Motormouth From Ipoh – Asian Food & Travel Blog

Well, actually I used to refer to this snack as Chinese peanut candy, but I guess that sounded a little bit vague to paint a more accurate picture of this classic crunchy snack that should be common in Chinese households, or at least more prominently appearing (and disappearing) during the festive season.

To be frank, I was never a fan of this.

The ones from most confectioneries around Ipoh are usually hard, sweet (cloyingly at times) and taste pretty much generic; you cannot really differentiate one from the other. Sometimes you may even feel that all of them are sourced from the same supplier.

My fond memories of seeing these finger-length, rectangular-shaped brittles dated way back to since I was in my toddling age; where our family traditional Chinese New Year snacking fest would almost always included a jar of this – a firm favourite of my late grandma whom in reality detested hard food but never could say no to the brittles. Read the rest of this entry »

This article was first published in the Eat/Drink section on Malay Mail Online, and in the print edition on Sunday.

Tuck Kee serves the best smoked duck breast in Ipoh, beating even the likes of their Western counterparts but you may need to reserve a day in advance

There are a handful of old-timers in Ipoh — those Chinese restaurants with a glorious past — which are still celebrated and patronised by both the young and old after decades.

If you are not from Ipoh, yet familiar with names like Mun Choong or Pusing Public, Hoong Tho, Sun Lee How Fook, Oversea or even Tuck Kee, then give yourself a pat on the back.

These stalwarts have been around since the time when Ipoh was still this tranquil little town set against a magnificent backdrop of limestone hills, when a thirst for white coffee meant you needed to make your way to Ipoh Old Town and wait for a table at either Sin Yoon Loong or the adjacent shops, when Gunung Rapat heong peng was the authentic, coconut husk-broiled variety freshly baked from the home compound of Yee Hup, and when Foh San still was the undisputed dim sum king in Ipoh, serving freshly-steamed or fried morsels within the nostalgic setting of their old premises at the corner of Osborne Street.

But for today, let us focus on Tuck Kee Restaurant. Read the rest of this entry »

This story was first published on Malay Mail Online’s Eat/Drink section on April 6.

I remember how we used to stay up really, really late into the night pondering over school projects, peppered with mindless small chats and life anecdotes (well, whatever that’s significant during the teenage school years). That the few of us school mates would be struck by hunger pangs at the most inconvenient of times; say, way past midnight and wondering where to head for a quick bite.

But of course, when I mentioned ‘quick bite’ in Ipoh back in the 90’s, I don’t refer to the 24 hours ‘mamak’ stalls or fast food outlets, mind you. There probably was only 1 round-the-clock ‘mamak’ outlet back then; the still viable today yet less popular Salam Corner at the back of Jusco Kinta City. But since we usually would be gathering around Pasir Puteh area, it made sense for us to look for alternatives.

In the form of this really excellent place for late night noodles, chicken and bean sprouts.

Yup, imagine savouring Ipoh famous ‘nga choy gai’ (bean sprouts chicken or ‘ayam tauge’) in the wee hours of the morning. Kum Kee is the official name of the corner lot opposite of Pasir Pinji police station, yet most of us remember this fondly as the place famed for “Big Small Feet”. Let me tell you why.

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 In Ipoh, we still believe in good quality, heartwarming hawker food like this ‘liew fun’ (fishball noodle) stall in Pasir Pinji.

If anything, yesterday was one major milestone hit after another. Initially planned to post this for your reading pleasure yesterday, I ended up stashing this in Draft and went off on my routine and completing chores, plus a bit of quality evil-bashing moments.

For one, this blog hits the 9 million views mark yesterday, and All About Ipoh Facebook page celebrated our 27,000 fans milestone yesterday as well. A big THANK YOU to each and everyone of you food lovers out there, especially hometown ‘kaki’s’ whom have been following my 1000+ posts since Mar 2008. Cannot thank you enough. So in the midst of making one possibly life-changing decision, allow me to treat you to a relatively simpler post (but one that’s very-Motormouth) on a ‘liew fun’ stall that I grew up with in Pasir Pinji, Ipoh.

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I bet that my late grandpa whom had gone to heaven 20 years ago would be damn proud of his grandson with this story published.

Not an arduous task, or unimaginable feat if you think about it. But it took me a good many years (many many decades … ) to be able to finally appreciate the worth of a good loaf of Hainanese bread.

Yes, let me share with you this half-a-century’s old bakery in Pasir Pinji, Ipoh on this beautiful Monday evening. Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s not disregard the fact that this old chap with a perpetual frown etched on his face, has been laboriously cooking up pots after pots of claypot chicken rice for more than 30 years now. And still goes on and on; driven by passion.

I remember someone left a heartfelt plea in a recent post;

“Motormouth, I hope you follow your grassroots. Do what you do best.”

Okay. Wish granted. Still struck by the rainy spell this chilly Tuesday evening, in the midst of the Nine Emperor Gods’ Festival (Kau Ong Yeh), let’s turn back the clock and reminisce on a few forgotten gems in Pasir Pinji; overshadowed by swanky cafes, posh diners and erm, possibly hampered by lack of coverage.

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Nothing short of a typhoon, earthquake, Armageddon or political meltdown (hehe) will stop me dead in my tracks when I set my mind to it. I’m talking about a food hunt of course; in particular this trial & tribulations of covering a small, almost non-descriptive shop in Pasir Pinji of Ipoh selling Nyonya kuih for more than two decades.

Yes, Khoo Eng Chee‘s the brand that has since been categorized as one of the stalwarts of Ipoh’s Nyonya kuih scene, though even many of the locals are not aware of its existence. Can’t put the blame on you, really. Since apparently, their main source of business comes from wholesale of their sweet creations to various kuih stalls around Ipoh.

Ready for the lowdown? (And can you say FINALLY?!!)

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