Teochew style steamed Jenahak and a Szechuan veg soup

We rarely have steamed fish as I'm superrrrrrrrr fussy about the freshness , while he cannot stand Chinese wine in his food .

But I wanted a break from deep fried stuff and

so , not wanting to pay a ransom , we walked into Sum Sook where I made it very clear to the order taker , that we wanted no wine in the fish please and left the rest up to fate .

Well it turned out more than right . We loved it !

Steamed with the right amount of Suan chai ( salted mustard greens from China ) , pickled plums , ginger , deep fried garlic and tomatoes , this was done to Perfection for me because the marinade was delicious beyond words ! Those of you  who love your fish just cooked might find fault with Sum Sook's style . Not us . We fought over this to the end till there were no salted vegies or fish meat left for any stray cat !

Mee Tiao - Teochew take on Long Life noodles

Mee tiao is a really tasty Teochew noodle dish meant for once a year birthday celebrations especially if there is a matriach or patriach in the household .

However , the texture of the noodle used by the Teochews in Penang is different from the Hokkien version . 

The Teochew version , has more bite and chew ( pun not intended ) to it while the Hokkiens , prefer a silkier texture , which leads some to use the flat egg noodles and others to use a fresh ramen like round yellow noodle , which makes it really confusing if you want to debate on what belongs to who . 

As far as I know , when it comes to the Hokkiens , the most important feature of the noodle that must not be compromised ....

.is the length . 

The longer , the better !

One should not cut it ,even if some of us might have a high chance of choking on it , so I guess why it's called Long Life Noodles since you can deem yourself a survivor after that celebratory  meal ! 

Due to intermarriage between the clans , as well as convenience and cost ( frugality embedded into the genes ) , cheaper localised , yellow noodles found acceptance amongst homemakers at first , and then only much later , was it turned into an everyday available dish , by enterprising hawkers , much in the same manner as how Hakka pan mee evolved into hawker fare today .

Yeah , the whole lot of us helped popularise long life noodles from an exclusive birthday celebratory meal into a commercialised breakfast , lunch , or dinner ( depending on the shop ) offering .

Nowadays , the cooks aren't so particular or superstitious , about the length either . Me thinks , it is because they don't want anyone dying on their premises hence , they will shorten it for you unless you have one super alpha matriach who really pantang to the max if you dare do that ( but I think that era is gone already ) .

Back to the subject at hand .

You can actually find this particular noodle , in a few good mid range Chinese restaurants in Penang . It's when you want to enjoy it in a sticky , greasy hawker centre , that it can get a little confusing as sometimes , some hawkers call it Char Mee Sua .

You know ? Birthday Noodles in one place , Char Mee Sua , Mee Tiao ....they may all mean the same thing but they may also be variations as far apart as the sun and the moon !

Now , when it comes to Char Mee Sua , you may pop in to the Cecil Street wetmarket in the afternoon .

Honestly , that used to be my favourite place for Char Mee Sua but lately , I suspect they are using bad oil , so I have not returned for a long time already .

So , where best , if you do not want to pay so much ? Public Cafe lah .

Restoran Subham - new place for banana leaf rice

Inside the Little India enclave in Georgetown , more and more of these banana leaf places are slowly being taken over by Chinese and Thai owners .

Which sadly leads to a real screw up in terms of taste , till I've begun shunning one outlet which used to be frequented by those in the law profession  .

Then , I came across Subham when I scoured the area for a new place , one which served a decent banana leaf meal , so familiar to our tastebuds .

Green Skin and Black Pearl - Durians from Penang and Pahang in one sitting !

I did a takeaway on just one single  packet costing 20 ringgit , just to test this new trader out the other day . 

The first bite triggered something in me . I remembered having eaten it as a child , the taste was all at once , grassy , nurturing , comforting ,  lightly gassy midway , with a potent climax at the last bit , and so we returned again for more .

Brussels Beer Café - table for four

By the time we realised that we had definitely overordered , perched on the high chair area right in the corner , we made a quiet resolve to systematically remove some plates bit by bit because if you assembled them all at once , it would have looked like we had just been let out of prison .

Right , let's see what we shared amongst ourselves .

Beer Food Platter comprising ...

Blind finches ( I could drink the sauce provided together with it , all day , and get drunk on that alone lolz ), roast pork ( mouthwatering crackling skin is always such a bonus ) , squid tentacles , smoked duck breast ( fantastic ! ) , Belgian frites .

Good Luck Bah Kut Teh - Bayan Baru

Well , well , well .

Just when you least expect cheap , clean and fast to exist side by side on Penang island , walla , a place like this pops up .

And when I say cheap , I am not referring to those places where bah kut teh still costs MYR 5.50 per portion for per person . Don't know about elsewhere , but if it costs that little on the island , you're freaking risking it ! Not gonna elaborate on that matter further .

Anyway , the cheap I am talking about , hovers around ( more or less ) 10 ringgit per person . 

Certain places command two times that amount but don't expect premium meat . Sometimes , I think those expensive joints are either scams or pure herd mentality hype .

Lemme explain further with regards to the pricing ....if you order a bowl of bah kut teh soup for 2 pax , at Good Luck , it is just gonna cost you around 20 ringgit , not inclusive of drinks , rice and any add ons .

3 persons = 30ish , 4 = 40 ish .

Brussels Beer Café - whole deep fried poulet with sauerkraut on the side

Had the best of both worlds when we ordered this today .

A whole deep fried bird which had skin that tasted like a thin crispy siew yoke !

The Lexus workshop guy with a permanent menstruation problem

I received a phone call from the Lexus workshop the other day .

At 10 am to be exact . The caller on the other end was trying to locate someone whom he presumed I was a wife to .

He had dialled the wrong number but I'm telling you , after listening to him growl over the phone , you might agree that he has a permanent menstruation problem , from 10 am right through till 5pm .

The conversation went roughly like this ( inclusive of what went through my mind at the same time )

Mantis prawns - kam heong style

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 .

Funny rides - that can only happen in Penang

Penang used to be known as a motorcycle state . In fact the 2 wheeler is so popular even tycoons shuttle around in it .

Some riders carry everything but this is the first time I'm seeing one with a pail this large in his front carriage .

Come to think of it , it's brilliantly practical for those with chronic motion sickness eh ?

Krill fritters - the Penang version

The Penang Food Festival will be in full swing tomorrow. And already , I am seeing a lot of instagram ready babes roaming the streets of the island .

While you certainly won't be seeing me jostling with the mad crowds , today I had my own pre festival treat , from a very Penang hawker , in a quiet and quaint little corner , I don't want to reveal , as I want to retain the sanctity of the few quiet places we local folks can find refuge and respite in without having to elbow tourists out of the way .

She served us krill fritters straight from her wok and I have to tell you I was so humbled as she wouldn't take a cent for them .

Too bad I have no pictures to show as I was so taken in by her gesture , how could I ? 

Thus , the following pictures below have been fished out of Google , and hopefully the owners don't mind as I have given credit to the images itself .

photo credit : dapurkaknorexpres.blogspot.my

Loose 11 , gain 3

I consider myself very lucky to be living on Penang island . The beach is a stone's throw away , the air is fresh , the street art scene is exciting and the food omg , how could I ever go back to boring again ?

No , I'm not talking about those insipid coffee , cake and tart outlets which attract out of state visitors .

I'm talking about real Penang food which we locals wolf down .

Gan En Wu Tang Shui - new , clean kid on the block

It's 6pm and the crowd at Kimberley Street is not yet building up .

That gives us plenty of room to manouvre and table space to choose from which we will be hard pressed to do so at say ....8 ish .

120 not the same

There used to be a time when MYR 120 could fetch you a great feast in a nice restaurant .

Well , this still looks impressive but when you dig in you start to question yourself .

Why ? Why do you now have to add on Gst onto my bill ?

And why is there so much lambbbbbehhh ???? So little chicken ? And so much bread ?

Euro Deli - 2 German , 1 Swiss , 1 English

Probably has been years since we stepped through their doors and much has changed .

The seating layout has changed , workforce tapered , but surprise , surprise , some portions are as large yet the prices remain more or less the same !

Outside , locals are seated enjoying a pint or more while inside ,sees spots of Japanese men having a drink with their buddy or alone . Strangely , they're not drinking Asahi but Carlsberg or Hoegaarden .

Unlike them , we're here for the food . Here we go .

 1. Mixed roast . 

Gerostetes Fleisch von er Haxe , Rippchen und Schweinebauch .

Pork knuckle , rib and belly .

Oh man , although the cuts they served me was a little bit on the dry side ( not to worry , there were lots of sticky prime juicy parts too ) , they did not pick this up from the jit tiao lor market and dress it up with some sauce . No , no .

This is as German as you can get in Malaysia and damn , is it good !

Found layers of divine smoked garlic , sea salt , nutty surprises , the delicious different flavours embedded in the crackling skin is best eaten first ( don't leave it to the end or you will regret it like I did as it got tougher since we really took our time to savour every bite ) 

Loved the mash ( think they mixed in some horseradish ) and really appreciated the spiced red cabbages ( ought to do macrobiotic wonders to my sluggish system )

Yes the portion is huge , but German food is really good for your body so eat up , keep active and watch the fat melt away like magic !

Very weird Valentine

* Warning. Long winded nonsense ahead . Read at your own risk .

We started off with a true intention to scale back on Valentine's celebration this year .

I mean , flowers have gotten so ridiculously expensive , the price of one hand bouquet could have gotten us a nice room by the beach in a 5 star establishment ( last year was um , more extravagant but really so wonderful but I want to change , I really want to ) . 

Still on course for not wanting to overdo things in the end , I settled for one bud . Yes , when you are married this long , YOU tell HIM what you want or be prepared to facepalm but ooo I like this big fat bloom of a stalk and he's so clever to select it . Good job hubs . Good job .

Although I told him not to wrap it , but he just needed to do it . So as I placed the whole pack on the dashboard , he told me to put it upright as there was.....WATER ??? There's water at the end of the stalk ??? What is there ? A mini vase at the bottom or what ? Does cotton not absorb water anymore ? What ? There's no cotton even ? 

( what kind of florist puts so much water at the end of a packet of rose that a slight tilt makes it seem as if you are about to perform a magic trick or something since most of it has gone south ? )

He then takes it from me and puts the flower next to him ( hello ? ) 

When he's not looking , I take it back and put it right where it belongs ( next to me )

Yes . Weird #1 .

City Rio Cafe - simple duck egg char koay teow

My search for a simple plate of char koay teow , led us here .

Didn't want anything fancy ( except for duck eggs ) , wasn't looking for big prawns ( yet they had to be fresh or else ) , and I absolutely do not tolerate gutter oil ( this one passes the test )

Bag full of gems - visit to the Malaysian biscuit shop

No matter how many fine French  macaroons and Scottish shortbreads you may have had , if you are a Malaysian through and through , the sight of these rows of biscuits in glass jars or tins ought to make you light up brighter than an annual Christmas light up ceremony .

Cakes fit for the Jade Emperor

At the stroke of midnight today , the skies in Penang will erupt with thunderous fireworks in celebration of the Jade Emperor's birthday .

In the days leading up to this important date on the Hokkien calendar , even hypermarts nowadays know how to put whole sugarcane stalks up for sale .

This morning and afternoon , saw a frenzied crowd in the inner city , making last minute bids to scoop up various items to place on the altar as an offering .

Rather caught up in their enthusiastic buying I decided to snap some pics at this single cake ( known locally as kuih ) stall just to show you what people here buy for that purpose .

Late night supper at Khidthung in Jelutong

At 11pm , Jelutong is a locale which offers many food options for night owls . However , if you ask my honest opinion , a lot of the foods after dark is " beh chiak " ( awful ) .

Until , I recalled this place , so rather than go to the nearest Mamak or fastfood , let's have something more exciting for supper tonight .

Tomyam Maggi .

We Malaysians , refer to every instant noodle brand as Maggi you see , even though what they currently use here are noodles imported from China , we still call it Maggi .