It's not very often that you see me eating mantis prawns .
Most chefs simply do not know how to handle this dish and I simply have not found a place which will get me raving over them , that is until today .
Sometimes the execution is not very exciting , other times I find traces of Nestum in it , which makes me put the place on the ban list .
Anyway , we're at Sri Nibong kopitiam , and I wanna try something new . Point to the picture just above the kitchen as I ask the waiter what it is .
" Pissing Prawn " he replies in Cantonese ( direct translation ) . Suggests we take it Kam Heong style .
I nod my head and add another 2 dishes to accompany this one .
When this glorious plate arrived , we certainly did not expect to rave over it. Kam Heong style is a cooking flavour developed in Malaysia . While I've tried many versions , this is by far the best . Deep fried till almost crunchy , this style goes so well with the mantis prawns , it just knocked us off our feet ! Dry sauce is rendang like and darned addictive and so maddeningly delicious , we dig into our meal like ravenous creatures .
Looking at this plate of kangkong , brings back memories of last winter in Germany .
The Korean lady who was in our tour group told me how much she loved to eat kangkong whenever she was in Malaysia .
Because she now lives in Australia , she also related how one other Malaysian lady shockingly told her not to eat kangkong as it was
" poor people's food "
" Did you know that Korean people consider it very rude for one to categorise foods in that manner ? "
I told her to forget what that lady told her and to just enjoy the dish . If what she said held water ,then no restaurant would dare dish this out eh ?
So I reasoned with her that , that Malaysian lady was probably very poor once upon a time , and this vegetable was perhaps the only meal her family could afford .
Hence , the mere mention of kangkong evoked a flood of bad memories for her . That was the only reason I could think of you know ?
The last of our 3 dish meal was a Shanghai tofu .
Seen better days , I think they've switched cooks . Sauce was still very savoury but the texture of the tofu wasn't exceptional ( a lot of chefs on the island have the skill to produce an in house tofu for their respective restaurants )
Despite the distinctive differences in taste , those 3 dishes we ordered complimented each other .
As we settled the bill , we watched the staff sit down to dinner.
Can't believe I've actually fallen so hard for pissing prawns , when the only other place where I consume them is at Ah Soon Kor prawn noodles on Carnavon Street .
I've tried them elsewhere , but they've never struck me as delish , let alone , be a must eat dish but after today , all that has changed of course .
Until the next visit , all I can do is drool and wait
Location : Penang .
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