Sunday, September 09, 2012

The Significance of Char Koay Teow and Penang Island

When you speak of going to the casino, there will be a few places popping out in your head. If you think locally, you will want to drive up to Genting Highlands in Pahang. If you think further, you will want to go to Singapore. Think internationally, you will end up in Macau, China. 

Talk about food. Street food. Don't believe the listings done by famous magazines or food channels. Bangkok may be listed as first for street food followed by Singapore... oh, puh-leez... well, let's not pull hairs about which country should be first. If you really know how to choose your food and you have very sensitive taste buds, you will know that Penang Island boasts of the best street food ranging from Malay to Chinese to Indian to Mamak... Mamak means Indian Muslim, understand?

Now, the main topic that I would like to touch on is the significance of char koay teow to Penang Island. Yes, you can find street food in any other countries but can you find char koay teow in other countries? Even if you can find char koay teow in London, most probably the restaurant selling it has a Penang-born chef hovering all over the kitchen, cooking up a Penang storm.
Sisters' in Macalister Road used to have queue stretching along the main road. That was decades ago. History of street food. Ah Leng char koay teow, opposite my place, took over the fame and name. It went straight into the drain once the son took over. I can fry better char koay teow if I want to. Char koay teow in Lorong Selamat is still famous among tourists that is because the express buses always take them their. BIAS~! The best char koay teow is not in town. It's in the outskirt, if you call Bayan Baru outskirt. Use Google map to search for BB Coffee Shop, behind Sunshine Square. There you can find the best dry char koay teow. I'm saying dry because I am about to introduce you the wet char koay teow. The dry char koay teow is usually fried by Chinese and it's oily. I don't eat char koay teow by choice, but I'm telling you this one is the best~!! 
Introducing to you Lis Char Koay Teow. It's the same place as where Sany Char Koay Teow used to be. We spoke to Lis... Alice... and he/she is a very friendly person. I do not judge one's sexuality as I was there for the good char koay teow. As long as one wants to be a transgender and as long as you're not robbing me or threatening me, then let it be. I've came across comments about Lis being a he or she but why talk about the person when we're talking about the food?
We're very blessed. See, God blesses His children no matter where we are. Lis requested the cook to give us extra large prawns where the prawns are bigger than those ordering for the special platter. If you've googled about Sany Char Koay Teow you would have probably read that the koay teow from Lis was just a replica of the original Sany Char Koay Teow. For your information, you need to know HOW to have your char koay teow cooked to have the best taste. This is a wet plate of char koay teow, not the dry one. If you're having a plate of dry Chinese char koay teow, then you will need bean sprouts *taugeh* to add on to the taste. But please, this is a wet plate with gravy. You MUST order for a plate WITHOUT bean sprouts. The bean sprouts made the gravy watery thus, the original taste was diluted. So before you go reading from others about how bad and how bad the taste is, be more professional when ordering your food.
Lis Char Koay Teow is just opposite Young Ones at Sunshine Square. As I've said before, good food deserved all the recommendations. By the way, it's way much cheaper than Ah Leng or Lorong Selamat's char koay teow. Hey, it's the first time all of us had supper together... cool...~!

1 comment:

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