A worthwhile find

A worthwhile find

A cluster of foodstalls along Jalan Sungei Pinang serves some really good Penang specialities.

WHENEVER any true foodie worth his (or in this case her) salt is out and about, you can guarantee she is always on the look-out for places to eat, whether it is a restaurant, food court or kopitiam.

So it was that on my way back from having my car serviced recently, when I spotted a number of stalls under the shade of a few tall trees on the main road just outside the Honda service centre in Jalan Sungei Pinang, I decided to stop by.

And discovered a veritable food enclave which has apparently been operating there for the past 20-odd years. Every day bar Sunday, from about 7.30am to 1pm, under the makeshift roofs, these stalls really cook up a storm, serving up some good old Penang specialities.

There are relative newcomers like Ah Lek who’s a mere stripling, having only been selling his Hoo Bak Char Bee Hoon (Fried Bee Hoon with Fish Head) for just seven years, in comparison with someone like Ah Guan who’s been running the Wantan Mee stall with his wife for the past 20 years or so. At the stall next door, Ah Keow has also been selling his Curry Mee there for the last two decades.

Ah Teong’s Lorbak also appears to be quite well known; motorcyclists pull up and order large portions to take away even as he is busy frying up the crispy hay chnee (prawn fritters) the same way his father used to. He took over 15 years ago but, he assures me, he hasn’t changed the recipe at all.

However, the most well-known stall, and certainly the longest-running although not always in this location, must be Oon Swee Hoe’s Chicken Drumstick Noodles. Ah Hoe’s stall, started by his sister in the early 70s, was initially based in Tiong Lor (Macalister Road). They moved to the current site over 20 years ago.

Their speciality is definitely quite unique in Penang, as he reckons only a few other stalls serve it on the island, and two of those are his family members! The noodles – typically mee sua, bee hoon, kuey teow or mee, although the first is by far the most popular – are served in a clear broth with either spare ribs, chicken or duck drumsticks.

That’s not really that different from ark t’hui bee hoon (Duck Drumstick with Bee Hoon), you might say, but what is different is the soup: it is individually double-boiled with tong kooi and red kee chee (wolfberries).

Eaten with some sliced chilli padi, it is not just delicious but is also supposed to be good for you.

Apart from the unusual, slightly medicinal flavour that these Chinese herbs impart, the soup has health-giving properties: kee chee is meant to help the eyes, and tong gooi (Chinese Angelica), which nourishes the blood and improves circulation, is particularly beneficial to women.

“When I took over the stall from my sister, I adapted the recipe and added these herbs,” Ah Hoe explains, “because I thought it was tastier and also healthier.”

His version became so popular that the people who stop by to eat are not just locals but come from as far as Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Indonesians who visit from Medan seem to be particularly partial to them as well. “They even call before they come to place their orders first!” the friendly man says, laughing.

To one side of his stall, a large steamer bubbles away merrily, holding several layers of the stainless steel pots of soup, some with chicken drumsticks sticking out, others with duck or spare ribs.

Business is certainly brisk – as the orders come flying in thick and fast, the bowls are being dished out production-line style. Ah Hoe cooks and doles out the noodles into bowls which he hands over to his wife Choy Yin.

She arranges the meat on top with deft fingers, then pours the remaining soup over, finishing off with a large spoonful of chopped spring onions and a good puff of white pepper.

Their assistants run to and fro delivering the bowls.

They are so busy there’s hardly any time to tidy up until a rare quiet moment, or at the end. And he’s already been up since 4.30am to prepare the soups for the day: they have to be double-boiled for two to three hours.

“When you write about us, we’ll get even busier,” Choy Yin adds, “and today is actually considered a quiet day!”

Business may be good, but profits are down.

“Everything’s much more expensive now,” Ah Hoe laments. That includes the gas which he requires to steam the soup and keep it hot. “I use three cylinders a day,” he says. “(Price of) meat and herbs have all gone up, but I can’t keep increasing my prices as all my customers are regulars who will complain!”

Helen Ong loves Penang and food, not necessarily in that order. Check out her website at www.helenong.com.

-Info courtesy of The Star-