀
where is ur hp number? so next time when i am ipoh, dont knw what to eat, just call u LOL
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I have tried most of the Hor Hee stalls/shops in Ipoh and found that the best one is Hor Hee Li Heng Fatt, along Jalan Panglima , Old town Ipoh which opens from evenings to nights. Many Ipoh folks also ordered theIr Tau Foo, Fish balls etc for their steam boats at home esp or Chinese New Year Family Steamboat Reunion Dinner.
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[…] Kum Kee Big Small Feet (Dai Sai Keok) @ Pasir Pinji […]
[…] over at Jalan Datoh near to Srimaju bus station in town, a short distance away from the famous See See Heng Hor Hee stall. Read on to find out what other dishes we ordered at the original Oversea Restaurant facing […]
Hor Hee, i like the one at Central. corner lot opposite new foh san, opposite the main road of Wah Lam.
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yaya…the big small feet is delicious! must TRY…hehe..
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[…] 10. KEDAI MAKANAN KUM KEE @ PASIR PINJI […]
[…] all else failed, wait until sundown and walk over to Embassy Restaurant for that other famous Hor Hee in Ipoh. What’s Hor Hee?! Duh …. go read that. I am still in my post-holiday […]
Great work! This is the type of info that are meant to be shared across the internet. Shame on Google for now not positioning this put up upper! Come on over and discuss with my site . Thanks =)
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[…] off Anderson Road; near to the roundabout where Sri Maju Express Bus Company is and the famous Embassy’s Hor Hee stall still operates until late […]
[…] to concur though. The only other place worthy of being mentioned within the same breath would be Kum Kee‘s signature big/small feet dish opposite of Pasir Pinji’s police […]
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