Jalan Jalan Cari Makan 07Feb2012, Round 3

Back to the town of Kampar, although we are full from our earlier meals, I am not going to miss trying this , especially after since we are here.

Yau Kee Restaurant at 55 & 57 Jalan Idris, 31900 Kampar (look for it in the older part of town, near the bus station).

Famous for it's Curry Chicken bread or Roti Ayam (hey.. they put that on their signboard)... i.e. curry chicken wrapped and cooked in a bread dough.

There's two sizes, big or small. This is the small one. Looks small because the chopsticks by the bread are much longer than the average chopsticks you find elsewhere.

Even the small size is quite large for the two of us.

The waitress opened it up.. and voila... ready to be enjoyed..

Dipping the bread into the curry to soak it up.

The bread is nice, soft and tender. Tasted milky and sweet.


But the curry chicken itself is a disappointment. Sure, there are plenty of chicken chunks in the curry but the curry itself, I found to be quite bland. Maybe it is more suitable for those who is not accustomed to spicy food. Definitely Penang curry chicken wins hands down. Well I have tried it, and will I be back here... for the novelty, maybe .. for the ummp factor...not likely..

This Rori Ayam cost us RM28.00.

Towels, tea, groundnuts another RM7.10.

Jalan Jalan Cari Makan 07Feb2012, Round 2

Tanjung Tualang, Perak.

A very very small pekan, about 45 minutes south of Ipoh. Heck, there isnt any official road sign pointing to this place.

Taking the Gopeng exit from PLUS, head towards Kampar. After the old Kampar town, turn left at the Kampar clock tower. Then take a right at the next traffic light (I think, cant really remember :P).

Head straight and will come up to a wood factory on your left. In front of the wood factory is a small sign showing you to turn right to Tanjung Tualang. From there road mile markers will guide you.

Be careful that you might drive pass it if you dont look out for it.

Pekan Tanjung Tualang

For such a small pekan of about 3 streets, one thing in abundnce here is renovated, modern looking, fully air conditioned restaurant. I counted about 8 of them. They all specialised in the main attraction of Tanjung Tualang..... fresh water marine food, especially the fresh water big-head prawns.

Aquariums with the prawns are shown outside all the restaurants.

Being first time here, dont know and cannot decide which restaurant to walk into. So ask a local for a recommendation, and was directed to

Hup Kar Foon Restaurant, No 37, Jalan Homan Tanjung Tualang, 31800, Tg Tualang Perak

Not sure because its the nearest, and can be easily pointed at from where we ask her.

Tanks full of prawns are exhibited outside the restaurant.


And some of them are huge.

Something else unique to this place is the 'Jelly' drink. The restaurants dont sell them, but will be willingly phone the stall selling them to bring them in for you.

There's two version. One with coconut milk and the other with kumquat juice. Nice and refreshing.

Yellowish jelly on top, coconut milk in the middle and some shaved ice below.

Ordered a kilo of the medium sized prawn, RM80.00/kilo. Half of it to be pan-fried, another steamed. Was told 1 kilo of the biggest would only be like 3-4 prawns

Arriving first is the dry pan fried in soy sauce with a hint of black pepper. Dont look impresive but is nice.

Special prawn chili sauce to go with the prawn. Made from prawn essences.



These beauties came next, steamed in chinese wine and ginger.


A plate of vegetable to go with the main dished. Must not have a totally cholestrol ladden meal, right?


I have to say, the prawns are real firm and succulent. The cooking method complement the prawns well. I especially enjoy the steamed version.

The prawns served dont have much roe though, but their heads are quite packed with the gooey gooey stuff that I like.

Cost of the above meal

Prawn RM80, Vege RM8, Drinks RM1.50 x 2.

By the way, I ve read that the prawns here are from a large scale prawn farm in the area, so was expecting cultured farm prawns. Not that I can taste the difference between wild and farm prawns :P.....

But the lady boss of this restaurant told us that most of her prawns are wild prawns caught in surrounding rivers, that her place is where to go for wild river prawns.

Round 3 to follow....

Jalan Jalan Cari Makan 07Feb2012, Round 1

Last 7th February 2012, public holiday, so decided to drive around visiting makan places.

First stop, under the oil palm tree


Warung Kelapa Sawit, Juru, near Autocity has been a favourite haunt of mine.

From Autocity, turn left at McDonalds. Will pass a Petronas Petrol station on your right. And a short drive from there, the stall would be on your right. No signboard or grand entrance.

This place is packed during lunch time, frequented by workers from factory in the surrounding Juru and Bukit Minyak Industrial Areas.

A simple set up, which adds to the charm of this place.

Here, the only thing available is nasi Melayu, with quiet a spread of dishes to pick from.

But the main stars are deep fried from this woks. The owner even needs four big woks to keep up with the demand during peak lunch time.

The woks are use to deep fry large Black Prompets, Bawal Goreng.

The fishs came out crispy on the outside but still moist and tender inside.

Did not take much other dishes with our rice, since will be visitng many more makan places today.

Hers

Mine

And just two large Bawal goreng today. The two of us can normally finish 4 of these yummy fishes.

But for me personnaly, the real star of this place is the sambal belacan and ulam. I usually ignore the small saucer and get a big bowl of the sambal.

The sambal will have you sweating before you know it. The ulam keeps the flame level down a bit, but the fish dipped into the sambal belacan is truly addictive. A little kicap manis adds another wonderful dimension to the sambal.

A simple dish, and a beginning of a good day.

And it only cost us RM18.00, including drinks.

.. to be continue ...Round 2

Ngaku..ing

Suddenly, as I am getting older, I seems to discover more food or even stuffs that are available in the older days and are making a comeback..

One of them, ngaku or arrowhead.. seasonal and only available during Chinese New Years. I have never heard of ot until maybe 4-5 years back.

I also have to admit, I have never seen it in its plant form, only the tuber, widely sold by hypermarts during this time.

Its widely available come every Chinese New Years celebration lately because of the wonderful and addictive chips of which the ngaku can be made into.

After peeling, the ngaku looks exactly like any peeled waterchestnut, abeit much larger. They do however feel slightly slimy.



Tools of the trade to slice the ngaku. Have heard of many incidences fingers being cut and sliced. This is the most dangerous and time consuming part. I have to use a fork to push it through the slicer when I felt its too dangerous to use my bare hand.



How expert in you handling the slicer will result in thicker or thinner slices.

Some people soak the peeled ngaku overnight in salt water to make the ngaku saltier, but another way would be to add scoops of salted butter (eg Planta) into the fying oil.

The frying.

Ahh, the end result.

Believe me, they are so yummy and addictive that bottles can be eaten at each go :)

The only other way I have eaten ngaku is roast pork with chunks of ngaku stir fied in dark soy.

I do wonder how many other food eaten during the older days that I have not heard or tasted...