Penang 2012 eats: Gurney Drive Hawker Centre

Finally, I am able to write and post up some foodie photos of our trip to Penang last month! It has been a really full-on past two weeks for my family (which also saw me in hospital for 3 days!), and it's still no time for rest, but I am stealing a moment to relax and work on something I enjoy. We had the privilege to attend my cousin's wedding in Penang, and we stayed at a hotel on Gurney Drive (aka Persiaran Gurney), one of the most well-known places in Penang. It is a beautiful location with sweeping sea views, and home to one of Penang's biggest and most famous eateries.

Gorgeous sea views along Gurney Drive. Shot was taken as we were walking northward towards the other end where the hawker centre is located:

One section of the vast open-air hawker centre, with many stalls offering diners plenty of choice:

I was informed by one of my cousins that the Gurney Drive Hawker Centre is more expensive than other more 'local' hawker centres. We encountered many tourists in this area, so perhaps that is the driving force behind the higher price. It is still very cheap by Aussie standards, and is slightly more tourist-friendly than the more local hawker centres. As typical of most hawker centres, each group of tables are claimed by a particular drinks vendor, and you cannot order drinks from a drinks vendor other than the one that serves your table. I guess the drinks vendors have to also make their money somehow. It is always a crowded and noisy affair when dining at a hawker centre, and it can be great fun when dining out with family or friends. We had an enjoyable time "shopping" for our dinner, browsing through the different food stalls and marvelling at the wonderful variety of delicious-looking food.

We found one stall selling many types of Nonya kueh! Nonya is part of my heritage, and these kueh make up some of my fondest childhood foodie memories in Malaysia. I could not resist buying a few goodies for later (photos of our purchase towards the end of this post):

This Char Kuey Teow hawker had a long queue, which we took to be a good sign that the noodles are good:

The queue moved fairly quickly, and before long I was at the head of the line where I had a good view of the CKT chef in action:

The fried flat rice noodles, served rather unglamourously on the lid of a Styrofoam takeaway box. However, it was really tasty char kuey teow, not too greasy and perfectly seasoned with wok hei (that lovely charred flavour from the wok):

A plate of Rojak (a type of fruit and veg salad), from a stall claiming to serve the best rojak on Gurney Drive (there were other rojak stalls making similar claims such as "Best rojak in Penang" and so on). Not bad for a rojak, and was a nice balance of sweet, spicy and sour:

At a popiah stall, yet another food item that conjures up fond childhood memories of DIY popiah parties. Hubby said he'd never had popiah before, and I didn't hesitate to make my way to this stall to get some:

Popiah is essentially a 'fresh' spring roll (i.e. not fried) with a mostly vegetarian filling, primarily made from grated turnip or jicama and a few other crunchy vegetables. The vendor had drizzled a sweet sauce over the pieces before handing the plate over. A fabulous way to get that all-important vege intake:

There were a few "Ikan Bakar" stalls that had seafood on ice. Diners could pick fish, prawns, squids and other seafood to be cooked to order on charcoal grill. I chose squid...:

... and some king prawns. These two were more expensive than all the other items and drinks we'd also bought, but they were pretty fresh and quite enjoyable to eat:

Back at the hotel, we enjoyed the first things we bought at the hawker centre: Nonya kueh. When I was a kid, I used to eat the Kueh Lapis (layered cake, foreground) by peeling off each individual coloured layer. In the background is Kueh Dadar: pandan-flavoured crepe with grated coconut and gula melaka (palm sugar) filling. So good:

Two flavours of Kueh Kosui: gula melaka (palm sugar) and pandan - both very traditional and typical flavours in Nonya kueh:

Gurney Drive Hawker Centre
Northern end of Gurney Drive (aka Persiaran Gurney), between Sunrise Tower and Gurney Plaza
Georgetown, Penang
Malaysia

I leave you with a photo of the best durian - or what was left of it - that hubby claimed he had ever eaten thus far (and he is not a big fan of durians), bought from a streetside vendor opposite the entrance of The Butterfly Farm. It was deliciously creamy with a beautiful taste and a heavenly aroma. It was probably a bit expensive by Malaysian standards (still cheaper than any durian in Australia or Hong Kong), but it was SO good that I only thought to take a photo after we'd eaten six of the seven pieces. I reckon if all durian virgins ate durians as good as this one, they would fall in love with the "king of fruits".

Durian that was so good, it'd probably even convert durian-haters:

Penang Butterfly Farm

We were in Penang for a couple of days on the weekend for a wedding, and we had time to pay the Butterfly Farm a (re)visit. We first visited the Butterfly Farm more than four years ago when our little boy hadn't yet been born (but I had morning sickness!). This time we arrived at the right time to join the free guided tour, and we got to do a few things that we didn't do last time like:

1. Find out that butterflies can remain copulated for many hours, up to a day!

2. Hold a caterpillar (that was our 3.5 year old's hand, being brave for all of two seconds before he tried to shake the caterpillar off):

3. Learn about various other animal and plant species that exist in the same environment as the butterflies. Here hubby was handling a millipede:

4. Release butterflies that had newly emerged from their chrysalis, where the metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly took place:

It is definitely worth a visit.

The Penang Butterfly Farm
830 Jalan Teluk Bahang
Teluk Bahang, 11050 Penang
Malaysia
Tel. +60 4 885 1253

(We took the No. 101 Rapid Penang Bus from central Penang to the Butterfly Farm which took about 45 minutes and cost about RM3 per person.)

Butterflies love Rob

The butterflies at Penang Butterfly Farm could not keep their feet off Rob and his bright red t-shirt. I thought this photo was too amusing not to post.

Rob standing very still in an awkward pose (he was looking at a stick insect when the butterfly landed on him) so as not to scare the butterfly away until I'd taken a few shots!


We had a great time at the butterfly farm, and I think Rob saw more exotic butterflies and insects (particularly the variety of stick insects) in that one place that he had ever seen in his entire life.

Malaysian food - Part 3: Penang eats

After spending a couple of days with family in KL, we headed to Penang for an overnight stay. My family used to live in Johor Bahru, which is at the southern tip of West Malaysia (so close to Singapore) so we hardly ever made the 8+ hour drive to Penang to visit my uncle (mum's eldest bro) and his family. The last time I was in Penang was more than 15 years ago for a family reunion shortly before my family migrated to Australia. This uncle (the same one who single-handedly cooked all of the dishes for the homecooked spread during our most recent visit) and his wife graciously spent a whole day driving and bringing us around to enjoy the gastronomical delights of Penang. And did we eat! I'm still amazed at just how much food we managed to stuff in a single day! My uncle and auntie brought us to the best hawker eateries and stalls in Penang, but unfortunately I do not know the precise location of each place. Don't worry though - it's hard to go wrong with food in Penang. I had my camera with me so this is a great way to introduce the wonderful food you can expect to enjoy in Malaysia (and according to my uncle, the best versions are found in Penang).

Another thing about Malaysian food is how cheap they are. Most of the dishes listed below cost around RM 3 (~AU$1 or 100 yen).

Main and side dishes

Char Kuay Teow - fried flat rice noodles. Usually with seafood, various meat, dark and light soy sauce, lots of oil and beansprouts. If you're lucky you can get ones with seeham (cockles, a type of strong-tasting shellfish). These noodles are very tasty, and one of Rob's favourite Malaysian food.



Hor Fun - this is kuay teow noodles with thick egg sauce. Usually comes with seafood, various meat and leafy greens, and you must stir and mix all the ingredients and sauce before eating. This is one of my favourite food especially when it's made with fresh noodles. Not as greasy as Char Kuay Teow. By the way, kuey teow noodles are my all-time favourite type of noodles, especially the fresh ones. Unfortunately I can't buy dried or fresh kuey teow in Japan.

Horfun before and after mixing:


Popiah - a type of spring roll filled with bang kuang (a type of turnip) and various vegetables. Very healthy too.

Chee Cheong Fun - a type of rice noodle roll served with a dark and thick salty-sweet sauce (and chilli sauce if requested). I remember eating this for breakfast when I was a kid on Saturday mornings after a trip to the hawker stalls. It's one of my favourite food from childhood.

Popiah and Chee Cheong Fun:


Assam Laksa - noodles in a spicy and sour fish soup of Nonya origin. The soup is made with assam, which is the Malay word for tamarind. Laksa is a very popular noodle dish and there are many variations of laksa depending on the region. Laksa is also one of Rob's favourite Malaysian food although he has a preference for the coconut-based curry laksa.

Hokkien Mee in Penang is basically what is known to many non-Malaysians as Prawn Noodle Soup. It is what the English name suggests - noodles in a prawn-based broth. Ingredients include prawns, meat (pork and/or chicken), sliced heepia (fish cake), fish balls and boiled egg, usually garnished with deep fried shallots and spring onion and served with an extra dose of sambal belacan (spicy chilli sauce made with shrimp paste). Note that there are two types of Hokkien Mee, and depending on location, it could mean either the fried yellow noodles or the prawn noodle soup. To me, Hokkien Mee refers to the fried noodles, so imagine my surprise to find that Hokkien Mee in Penang refers to what I know as prawn noodle soup.

Assam Laksa and Hokkien Mee:


Nasi Kandar is a term that I was not familiar with, but I saw many references to this dish in Penang. When I asked my uncle and aunt what nasi kandar was, they answered by bringing us to a Nasi Kandar stall. These stalls are run by mamak (Indian-Muslims), and Nasi Kandar is a meal of rice served with a variety of curry dishes and sides. It is simple fast food since all the dishes are already prepared, but one of the advantages is the large variety of curry to choose from.

A Nasi Kandar stall, and a plate of nasi kandar:


Drinks and dessert

Cendol is a very popular drink made with coconut milk, pandan noodles and palm sugar. I remember when I was young, the cendol man would ride past our house every afternoon selling this delicious drink, and my sisters and I would occasionally sneak out to pay this man 50 cents for a cendol drink served in a mini plastic bag with a straw. The ones I've had since were usually served more sophisticatedly in a glass or bowl. It's a very nice and refreshing drink that also doubles as a dessert.

Cendol:


Ice Kacang is also known as ABC which is short for air batu campur - air means water, batu means stone and campur means to mix. The word kacang means beans and refers to the red (adzuki) beans used in this dessert. The base of Ice Kacang is usually made up of atap chee (young palm seeds), red beans, corn, grass jelly and cendol noodles, and then it is topped with a mound of shaved ice and drizzled with a generous amount of syrup and condensed milk. There are of course no rules, and a variety of other ingredients do make their way into this dessert such as nuts, fruits and ice cream.

Ice kacang with ice cream, and with fruits and ice cream:


Roti (bread)

I have given a more detailed explanation about Roti Canai and Murtabak in a recent post. The ones we had in Penang for brunch were quite a lot better than the ones we had in Kajang. We also ordered Roti Tisu (tissue bread) which is actually a sweet variation of roti canai pulled really thin, cooked on a hot plate until super-crispy, rolled into a tall structure and drizzled with condensed milk. It was a bit too sweet for me, but I wanted Rob to give it a try.

Roti Canai and Murtabak:


Roti Tissue - notice how tall it was! Beautiful but it makes for clumsy and messy eating: