Koay Teow Th’ng
Penang Koay Teow Th’ng or Koay Teow Soup typically comes with slices of pork, fish or eel balls, fish cake and a tasty broth with flat rice noodles, the soup stock is typically boiled from chicken or pork bones for more depth in flavour. Some variations include using duck meat instead of pork, while a dry version may also be requested.
This noodle soup also comes with condiment of sliced fresh red chilies in garlic and soy-vinegar or lime for an extra zest to go with the simpler tasting ingredients.
Curry Mee
Curry Mee was one of our favourite dishes in Penang, similar to a traditional coconut laksa found in other parts of Asia. The Curry Mee dish is a soup formed with a combination of curry and coconut milk, typically involving yellow noodles and rice vermicelli, fried bean curd, cockles, prawns, cuttlefish, cubes of pig’s blood and bean sprouts. We were not too keen on the pig’s blood but without it, it was still delish.
Char Koay Teow
When it comes to Penang food, there is no more famous dish than char koay teow. Sometimes called fried kway teow, it is a dish of flat rice noodles, stir fried in a charcoal-fired wok with fat supple prawns, cockles, scrambled egg, crunchy bean sprouts, strips of fish cake and chilli paste. The more famous versions of this dish will include pork lard and even sweet barbecued pork slices which results in a combination of flavours that are pretty unique.
Penang Rojak
Rojak is considered a colloquial representation of variety and mixture. Commonly found in Malaysia and Singapore, it is a salad of bean curds, fritters (you tiao), bean sprouts, cuttlefish and assortment of fruits covered in a thick syrupy peanut sauce. Freshly tossed with pineapple slices so sweet you would widen your eyes in surprise.
The sauce of the Penang rojak I had at Gurney Drive was such an eclectic delight I could not figure out what their secret ingredient was.
Cendol
After diving headfirst into all those chilli-infused local dishes, it is good to know that Penang’s also famous for a sweet, icy dessert that will help cool the fire to your taste buds. Known as cendol or chendul, each bowl is made up of coconut milk, pandan-flavoured green rice flour jelly noodles and brown sugar poured over a heaping of shaved ice. At some stalls you will find the addition of red beans, glutinous rice and creamed corn but our favourite place serves up the traditional teochew version which locals call the Penang Road Famous Chendul. In operation since the 1950s’, it is located at the stall right beside Jooi Hooi Café on Jalan Penang.
Kim Leng Lor Mee
Lor Mee is a dish of yellow noodles and or bee hoon (rice vermicelli) drenched in a thick, dark gravy. The gravy is packed with flavour, it is cooked with pork rib stock and spices. Typically, you can find egg, slices of barbecued pork, and bean sprouts added in. It is a hearty meal, and despite the fact that it is not fried, it still packs a punch because of the gravy.