Penang was chosen for its sumptuous street food and nostalgic heritage setting and easy walkability in the city.
Not for its skywalk or theme parks or 40-storey (and 60-storey) towers or Botak Hill or planned artificial islands or six-lane highways or golf courses or polluted sea water. You get the drift.
Unfortunately, if we don’t protect our prized assets, the way we are going, we are rapidly losing whatever charm we have left. We are even allowing rows of pre-war buildings in the broader heritage setting to be sold to developers who want to build more towers. That’s so short-sighted.
See the CNN citation below:
Penang, Malaysia
Another country celebrating a big milestone is Malaysia, which turns 60 in 2017.
The best way to celebrate a birthday? Food, of course.
The Malaysia island of Penang is arguably one of Asia’s best street food destinations. It offers a mix of traditional Malay, Chinese and Indian dishes, as well as fusion cuisines such as Baba Nyonya, or Peranakan, which incorporates regional ingredients and Chinese and Malay cooking methods.
All of it can be found in hawker centers and shop houses throughout George Town. Combine this with the city’s collection of historic buildings in various styles, from old English colonial mansions to classical Chinese shophouses and Islamic mosques, and you have a city made for walking and eating.
But there is a downside: the makeover of George Town to cater to the influx of visitors has resulted in the gentrification in George Town and in the process, low-income communities have been forced to move out, budget hotels for back-packers have given way to boutique hotels, and old-style coffee shops have been replaced by more expensive cafes. So there has been a loss as well.
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Evolving food courts in Singapore:
Blending hawker fare and hipster cafe
While food courts were once generally positioned as a simple dining option offering basic dishes, they are increasingly taking on a more sophisticated identity. They were a step up from hawker centres and coffee shops, but in recent years, the gap has widened as many food courts have raised their technology, decor and offerings by several notches.
Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/evolving-food-courts-blending-hawker-fare-and-hipster-cafe-8903512
Bangkok to ban street food stalls in clean-up campaign
https://youtube.com/watch?v=tW5owwNqWSg
Penang street foood vendors must not block the pedestrian walkways, and practise good hygiene in food preparation, else will suffer the same fate as in Bangkok in the near future.
My family enjoy the fabulous food at Singapore Michelin Street Food Festival at Sentosa on Easter Friday:
https://www.google.com/amp/thehoneycombers.com/singapore/michelin-guide-street-food-festival-in-singapore-try-cheap-dishes-from-michelin-starred-restaurants-and-bib-gourmand-hawkers/amp/
By the way, any Penang Street Food ever get the Michelin recognition?
Waves of new gourmands are descending on two food hawker stalls in Singapore after they were each awarded a star by the culinary bible Michelin.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=yZW3Yk8Gmlg
Penang hawkers must strive for such excellence, and not just focusing on charging high with small portion for quick profits.
Avoid Penang Nasi Kandar!
GEORGE TOWN: Line Clear, Penang’s famous nasi kandar outlet, was ordered to close for two weeks after rat droppings were found in the kitchen following an inspection.
The Penang Health Department issued the order after its officers carried out the inspection with Penang City Council at three eateries in Penang Road on Monday.
Apart from Line Clear, Yasmeen restaurant which is beside Line Clear, was also ordered to temporarily shut down. No action was taken on the third eatery.
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/03/13/line-clear-ordered-close-two-weeks-after-hygiene-inspection/
I am 100% supportive of the MPPP/ health department action. All eateries must be clean and safe for the consumers. There should be no let up in this clean-up mission. The goal here is to make Georgetown and Penang the most liveable city/place. Food vendors have to be taught cleaniness and good food can go hand- in- hand. Dirty habits and unclean habits have no place in the food business.
Best Penang food, according to these 3 brothers speaking in American accent:
The attractions are not just food and heritage buildings but also heritage sites, heritage crafts, beaches, ferries, hills, home-stays, our natural plants and animals, low traffic, low pollution, low costs (esp. for food and room), relative cleanliness. The faithful servants of capitalism are actively undermining all these advantages. With friends like these, you don’t need enemies.
How food trucks took over city streets
http://www.bbc.com/autos/story/20170104-building-a-better-food-truck
These food trucks look trendy + yuppie. Clean & mobile. And with music loaded!
In no time, slippery Cosmopolitan Penang will see more of these trucks at most street corners.
Street cleanliness may be an issue with these truck operators if some of them put up tables + chairs on pedestrian pavements.
Still, it could be a new career trend for sons & daughters of Penang Ori-maestros. Got class mah!
No need food truck, just use the traditional 3-roda cart like this one:
The more accolades Penang receive, the more expensive the islanders become!
So when you sing praises, reach down your pocket to see if tonight you can afford RM10 char kuay teow !
Rm10.00 Char Koay Teow – Do you mean the Red Beret Madame Ori-meastro @ Lorong Selamat?
I would realistically only pay Rm3.05 for her C.K.T. Basic (no frills, no ke-liao).
And maybe minus 50 cents for her poor customer service – when you order in front of her, you get no response as if you are talking to a tombstone!
Lorong Selamat got one auntie who can rap in hokkien while selling bak hoo. I rather be her customer rather that red beret one.
Do take note Penang ori or not hawkers now may keep price status quo until CNY. Thereafter, thamchiak folks should boycott those who raise prices unreasonably.
Could have been better had the best chefs not migrated elsewhere especially to Singapore for obvious reasons.
‘No pork’ signage on this Penang ‘s Left-handed Char Kway Teow betrayed the tradition seeking Jakim approval?
Lard is the key ingredient, else no different from the halal Kway Teow Kerang by the Malay vendors.
Eeyaw is right. You can now get good authentic Penang hawker fare in Singapore – try Jurong Point at Jurong West and JEM at Jurong East, stalls operated by migrates Penangites proclaiming Majulah Singapore!
Need lard to bring out the taste.
Add more crunch by sprinkling bits of fried fat ‘keropok’!
Fried fat keropok is actually 100% white pig fat (lard) cut up into small squares & fried in hot pig oil in frying pan until they become brownish gold & crispy to bite. (I am now salivating). In Hokkien, it is called Bak Pok. This is a ‘heavenly ordained must’ to top up on the Lor of Hokkien Mee with the soup + chilli oil merely submerging the mee that is well cook to perfect timing. And add soya sauce to Bak Pok if you don’t want to regret later. If a Hokkien Mee seller doesn’t have Bak Pok sitting… Read more »
Halal CKT at Dickens Road off Penang Road appeal to Muslims, so Jakim should direct Muslims to eat there and over concerned with those with Bak Pok.
Penang hawker food could soon face the pressure to turn halal.
This is an Islamic nation afterall.
If they enforce that, all Ori-maestros of Penang heavenly street hawker cuisine will emigrate to Singapore!
Wanna bet?
Penang is no. 2 in CNN’s best places to visit in 2017. So what? To many Penangites, esp those affected by intentional social engineering & unchecked property buyout in inner city George Town leading to super-high rentals, a plate of famous Char Koay Teow won’t taste as good as before (mind, spirit & taste of feel good factor). The soul of previous Penang is already dead, replaced by a doppelgänger as plastic as Ronald McDonald clown & laughing like a cash register. The ambience of authenticity is now clouded by sleek commercialism & cat-iconised here & there which is not… Read more »
Did you watch last Saturday’s ‘Are You Hokkien?’ 6pm on NTV7 featuring the Penang Hokkien Mee, and the Hokkien dishes at Ang Hoay Lor? These are true Penang Hokkien food that the local government must promote, no need any interference from Jakim.
Ang Hoay Lor now become popular to Singaporeans after this serenading shown there. There is usually no menu for the locals, and now the boss should create one especially for more affluent Singaporeans quoting in S$ while locals continue to pay 3 times cheaper?
Nowadays, I seldom watch local TV channels.
I rather surf the internet for instant news & what Malaysian mass media dare not publish.
Use VPN if one cannot access Sarawak Report.
Use VPN too often you become a Virtual Person not believing in the 1twisted “realities”
Please reproduce the articles of Sarawak Report here.
Penang Hokkien Prawn Mee – in memory: