Genting Muar Chee

It is not a surprise that Penangites are ardent fans of food; and they are known for their eating habits around the clock, or rather, all Malaysians are in the same habit as well. It is for this reason that we see stalls all over the place at all hours of the day; selling somewhat snacks or noodles or just, street delights to tempt the palates of the locals, and it is even more the case for Penang, which is known as the food paradise in the country (and even in the region).

Muar Chee (麻糍) is a local favorite; in its form of boiled/steamed sticky glutinous rice balls/paste cut into small pieces and dressed with a coating of grounded peanuts and sugar. In Penang, they would add the fried shallots as the toppings to complete the snack and it is not uncommon to hear the locals requesting for extra shallots, as they claimed it would add to the aromatic flavor of the gooey snack.

We found this stall right outside the famous Genting coffee shop (famous for their Chee Cheong Fun in the afternoon) run by an elderly man, in the afternoons.



He was rather quiet initially, but was soon humorous when my family requested for extra shallots and nuts and he guaranteed that if the Muar Chee was not aromatic enough, we could return it and ask for a refund. He was confident that he had included a generous amount of his ingredients to make his Muar Chee of great and satisfactory quality to his customers.





While I am not a fan of glutinous sticky rice (yeah, crazy me, I know), the looks from everyone who tasted were testament enough that it was a good one and the best part was that it was served hot and fresh from the making and it is no wonder the uncle was just so proud of his trade.



The aroma of the fried shallots and peanuts filled the air when the box was opened for consumption, and this was probably one of the good Muar Chee tasted around the island.
It may be a common snack, but finding a good one may prove to be quite a task, and I guess the Uncle can continue to be proud of his snacks for quite a long time~ ;-)



Prices are MYR2 for a small box, and MYR3 for the larger box respectively.