Better Than A “Fear Factor” Experience @ Tong Sui Kai (Desserts Street)
February 10, 2012 | 9,647 views“Ngap Kiok Pau” (Duck Feet Wrap) – An aged uncle comes equipped with sharp retaliation and witty remarks; plus those menacing eye brows are enough to send shivers down one’s spine. And what has he got up his sleeve; that has withstood almost a century (!) of legacy?
You must have noticed the discouragingly apparent hiatus between posts. Yup, folks …. I am back to work, after being ridiculously pampered with repeated long weekends and the festive season weighing down on this already crazed mind. I mean, what can a glutton do in Ipoh, aside from eating and subsequently sleeping the sluggishness off? 🙂
Before I proceed with elaborately tedious grandfather stories (ad nauseam), allow me to draft this very mindless indulgence of mine; one jaunty street food post for the weekend. Read on, please.
We got a nutritious Green Potion, a refreshing Wobbly Yellow Jelly, and a weird combination that proved to be so delicious yet … takes some courage to sink one’s teeth in.
It has become part of the routine; that whenever I am back in Ipoh, be it due to an extended weekend, public holidays, for work purposes, or even the casual, no-nonsense homecoming saga, I have always made it a point to visit ONE hawker stall at the very least.
Anyway, this blog was born from the good intention of spreading the love for Ipoh street food rather than positioning my beloved hometown as the next hub for fine cuisines. (But I believe that we are in the process of getting there ….. and who knows someday, our humble ‘nga choy’/bean sprouts can be part of haute cuisine!)
Black, tarry and sticky liquid liberally sprinkled with crushed peanuts; coating pieces of juicy, fresh fruits, prawn crackers, etc.
Hawker centres in Ipoh are not few and far in between. I mean, even the common coffee shops have extended their business to include an ‘al fresco’ seating area ala mamak style, or buying up the adjacent lot, AND the lot next to that. Food courts with more than 10 stalls are more common nowadays; lending options to the discerning (read : picky) eaters in Ipoh who’s constantly seeking for new places to try yet conventionally sticking back to the good old stuff.
Tried, tested and proved to be highly tenacious hawker stalls that have stood the test of time and brushed off competitors and the threats of commercialization/modernization.
The BEST spots to hunt for delicious grubs still remain to be those hygiene-compromised corners and under-the-trees establishments, usually manned by grumpy owners who don’t give a damn about paparazzi or pesky bloggers (hehe).
If you feel like having something nutritious for a change, come to this stall. You will start to question why on earth did you make that pledge anyway…..
There are plenty of examples. I daresay that by the time you finished running through THIS LIST, you must have recognized at least a few, or heard about them from friends, peers or even the media.
Yeah, the media … how proud to be viewing these unnamed, under-rated stalls to be featured on mainstream media? Partly.
I still miss the times when I could walk over casually to the Chee Cheong Fun legend in Pasir Pinji, and gotten myself a plate of CCF and finished my serving on the spot within half an hour.
Try achieving that impossible dream now.
Crispy, terrifying creation of fried chicken SKIN without any nutrition whatsoever. Empty calories? You bet. But can you blame us for trying?
And here we are at the end of today’s post. Man ..I tell you, I can REALLY ramble and rant my way; bulldozing through without a care of what the outcome of my post really is.
I desperately need to collect my thoughts and put them into a politically-correct, grammatically-perfect and poetically-sound review again one of these days.
But then again ….. that’s not really Motormouth, ain’t it? 😉
“Happy Weekend, and Don’t Count Your Calories. You’d Die Trying.”
**Stalls featured in this post are located at Tong Sui Kai (Desserts/Glutton Street) @ Ipoh. Full review with address and map HERE>>>
**I missed Cheong Kee beef noodles (stall no 47), as they were closed on that Sunday, maybe because of CNY. All the other stalls open from evening until late night, with different off-days.

That uncle alone is enough to make me want to eat everything he has to sell! What a character 🙂
[Reply]
next time before I make my trip to Ipoh, must definitely get a food guide consultation from you!
[Reply]
I miss the thong-sui and kueh here! Been ages since I’ve been there!
[Reply]
Yeah! mentioning the CCF in Pasir Pinji 5 a must try! I cycled to the house at 10:15am weekday Tuesday and she gave me a number 8 and told to be back at 1:30pm. So I reached at 1:20pm and the number was 4! I had to wait till 2:35pm for my turn no, more “yue tan” that number 4 customer “ta pau” 22 packets! I just wonder how many more golden years that the CCF auntie going to be around seams no younger generation to take over from them. There was a old uncle in the back kitchen making CCF and his back bend.
[Reply]
People sell fried chicken skin by itself? OMG – I want!!! How much per piece?
[Reply]
LOL fried chicken skin as a dish!? I have been dutifully removing the skin whenever I ate chicken. Hmmm.. so I am missing out on something… shall try these when I am in Ipoh next ;D
[Reply]
J2Kfm Reply:
February 21st, 2012 at 10:02 pm
Haha .. yeah… you can also find the fried chicken skin in various stalls in Penang; most noticeably Gurney Drive.
[Reply]
Tony Reply:
February 22nd, 2012 at 7:54 am
You got me wondering how come I missed these in Ipoh and Penang… maybe the health conscious side of me filtered it out of sight for me… ;P the true side of me shall look out for these next time ;D
[Reply]
If I remember correctly, Cheong Kee is closed every Sunday 🙂
[Reply]
J2Kfm Reply:
March 4th, 2012 at 12:41 pm
Haha … did not expect that. The next time then. Really aching for a taste of their beef noodles, since most people have heaped compliments upon theirs …
[Reply]
[…] A "Tong Sui Kai" Experience with Ngap Kiok Pau (Duck Feet Wrap), Fried Chicken Skin, Rojak & Mor… says: February 10, 2012 at 10:49 pm […]
hale stalowe Pozna?
February, 2012 | Motormouth From Ipoh – Malaysian Food & Travel