What made my short stay in Penang so worth it is that I didn’t taste anything that wasn’t to my liking. Meaning, everything was delicious to my curious tastebuds. I didn’t even eat in a restaurant labelled as “fine dining.” Because to have an inkling of Penang cuisine, you’d have to be there on the streets, where the cooking mamas chop onions as fast as those chefs on TV in their little stalls and serve food on makeshift tables. Outsiders would have the impression that whipping up good hawker food was a way of life there, and the practice was passed on through generations. This is what comprises the legend that is Penang food.
The first real meal I had upon arriving was this colorful wan tan mee, priced at $1 or forty plus pesos. This was egg noodles in black soya sauce with slices of roast pork, dumplings, green veggies, chilies and other bits. Simply superb!
That’s me making tusok the fishballs 😛 I love the Lok Lok! These are shabu-shabu or steamboat ingredients put in barbecue sticks. You choose from an assortment of goodies on display, dip these in boiling water to cook for a few minutes and slather with your chosen sauce. The great Penang food adventure wouldn’t be complete without experiencing the lok-lok.
Photo is kinda blurred, but the sticks or skewers are color coded so that the stall owner will be able to compute how much you’ve eaten. A brilliant street food idea, I must say!
A heavy breakfast I ate just as we were about to depart Penang. It is something I crave until now if only for the oh-so-yummy fried rice that had a topping of fried little anchovies. The meat on the other plate was from a lechon (roasted pork) stall I saw in the market. The coffee was perfectly blended, even though it was just their kopi with condensed milk. Cost of this meal was about $2 or one hundred pesos.
Yam cake – a local rice flour delicacy with dried shrimps, green onions, chilies and fried shallots.
These banana pancakes were glorious! Only cost one ringgit or fourteen pesos for two pieces.
Cendol or cendul – dessert primarily consisting of shaved ice, green noodles (like spaghetti) and milk. Definitely a great summer cooler.
Ais (ice) kacang with ice cream – yummy! What you see here: sweetened red beans, a brown-colored jelly, barley pearls and syrup. Totally refreshing.
Uncle Bob’s fried chicken – perfect breading, perfectly-seasoned meat. My picky son gives this a thumbs up!
Cheap and delectable dimsum on the street. Penang stalls sell Japanese and Thai food too.
I find this sign in an outdoor restaurant quite meaningful. This foodieventure is something that will stay with me, even after I have left the place <3
Hey, how am I supposed to go back to Burjer King, after you posting a spread like this? Not fair! 😀
Another good piece Annalyn , a very enjoyable read and you certainly captured the fun and flavour that is hawker food ….fine dining on the street , no need for a fancy over priced restaurant . Keep it up .
that’s great stuff Ajay! it doesn’t help my cause though, for I’ve been missing hawker food for years now… yes, since we left Singapore! don’t you just love street food? 😀
Now I feel so hungry, I really love the street/hawker food in S.E. Asia :-). Another couple of months and, hopefully, I will be able to eat it all the time 🙂
Hi ajay! I remember a doctor-friend of mine who is also a travel buff once told me that when you go to other places (here or abroad), the first thing you must do is eat. And the best ones to eat are those cooked and sold in the streets. And that is what I have done during my travels abroad. I can still savor how delicious are the shwarmas, kabsa (chicken w/ biryani rice) in Riyadh and Jeddah and dimsum and noodles in Temple Street in Hongkong, to name a few. But here in Manila, I don’t know why I cannot eat street foods. Afraid of typhoid, perhaps 🙁
your post is making me miss Asian food so much more! 🙁
If you’re worried about cholera, then avoid vegetable products. Can’t guarantee how clean the water they were raised with was.
If you’re getting an item with meat, see it cooked in front of you.
This advice was primarily for Thailand, some years ago. Visited while still in the military. Was told I’d need more shots than a Rabies victim, if I got a mouthful of canal water.
The cooking advice was primarily for folks trying insects, though – vendors would simply collect bugs killed by pesticide sprays from the city, on medians and thoroughfares. If you gotta eat a creepy-crawly, make sure it’s ALIVE before cooking. A must!
Banana pancakes please!
whenever we go to KL, Singapore or HK, I never fail to order noodles.. i love ’em! i prefer eating it than ordering rice.
hi .. nice pictures .. yummy too, No doubt Penang is the place to be when it comes to food. I can’t believe I’m seeing these wonderful photos…ok gotta go makan. ?)
I put up some information about Penang Travel Blog in my blog . Please visit and have some comments .. Hopefully I will visit Penang soon
cheers …