Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

Ipoh’s signature “Kai See Hor Fun” (Chicken Kuey Teow) @ Soo Kee served both ways; in a savoury broth boiled with various parts of the chicken and a light dash of prawn oil, and the dry version tossed in a greasy mix of sauces; garnished with lots of fried shallots and chopped chives

Since the previous post was on Annie 1; a kopitiam in Damansara Uptown serving pretty delicious Ipoh hawker food like wantan mee, chee cheong fun and even a caramel egg custard that vaguely reminded me of Thean Chun‘s, let’s continue the theme here with Soo Kee; an old classic in its own right here in Seapark.

For decades now, Soo Kee capitalizes on the lack of honourable hawker fares in KL/PJ that bring forth the sense of rendezvous to one who misses Ipoh food; “Kai See Hor Fun” (Ipoh’s style of chicken noodle soup; served with Hor Fun/flat rice noodles ONLY) to be exact. Read the rest of this entry »

Kee Kee Bentong Chicken Rice @ Yat Yeh Hing Restaurant – Corn fed chickens from Bentong, Pahang, crispy roasted chicken fresh from the oil bath, the crunchy bean sprouts sourced from IPOH (!), and fragrant oiled rice perfumed with the aroma of ginger, garlic and shallot. Oh, and that plate of chili sauce + grated ginger was magnificent.

Barely a few weeks after the last post on chicken rice from Loke Yun Ampang, here’s another onslaught on all senses. And regardless of whether you’re a fan of chicken rice or not, the omnipresence of this quintessentially Hainanese creation cannot be denied.

Let’s not argue over the origin of Hainanese chicken rice. Bear in mind that this combination is based loosely on the famous Wenchang chicken dish from Hainan, China. The Chinese uses free-range chickens fed with coconut and peanut bran; resulting in a slightly more prominent yellow hues on the skin.

Wenchang chicken is usually served without the oiled rice, and with a condiment of chopped ginger and salt. Unlike the Hainanese chicken rice commonly served in Malaysia and Singapore; whereby we prefer chili sauce with a piquant touch from the mashed/grated ginger.

Fat, yellow-skin chicks hanging from the hooks. You can roughly guess which version of their chickens is the more popular choice.

If you’re in PJ, and don’t fancy going to Ampang, or even Solaris Dutamas for Loke Yun’s famous chicken rice, try Kee Kee Bentong Chicken Rice at Yat Yeh Hing Restaurant in SS4; immediately before the Kelana Jaya exit on LDP. Read the rest of this entry »

“Kon Lou Sar Hor Fun” (dry kuey teow, or flat rice noodles tossed in a savoury mix of soy sauce, dark soy sauce, dash of sesame oil and shallot oil perhaps) is essentially the soup-less counterpart to the otherwise perfect companion to your serving of bean sprouts chicken.

And there you go. Some of you might stare in disbelief, wondering if Motormouth’s in his right state of mind. Hello?! An Onn Kee Tauge Ayam review after more than 3 years of blogging?!! (Yeah yeah … this blog’s getting old)

Surprisingly, yes. And it has been THAT long since my last visit to the famous ‘nga choy gai’ outlet in town. Back then, they did not even open for lunch. Only dinner-supper, and damn packed like sardines almost every single night. It’s slightly better now, but still come on weekends/public holidays and I bet you’d scurry away like roaches on a hot plate. Or something.

So please, you can say your prayers now if you’ve waited with bated breath for this (or not) . And enjoy what could possibly be my LAST post ….. on tauge ayam in Ipoh, that is. 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 »

Let’s take a walk down memory lane. This stall, housed in such an inconspicuous manner deep in the middle of Pasir Pinji wet market had always been a family’s favourite haunt back in the 90’s. Or maybe late 80’s? I can’t be sure, for when we were still residents around the Pasir Puteh area, we used to eat the fish ball noodles (also known as ‘kap liew’ or ‘liew fun’ to us Ipohans) here on a weekly basis.

When pigging out like mad won’t cost you a bomb, an arm, or a leg. Every piece of ‘yong liew’ (more popular known as Yong tau Foo in the other states) is priced at 40-45 cents each.

Back then, I never paid much attention to the stray kittens and puppies circling under our table. Nor the slight stench from the day’s offerings sold at the wet market; and the random pest or two.

Only one stall was operating then; this same “Yee Jie” (translated to Second Elder Sister) stall is surprisingly still up and running. And the allure of tucking in into a bowl of soupy goodness with a myriad of stuffed fish paste as sides proves to be evergreen.

The “Yee Jie” hard at work. A family business this one, the third generation of youngsters already knee deep in assisting the operations.

Read on to find out more about this past favourite of Motormouth’s, and how such a simple fare can attract the crowd to a dilapidated wet market at night ….. Read the rest of this entry »

Is this the famous Buntong Beef Noodles? Bright orange signboard fronting the one-lot shop at Desa Rishah, situated within the vicinity of Buntong, Falim and Menglembu.

So far, I am still puzzled by the existence of several eateries proclaiming to be serving “Buntong’s Famous Beef Noodles“. First and foremost, of course there’s the supposedly original Buntong beef noodle stall at a house in Buntong. Then there’s the other more prominent outlet in town, named Kedai Makanan dan Minuman Sri Maju on Jalan Theatre (another highly acclaimed original Buntong beef noodles, for the proprietor moved from Buntong to this shop sometime back in 2004) which has garnered most of the media attention in comparison to the others.

Another branch popped up not long ago at Kafe New Weng Fatt in Ipoh Garden South, that is only opened for breakfast-lunch.

And guess what? Only yesterday I was brought to this shop in Desa Rishah, that has been around for close to 10 years, and … you-guessed-it; BUNTONG BEEF NOODLES again !!! 🙂

Fresh from the Wok; “Sar Kok Liew” (deep-fried stuffed yambean/turnip/jicama) for RM0.50/USD0.15 per piece @ Kedai Makanan Dan Minuman Desa Rishah

With question marks still clouding my head, we ventured over for lunch on a Friday and I was pleasantly surprised at the crowded shop; a sign of good things to come? ….. Read the rest of this entry »

I was brought up believing that Lou Wong and Onn Kee serve the best Bean Sprouts Chicken aka Tauge Ayam aka Nga Choy Kai in Ipoh. If you have doubts, just hop over to Jalan Yau Tet Shin area (they’re situated opposite of each other, somewhat at each other’s neck, if you will) come dinner-supper hours on weekends or public holidays, and I’m sure you’ll be eating your words faster than politicians making empty promises.

Don’t doubt the number of chickens hanging in front of the stall, in all their glistening glories. They poach the chickens on-the-spot once the chickens hanging on the hooks are sold off.

Then people started to argue and fought over the BEST Tauge Ayam (or Ayam Tauge, whichever suits your fancy) in Ipoh. For one knows that holding the crown means a lot, as this is unofficially Ipoh’s most famous food, bar none.

So where does Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau come into the picture?

Read the rest of this entry »