The Making of Penang Pancake

Ah Guan Apong - the display reads - is run from a single, modest wheel cart placed at the same spot everyday along the same street - Burmah - in Georgetown, Penang Island. The ingredients and tools of the trade are all stacked and perched on this vehicle and spot. The couple who run this business are modest, quiet and persevering. A piece of their pancake. otherwise known as ban chien kueh in the Penang version of the Fujian dialect, costs only less than 15 Australian cents. What makes them tick? Turnover, reality, a past time or passion in their food craft?

Ingredients Required:

Sifted 175g self-raising flour

3/4 tablespoon bicarbonate of soda

25g of castor sugar

1/2 tablespoon of salt

2 small or medium eggs, lightly beaten

130 ml of low fat milk

130 ml of water

40g of butter, melted and cooled

1 tablespoon of alkaline water

1 cup of peanuts, toasted and grounded coarsely

Extra granule sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

Sift self-raising flour and bicarbonate of soda into a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and salt to mix. Pour in the eggs, milk and water and melted butter. Use a balloon whisk to beat the mixture, until it is well combined. Add in the alkaline water and mix. Stand the mixture, covered, for an hour.

Heat a small non-stick pan over medium low heat. Grease the pan with a little oil.

Measure about half cup of batter and pour it into the well-heated saucepan. Swirl the pan quickly around to coat the entire pan with a thin layer of batter. Sprinkle with some ground peanuts and half a handful of sugar.

Cover the pan with a lid, then cook the batter over low heat for 1-2 minutes or until the centre of the batter looks cooked through the edges have turned golden brown. Fold the pancake into a half-moon and lift it out of the pan immediately.

Above recipe, copyright recipe.sg
Images above at Ah Guan Apong show that they utilise egg rings to contain the dough - and thereby enable preparing several pancakes at once on a large pan.

The vital ingredients, above, the dough, trays of fresh eggs and more.

Breakfasts in Melbourne

"He that but looketh on a plate of ham and eggs to lust after it hath already committed breakfast with it in his heart." (C.S. Lewis) Above, an Aussie breakky found at the South Bank.

"I didn't forget your breakfast. I didn't bring your breakfast. Because you didn't eat your din-din.”

(Bette Davis) Below, early morning at The World Cafe.

“Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper." (Adelle Davis)

Below, a hearty serving of a quisadilla wrap over the usual mix of cooked mushrooms, cut tomato slices, fried omelette, bacon slices and a dousing of barbecue sauce.

"He was my cream, and I was his coffee - and when you poured us together, it was something." (Josephine Baker) Above, blood red Italian orange juice with a mug of cappuccino, somewhere in the business district.

"All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast." (John Gunther)

Above, the roti prata served at the Sambal Kampung at 234 Little Bourke Street in Melbourne's Chinatown, with an asking price half of Sydney's and accompanied by a more wholesome gravy from Straits Chinese chicken curry. The teh tarik sits waiting to be consumed...

Melbourne - The Langham, South Bank

Morning clutter and the rush to get up and out on to business and purpose of the day (above) may contrast with the elegance and leisurely pace that the Langham Melbourne offers. Lights are placed strategically in a residence room, including bedside reading lights and double choice work desk lamps, and outside corridor passageways. Cleanliness is strictly observed - and dawn delivered newspapers of your choice (mine was the Financial Review) provided for you in a monogrammed bag. Stationery is printed in pastel pink pretty.
My view of Flinders Station, Federation Square and rowers on the Yarra were, simply said, unobstructed.

The toiletries are liberally provided and sitting on the vanity upper shelf waiting for you, when you return after a hard day's work, wheeling and dealing. The toilet bowl is Villaroy and Boch, and the tap handles utilitarian but charming. The shower head is wide and generous with the water spray. Staff make the effort to smile, and are quick with guest requests, from my pair of scissors and to their suggestion that they can turn down the rather elevated bed to my desired level. Bottles of spring water magically appear on both bedsides while you are away for dinner - but where were my chocolates, I wonder?

Breakfasts and dinners are available at the Melba, Langham Melbourne's restaurant.

The Langham Melbourne is at One Southgate Avenue, Southbank.

Melbourne - Lygon Lair

A lair is a hideaway, a resting place and a den - and perhaps nothing fits more on a Melbourne evening than for a casual getaway after a hard day's wheeling and dealing, than to head to Carlton and its iconic street, Lygon. Whether one speaks fluent Italian or not (a restaurant staff member said "Ni hao" to me) does not matter - all it takes is an appreciation of the good life and la dolce vita. Above, beef ala Italia.

Dolci awaits and rewards one who has finished the secondi. Above a selection of favourite sugar fillers - tiramisu (foreground) , lemon tart and a half eaten chocolate-laden cannoli. All desserts from the Brunetti Cafe.

Above, Dave, Sonja and Shane (left to right).

Below, Kev, Dave and Sonja (left to right) with their unique paper bags containing served spaghetti marinara, a signature dish of the Little Lygon. Bon appetit!

(Above image credit - Shane Campbell)

Above and below, impressions from the Brunetti Cafe along Faraday Street in Carlton on a Monday evening in a photograph from the past.  Please note that Brunetti has moved kits Carlton premises to 380 Lygon Street. 

http://www.lygonstreetcarlton.com.au/brunetti/index.htm

Penang - Street Side Curry Mee

Street side pavements and food stalls hark back to the past two centuries on Penang Island, Malayisa.

I was recommended a terrific and worthy dish of curry mee noodles ala Penang style if I went early to Air Itam Markets by dawn on a Saturday morning in February 2011. Penang's curry mee offers a unique taste in the soup that you cannot get elsewhere - neither Sydney, Kuala Lumpur nor Singapore. I found my delight, beside a bridge, where eager customers waited right in front of the elderly ladies

preparing the stuff. (above)

What's so special, you may ask? The dish is not overly rich, only with hints of dried shrimp paste (belacan), a dash of palm sugar, prawn and/or chicken stock and light coconut milk, but gentle with a kick of flavour. The garnishings are also important - for this stall, it is the marinated dried cuttlefish (jee hu in Hokkien) that obviously stands out. Also tasty ingredients are deboned chicken breast cuts, cockles, deep fried tofu squares and chicken blood clots. The last mentioned ingredient may be a shock for the uninitiated, but you have to try this at least once. You can choose just to have the yellow Hokkien noodles, or white rice vermicelli, or a combination of both, cooked with the soup.

Elderly lady (above and below) is apparently the mainstay of this stall for a few decades. With two other women, she patiently prepares the garnishings and ingredients that are served with the soup and noodles. Ah, the soup, made as an art with a blend of juice from blended prawn head shells, a sprinkling of shallots, a touch of peppercorns, a sharp kick from cut lemongrass stalks and a toss of coriander powder.

Notice that charcoal (above) is used for the cooking, and this may be the critical factor that enhances the flavours of curry mee from this particular stall.

The customer-focused lady (above) also sells stir fry rice vermicelli, but she stands out in having a nice word with every customer, no matter how busy she is. Her piece de resistance, I reckon, is the

pan roasted chili condiment, a necessity to complement the soup. Garlic, chili paste, dried shrimps are pounded by mortar and pestle to a fine consistency, before being deep fried with vegetable oil and an inch square of dried shrimp paste.

Home Made Breakfasts

Ah, the glory and joy of an easy morning meal, when I wake up with no commitments and just look forward to how the day flows along. I like slurpy egg yolk meandering through a textured bread slice, carrying with it the infused aroma of freshly cracked pepper, a hint of light soy sauce and with a dollop of olive spread below.

Then there's Dairy Farmers Thick and Creamy country vanilla yogurt - not too much, but just enough to savour them with blue berries (above). This combination refreshes and is such an appetizer. No streaky bacon, no overcooked mushrooms, just plain and easy.

And I won't forget getting the navel orange slices being crushed through the juicer.

Bon appetit!

Penang Street Foods - A Sampling

With names like poh pniah, lam mee, chee chong fun, tom yam mee and more, the labels on the variety of street food on the island of Penang, Malaysia can be simply bewildering. Above, the food court in New World Park, along Burmah Road in Georgetown. The variety available is astounding - and even if servings can be relatively small in the perception of the Australian, American or British visitor, the price asked for is only a fraction of what is required back in the Western countries. The dishes are an evolving result of the fusion of different cooking styles, traditions and ingredients - when they all meet up on the island. The trick is not to over indulge, go for the widest choices and take a break of at least three hours before starting to snack again. Most of these dishes come served with various sauces and condiments to enhance the experience.

Deep fried yellow-striped scad (above), or black pomfret, with the insides stuffed with spicy mixes, are a feature of Malay and Straits Chinese based family cooking. The fish are rubbed with yellow ground tumeric, a dash of salt and given a light batter of flour before they go into a thoroughly cleaned and oil heated wok. The idea is to turn over the fish only once for a perfect finish. Another marinade choice is tamarind juice.

Such prepared fish are normally eaten with nasi lemak, the coconut milk flavoured savoury steamed white rice that are a favourite at breakfast time.

Ice kacang, what more can be said (above). On a humid, sweating afternoon, the ice shavings are soaked with syrup, accompanied by nuts, beans, fruit slices, mashed corn, black jelly bits and palm sago - whatever you fancy, really! Then you have a choice to top up with the ice cream flavour of your preference, over all this heaving and delicious cooling stuff. Who cares if it is thirty degrees Celsius outside?

Kaya spread is put over the Straits Chinese glutinous rice cakes (above, also known as pulut tai tai) slightly coloured by the aqueous extract of the vivid blue telang flower. (Clitoria ternatea ).

For a quick snack, try the "carrot cake" (below), which is not a cake at all, but a quick stir fried concoction of radish based cubes, bean sprouts and omelette eggs, best eaten hot with a dash of pepper.

A satisfying entree is the shrimp fritters, doused with hot chili sauce and complemented by cooling cucumber slices (above). Dough with fillings are prepared in a hot boiling pot (below) to result in sesame seed crunchy and crispy snack balls (last picture in this write-up).

A delicate stew of the Fujian inspired sweet and savoury peanut soup (above).

For a quick reference, poh pniah (meaning "thin biscuit") are Fujian based cylindrical shaped spring rolls that have fresh and cooked ingredients wrapped inside the delicate skins - firm soya bean cake strips, small cooked prawns, crab meat, julieanned cucumber, shallots, sliced green French beans, cooked belly pork bits, chopped carrot cubes and the necessary item of bangkwang ( yambean ).

Lam mee are braised yellow noodles traditionally served to mark key birthdays, with garnishings of crab meat, pink dyed omelette egg strips, chicken strips and a really rich stock of a gravy.

Chee chong fun can be peculiar to Penang and normally are available at yum cha restaurants or cafes - and they are flat rice rolls served without nothing more than a few tasty sauces. Their Hong Kong cousins have fillings inside and doused only with a light marinade.

Tom yam mee comes from Thailand, where the prawn and shrimp paste are utilised to flavour noodles, not just in soups but also come stir fried.

Three Cities, Many Hearts

Note: Due to some unresolved technical issues, the following blog posting, from a past year, has suddenly decided to re-park itself as a 16 March 2011 entry.

It was a truly happy greeting me from Happy coming for me, my nephew Chet and Karen at the pool area in a Yishun condominium. The not quite four year old had a most delighted surprise on her face, as if to recall that I promised to see her in person in Singapore, if I could at the next opportunity. Then she settled into a demeanour that she would enjoy my visit to her parents' home and to see her younger brother Stuart as well.  She naturally chatted away, played with every one of us and even sat at the dining table joining me to partake in the Lunar New Year treats.  Stuart sat on my lap, and even if only a year old, sent me strong communicative vibes through his expressive eyes.

Karen later that evening got us my fav Katong laksa and otak otak (that heavenly combination of steamed egg, fish fillet and aromatic leaves of the daun gaduh) that only the Straits Chinese can conjure up. I was in the heartland of the baba and nyonya in Singapore.  My associations with this island state go back many years, with memories of well done Mandarin commercials and subtitles on television, well organised and super clean food courts, hostel stays at the Nanyang University, long and enjoyable shopping excursions, drop bys at cousin Eu Lan's residence and much more.  How this island state has changed from my very first encounter on a university sports exchange trip - as I stood recently in front of the Zegna lcd display at ION shopping centre along the still vibrant Orchard Road, I sub-consciously acknowledged the effort, forward thinking and grassroots support to continually propel Singapore as more than a viable entity.

Kishore and I had found ourselves in the rather unusual quiet of Changi Airport, Singapore in the wee hours between the arrival and departure of most flights. In any of the expansive surrounds of the three component terminals, despite the rather late closing of some outlets at 1am, we seemed to have an exclusive walking around of the facility, and enjoyed the Belgian chocolate coffee cafe before turning in. Kishore's mates in trendy jackets and blokey motor cycle helmets sent him off earlier at Sydney's Kingsford-Smith. Just like Sean Tan, whom I caught up later at the Canberra Centre on a crispy moderate early autumn day a few weeks later, Kishore was doing a post-grad degree in one of the many Australian universities. Both Kishore and Sean are at the cusp of new possible beginnings, possibilties and frontiers, a consequence of a series of apparently unremarkable decisions and steps, but these have now led

The waiters at this seemingly tucked away corner of Transfer Road in Georgetown, Penang Island, were amazingly too fair-skinned for the tropical heat and sunny aspect of the place, but I concluded it must have been the Fujian genes of their immigrant forefathers.  They worked at a fast and focussed pace, taking orders diligently and bringing out the dishes as soon as they were ready. The spinach were stir-fried with belachan chilli condiment and readily accompanied the fish head curry inspired from Chennai.  It was a family business called Tai Kong Hooi, had unpretentious coffee shop styled tables and chairs but the food served was good and tasty.  Bob always had the knack of taking me to these gems of foodie congregation in  my hometown.

It was tremendous to have this opportunity earlier this year as well of re-meeting Kean Guan, a classmate of mine from our mutual primary school of Francis Light.  Here he was, at a small gathering of school mates and people I grew up with, in a restaurant in what was once Georgetown's premier urban development. The years past had seen each of us take different paths. Guan is now the head of inspectors of schools whilst I had moved to another country and another profession. Our eyes looked at each other, perhaps reflecting on forgotten episodes and memories with the freshness of being in class together, while we chatted.  He shouted the lunch, I was fascinated with how he held an audience and how the whole group of mates were apparently back at school.

Some weeks out of my South-east Asian sojourn,  I bumped intoWendy with the purple hair and had an al fresco dinner with Marta, who loves steamed fish Chinese style more than she expected. This was in Wollongong, a far cry and many moons removed from the diversity and energy of Singapore and the family comfort of Penang. Still, with long time friendships with Wendy and Marta, there was spontaneous laughter, easy discourse of conversation and a lightness in our exchange - not very different from the many hearts I came across in the other two cities.

Another Weekend Too

Mee rebus in Chatswood (above)

Note: Due to some unresolved technical issues, the following blog posting, from a past year, has suddenly decided to re-park itself as a 16 March 2011 entry.




Fresh bean sprouts are mixed with other crunchy and sweet vegetables. These are next poured on to a plate and mixed with a zesty sauce that provides savoury touches of chilli, lime drops and potato smoothness. The key ingredients are the shrimp fritters, small enough to bite into and optimally crispy to provide a contrast from the vegetable bites. This South Indian inspired mix, often referred to as rojak, appears in different forms throughout Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

The Thai vermicelli salad,also dished up by Susan and Boo Ann,was lighter in outlook, with mint leaves, pineapple cuts and the compulsory chili bits. Here the overall effect can be more outrageous, as the sourness combines with the peppery heat - and there are hidden landmines in those small but powerful chillies hidden in the mixture. Asian food preparation is often preceded by lots of detailed ingredients, fine chopping and clever blending of flavours and different sensations.

More than an hour passed before we received our food at the Oscars in Towradgi, not far from my home. The kitchen staff looked over worked and time-pressured. The food was tasty but one had to be patient. Was this a problem of success, where capacity and capability did not match demand on a more timely basis? It can be a hard call of balancing the vagaries and volatility in the seesaw of balancing demand with supply. It was not even summer - I cannot imagine when it is a January Friday night!

My prawn and pea risotto was delightful nevertheless. Shane and Danielle, together with Dave and Jo, had brought their kids - fortunately for me as well, for I was taken off my mind on waiting time. Charlotte and Max could interact well with Nieve and Bridget,and vice-versa, and in fact provided a party atmosphere at our dining table.

Hand-made chocolate from Ju was exquisite - my first bite made me realise the ingredient quality and care that went into her creations. The flavour was intense, and the texture just right. Dark chocolate was finely set with a nutty after thought.

I was not too thrilled with the the version of mee rebus (braised noodles with a spicy twist and gravy) from a Malaysian outlet in Sydney's Chatswood Chase. It can not compare with what Mum makes back in Penang, and the presence of certain ingredients reduced its authenticity. The gravy had a more peanut emphasis than it should be. The Hokkien noodles were not soft enough.

Sucker catfish prices in the Illawarra area, pardon the pun, are shockingly and suckingly expensive. On another day, I had been attracted to such delightful miniature creatures that require no additional feed apart from the algae and moss that thrive naturally in most aquarium environments.At 14 Australian dollars per creature, I baulked at buying them in Hurstville in Sydney's south. Nearer my home, the asking price was much more.

In Wollongong CBD, John called me when I was engrossed texting and checking my sms messages on my I Phone.He and Carla had finished their meal, but were gracious to stay on to drink tea, sip wine and be merry at the table.Carla had her hair done in a new way. No appointments were necessary for us to meet up. We relished in our carefree weekend revelry. John and Carla kindly introduced me to various people in the cafe - and John is a true Wollongong boy.

Yum cha in Hurstville's Mr Chao's Chinese Restaurant on a mid-Saturday in April was refreshingly tasty. I had not been to the venue since the incumbent owners closed it down, when it operated under another name - Forest Court. Nae and Tom had taken me to Mr Chao's for a lazy brunch of a fav Cantonese cuisine- and I was like a kid at a candy shop, partaking with vigour, amongst other things, the tau foo fa ( soy bean curd dessert, mixed with your choice amount of syrup); the char siew so (baked pastry pork buns); the standard siew mai (prawn and pork dumplings); the fong chau (phoenix claws , a re-labelling of braised chicken legs); and the healthy plate of oyster-flavoured steamed kailan vegetables. (All dish names are in Cantonese). We later retreated from the burgeoning surrounding restaurant chatter to Nae and Tom's new apartment, where I enjoyed viewing two fish tank environments that Nae had set up, and tasting some of Tom's dessert wine.

Sydney's Broadway - Another Malaysian Food Trail

There are now more than a few cafes and restaurants providing the roti canai and murtabak in Sydney CBD. In India and South-east Asia, they first emerged as handy and viable backpacker food to the throngs of Western visitors from the seventies to the nineties. They are delicate, airy and appetising to fill up any one's hunger pangs. The roti can be eaten plain, or dipped in light vegetarian, dhall bean or meat curry gravy. Above, the serving at the Mamak Village cafe along Glebe Point Road near the junction with Broadway.

I was especially taken with the anchovy-based condiment above at Mamak Village.

My accompanying mates who live nearby in this precinct have so much choice and variety of food that they may not have been as enthusiastic as me for this mamak cuisine.

Above, a balcony with a view upstairs at Mamak Village in Glebe, reminding me of a comparable scenery from the Lee & Me Cafe along Crown Street in Wollongong CBD. Below, an authentic tasting teh tarik, to accompany the meal.

Below, the lobak spring rolls, in a unique version originating from my home island of Penang in Malaysia. I found the accompanying condiment different - instead of just a hot and sweet chili sauce found in Penang coffee shops, Mamak Village prepared their own mix. The lobak was a bit over the top in saltiness that day.

Malacca Straits Restaurant (above) , inside the Quadrant Building at 66 Mountain Street, Broadway, is best accessed from George Street, opposite the branch of the Notre Dame University. We saw a neighbouring table order what looked like succulent chicken-on-the-skin for Hainan chicken rice and a serving of the murtabak. They also have available the Penang kapitan curry, Thai crying tiger (marinated BBQ beef fillet served with hot chili sauce) and the curry fishhead (AUD 20 per piece). As our visit was only meant as for an arvo tea time snack, we chose their stated signature dish - Kuala Lumpur styled curry laksa. (below)

To an ex-Penangite like me, the soup was tasty but smacked of salted fish flavours, but it did have a strong and appreciated spicy and herbal sensation as one took it with the chicken slices, deep fried tofu squares and sliced vegetables.

To round up the evening in Sydney CBD, but this time beyond Broadway, another set of mates joined me at World Square's Malaysian Indian outlet, situated along a passageway that shouts out "Eat Drink Enjoy Share" if you are coming from inside the open air plaza.

Otherwise, appraoch this passageway from Liverpool Street, with an entrance along the road between the Meriton Serviced Apartments and Zozo. To our disappointment, the resident Nepali fresh roti maker had alreday retired by the time we arrived, and we had to make do with two curry choices served with steamed white rice - mine was tamarind flavoured hard boiled egg curry (unusual) and red chicken curry. (above). Their rotis are worth a try - and you can watch them make it right in front of you. The Mirchis Indian outlet across the passageway does not make such fresh roti pancakes.

After all that spicy food on this Malaysian food trail, I would recommend a hearty fresh mixed fruit juice pack from Three Beans Cafe at the Broadway Shopping Centre. (above) This place epitomises the benefits of location, location, location. It is at the confluence of different market groups with regular purchasing patronage - university students, CBD residents, the twenty to thrity something yuppies and frequenters from outside exploring nearby Chinatown, Surry Hills and Newtown.