Tag: chai sim

Genting Cafe Wan Than Mee And Chee Cheong Fun

A trip back to Penang is not really a trip back to Penang unless I get to savour some of the popular hawker food. Wuan and I went to Genting Cafe the last time we were back. She has never eaten there before. Ask any Penangite and they probably would have eaten there one time or another, or least heard of it before. This typical coffee shop is at the corner between Lorong Delima 6 and Lorong Delima 3, and opposite the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Hamid Khan field.

The road is narrow and car parking bays are limited. The times that I wanted to eat there, we could not find a place to park. It must have been our lucky day that morning. We got a space just across the road from the coffee shop. I had to negotiate around stalls and puddles of dirty water to get in. While we were looking for an empty table, one of the hawkers offered us the table he was occupying.

Penang Genting Cafe wan than mee
Wan than mee (wantan noodles) at Genting Cafe in Penang.

It has been a while since I last had some nice tasting wantan noodles and decided on a plate of kon lou. Incidentally, the hawker who gave up the table for us was the stall owner. The small serving I ordered cost RM2.50. It came with deep fried wantan, chai sim, char siu slices, shredded chicken and pickled green chillies. The noodles were springy like how I liked them to be. I would have preferred the wet wantans but the deep fried ones were nice, too.

Penang Genting Cafe chee cheong fun
Chee cheong fun at Genting Cafe in Penang.

Wuan had a bowl of something that did nothing to impress her taste buds. So we ordered the chee cheong fun which was very popular as evident by the queue at the stall. (My previous entry on this is here). The small serving of two rice rolls was RM1.70. The strong aroma of the prawn paste was subdued and there were hints of peanut butter. I could make do without the peanut buttery taste. A more distinct prawn paste aroma would have tantalised my palate more, although I always hated how my breath smelt of prawns afterwards. Having filled our tummies with some “authentic” Penang hawker fare, we took a leisurely drive to town to run some errands and experienced, yet again, the crazy traffic this island has become famous for.

Pasar Tani Mega Kampung Simee In Ipoh – Part 3/3

Pasar Tani Kg. Simee
Pasar Tani Kg. Simee

December 19, 2009

The stalls selling vegetables at the pasar tani was another interesting and colourful sight. There were green from the vegetables, orange from ripe pineapples, purple from jantung pisang and pink from the bunga kantan, among others. I had expected to see more varieties of ulam. I guess the rainy season must have deterred the harvesting as less people were expected to visit the pasar tani.

I was salivating again when I saw the tender bamboo shoots called rebung on display at one of the stalls. It has been a while since I last had bamboo shoot dishes. I like it sliced and cooked in coconut milk curry with prawns. However, the Chinese believe that it will cause a lot of “wind” in the body and should be eaten in moderation, or better still, not at all.

After all that shooting and salivating, I was beginning to get tired and decided to call it a day at the pasar tani. I did not want to wear myself out too much as we had to check out from the hotel, have lunch with the in-laws in Ipoh and drive up to Penang right after that. We wanted to reach the island before dark.

Bamboo shoots - rebung
Bamboo shoots – rebung.

Flowering Chinese cabbage - choy sum
Flowering Chinese cabbage – kobis Cina – choy sum.

Torch ginger flower - bunga kantan
Torch ginger flower – bunga kantan

Pineapples - nenas
Pineapples – nenas.

Bananas - pisang
Bananas – pisang.