Eatsy Malaysia: Kedai Makanan Lidiana.

Selamat Hari Raya Haji! :)

For this round of our Eatsy series, I’ll be sharing one of my favourite local stalls. Well, by saying local, I mean it’s somewhere in Penang.

Several years back I was introduced to this Malay Food Stall in Tanjung Bungah, who served the best chicken ever that I used to have as my afternoon tea – yeah I was weird like that. It was along the road going up to Batu Feringghi, near the beach. A year later that place was torn down to make way for the construction of Masjid Terapung (Floating Mosque). I heard about them being relocated to somewhere but for some reason, I just didn’t go check out and totally forgot about it.

A few months ago someone told me about this place serving nice Malay food at a very affordable price, and suddenly the memories all came back to me. This is the EXACT stall that I went to, only that now they have moved over to Arked Tanjong Bungah, just right opposite the Floating Mosque.

The Floating Mosque, just right across the road.

There are several food stalls at this small place, but the one that I’m recommending t is Kedai Makanan Lidiana. It’s the first from the left. They serve a wide variety of Malay cuisine. I don’t eat a lot of Malay food so I don’t really know the name of the dishes – OK la I’ll admit, I’m just eating them without knowing the names!

Eatsy Malaysia – Bao Xiang Bak Kut Teh

This week I want to introduce a chinese delicacy that is most familiar to local chinese – Bak Kut Teh. The literal translation of the words bak kut teh means ‘meat bone tea’. I guess it can be considered as a stew-like type of food, with pork ribs, meat, and often times even innards simmering in a deliciously complex herbal broth. There are a large variety of bak kut teh, but today I’m going to introduce the string-tied type. :)

Bao Xiang Bak Kut Teh is a retail bak kut teh restaurant scattered in many places in the Selangor and KL area. I have heard that the quality differs from area to area, (specifically, I heard the Pavillion one sucks) I had only tried at the one in Glenmarie, Shah Alam and the one in SS15, Subang Jaya. But I find that the food is quite delicious. :9

There is a large variety of meat from different parts of the pig that you could order, and unlike regular bak kut teh where it comes in one large bowl, these come in individual serving size bowls. There is actually a fire underneath each bowl to keep the soup warm. I find this quite interesting, sometimes if the fire lasts really long, the soup can still be boiling when we finished the meat!

Traditional pork ribs! When you order, be sure to tell them you want the large ribs though. (the upper ribs)

But my favorite thing about Bao Xiang Bak Kut Teh is their rice. It is slightly flavored, but nothing too strong that it will deter from the taste of the meat and soup. In fact, it goes along really well with the soup. :) Plus it is sooooo soft it almost melts in your mouth! That is saying something though, because I am the type of person that doesn’t like soft rice.

Mmmm satisfied!!

Their menu with the choice of parts and vegetables to choose from.

This is the shop front in Glenmarie, also the one I most frequent with my colleagues. And below is a map to go to the shop in Glenmarie, but the restaurant chain also has outlets in One Utama and other places. I’m not sure about the quality, but so far I’ve only heard that the one in Pavillion, KL sucks. If you need a quick fix of bak kut teh and doesn’t have the luxury to go all the way to Klang, this is definitely highly recommended. :)

Click for larger map.

Eatsy Malaysia – SS15 Pork Noodles

Greetings! I am the other contributor to the Eatsy posts.

There is a local saying that often the most delicious food are the most unhealthy, and that is most true to the food that I am introducing today. But the taste, oh the taste~! It is very gratifying! Of course, it is not recommended to eat this everyday for the sake of health. :)

This is the epitome, the holy grail of pork noodles! Sure it may not look very appetizing, but it tastes amazing! The soup is very distinctive from other pork noodles I’ve tasted. My friend told me that is because the stall owner uses fried garlic oil instead of pork oil for seasoning? She claims she can taste the garlic in the soup. I am not sure if that is true, but I don’t really care as long as it is delicious lol! The variety of ‘toppings’ are very generous too, vegetables, pork slices, minced pork, pork innards (which is missing in my bowl because I don’t eat them) and my favorite – deep fried pork lard. (the small brownish yellow chunks)

The reason why this is so unhealthy? Because it is actually quite oily. Some of my colleagues actually doesn’t like it very much because of the health concerns. It will probably apply to those that doesn’t like oily food as well, and those that have a stomach sensitive to oily food. But if you don’t mind all those, I definitely recommend you to try this out! Yum yum!! :9 But be prepared to wait though if you are eating there at peak hours, I’ve waited for half an hour once for my noodles to arrive. They are only open for breakfast and lunch.

The shop is named Restoran Pomander, located in SS15 Subang Jaya, nearby Subang Square and directly at the angled turning of the road. (as you can see on the map below)

Click for larger map.

Till next time :)

Eatsy Malaysia: Penang Asam Laksa.

Etsy has a series of weekly post, Eatsy, where they talk about the seasonal dishes they are digging into. With Malaysia’s rich cultural background and almost endless food from heaven, I thought we can also start sharing what we can eat and find all around Malaysia. We’re hoping to have Eatsy Malaysia posts up for 3 times a month, so if you have a favourite recipe of a local cuisine to share, or have found the best char koay teow, email huey@nottypooch.com with photos and write-ups! :)

To kickstart this series of oh-so-yummy posts, I would like to share one of my favourite local dishes in Penang from one of my favourite stalls. Before this, my apologies on the not-so-great photos, as I was unexpectedly not equipped with my compact camera during the recent food hunt, and had to resolve using the camera on my mobile phone.

If you love sour and spicy, you’ll love this. Penang Asam Laksa is often found served with thick rice noodles. Asam is the Malay word for tamarind. It gives the soup a sour taste. Common ingredients for a bowl of Penang Asam Laksa include shredded mackerel (ikan kembung), cucumber, pineapple, lettuce, onions, chili, mint, lemongrass, and sweet shrimp paste.

There is a particular stall selling Penang Asam Laksa that I love the most. It’s just right opposite where I used to study. It was quite a distance away when I was younger and I remember walking along the road with my friends just to have a bowl of laksa and a glass of sugarcane juice. Those were the days!

And if I remember correctly, this stall also started the culture of serving fried spring roll with Asam Laksa, which then lead to dipping fried spring roll in Asam Laksa – a totally awesome way to please your taste buds. So if you happen to visit Penang, make sure to try this out. It’s open daily (except Tuesday), from about 11am-4pm or 5pm. I can’t find the row of shop lots on Google Map, but it’s just right opposite Penang Chinese Girls’ High School as shown in the map.