Chai Poh Fish - somewhat like the old Hupsa

Perseverance was the key to pin pointing the old Hupsa / Yan Yan Ho's new location .

It's not even 12 noon and the partially refurbished corner lot is seeing a steady stream of diners .

Black walls give off a cafe like vibe to the interior 

My guess is it has only been done recently based on these pretty floral arrangements presented by suppliers and the like

Don't see many Samoan sized Chinese in Alor Setar but wow , this kitchen and its workforce sure is an eye opener .

And exactly what brings us all the way here ?

The humble Chai poh , a salty preserved radish , usually cooked with chillies, garlic , sugar and other secret ingredients ....

...placed on top of a black sea bream split open from the middle into half .

The fish is steamed , water discarded , oil ladled and topped with the all important , highly addictive chai poh .

I won't lie to you , the fish used to taste much better when the old man was in the kitchen . The meat was silkier and so much more tender .

With this new chef ,the chai poh taste has not changed one bit however, you need to keep ladling the oil so that the fish meat seeps in the flavour .

For old times sake , we also asked for deep fried water convolvulus in batter .

Again , there's been a slight change in recipe . The old man used to fry the leaves in a thin crisp batter . Today , it's spongier . 

Was muttering under my breath until the bill came .

Damn , the price is so shockingly low , you know what , ok , I , we , they , everyone can put up with this .

A pot of hot Pu Er , cold drinks , rice , one serving of small clams which I won't recommend to anyone , the Chai Po fish and deep fried vegie cost MYR 38 all in ! Omg omg omg ....sometimes I wonder why the heck we live in Penang where a meal like this would cost us so much more .

Worth trying at least once in your lifetime . Until you end up getting addicted and cannot find a substitute of course because nobody else fries up a darned good chai poh like they can . Nobody .

Location : SK Kim , Jalan Putra , Alor Setar , Kedah