Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

Sipping or rather, hastily downing a cup of freshly brewed cup of white coffee in old town in the midst of the long Lunar New Year break two months back

Ahhhh. Heaving a sigh of deep, deep relief with the weekend crawling from the horizon and the (imagined) sea breeze caressing my lethargic cheeks (from all the talking, eating and well, sulking to some extent). There will never be a better time to travel than in the midst of spring, although the destination that I will be traveling to has no four seasons nor a reason to even bring anything thicker than cotton.

Anyhow, after a prolonged dry spell of writing on anything remotely close to home, let me dig out a story with shots captured two months back during the Chinese New Year in Ipoh. The reason for the delay being ….well, conventional Motormouth procrastination I guess. And the fact that Heng Fatt coffee shop; this bright yellow-painted three storey shoplot at the junction of Market street and Jalan Bandar Timah in old town is probably one of the lesser known coffee shops among the sea of giants from Kong Heng to Thean Chun, Sin Lean Lee to Nam Chau and Sun Seng Fatt.

But what does Heng Fatt has to offer and stood the endurance sprint against the almighty competitors listed above? Read the rest of this entry »

A bowl of sinfully rich curry mee; loaded with boiled shrimp, slices of lean pork, crunchy bean sprouts (Ipoh’s taugeh!) and long beans. Can you spell B-L-I-S-S?

A squeeze of lime, a stir with the designated cutlery; a porcelain spoon and a pair of blood red chopsticks; and voila! Tuck in to a deliciously-sinful bowl of curry mee packed with flavours.

The massive hunt for the best of curry mee in Ipoh has led me to various interesting finds; some very established brands delivered while a fraction of those faltered amidst the hype. There were also the nameless stalls shying away from limelight yet garnered support from the locals (and trust me when I say that Ipohans ARE pretty picky eaters!).

This morning (yup, Motormouth’s back in town!) I was treated to plate of dry curry noodles that could effortlessly rival some of the more stellar names mentioned in this post.

Curious to know where? Read on …. Read the rest of this entry »

Ipoh’s famous “Kai See Hor Fun” (Chicken Kuey Teow/Rice Noodles); the picture above shows a dry version of the noodle commonly served with soup; a savoury broth not uncommonly flavoured with chicken and prawn shell stock.

Wondering whether Motormouth has vanished into thin air, hibernating like a polar bear or meditating in Tibet? As inviting as those thoughts might have been (the last two, at least), sadly, reality snaps back with no mercy.

Spent the first half of the week at a convention centre in the city attending to a marketing event; followed by a series of meetings and training session for the team; and the finale aka icing on the cake?

I was down with viral fever two days ago; capped off with a visit to the clinic and bed rest yesterday. Life can give you lemons in successive episodes before you even have time to squeeze them into lemonades!

Anyway, all’s well at the right moment! Bracing myself for the extended weekend ahead (it’s the Malaysia Day celebration on 16th Sept 2012), I drove myself back to …. heaven on earth early this morning, and here’s a story to be shared. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

“Kai See Hor Fun” with Wanton @ RM6.50/USD2.20

If you’re cursing under your breath, I can understand that. If you’re sick of looking at chickens (real one okay … edible fowls), I buy that too. After the almost relentless onslaught of posts on chicken rice (Loke Yun Ampang and Kee Kee Bentong Chicken Rice), I would have balked at the sight of another. And another. AND another …..

Yet, I can’t help but pursue this medley of torment; if you insist on calling these ‘delicious’ posts that. Kar Heong Restaurant was started back in 2004 in Subang Jaya, then subsequently opened a branch at Kota Damansara in 2008.

If you go …. oh well, just another Nam Heong, New Ipoh Restaurant Chicken Rice or worse …. a Chicken Rice Shop-wannabe, think again. The “Kai See Hor Fun” (shredded chicken rice noodle soup) here can rival even some of the best in Ipoh. No joke.  Read the rest of this entry »

Penang Street Food Series :

Chapter 1/5 – Batu Lanchang Market Food Complex
Chapter 2/5 – Eng Loh Coffee Shop’s Breakfast Galore @ Church Street

Preparation of bowls after bowls of Koay Teow Th’ng, or Rice Noodles Soup with strips of chicken, fried garlic, and chopped scallions, then subsequently poured upon with a light soup boiled from a combination of pig’s, chicken’s and duck’s bones.

Koay Teow Th’ng (KTT). Or rice noodles soup to those uninitiated, is a classic Penang hawker food not found anywhere else. Maybe there is a dish that resembles this closely, for instance we have Ipoh’s famous “Kai See Hor Fun” (aka Shredded Chicken Koay Teow Soup), or “Hor Hee” (here’s one of my favourite from Li Heng Fatt in old town). But of course, you can also find fish ball noodles soup, or soup noodles with chicken, pork or duck meat, and known by another name in the other states of Malaysia.

Only in Penang was I introduced to this Koay Teow Th’ng (literally means Koay Teow Soup), a perennial favourite amongst the Penangites when it comes to breakfast or in some instances, supper. Still, memories of eating a hearty, tummy-warming bowl of KTT during those dire times (those dastardly examinations, struck with illness, no appetite, etc) came flooding over me whenever I saw any KTT stall in Penang.

For a version that has been proudly proclaimed as one of the best on the island, Soon Yuen Coffee Shop was all but lost on me throughout the four years I spent on the islands. Somehow, we were not as adventurous back then. Excursions to town on the weekends were all precious escapades (sometimes by bus; and you still remember those devils-on-the-road aka green mini buses of Penang back then?), thus we usually opted for the popular laksa, hokkien mee, cendol and char kuey teow stalls, instead of something as mundane as a bowl of chicken rice noodles soup.

Read the full story on Soon Yuen, and how the Chee Cheong Fun here can give Seow Fong Lye a run for their money …… Read the rest of this entry »

Since I haven’t been writing much about outstation travels around Perak, allow me to get back into the groove, and share a simple post about this restaurant (or rather, coffee shop?) that serves Taiping’s version of chicken noodle soup for breakfast. The name of the shop? Restoran Kakak.

One glance and you’d be forgiven for thinking this is another bowl of “Kai See Hor Fun” from Ipoh, or even a toned down version of Penang’s Koay Teow Th’ng.

The name of the shop is actually “Jia Jia” (literally translated to Every Family), but when converted to Malay (or English), it becomes Kakak. 🙂

A little misleading, for a traditional Chinese coffee shop to be named as such?

Read the rest of this entry »