Penang Food Trail of Authentic Char Kuay Teow and Cendol

The most interesting bit of my Malaysian Holiday was the trip to Penang. I know This was a shopping trip ,but my shopping was more of the curios kind. More of that later.

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The most authentic Malaysian meal was the one we sampled at Georgetown,Penang.

Just like our desi home style dhaba eateries, this one dished out the most fabulous stuff.

I had sampled Char Kuay Teow at KL and once before at a Malaysian Food festival in a hotel. I can safely say, this was by far the best. 

Inspiring me to try out something similar.

So now that I have been reading about it, our Tour Guide John Khor knew his stuff.

This Mom and Pop joint serves the best.

We tried the Cendol-appropriate for the summertime heat.

After sampling this the third time,I still couldn't get over the Rajma-red Kidney beans in a sweet.

All I could think of was the spiciest curry served with rice or tortillas being dunked into mince spiked Red kidney bean Chilli.

Char Kuay teow and nutmeg drink

enjoy the char kuay teow and see the size of the sprouted mung bean

Laksa,super spicy fish soup.

Rojak

So I'll pass.

Then the Char Kuay Teow.

Served in a plastic plate and banana leaf,the thing that stood out were the jumbo prawns.

Jumbo.

And juicy.

And the giant mung bean sprouts.

I have been trying to sprout my mung beans or moong dal forever. But no matter how warm or how dark my chosen spot is, my sprouts are never the Jack and the beanstalk kind-plump and juicy.

These were.

the right way to use chopsticks

And according to John Khor,our tour guide ,these were OK, I should see the giant ones.

If the place had been crowded ,I would have fallen off the plastic chair.

And to cut the spicy heat ,nutmeg drink. This is a syrup that is made of boiling the outer soft nutmeg fruit and sugar almost 8 hours.

It was sweet ,fizzy and nice. I checked up,remember ,I am DIY mad.

jumbo prawns and fried tofu-boring

And this was rojak.
Fried and served with a sweet shrimp sauce and crushed peanuts.

But I went back to the Char Kuay Teow.

she knows whos the boss!

The little lady who made this had a surprising amount of energy ,considering her wrinkle lined face. And the poor husband in the blue Tshirt was just being bossed around. At least that's what it sounded like. They were speaking the Hokkien dialect of Chinese here.

Similar stuff was up for grabs at the Perisian Gurney Food drive,Penang.

Only,by the time we reached they were cleaning up. So we had to just make do with the 7/11 store.

More coming up on what you must eat while in Malaysia.

So what are you baking today???

Smart and Sassy Dining, Penang Food Trail

Smart and Sassy and modern dining ,Spoon Cafe, Ghotel,Kelawai , Penang.
The next step in my Malaysian holiday.
The first evening in

To start with desserts.
I mean, you never know which meal might be your last.                                                                                                                      So before I indulge in any cholesterol rich, meal at a buffet- this spectacular buffet at the G hotel,Kelawai, I needed to try the desserts.
And what a spread it was.
Spoilt for choice.
Totally.

I quite loved the flavor of the pandan leaf. In rice and in the sponge cake too. Cream ,every where is dairy free , so I skip that ,but the cake was good.
So was the Kuih with the pandan and some kind of jelly.

What I really loved was the visual appeal of these tiny rainbow cake bites. However, I love homemade. So I passed. But the gelato was to die for . Twice. Strawberry. Coffee. Repeat.
And then there were the Kuih Bahulu , Bread and Butter And Raisin Pudding with a vanilla sauce and Marshmallows and the candy and fruit skewers and the ubiquitous chocolate fountain.
And jello shots.
And some lemon meringue tarts ,which were good and tart.
I loved the granite platters too...

The frozen or super fresh fish was up for the offing at the Atmosphere 360 in Kuala Lumpur too ,but I never had the guts to try them there.  Its was now or never... if you have been keeping track ,I cant eat fish with my boys as they are allergic to most shell fish. So I tried the mussels and the prawns and also the oyester, however, I prefer the cooked version.
A little wasabi and lemon juice goes a long way , but this is certainly an acquired taste.
The salads were awesome and the bread spread was vast too.

These were what were interesting.  The local Penang /Nyonya cuisine . Presented in cute casserole dishes. u cant believe that I passed over a Le Creuset casserole on 50%discount at the Mitsui Brand Outlet, Kuala Lumpur for a Guess Tote.
Vanity.
Anyway, squid, crab ,prawn and fish curry.
My only difficulty was that the prawns were not shelled. We are spoilt in India. Jumbo prawns are shelled here. So I had a major problem...
The curries was fabulous. Not all had coconut and they were tangy and spicy and Yum.
I joted down the names... but cant seem to find them.

Nasi Putih Pandan was the carrier for my curries. I loved the flavor of Pandan in the rice.

The nyonya sour and spicy fish curry Gulai Tumis Ikan was the best. 

And they had an assortment of tapas , spicy ,fried, crisp and yumm. The glutinous rice  cooked in banana leaves has been making regular appearances and was nice. 

What was really cool was the effort made for our vegetarian companions by the chef. A wonderful platter of dal, rice pickle and papad ,to ensure that they didn't feel left out. 

Yup, the pic of that platter is somewhere in this miasma...

Overall, the stay at the G HOTEL, Kelawai ,Penang was comfortable and the food superb. 

I would love to go back again.

Planning to attack unshelled prawns next time...

So what are you waiting for???