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Homegrown
favourites
Penang and hawker
food are inextricably linked. Never the two be torn apart! It is not very
surprising then that when one thinks of Penang food, the mind automatically
conjures up visions of freshly cooked hawker fare. Whether you are a local
or a tourist, hawker fare has something to satisfy many palates. Best of
all, eating out at hawker stalls won't break the bank.
The varieties of hawker
fare and hawker centres are seemingly endless, and there are plenty to choose
from at almost any time of the day. It is prudent to leave your stomach with
a little room for some of Penang’s famous desert or snacks – before
or after a meal.
 Ais
kacang
The mother of all Malaysian dessert, it
is also known as “ABC Ais”. Ais kacang literally translated
means “Iced beans”, but it contains more than that. Ais Kacang
is a mixture of shaved ice with red and brown syrup over red beans, jelly,
sweet corn, “attap chi” and evaporated milk. Ice cream is an additional
ingredient available upon request. Super stuff from RM1:50 per bowl.
For the best ais
kacang in town (in no particular order): Hawker stall at Swatow Lane
and Lorong Selamat in the afternoons.
 Cendol
Cendol is a favourite desert among
locals. It is easily identified: green pandan flavoured noodles in white
coconut milk with brown sugar. Sweet heavenly stuff – super cheap and
ultra good. Costs between RM0.80 to RM1.50 per bowl.
For the best cendol
in town (in no particular order): Hawer stall at a lane off Penang Road;
eating outlet at Midlands One-Stop Centre and Lorong Selamat coffee shop
 Rojak
Fruit and vegetable salad consisting of
cucumber, pineapple, nutmeg, unripe mango, cuttlefish and jambu air, mixed
in a potent sauce of prawn paste, chilli, belacan and crushed ground nuts.
A healthy alternative for RM1.50 to RM3.50 per plate.
See kor
th'ng
Dessert of fruits and jellies in syrup served
hot or cold. Costs from RM0.80 per bowl. Try the Gurney Drive hawker centre
in the evenings.
Sotong
bakar
Thin strips of grilled squid taken with
sweet and spicy sauce. A fishy delight for RM4.00 to RM6.00 per serving.
For the best sotong bakar in town: Hawker stalls at Gurney Drive.
 Other
goodies
Don't miss the opportunity
to savour other specialities such as: apom (Indian pancake cooked
in a claypot); bubur cha cha (sweet dessert made from steamed sweet
potatoes, yam, white beans, tapioca jelly in coconut milk); cheh thau
(a sweet porridge made
 from
green peas); gandum (Indian pudding made from wholewheat, brown sugar
and coconut milk); eu char koay (fried puff bread sticks);
gadogado (malay vegetable salad topped with peanut sauce); ham
chin peng (deep fries snack food made from sweet and salty dough, sometimes
filled with red bean paste or glutinous rice); mua chee (made from
steamed glutinous rice flour, chopped into small pieces and rolled in ground
peanuts, sugat and roasted sesame seeds); pie tee ("top hats"
small deep fried paster shell filled with pohpiah filling); goreng pisang
(deep fried battered banana); poh piah (nyonya spring roll filled
with cooked shredded turnip, beans, chopped prawns and soyabean curd); and
putu piring (brown sugar and rice flour cake cooked by steaming and
eaten with grated coconut).
 Local
fruits
There is nothing quite
like a plate brimming over with freah sliced fruits, packed around with ice,
to end any meal in Penang. It's also a good chance to experience with the
huge variety of tropical fruits found here. You'll find fresh fruit stalls
at virtually every food center, and if you want to buy some for sampling
later, any wet market, supermarket or fruit stall will be happy to help you
choose the pick of the crop. Local fruits to try include durian (an acquired
taste), rambutan, starfruit, nangka (jack fruit), mangosteen, duku and
chiku.
One way to try local
fruit is in juice form. Most food centers offer freshly squeezed juices,
including the standard orange and apple varieties. But for real treat, try
starfruit, watermelon, and pineapple, or a mixed juice "cocktail".
The sensational "king of the fruits":
Click
here
for full story.
Lipsmacking local
cookies
When talking about
Penang's biscuits, the tau sar peah (tambun biscuit) reigns supreme. Available
in two varieties, one with green bean filling and another one with gula melaka,
these biscuits are suitable for eating anytime of the day. They also make
great gifts. Coming in at a close second at the popularity stakes is the
hneoh pneah – a flattish biscuit with a flaky crust and sticky caramel
filling. Both biscuits are available from most shops at Chowrasta or direct
from the source – Ghee Hiang and Him Heang are famous brands.
Check out Little India
for a variety of Indian crunchies like savoury muruku and kacang putih. If
you have a craving for sweet and savoury nibbles Malay style, try the pisang
manis sira gula, bahulu, pisang abu masin, kerepek ubi masin, kerepek ubi
and tempeyek. Available from Chowrasta, the Lorong Kulit flea market and
night markets (pasar
malam).
Penang tau sar peah, food for the
Gods:
Click
here
for full story.
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