The Food Canon : 2024

A Guide to Ipoh Food 2024

Ipoh Wednesday, June 05, 2024

Welcome to Ipoh!

This city is famous for her street and Cantonese cuisine. Below is my personal guide of eateries I have come to like over the years and as far as I am aware, is still keeping up the standard. I appreciate feedback from locals and welcome your comments below.

Do know that you are spoilt for choices in this beautiful city. What and where to eat should be guided by what you feel like eating at a certain moment and accessibility. Your eyes are also your best guide as you observe a stall of coffeeshop. Though best eaten in, some foods can also be ordered in via Grab. Google for the locations and note recommendations by locals.

Nga Choi Kai – Bean Sprout Chicken

This is very a very famous dish in Ipoh. Smooth Ipoh Kuay teow, soup or dry, is served with succulent chicken and plump bean sprouts. There are also the popular sides like chicken feet, gizzard, liver and pork meatballs. I recommend San Ma Chicken Rice at https://g.co/kgs/1AK1v2Q. The queue can be long and so best to go during off-peak hours. It is also good for take aways. Other famous places for this includes Cowan Street Ayam Tauge, Lou Wong etc.

Kai See Hor fun
This is another popular dish which is sometimes confused with Bean Sprout Chicken. They are very similar. For this, the Kuay Teow is served in a tasty prawn-chicken broth with chives, slices of prawn and chicken strips. Famous places for this include Loke Wood Kee, Kong Heng Restaurant, Thean Chun (next to Kong Heng), Moon De Moon, Curry Keng etc.

Loke Wooi Kee - 26, Jalan Mustapha Al-Bakri, Taman Jubilee, 30300 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Charcoal-Fried Fried Noodles
This is a popular dinner-supper favourite. The charcoal fried dishes include Wat Tan Hor, Moon Lit Hor Fun (Yee Kong Hor), Hokkien Mee etc. Tuck Kee (which have branches in KL & Singapore) is famous for this. These are all very good for takeaways and can be grabbed in for supper.

White Coffee, Chee Cheong Fun etc

Ipoh’s white coffee has a unique aroma. Usually drank for breakfast, it is often eaten with Chee Cheong Fun, curry puffs, kaya toast etc. In town old Coffeeshops like Yuan Shan and Sin Yin Loong are famous but usually crowded. The nextgen folks have opened swanky cafes which offers just as good coffee and ccf in comfortable air-cond settings. We recommend Red Mountain Sin Yin Loong. There are many cafes to try and Ipoh do have some very unique ones. Check out this link https://www.traveloka.com/en-my/explore/destination/the-best-white-coffee-in-ipoh/341654

Cantonese Zi Char Dishes

Ipoh is famous for their unique, tasty and affordable Cantonese Zi Char dishes. There are many good restaurants to choose from. Our favorite is Public Pusing Seafood Restaurant at https://goo.gl/maps/KzuU6LJxvs8LFFxv5. Try their steamed chicken in ginger sauce.
Other favourites include Sun Mar Poh (https://g.co/kgs/UBLG4ub), Sin Hup Kee etc.

Dim Sum

Ipoh’s Cantonese Dim Sum dishes that have evolved into their own, such as, their version of Fried Fish Balls, Salted egg buns etc. They are also very affordable. For example, a plate of 3 Siew Mai will typically cost from 5 to 10 rgt. Try Chooi Yue, Foh San, Sun Kim Aik and many more.

Ipoh Curry Mee

This city version of Laksa do not normally come with coconut milk and relies instead of a good use of spices and stock. The “Police Station Curry Mee” at Xin Guan Fang Restaurant is famous for this but the queue can be long. It is only available in the morning and it runs out fast. You can try Yee Fatt or Curry Keng.

Kuay Teow with “Liu”
For breakfast and lunch, Ipoh kuay teow with “liu” or Yong Tau Foo is popular. Dai Shu Geok (“foot of big tree) Yong Tau Foo is famous. There are also other stalls at this eatery. Location: 652, Jalan King, Pasir Pinji

TauFu Fa (Soy Bean curd)

Our favourite ToFu Fa stall operates from 3 -6 pm onwards off a pick up truck. It is located at Ipoh Garden East main road. Location: https://goo.gl/maps/wPbyQ21QEfCRc3LaA

Peanut Soup Dessert (Fa Sang Wu)

Hong Kee Mah Chee has been serving Peanut soup and Mua Chee from a stall outside their home at 550A, Jalan Queen.

Indian and Malay Cuisine

Though non-Cantonese cuisine may not be one’s focus for a short trip, Ipoh do have great Indian/muslim eateries serving Nasi Ganja, Roti Chanai, Banana leaf rice and so on. Nasi Kandar Ayam Merah @ Kedai Kopi Yong Suan at Jalan Yang Kalsom is famous.

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Auntie Ruby Prawn Noodles for 30

Prawn Mee Monday, March 25, 2024

I cooked a batch of Prawn Mee for 30 pax recently. I will share the recipe here. It will also be my cooking notes for future cooking.

For those who have cooked this before, it may be helpful to note some changes I made from previous posted recipes.

So, some basic principles to note for a good prawn soup:

You want a rich umami prawn taste in your stock. The shells will give you the rich flavor. In SG, fresh medium size sea-farmed prawns are good and cheap. It is even cheaper for this recipe because you are reserving the prawn meat for other dishes.
It is important to fry the shells in oil first to extract the prawn flavors. Some oil (lard!) in the soup is important for flavour and mouth feel.
Fish or prawn stock will need to be enriched by pork or chicken stock for a fuller taste. You want to balance the sharp flavours of seafood. This will be true for fish soup and certainly true for this recipe.
My Mum's version add some ikan bilis and so I am following hers.

Ingredients for the soup:
2 kg pork bones
5 kg prawn shells
300g Ikan Bilis (heads on is cheaper)
8 litre of water
Salt and sugar to taste
a bowl of oil

Garnishing
Slices of Loin pork (300 gm)
Slices of prawn (1 kg)
Fish Cake
Kangkung
Fried Shallots
10 Hard boiled eggs (thin slices)

For the bowls:
Yellow Mee
Bee Hoon (Rehydrated)
Bean Sprouts

Sides:

Chilli Paste

Lard and lardons

Preparing the Stock

Fry the shells (including the heads) in the oil in a wok or pot till it is red/orange in colour. It will take about 5-10 minutes. You can also use lard if you wish. Add some water and using a hand blender (most efficient method), crush the shell. You want the flavors from the heads to be fully released.
Boil the water and add the pork bones to the water and simmer for 2 hours or more. Mid point, add the ikan bilis and the crushed prawn shells. For maximum flavor extraction, it is best to prepare the stock ahead of time i.e the day before. You can leave the pot of stock on your stove overnight.

Finalising the Soup

Strain the stock with a colander. At this point, I will add some water to the bones and crushed shells to further extract the flavors.
Taste the stock. From here your palate will guide you as you add some salt and sugar. I will sometimes enrich the stock with some lard (oil) and chilli paste but these can also be left out for guest to add on their own. I will suggest not to enrich the soup too much as it is meant to be eaten with the noodles, not as a prawn soup or bisque by itself.

Preparing the bowls

Cook the prawn meat. The slice horizontally into halves. If you slices before you cook them, the meat will curl up. Up to you.
Prepare a pot of boiling water. Use this to prepare the noodle bowl by bowl using a colander. Portion your mee and bee hoon, slices of loin pork, kang kung and bean sprouts. Dip into the boiling water for about 30 secs. Then dip into the prawn soup and drain before lifting and dropping into a bowl.
Add the soup into the bowl. Garnish with slices of prawns, fish cake, slices of egg and fried shallots.
Chilli paste and lard to be added by diner.

There are some finer points for presentation and getting each item right. Loin pork cooks fast and if you want it tender, don’t overcook it.

I have improvised on my Mum’s recipe by cooking a pork stock beforehand. In her original recipe, she add chicken powder or stock concentrate. I will also omit belachan and heh bee (dried shrimps) if I have enough prawn shells i.e. 2 kg for 10 pax. Note that belachan and her bee is made from shrimps and will enhance the soup if used.

With experience, I am sure it will be intuitive. This recipe may seem complicated with many steps but as you build your experience with cooking soup noodles, you will find an intuitive rhythm. You have to be organised in the way you approach this recipe. The hawkers cook this everyday and have a daily system or rhythm in preparing the stock and the bowls when ordered. You have to find your own when you are cooking for your family or a party.

Slurping a bowl of traditional Penang Prawn Mee is an unforgettable satisfying experience. It is worth the effort to master this recipe.

I will add some photos below when we were preparing to serve this recently for an Alpha Course.