Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

Possibly one of the few places that serve the rojak dipping sauce separately from the ensemble of cut fresh fruits; Jelapang Rojak Stall could be one of Ipoh’s best kept secret.

Are you back for Qing Ming Festival? The filial ones would be paying their annual tribute to the departed loved ones/ancestors; visiting and cleaning up burial grounds despite the relentless scorching weather and gathering with family members back in their hometowns.

What happens after the prayers and tribute? If you’re back in Ipoh, then you should really be eating. Already bored of the usual tourist haunts and seeking to avoid the crowd? Let me share with you a rojak (rojak is a typical Malaysian style of fruit salad served with crackers and a black sauce concocted from shrimp paste, sugar and crushed peanuts) stall nestled deep within the neighbourhood of Jelapang that has been the talk of town for decades now.

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Siam Laksa @ Restoran Ko Pi Tim (the name sounds like an overkill, really) in Medan Ipoh Bistari; aka the ‘Little Japan’ of Ipoh. Don’t ask why … just go and see for yourself.

Almost a week of disappearance. And no, I have not been traveling outstation, holidaying overseas or strapped to a chair and bombed to oblivion. The sheer barrage of workload and pending matters post-CNY (okay, technically speaking, it’s not even over yet. It’s Chap Goh Meh; the 15th day tomorrow!) got me hurling myself towards the monitor on a 24/7 basis.

Plus, no thanks to the crappy Internet speed lately, the frustration just kept building up to a crescendo of flames in my head.

Phew. And then there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. Or a shimmering glimmer of hope to feed the dire soul. Sunday’s always the best day to recharge and expel the accumulated toxins over the week.

Wantan Mee & Hakka Mee @ Ko Pi Tim

So here goes nothing. A story conjured up to feed the cravings. Wanted to write about the Lou Sang experience at Gao Ren Guan, New Paris and subsequently Le Meridien. Yet, the lure of reliving the pleasurable moments of digging into a slab of greasy pork chop from the hawker stall or a plate (yes, a plate) of Siam Laksa bursting with coconut milk is so much stronger.

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You see, in spite of the many sterling (peppered with some misses here and there) reviews of hawker food in Ipoh, I have rarely sung praises for quintessentially-Penang street fares; like Char Koay Teow, Hokkien Mee (we call this Prawn Mee in Ipoh though) and Asam Laksa.

Yes, there were the occasional surprises that managed to make me sat up and took notice. And a few photographs complemented by positive reviews.

Yet, none of the CKT (char koay teow for short), asam laksa or Hokkien mee stalls in Ipoh come close to the real deal up north. I guess the same could be said about Ipoh chicken rice and old town white coffee wannabes elsewhere.

And then I read about Spices of Penang in Ipoh. Probably the first restaurant in Ipoh that stood up to the challenge and proudly proclaiming authenticity and representing the original taste of Penang.

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A bowl of hearty beef noodles from Cheong Kee; stall number 47 at Tong Sui Kai (Desserts Street) in Ipoh; the food centre that opens from evening until late night.

The previous post on Tong Sui Kai put emphasis on crispy chicken skin and a very peculiar wrapped duck feet (‘ngap kiok pau’), shedding light on the lesser known street food classics that made up the 50-odd stalls along this stretch of hawker delights off Brewster’s Road in Ipoh.

But Ipoh food fans have been reminding me countless times on their requests for a review of this beef noodles stall named Cheong Kee; a household name that has served thousands of bowls over the decades, and still going strong.

Is this the BEST beef noodles in Ipoh? Read on for my insights.

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“What can you do when the blistering hot weather’s out against you?”

1. Try a bowl of refreshing Malaysian dessert; Ais Kacang (ABC, or Ais Batu Campur), laced with red syrup and evaporated milk, then topped with kidney beans, crunchy peanuts, sweet corn, cendol, grass jelly and ‘sek lau zhi‘

2. Or this bowl of wobbly yellow jelly dessert worthy of shedding a tear or two for. Seriously.

Read on and find out why was I jumping (literally!) at the immediate opportunity of visiting this new shop early this morning; albeit knowing so little about their business hours, or whether they’re even opened for breakfast ….. Read the rest of this entry »

Craving for NON-Halal Satay? – Succulent bites of marinated pork and flavourful mutton on skewers (those sticks named ‘lidi’), served with sliced cucumber and pungent raw onions. Not forgetting, the spicier than average chunky peanut gravy.

And here comes Monday. The very last one for September. Time flies, it’s been a good 10 months since I moved to KL, and the urge to hunt for good (street) food has dwindled slightly.

Could be the weather, the traffic, the workload, or the sheer incoherence of them all. But one thing’s for sure, I’ll be damned if I decide to shut this blog up before reaching its prime.

Wait, or has it? ….

Anyway, here’s a short post on this very old school food court in PJ old town serving a delightful myriad of hawker food; a startling resemblance to Ipoh’s stadium food court, or Medan Selera Dato Sagor in old town. Read the rest of this entry »

Other than the BIG TWO (Lou Wong & Onn Kee), there are still many places in Ipoh for “Nga Choy Kai” (Bean Sprouts Chicken). One example being Leong Kee on Jalan Pasir Puteh.

The resurgence of interest in old timers (the previous post on Yee Jie confirmed this) around Ipoh got us back to our ‘roots’. Typical hawker fares that you would not never thought you’d be seeing the reviews on the Net, but yet ….. possess such a tight grip on your heart.

Places like Leong Kee, a shabby coffee shop on Jalan Pasir Puteh that has been around for decades; probably older than most of the Gen-Y reading this post.

Leong Kee is famous for their porridge; especially the mixed pig’s offal porridge (Chu Chap Zhuk) and curry mee.

My most immediate reaction when discussing about Leong Kee was the introduction to Sotong Kangkung; a rarely found cuttlefish salad combining blanched water convolvulus (kangkung) and cuttlefish drenched in a nutty, peanut gravy. A close cousin to the other famous Malaysian salad; Rojak, no less.

But lo and behold, the stall selling the salad is not around anymore, but you can still sample Leong Kee’s famous pork porridge boiled over charcoal fire, rich curry mee with tampered spiciness, and their supposedly popular Ais Kacang …… Read the rest of this entry »