Sep 30 2008
More Ipoh food, now it’s Nga Choi Kai (steamed chicken with beansprouts)
Published by Foong at 1:22 am under Asian Food, Recipes, Restaurants, Where to eat |
For the longest time, Ipoh is well known for their nga choi kai (steamed chicken with beansprouts…pssstttt…check out my very own recipes for these below….). We’d usually stop by in Ipoh for some nga choi kai before continuing our journey whenever we go travelling by car. We’ve been so many times over the years that we’ve tried the four nga choi kai / steamed chicken with beansprouts restaurants at a crossroad in the city.
We’ve tried the tourist favourite…
Lou Wong Restaurant
We’ve also tried the restaurant next to Lou Wong, Onn Kee Restaurant and a smaller coffee shop opposite Onn Kee (I forgot the name of the coffee shop) which is only open for breakfast and lunch. So, this time around, we go to Ong Kee Restaurant for the first time (not to be confused with Onn Kee Restaurant).
Ong Kee Restaurant - it is diagonally opposite Lou Wong
The open air 'kitchen' at Ong Kee Restaurant
So, obviously, this is what we ate…
Steamed chicken, beansprouts, koay teow and chicken rice
I’ll have to say,the koay teow (flat rice noodles) are extremely soft and smooth. And yes, so is the chicken. The chicken rice may look like a normal plate of rice but trust me, it sure do pack a punch. In the words of my husband:
“It’s the best chicken rice I’ve ever tasted”.
I personally feel the chicken is good but not so great that we’d purposely drive all the way to Ipoh just to eat it. I can cook my own steamed chicken too…(recipe below)
Rating: 7/10
Price: $$$ (yeah, expect to pay about RM18 for this meal for two)
If you don’t have a chance to drop by Ipoh for a meal of steamed chicken and beansprouts, why not DIY? Here’s the recipe:
Simple Steamed Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
1 whole chicken, cleaned and drained
salt
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp garlic oil
Chinese wine (optional)
soya sauce
pepper
spring onion
Instructions
1. Season the chicken with salt, sesame oil, garlic oil and the Chinese wine for at least 2 hours. Make sure you do not put too much salt or else it’d end up too salty.
2.Place the chicken on a heatproof bowl / plate, add about a tablespoon of soya sauce and place it over a boiling pan of water. Cover it.
3. Otherwise, place the chicken in a double boiler.
4. Let it cook covered over medium heat for about 30 minutes or so.
5. Check to see if it is cooked through. If not, let it steam for another 15 minutes and it should be done. Make sure you do not overcook or else it’d be tough!
6. Remove from heat, chop it up and then sprinkle a dash of pepper on top and garnish with spring onions. Ready to serve!
Of course, if you want a different taste, you can also try out this Healthy Steamed Chicken recipe.
Now for the beansprouts…
Beansprouts
It is also very easy to prepare…
Simple Beansprouts Recipe
Ingredients
Beansprouts
1 tbsp garlic oil
pepper
spring onions
fresh chillies
soya sauce
Instructions
1. Blanche the beansprouts in boiling water and quickly remove as these cook very easily.
2. Sprinkle garlic oil on top of it and add about 1 tbsp soya sauce. Mix thoroughly.
3. Add a dash of pepper and then garnish with spring onions and red chillies.
Tips: For better taste, add some of the chicken stock you get from the steamed chicken instead of soya sauce and you’ll have a fantastic taste!
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3 Responses to “More Ipoh food, now it’s Nga Choi Kai (steamed chicken with beansprouts)”
Courtesy of Jessie, The Hungry Mouse
Courtesy of April, The Hungry Engineer
Ong Kee definitely taste better. Lou Wong’s during peak hour, the Hor Fun’s soup got the blanched hor fun water taste. I’m not sure whether you notice it.
By the way you have a nice blog. I have added your page to my link.
I was in Ipoh two weeks back and had this chicken rice…its delicious but didn’t order much as we save our tummy space for ‘tai shui kuek’ yong tau foo.
Btw… we had great fun and activities on the bloggers gathering. We are planning for a potluck in December and hope you would come and join us,
email2me: hi, welcome to my blog again. We were told that Ong Kee is better, that’s why we tried it out. thanks for the link. I’ll add you too.
ck lam: sigh…I wished I could have went for the gathering! Never mind, I hope I could go for the December one instead!