A day in Taiping

My dad hailed from Taiping. We used to come back Taiping at least annually for Chinese New Year (CNY). Then the annual visit changed from CNY to Qing Ming (visit ancestor's grave). And now we just keep coming back annually to keep the tradition going and go down the memory lane until the day we can't do it anymore..
But what I want to share with you, are the standard makan place that has been there for at least 3 generations. That speaks for itself.

Breakfast @ Chai Chee

Chai Chee used to be so busy from morning till late in the night. But now, it is only the morning that you see the hustle and bustle. But at least we still get our must-eat "Chai Thow Guey". 

 There are only 2 or 3 stalls selling this now. As far as I know, this deep fried white radish cake to be eaten with the sweet sauce can only be found here in Taiping. Eat it when it is hot. You won't be able to stop.

Can you guess what's in the tiffin?

How about now? These should pretty much give you an idea..

Yup, it's nasi lemak. I'd say this is the local nasi lemak where you can also mix with soy sauce pork. It's basically nasi lemak with a difference (catered taste). But for a nasi lemak lover like me, the difference is a good one :)

 

And then there is the Taiping Char Koay Teow with Fishball. But this one seemed a mixture between Taiping and Cantonese style. Nevertheless, you can still taste the fragrance from intense heat of frying the koay teow (btw, this is flat rice vermicelli).










Oh and how can we forget the wan ton mee + sambal belacan. My dad used to drive down to Taiping just to fulfill his craving for this noodles.

Lunch @ Kedai Ais Kacang Merah Raex (fka Rex Cinema Red Bean Ice)

My dad loved it. I loved it. My kids loved it. 

 Need I say more?

The red bean ice stall used to be accompanied by a few other eatery stalls. They all moved in together after Rex Cinema has been taken down. One of our best lok-lok haunt is here.

Do you know the curry mee in Taiping is slightly different from Penang. The base is white with a stronger curry fragrant compared to Penang.

Oh I miss the northern Pohpiah which is simple without all the krup krup, which I find a pain to the mouth and not very helpful to the clean taste I expected from a pohpiah (this is personal).

Dinner @ Pasat

If we could, we would have tasted every single stalls that sells nasi lemak bungkus here. The 220ftx60ft square is laden with stalls selling rice, dim sum, chee cheong fun, char koay teow, noodles and drinks. Nasi lemak bungkus are the standard staple offered by the drinks stalls. Every single stalls get their supplies from different sources, so you get different variety of nasi lemak bungkus. There are sambal prawn, curry prawn, fried fish, sambal anchovies, sotong, mantis prawn, many many more according to season and suppliers.

Nasi Lemak Bungkus - Udang + Kacang Panjang

My favourite of all the nasi lemak bungkus is prawn curry with long beans. I have yet to try the seasonal mantis prawn. Looking forward to my next trip.

My sis came across this deep fried dried fish coated with sweet sauce. Savoury.

DO YOU KNOW?

My dad said there used to be weather masters sitting here. What do they do? They bet on the exact time that the first rain drop from the corner of this market roof. These masters will look at the sky, feel the moist on their skin or even taste and smell the air. And they can tell you the exact time rain will drop.

Restaurant 1919 @ Ipoh Garden East

The last time I visited 1919 was at least 10 years ago, when my dad brought me along with his friends for dinner. All I could remember was this dish below. 

Deep fried crispy aubergine with sweet sour sauce

How time flies.. Now dad is no longer here and all I have are places that I have visited with him, food I have tasted with him, and experiences he had shared with me. How I miss him. Oops.. let's skip the emo. Like dad always say: Life must go on.

This time, I bring my kids to the same place. They may be too small to take on the spicy stuff, so we ordered deep fried salted egg yolk mantis prawn. The salted egg yolk sauce was good, and the kids enjoy the usual crispy stuff.

Deep Fried Mantis Prawn with Salted Egg Yolk

We had also wanted to order the house-specialty tofu basket, but they ran out of stock (wonder if it was that good). We replaced it with their in-house spinach tofu. Hub says a bit tasteless, but I think it was just nice to balance off the other strong taste dishes we ordered.

Spinach Tofu

We also ordered green curry chicken. It was mild enough that the kids could enjoy it too. But if you do not like aubergine that is cooked to a spungy tecture instead of being thouroughly cooked to soft mush, this might not suit you. Otherwise, it is good to go with white rice (typical Asian speaking)

Green Curry Chicken

My FIL ordered Cencaluk Sotong (Squid Fried with Fermented Krill Sauce). For nyonya food lover, I truly enjoy this. The squid was not chewy and easy to bite. The sauce is fragant with spices.

Squid Fried with Fermented Krill Sauce

Using the kids as excuse, we ordered chinese pancake with pandan lotus paste coupled with ice-cream. I thought it was a good conclusion to the meal.

Price: +-RM150

Address: 1, Jalan Medan Ipoh 6, Taman Ipoh Timur, 31400 Ipoh, Perak.

Chicken House @ Ampang

 Eh.. I thought the title is Chicken House.. Why am I featuring pork knuckle here.. 

We were told this is one of the house specialty, and so we ordered one. It came with the lettuce and sauce for wrapping. This dish cost RM80. Kinda pricy for us.

The meat is cold. Cooked in spices and then leave it to marinate. I find the meat's texture a bit too powdery and dry. Taste wise it is actually good. We couldn't finish the big portion. When we pack it back home and dip the meat with Sabah hot chili sauce, it was great.

 Of course we can't miss ordering the chicken. It was actually quite pricy for a fried chicken dish. So it is more worth it to try those that comes with sauce, as that's more of their specialty. But since PL wanted the dry type, we gave in and ordered half spicy sauce and the other half plain. I think this cost around RM50 or so.

 To tell the truth, I wouldn't rave over this. But it is not a bad experience either. The service was ok. The lady owner was quite amicable.

I read in other blogs the hot pot is good too. I would probably come back again to try the others on the menu.

If you too want to try it too? The shop is located on the 2nd floor. Address as below:

Ampang Putra Residency, 5-L2, Jalan Ampang Putra, Taman Putra Sulaiman, 68000 Ampang, Kuala Lumpur

Port Dickson's Lucky Kings Bun

Creamy curry chicken wrapped within soft chewy bun.

Verdict? Good.

Compared to Kampar? The sauce is thicker here.

Any complaint? Some say the gravy has very strong curry powder taste.

Price? RM30 for a curry chicken bun.

What else? They have a 2-in-1 curry pork and dung po yuk (soy sauce spiced pork) wrapped within a bun ~ RM38.

Where?

No 4366, Taman Aman, Jalan Besar, 71010, Port Dickson, NSDK

Open to reservation? Yes @ 06 651 2392

Quickie: Kedai Makanan Nam Chun @ Bangsar

I kinda miss the sourish rich Sarawak laksa, but I don't want to go Laksa Shack (this is one confused+confusing store). So off we went to Bangsar for a good bowl of fragrant Sarawak laksa.

Location: Jalan Telawi, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

While waiting for my laksa, I always get popiah (spring roll) to pacify my hunger.

I like the simple popiah minus all the mouth-injuring-crunchies that you find in most popiah in KL. This is satisfying..

Popiah to me is a form of comfort food. Warm and juicy. I like the stall's simple and clean popiah (without the oily crunchies).

After not-so-long a wait, this dear lady came with the laksa.

There you go.. I like my laksa rich but not heavy, with citrussy flavour to keep my appetite going. And the fragrance from herbs and spices which is not overpowering. Nice...

Golden Sea Restaurant [黄金海岸海鲜村] @ Morib

A family trip back in 2013.. more precisely, a company's family day in Morib. We did not manage to visit the beach. The only private stop we made was this restaurant. I feel it is a good stop as the environment is very relaxing. The kids get to play sand a bit. We get the feel of a beach holiday, albeit just for a brief moment.

The highlights of our lunch was the three dishes below..

Salted Egg Mantis Prawn ~ cantonese called Har Go (蝦蛄) / Lai Liu Ha (攋尿蝦) 

Best eaten hot when the batter is still crunchy on the outside and soft inside. The salted egg covered prawns were gragrant and flavourful. It was really good with a cold beer.

Butter Fried Prawn

The prawns size were reasonable. The fresh meat were crunchy and juicy. 

Steamed Grouper

The best way to enjoy fresh fish will be  清 蒸  or simply translated as "clear steam" where minimal ingredients were used. The fish was reasonably fresh (I wouldn't say very very fresh). 

Including a vegetable dish, it cost us about RM100+-. I think it is a good stop for some relaxing environment and reasonably good seafood.

Address:

Lot 13045, Batu 29 1/2, | Kanchong Laut, (Morib), Banting, Malaysia

Nostalgic revisit to Law Chang Kee In Nibong Tebal

   My dad, being in transport business, frequently brought us travelling through the north and south trunk road. He would stopped at the different towns and introduced us to some of the good eats there.
So when we travelled back from Penang using the new 2nd link, I took the opportunity to stop by Nibong Tebal for dinner. I told the lil monsters this is where their gong gong brought mommy for dinner when mommy was their age. 

   

The blanched baby octopus was most vivid in my memory. Though I avoided them when I was young, now I appreciate its simple and crunchy texture. Real good appetiser combined with the sauce provided.                             

I also took the opportunity to introduce the lil monsters to my favourite prawn dish that their po po used to cook for the family. I wonder assam prawn is a teo chew or hokkien dish but it is a taste that remains strong in my heart.

I found this fried potato leaves with tau choo (fermented soy bean) on the menu list. PM requested for this vege, and it was a good and interesting choice. 

Of course I have to also order this soup, since it forms part of my childhood memory of this place. The lil monsters loved it all the same. Crunchy fish balls, tasty seaweed..

Ben gave a thumbs up for this "Tri-Flavour Fish". Deep fried threadfin fish fillet laden with thinly shredded fried ginger and drizzled with sweet sour sauce. The kick comes from the chopped chilli padi. Goes really well with white rice.

For the lil monsters, I have also included this prawn meat roll in my order. They walloped most of the pieces, leaving Ben and me just enough to taste. Sigh.. haven't I told you they are monsters?

By 7pm, the place is quite packed. Lucky we reach there before that. It was a good meal. Good then, still good now.

Oh I miss you papa..