Kulim's Kilang Lama Asam Laksa

The ever Malaysian favorite, the Asam Laksa, with the spicy sourish taste of tamarind pulps (Asam) with the fish based soup, mint and bunga kantan (torch ginger) never fails in seducing the locals and foreigners alike with its exotic scent filling the air wherever it is found.
This local street delight is available in most places around the country, with Penang being hailed as one of the more popular version of Asam Laksa with the many places on the island serving this.

There is another famous Asam Laksa up north; all the way in the now-booming industrialized town of Kulim. From their humble beginnings and their expansion of their stalls in Kulim and Bukit Mertajam, this family run business was made famous with their flagship stall in the Kilang Lama food court (located at the junction) frequented by the locals and the nearby industrial zone workers; hence earning their brand as the Kilang Lama Asam Laksa.

Their lesser known (probably only known to the locals) place of operation is none other than their humble abode in a quiet neighborhood in Kulim.









The compound of the house was converted into their place of business; with plastic tables and chairs set up to accommodate their crowds during the peak hours of operations.

The bowl of Asam Laksa, served piping hot is indeed a comfort on a rainy day which was exactly the mode of the weather when we visited the place.





The shrimp paste sauce (Heh Go in Hokkien, a popular delicacy among the northern population) is served in a plastic squeeze bottle where one can add to their bowl of thick rice noodles to their preference.





The other unique part about this Kulim Asam Laksa, which differentiates it from the usual Penang Asam Laksa; giving it that extra edge to its identity is the addition of the crackers to the thick and spicy sourish  broth.
(The crackers are all in the plastic containers placed on each table; for the customers to add to their heart's content)



How to enjoy the cracker?
Do it either way, to your liking; either you dip the whole piece into the broth or break them into pieces the way you do with cream crackers and let them immerse in the soup along with the noodles.
Which way do you prefer?





While you are there, don't forget to try out a bowl of Ice Kacang (ABC) - always my favorite wherever I go :-)



While I am not really a big fan of laksa, I was excited with the way their business is doing so well since I first came to Kulim a few years ago for work and their reputation has certainly established well over the years.

Prices are clearly stated on the menu board



It is not exactly easy to locate this place, if I had not been led here but that's probably because I am not that familiar with the neighborhood and tend to stick to the industrial zone?
(Do a quick Google search, and the reliable maps would point you to the place directly and accurately :-)



(Heavy downpour when I was leaving the place)



P.S: The neighboring house is reputed to serve great Chai Kueh (Vegetable crystal dumplings), and unfortunately they were closed at the time of my visit. I will leave it in a separate post, another time then.

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.

Apom Balik for Tea

Apom/Apam, or apong(in local Hokkien) is a local favorite on the island of Penang; a sweet savory Nyonya treat in the form of a folded mini pancake and its soft, fluffy and pillowy texture along with a hint of aromatic coconut milk will leave one craving for more.
It is not unusual to see stalls selling this local and delicate delight around the island wherever you go; from morning markets to outside coffee shops, schools, banks and offices, until night markets to show you that this is an all-day favorite treat among the locals.

There are two variants of this; a lighter batter in a crepe-like version with a soft eggy texture which is also known as Apam Telur(Apom/Apong Telur) and the other is as described above, a slightly thicker and richer version with coconut known as the Apam Balik.
You can find both version around the island.

Ask any Penangite about the most famous Apom Balik, and they will probably point you in the direction of Burmah Road where there are two stalls; indisputably famed for this light tea snack.
Apong Guan and Apom Chooi are both known for their reputation in making the best apam on the island; although the former holds the superior title to the latter, wooing customers from both the local Penangites and also those from the other states.
By the way, did you know that Apong Guan and Apom Chooi were actually related, though they are still competitors? (Trivia)

Apong Guan is well known for his wonderful customer service, the elderly man behind the stall is never without a kind word or a smile for each and every of his customer and there was never an air of arrogance around him despite rushing to meet the demands of his customers. I joke you not, as there are customers who would order 50-100 pieces (minimum) from him!

Anyway, I will cover more on the story of Apong Guan in a separate article, as this round, we tried out Apom Chooi, whom, rain or shine opens for business every day. His stall is located just a few steps away from Apong Guan, before the primary school, SJK(C) Union along Burmah Road, and next to him is a stall selling sugar cane juice.
Apom Chooi, is also busy making these little savory pancakes in huge orders for the visiting customers during the Qing Ming period.

Priced at MYR0.50 each, we bought the original flavor and the pandan flavored atom.
(Used to be priced at only MYR0.40, the price has increased early this year)

Original Flavored Apam Balik


Pandan Flavored Apam Balik


Apom Chooi did not disappoint in delivering a good Apam Balik, and is a slightly less sweeter version compared to his competitor, Apong Guan.
There is no one far superior in this, and the post is not meant to make an contrast or stark comparison between the two famous stalls as it really boils down to a matter of personal preference, which is the main reason behind both stalls' own base of fans lusting after the light afternoon snack.

Apom Chooi is run by an elderly, slightly over 70 years old man, who does not speak much and just prepares the pancakes based on customer's orders.

If you are interested to compare between the two stalls, or just craving for the Apam Balik for an afternoon snack, you might want to head down to Burmah Road, which, by the way, is also a street famous for many other food which I shall cover on in the future.

Taiwan Food Diary: Rolled pancake (Ban Cheng Kueh)

I was prepared to be greeted with the varieties of food on the streets of Taipei; and I was not disappointed as I have mentioned again and again in all of my posts about all the stalls spotted (though some illegally) everywhere.

While in Ximending, I have also spotted this particular stall operated by a young girl; probably in her teens or early twenties, selling pancakes.

These are uncommon in my country; in fact it was one of the favorite street food too popularly found in the morning or night markets back at home.

They are known as Pancakes, or Ban Cheng Kueh (in Hokkien); just as it is known in Taiwan too and they are made of an egg and flour batter, where they are then baked on little pans before sugar, chunks of butter, grounded nuts and a dollop of canned sweet corn are added on top of it.

Nowadays, the people behind this pancake is getting creative; introducing new flavors such as red bean, chocolate, strawberry if you are not into the original flavor as described above.

This stall caught my eye not because it was serving something which I can find in my own country; but rather, they were quite creative to make rolls of pancakes; as in, they just roll the dough and make them into Pancake rolls, like these:-

It was not too expensive, and I got myself one; and since I am a fan of red bean, there is no prize for guessing which flavor I went for.
(The triangular shaped pancakes are cut from the whole round pancake just like slices of pizza; and they are always best in the original flavor of grounded nuts with corn).

My Rolled Pancake oozing with the generous amount of red bean paste; at only TWD$200


Yup, eat it just like that, right on the street....(I don't usually do this, LOL), but again, everything seems fun when you are traveling, so just trying how it is like, that people just eat right on the streets!~

Taiwan Food Diary: Brown Sugar Cake

There are plenty to look out for while in Taipei, from the local eateries to the street food, there is no end to the varieties staring and beckoning to you from every corner and alley while in the city. It is almost synonymous to that of my own country, where the food never seems to take a break or go to sleep at all; perhaps even more so back in my country where you could wake up in the middle of the night feeling hungry and you are still able to dispel that quickly by popping to those late night to early morning eateries everywhere (that's Malaysia for you).

In my food diary, the trails of the food and the types of food will be shared along the way; hand in hand with the updates from my travel blog which shares on all the places visited, with a quick note of my personal perspectives during the journey to each and every site.

The morning where we visited Longshan Temple, and then wound up checking out the streets nearby; which had a bustling morning market in action, beckoning to the early birds' crowd.



It is interesting that while I don't frequent the markets (morning or night) back in my hometown, I ended up doing the exact opposite when I am in a foreign country; but in my defense, this was supposed to be something that the locals do around here, and hey, somehow everything seems fun when you are traveling? (I doubt I will have that same enthusiasm to do the same thing back here, but I might try, once in a while).
I was interested to capture and watch the typical or usual scenes which take place in the neighborhood, and all these seems like what the locals enjoyed on a regular basis.
Besides, their morning market was not exactly similar as it seemed more like a street filled with eateries on one side of the street while the other are laid with canvas mats with second hand goods for sale.

I spotted this particular stall selling cakes, buns, and baked goods, which caught my eye, as there were many items which were really fascinatingly unique and they were mostly meant for deities worship (remember the Longshan temple was nearby?)



The way to tell the goods were meant for worship is to look out for red patterns or red wordings or dot; yeah, the key word here being something red on the buns, or cakes. Red is considered an auspicious color and the Chinese dwell on this; and it is practiced by all of them in every corner of the world (yes, wherever you go).



There are inscriptions of well-wishes or meaningful words on the buns usually; such as prosperity, wealth, luck, longevity and such in red that makes them unmistakably the items for the deity worship.
Most of these can be consumed; although it would help to check with the seller if you are unsure.
The lady running the stall was quite friendly; though not with that beaming smile but she was quite soft-spoken and kind enough to answer some of our questions. She even recommended some cakes for us to try; and I ended up picking this.




It costs about TWD$20-30 per packet; which contained 4 pieces.
The description says that this is a Brown sugar cake; made without eggs or any dairy products.
The main ingredients are rice flour, brown sugar, water, and rising sugar.




Brown sugar is typically associated with dispelling heat/toxins from the body; as compared to the usual white sugar, or so as believed by some of the elders. Another reason it is also favored in baking is due to the light fragrant scent from the brown sugar itself, which added a little bit more flavor to the baking.



The cake, was surprisingly quite dense and it tasted like an entire block of brown sugar with rice flour. Taste wise, I wouldn't say it was too bad, if you are a fan of cakes and non-dairy stuffs, this would be quite an interesting try, though not so much for the non-gluten folks.



The cake was also topped with a fair scattering of sesame seeds, to add to the taste.
There were also no preservative included in the cake; nor is there any artificial coloring, and we were told that the cake should be consumed within the very same day (recommended). If not, it should be refrigerated immediately, and even then, it's best to consume it within a day or two.

Not a bad try, though I think we may be able to find this back home, maybe not in the same texture or taste. It should not be hard for baker enthusiasts to be able to simulate or even innovate this simple recipe?