Obediently Eating My Porridge (Zhu Chap Chuk) @ Kar Heng Restaurant, Ipoh
December 27, 2011 | 9,199 viewsThe Chinese believed that when you’re not well, avoid eating solid food. But the uncles seated next to us were as energetic/vibrant as tigers. And they sure were joyously slurping away.
I don’t hide my disdain or sheer displeasure from eating a piping hot bowl of porridge (or congee, depends on where you’re from). I can’t imagine myself squatting by the streets, with a scorching hot porcelain (or worse, plastic) bowl in hand and slurping on a gruel that’s best described as a sick man’s food (or worse … baby food?), all the while sweating like a camel.
Wait. Camels don’t really sweat. But you get the point.
That explains the very scarce posts on porridge finds in Ipoh. There’s this one in Bercham that I kind of enjoyed, maybe more to because the coffee shop has this amazing roast pork stall that complemented the porridge oh-so-well.
Sinful stuff; yet you can’t help but to munch on these deep fried pig’s intestines lightly seasoned with salt and pepper once you get your hands (or maybe …. chopsticks, since hands don’t sound civilized!) on them!
Then there’s those times in life when Motormouth does incomprehensible stuff. Like that afternoon when I went all manic in search of this much-hyped about mixed pig’s offal porridge stall in town.
Clockwise from top left : A piece of coagulated pig’s blood (wobbly, jelly-like delight), the black-coloured century egg that’s more of an exotic taste to some, but a favourite of mine, Mr Cheong the man behind the 15 years old stall, and chopping away at the piece of pig’s innard.
I first came to the knowledge of the existence of this stall run by the Cheong’s from the All About Ipoh Facebook page. They have a legion of fans, admirably. And the numbers don’t run by the single digits. Or so I was brought to believe.
But you know lah … now that I am away in KL for good, only coming back to Ipoh for a weekend or two per month, things can get a wee bit tough to cover every stall that I wished I could. And so, the procrastination took over. Days became weeks, weeks became months.
Chicken and Fish Porridge; a safe choice if you’re not fond of funky pig’s organs in your porridge. Or century egg that’s preserved with clay, ash, salt, lime and rice hulls sometimes up to months.
To cut a potentially yawn-inducing story short, I made it. (Yeah!)
Driving all the way to Chamberlain Road in town, the place was thankfully not packed to the brim. There was another economy rice stall serving Chinese delights (heard someone ordered Vinegared Pig’s Trotters), and this stall fronting the main road that was manned by a middle age couple.
We proceeded to share a table with two elderly men already tucking in into their bowls of fried fish head porridge (RM4.50/USD1.50 per bowl). They got curious and wondered why was this young chap brandishing his DSLR around taking photos of the ….. what could best be described as just another humble porridge stall.
“Oh … uncle, I am from KL ma. Just want to share this experience with my friends.”
I can be a nonchalant liar with a damn straight face. But please …. don’t judge me. 🙂
Mr Cheong walked over and proclaimed that he had customers coming all the way from Cameron Highlands after viewing his stall from the Internet. Highly suspecting that this could be the viral effect of that same Facebook page (come be a FAN already!) posting, with a picture of the stall.
I managed a weak (yet sly) smile.
Now, you will never see Kar Heng Restaurant or this porridge stall being featured in food guides, or tourist maps. Not unless of course …. this story gets out of hand. Wait, then I’ll be damned if I wanted to return for their RM3.20/USD1.10 per bowl porridge.
I don’t deny that the porridge here was good. Not the best, but still worthy of a visit. For those crunchy bits of fried intestines, the freshly-fried fish head dunked in a slurry of rice gruel, or even the wobbly cubes of coagulated pig’s blood.
If 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 trauma.
PORRIDGE STALL @ KAR HENG RESTAURANT
Jalan Chamberlain,
31650 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Business Hours : 12pm – 6.30pm daily.
Closed one day every two weeks, not fixed.
GPS Coordinates : 4.591365,101.08242
Google Map to this stall
*Directly opposite of Olympia College, near to the roundabout where Srimaju Bus Station is.

I like Zhu Chap Chuk! My favourite!
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I always eat “ZCC” cause i like it very much!
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Mr Cheong’s wife is my “kai lui” (god-daughter). I always like their fish head porridge with fried intestine. My favourite porridge stall in Ipoh.
The chap fan stall in the coffee shop do have good vinegar pig’s trotters. A must try too.
I know this place very well because my father’s shop used to be on top of the medical shop next to it.
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J2Kfm Reply:
December 29th, 2011 at 5:01 pm
No wonder! We overheard the customers asking for the trotters! Should have asked for a small portion on the side.
Then please tell her about this post.
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pig offal porridge is like the holy grail of porridge for me! the crunch of the intestines, the smoothness of the blood & the hot creaminess of the porridge … ahhhh. wonder where to get the most mind-blowing version of it in KL 😀
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J2Kfm Reply:
December 29th, 2011 at 5:00 pm
Yeah …. dunno where in KL also. But I am sure the hawker heavens like Pudu, Petaling Street etc should have a good one. Hon Kee has a good fish porridge, but not pork.
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Tham Reply:
December 29th, 2011 at 9:11 pm
I used to frequent one ZCC stall in PJ old town eons ago when I was studying in the college. But that was really many years ago in the 70s actually. There was a very popular place for a lot of eats in old town including the Kei Kee chicken rice, the BKT stall near that oh-so-smelly drain, etc.
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It has been ages since I last have a bowl of that! Yummy now craving for one esp the crispy intestines!!
A New Year Wish for You Wishing you a year that brings Good friends, good health, good luck, good things! Happy New Year!
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J2Kfm Reply:
December 29th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
Thanks babe … same to you too.
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Happy New Year MM. Keep up the good works. We know Ipoh better because of you.
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J2Kfm Reply:
January 2nd, 2012 at 9:09 am
Thanks to you too, Tham. You opened up my eyes on stories from the yesteryear’s.
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I had to do some blog catching up as I was away for 8 days on a roadtrip. Was snorkeling up in the Great Barrier Reef on New Year’s Day. Speaking of ZCC, I grew up eating it and absolutely love the ZCC served at Yee Kee Porridge Restaurant in Seri Kembangan. They now have a nice place, a proper restaurant but when I was younger, they were a tiny stall in the main wet market of Seri Kembangan where you could only takeaway! Give them a try if you’re in the area. 🙂 Oh, and Happy New Year to you!
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One of my fabpurite places
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