Motormouth From Ipoh – A Malaysian Food Blog

I have not written about food in Pusing (a small town in the state of Perak, very near to Batu Gajah, Seri Iskandar, Bota etc) for a very long time. Not that we did not travel to the town often, but more so because of an unexplainable reason, one that forbids me from telling. Huh? Yeah ….. something related to our work, if you get my drift.

To refresh your memory, you might want to read about the Ming Feong Restaurant (Sang Har Meen) experience back in 2008, followed by a short detour to Pusing for some delectably classic Nyonya Kuih after a seafood feast in Sitiawan.

I have gotten some rather good recommendations from a constant reader of Motormouth From Ipoh (who is from Pusing himself) constantly ‘barraging’ me with good eats here and there. Though I have yet to find the time for a revisit, hence I’ll just share some simple hawker fares in Pusing which we had few months back. Okay, maybe HALF a year back, for all I can remember.

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It was ironic that I went to Penang twice last week, almost back to back. Within the span of a week, in fact. Whereas the short excursion to the mainland of Penang (Seberang Jaya/Butterworth, to be exact) saw us scavengers ravaging through the myriad of stalls selling delicious hawker food at the newly-discovered (at least to this most innocent-cum-naive Ipoh guy here) “Wai Sek Kai” of Chai Leng Park in Butterworth.

But as destiny would have things her way (overly-dramatic?), I was back to Penang a few days later for a short getaway. In case it’s your first time here, or amnesia struck again, I absolutely fell in love with Penang food, especially food from the streets. In fact, time and again I’ve stressed that I developed my inquisitive, epicurious and gastronomic taste bud NOT in Ipoh, but when I spent my 4 years in USM of Penang. Yeah ….. those dastardly-memorable years saw me ballooning from a frail weakling to a mass of gigantic blob, to an almost ogre-like creature now.

Regrets? Nah …. FAR from it.

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After a few months of some serious honeymoon-ing, finally Motormouth got back to action. It’s been quite some time since ze butt got off from ze daily routine of sticking to ze office chair. (But of course, there are exceptions). If it’s your first time here, probably you’re not used to the onslaught of food posts from the other towns and states, no thanks to the immense frequency of travelling owing to the nature of my job. But if you’re a regular, then that most dreaded feeling of ‘Uh-Oh … here he goes again …. >_<” might be all too familiar.

And to kick things off,  here’s a short recap of the whirlwind ‘tour’ around the mainland of Penang – Seberang Jaya and Butterworth.

Hello Kitty Leng Chee Kang. How SWEET, huh? Another one in the book of ‘Names That Got Stuck to One’s Mind’

Thanks to CK Lam (she’s like ze walking directory of Penang food), my stay at Chai Leng Park of Butterworth, Penang got lifted with a short detour to Wai Sei Kai (Food Street) of Butterworth, Penang. Not one who’s accustomed to food-hunting on the mainland of Penang, I was a lost sheep. We were required to stay somewhere on the mainland, instead of on the glutton’s paradise (read : Penang island).

Like only Penang could. The northern intepretation of Leng Chee Kang; with EVERYTHING thrown in for good measure!

This was my first visit to Chai Leng Park of Butterworth, and a Google search for food in and around the vicinity will reveal the name Wai Sei Kai (Food Street in Chinese) more often than not. Situated near to the Market Square of Chai Leng Park in Butterworth (was a little confused, since I never knew Seberang Jaya and Chai Leng Park share the same perimeters).

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A compilation of some of the new eateries in Ipoh, a special feature for those jaded palates (Read : those who had grown bored of the same old … same old … offerings).

RESTORAN AYAM PENYET – AP @ DE GARDEN MALL (HALAL)

The only time I have tried Ayam Penyet in Malaysia was my Waroeng Penyet experience at The Curve sometime ago. Ayam Penyet literally translate to ‘Flattened Chicken’, and no, before you go all smart-alec thinking ’bout that bad joke on why the chicken crossed the road (ahem), this is actually a traditional, Indonesian delight whereby the piece of chicken (a thigh, in this case) is marinated, then smashed with a wooden hammer-like apparatus, before deep-frying. Of course, one can argue about more efficient tenderizing method, for the chicken may turn out drier anyway, exposed to the rigorous process of deep-frying.

But the authenticity lies in its preparation process, more than the ingredients themselves. Marinated lightly, with some herbs and spices, the piece of chicken did remind us of the average Ayam Goreng served at most Malay ‘warung’, topped with some crispy fritters and served with a dollop of spicy sambal on the side, with blanched kangkung (water convolvulus), fried beancurd (tofu) and and piece of ‘tempe‘ (a fermented soybean cake) to round up the set.

No rice was served with this set, which is a clever business ploy, as I highly doubt you will eat the chicken on its own. A serving of rice is priced at RM1.50/USD0.40, while the Ayam Penyet set is priced at RM7.50/USD2.10.

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How often do you find a whole piece of fresh & succulent prawn in one wanton?

Since the post on Buntong Wan Tan Noodle received mixed reactions; some true blue Ipohans still swear by the authentic and most traditional approach of cooking the wantan noodle, while the others felt that the quality has dwindled over the years, I’m still on the prowl, searching for the BEST Wantan Mee Ipoh has to offer. The Ipoh stadium’s version has its own share of fans, but my only gripe is the small portion being served, as well as the comparatively long waiting time. But of course, the Buntong’s version triumphs once again in this aspect, especially come peak business hours.

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