Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

This article was originally published on The Malay Mail Online. Click HERE for the feature.

Mee Rebus from Pokok Assam Market Food Court is a delectable treat for breakfast; the crunchy prawn crackers studded with sesame seeds added oomph to the yellow noodles in sweet and spicy broth.

The previous story on Taiping’s amazing street eats stirred up a whirlwind of emotions inside some of us. If you’re a Perakian and wondering how in the world you missed all these delectable treats, don’t blame yourself.

It took me a good deal of travelling between Ipoh and Taiping a few years back to discover these incredible eats in Taiping.

And that explains the expanding girth of one hungry soul plying this route constantly.

But there is more; the suburbs of Taiping are no pushovers when it comes to housing great food finds. Kamunting, Pokok Assam and Aulong are smaller towns around Taiping that require almost next to none travelling time. The entire Larut-Matang-Selama district may be large but the populous towns are adjacent to one another.

Let’s start off with Pokok Assam; the third largest town after Taiping and Kamunting. A short distance away from town and in fact nearer to the North-South Expressway’s Taiping toll exit, Pokok Assam is primarily a serene neighbourhood without any high-rise buildings or commercialised retail outlets.  Read the rest of this entry »

This article was originally published on The Malay Mail Online. Click HERE for the feature.

Lake Gardens in Taiping exudes a tranquil sense of wonder; a breath of fresh air from the traffic and making you walk or jog without you even planning for it.

Being the second largest town in Perak after Ipoh, Taiping is blessed with an assortment of wonders; Lake Gardens with its magnificent century-old angsana trees (golden rain trees), Maxwell Hill with its cooler climes, the many firsts in Malaysia (railway, police station, museum, etc), the only night safari in the country and of course, its plentiful lip-smacking street food. 

We used to go on day trips from Ipoh to Taiping, all within a span of eight hours. And the hungry side of me would always have a list in hand; squeezing in at least three meals within the allocated time whenever possible.

The frequent commuting between the two towns means I have eaten at a majority of the famous eateries in Taiping; yet I still find myself craving and looking for more undiscovered gems.

Larut Matang Food Court – The perfect grazing spot for the indecisive. You even can choose to eat from the Halal or non-Halal section of the food centre.

Thankfully, travelling on the North South expressway from Ipoh to Taiping usually takes about 45 minutes, or an hour, tops. This allows for spontaneous day trips; or at times, even random food hunt excursions. Plus, Taiping being between Ipoh and Penang makes this town an attractive stopover for travellers both north and south bound. 

Let’s start with breakfast. If you’re the indecisive kind or plain eager to sample as many items as possible, you can’t go wrong by paying the Larut Matang Food Court a visit. Come early for breakfast for a splendid selection of hawker fare ranging from Taiping’s famous char kuey teow with fish balls, mee rebus, Nyonya kuih, chee cheong fun with steamed radish cake, chicken rice, oyster omelette and many more.  Read the rest of this entry »

Heo Pia or Heong Peah, or Heong Peng in Cantonese is literally translated to ‘Fragrant Biscuits’; a type of confectionery believed to have originated from Teluk Intan of Perak, but there are detractors who claim that Gunung Rapat in Ipoh was the place that started baking this biscuit.

So where does Taiping come in the picture? Seriously, I do not care much about the origin of Heong Peah, for you can’t get the same generic taste in Ipoh, Teluk Intan or even Taiping.

I have written about Seng Kee; the coconut shell-broiled in large urns heong peah in Gunung Rapat of Ipoh and how the fantastically crispy and flaky pastry won me over …. not to mention the sheer delight in knowing that they STILL bake the biscuits in the most traditional manner.In Teluk Intan, you can find various confectioneries selling Heong Peah, from the famous Tiger Head brand named Sin Joo Heang to Ta Sin Guan Tin and Sin Guan Hoe.

For this post, let me bring you up north … to the serene town of Taiping where we ventured to seek for this legendary Heo Pia (‘legendary’ for the famed biscuits, as well as the notoriously hidden location) in Aulong; a small township to the west of Taiping town.

Read the rest of this entry »