Penang Food – Page 6 – Peter Tan – The Digital Awakening

Penang Hawker Food Slowly Losing Its Unique Tastes

It was silly of me to still think that only Penang has the best hawker food anywhere in Malaysia. Penang used to have hawker food that tasted really nice. Among my favourites are hokkien mee, kali mee, wantan mee, popiah and char kuey teow. Over the years, especially since I moved down to Kuala Lumpur, I have come to realise that the hawker food in my little island paradise do not taste as good as it used to be anymore during those few trips back.

In my opinion, the major cause of this is the ingredients. In the olden days, the hawkers prepared all the essential ingredients by themselves. They pounded the chilies, made the pastes and soup stock, deep-fried the shallots and even made the noodles used in their trades. This made the taste of their respective food unique only to them.

In contrast, many hawkers nowadays buy ready-made ingredients such as chili paste, noodles and even deep-fried shallots to cut down on preparation time and cost. That special touch in making the taste unique is lost. The ingredients used by one hawker is used by a few others who get their supplies from the same wholesaler. Mass production in the name of economy of scale is slowly killing what Penang has been famous for.

Once in a while, I still pine for the hokkien mee that the uncle sporting a crew cut hawked beside the bus stop opposite the PBA (Pihak Berkuasa Air) in Rifle Range. The spicy prawn and pork bone-based soup was simply delicious. Thinly sliced prawns and pork were generously added into the noodles. That was when I was still in primary school. Those were the days when hawkers went the extra mile to ensure that they put in only the best ingredients. How I miss those times.

Day Out With The Kids

True to his words, Bryan spent his entire day with Reallybites and me traipsing half of the island from Sungai Ara to Tanjung Tokong yesterday. Our lunch at Passions of Kerala at Brown Garden, Gelugor was as filling as it was delicious. I am fond of banana leaf rice and this is an occasional indulgence. Of the many such restaurants that I have patronised, Passions of Kerala still serve the best banana leaf rice anywhere.

Among the places we visited were the Taman Perbandaran (Youth Park) and the beach beside Naza Hotel at Tanjung Tokong. Silently, I was excited to be so close to the sea again. It has been a while. On the way out to the main road, we stoped by the Chinese Swimming Club. That building marked major milestones in my life. That building never failed to invoke sadness in me. That was where I first learnt to swim. That was where I last swam. That was where I broke my neck. Reallybites asked when I was there last. That was the first in twenty two years.

That aside, we went window shopping at Gurney Plaza. I got myself another harmonica at a newly opened music store there. This has a wider range of notes compared to the other two that I currently own. The best thing is that I got a RM2 discount off the regular price of RM12. This is much cheaper than the Hohner that I got at Mid Valley. I regretted buying that piece. The sound was not as good as I had expected from this highly-touted brand.

I was a happy man. Never mind that just a few days ago I was extremely down and inconsolable. Never mind that the new drink at The Coffee Bean, called the Lemon Zest, was too sweet to my liking and one that I will never order again for its unpalatable taste. I found the harmonica that I have been looking for. That made up for all the bad days that I went through recently. Of course, I was also grateful for the company of two kids who gave up the time that they could have spent napping to keep me company. What more can I ask for? Not forgetting all who had left encouraging words the last few days, thank you for being there.

And who did we meet at Gurney Plaza? Another fellow blogger and ex-schoolmate Eugene who writes at Limitations & Latitudes. Looks like it is difficult not to bump into another blogger whenever I am out lately. Very often, too, I have blog readers coming up to me and introduce themselves at hotels, restaurants, shopping complexes and even in church. Blogging has given me more than I had bargained for. It has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me. That is a story worthy of an entry by itself. The next entry perhaps.

Penang Hawker Food

Koay kak.
Photo by Wuan.

Penang is famous for its hawker food. The dishes do not taste the same everywhere and the ingredients used may differ too. Therefore it takes a little hunting to get ones that are nice and relatively inexpensive. I usually do not patronise the more popular spots like Swatow Lane, Lorong Selamat or Gurney Drive because they are over-rated and more expensive than other places in the island.

Popiah.
Photo by Wuan.

The food court at the Batu Lanchang incidentally is wheelchair friendly and parking spaces are in abundance. Whenever I am around the vicinity and looking for food, I would invariably stop there. Among my favourites there are the koay kak, popiah, che hoo and ais kacang.

Ais kacang.
Photo by Wuan.

With this brief introduction of some of my favourite Penang hawker food, I am passing the baton to Minishorts. Thank you all for spending time here accompanying us throughout the Blogathon. For those who have not pledged, please do so now. This is all for a good cause. May God bless you all for your kindness.

* The entry was posted at Bloggers are Morons for Blogathon 2005.