Chinese poh piah or Chinese fresh spring roll is commonly popular eaten as snack or as a starter for lunch or dinner. It is a non-fried vegetable spring roll made with special white spring roll skin filled with shredded vegetables The Chinese fresh spring roll – commonly called poh piah in Penang – is stuffed with a medley of shredded vegetables and sometimes a sweet clear vegetable broth is ladled over it when serving. Think of it as a Chinese… Read More »Poh Piah
Cheap and satisfying meal with this hearty, fluffy and crispy Roti Canai. The roti canai makes for a common breakfast or supper food. Roti Canai is a popular flatbread sold by Indian Muslim vendors in Penang. Created as a cheap meal to serve the coolie class in the 19th century, the roti canai has since been embraced by all races. The name, thought to be Malay, is actually of Indian origin, as the word “roti” derives for most Indian languages… Read More »Roti Canai
Spread with rich kaya (coconut jam) and margarine. Dipped in curry or simply eaten plain accompanied with a cup of hot black local coffee. Penang’s very own roti benggali, a fragrant loaf bread with its signature golden, crispy crust and soft, fluffy white crumb, has been a staple for many Penangites for decades. Contrary to popular belief that this much favoured bread was introduced by the Punjabis, (Punjabis were commonly referred to as Benggali by locals for decades due to… Read More »Benggali roti
If you come to Penang and order a plate of rojak, expect a mixture of fruits in a thick, sticky pungent sauce and a sprinkling of roasted nuts. Only in this northern state, the rojak mean the local version of a fruit salad. It also does not refer to the savoury dish of deep-fried prawn fritters and bean curd served with an orangey spicy sauce that is called pasembur here. The Penang rojak is a favourite snack that is easily… Read More »Penang Rojak
Mee goreng is literally translated as fried noodles from the Malay language. It is alternatively known as Mee Goreng Mamak or the Indian mee goreng where the hawker is usually an ethnic Indian and/or an Indian Muslim. Despite it being sold mostly by ethnic Indians and/or Indian Muslims, the mee goreng did not originate from India and this particular dish can’t be found there. Mee goreng is a very Malaysianised dish with a list of ingredients that is testament to… Read More »Mee Goreng
A popular local delight with chunks of marinated dice-sized meats glided into skewers and grilled over a charcoal flame. As a sure sign indicator, if there is wispy smoke, you’re heading towards a satay stall. It’s nothing fancy, just bite-sized pieces of meat marinated in a mixture of spices and seasoning, skewered on bamboo sticks and then grilled over charcoal fire. The fat from the skewered meat will be dripping and sizzling in the fire and a strong smoky aroma… Read More »Satay
Malaysian food is often a result of cross cultures and the way different ethnic groups prepare the same kind of food in their own unique way. Take the Penang pasembur which is basically known as “Indian rojak”, spicy salad dish elsewhere in Malaysia. Yet, here, it is vastly different from those found outside of this state. In Penang, when we refer to rojak we mean the one made with fruits and a thick, black sweet sauce while the pasembur has… Read More »Penang Pasembur
It is thick, traditional Hokkien pancake, filled with crushed peanuts, sugar and margarine. A popular breakfast snack item, Penangites often called it “Ban Cien Koay” or Apam Balik “Turnover Pancake” in english. In Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur, it’s also known as dai gao meen. The name Ban Cien Koay (also written Ban Chean Koay or Ban Jian Kway) means “slow-cooking cake” in Hokkien. It’s claimed that these snacks originate from Fujian. When General Tso Tsung T’ang was sent to Fujian… Read More »“Ban Cien Koay” Chinese Pancake
