Sin Hong Keng - deep fried fish steamboat with yam

I'm very particular about the fish I eat .

It should not reek of a fishy pong but should smell like the ocean .

Though I'm not expecting sashimi grade flesh , if it arrives on my table with an odour straight out of a market drain , no matter how many people are enjoying it , I will not touch it .

And it's pretty telling of the sad state of affairs when one can find fresher fish in Kedah than in Penang , even though by virtue of Penang being just next to the sea , fish meat supplies ought to be super fresh , right ? Wrong a lot of times before I finally learnt my lesson and stopped ordering steamed fish at any chu cha place on the island .

Anyway , we're having the rare fish meal today . 

Deep fried red snapper ( it's all farmed off shore today ) boiled with round cabbage and yam .

Not only is it succulent and naturally sweet , he cannot remember when was the last time he actually had snapper this fresh . We'd probably have to pay a bomb for it on the island but even though what we had here is not THAT cheap , it still cost less than that airconditioned giant garoupa place near Chew jetty .  

Tastewise : oily , plain , with a slight hint of Chinese wine , full of aromatic yam flavour ( the root is the very fibrous type )

The thing about Kedah is , many of the ethnic Chinese people here , were originally from Penang . Some fled here during the Japanese occupation , while in the last decade or so , a sizeable number relocated due to spiking property prices .

Thus , one is bound to find good food but the locals are not particularly fond of sharing .  Never mind , you have me to let out a bit when I find another gem .

However , I won't recommend the 2 dishes above .

Their specialty pork rib curry ( the meat was too dry ) and kangkong belacan ( too salty with too much dried shrimp instead of krill ).  

But I will have you know that their fish steamboat soup is particularly reenergising . 

Exceptionally good for health .

We were dead tired after that long journey yet surprisingly this soup was just the trick we needed . It sapped away all , and I mean all , the lethargy and practically renewed our vigour . And I can only name 2 other places with this kind of magic . A bah kut teh stall in BM and that duck spare part porridge stall in Kimberley Street .

How to locate :

it is in the original location that made No.8 curry house famous .

Warning : apply insect repellant on your body or sit inside the air conditioned enclosure .Tons of mosquitoes here when it gets dark .

Location : Jalan Kota , Alor Setar , Kedah