Chinatown walking tour

Vegetables (garlic chives and water chestnut) dumpling

clockwise: bottom right, garlic chives dumpling, har gow (prawn dumpling) and siew mai (pork, prawn and shitake dumpling) .

Dim sum lunch at the 800 seater Eight Restaurant at Market City, Chinatown

Haymarket seafood, level 1, Market City – sells live, frozen and fresh seafood. Good place to get live mud crab, spanner crab and some types of fish loved by the Chinese such as Murray, parrot, cod and king salmon

Emperor’s Garden BBQ shop at Thomas Street selling roast duck, roast quail, pipa duck, roast pork, crackling roast pork belly, roast Chinese sausage, roast pork ribs, braised chicken feet, soya sauce chicken

Sample tasting of BBQ chilli beef and honey pork from Singapore Famous BBQ pork shop

BBQ meat (lon yoke) at the Singapore Famous BBQ Pork shop, Thomas Street. Also sells different types of meat floss – plain or chilli

Mixing flour to make “yu tiao” at Mother Chu’s Taiwan Gourmet shop.

Making “yu tiao”. Lay a strip of dough on the floured table, place another same size srip of dough on top. Using a long round stick (similar in thickness to a chopstick), press the stick on to the dough to make an indentation. Lift the dough, stretch it longer and place into the hot oil

Watching the making of yu tiao

Using a long pair of chopsticks to turn the “yu tiao” so that it browns evenly

Cutting the dough into 10mm thick to make “yu tiao”

Making “yu tiao”

Mother Chu’s Taiwanese Gourmet, sells “yu tiao” deep-fried fermented dough served with warm soya bean milk, green shallots pancake and other Taiwanese delicacies

Cakes at Bread Top

Egg custard tart (centre)

Pork floss buns. Asian buns have a very soft texture and the fillings and toppings range from Western to Chinese. For the pork floss buns, mayonnaise is spread on the buns and then dipped in pork floss.

Looking at the different varieties of bread with sweet and savoury fillings at the “Bread Top ” shop

Breadtop – an Asian bread and pastry shop at 404 Sussex street. They have several shops located mainly in Asian community areas such as Hurstville, Kingsford and Chatswood.

Looking at the colourful pictures of Chinese dishes, an array of delectable dishes to whet your appetite.

Sussex street is lined with shops specialising in dried seafood such as sharksfin, sea cucumber, oyster, fish maw, bird’s nest, scallops and fish lips.

Walking along Sussex street

Browsing at the Abalone shop

Browsing at the Abalone shop

Australian Abalone Land, 396C Sussex Street. Sells frozen and dried seafood (sea cucumber, fish maw, bird’s nest, dried scallops, sharkfins, dried oyster and Chinese herbs

Priced dried abalones – usually prepared by a highly skilled chef and takes 2-3 days of preparation.

Chinese seafood delicacies – dried abalones. They are highy priced and cost few hundred dollars a kilo

Continuing the walking tour crossing George Street and heading to Sussex Street

BBQ shop

Hmmm yummy BBQ

The BBQ shop also sells cooked duck wings, duck’s tongue, pig offals – stomach, intestines and pig’s ears and roast porkt trotters

BBQ shop selling roast duck, roast pork (char siew), crackling roast pork belly (siew yoke), bbq pork ribs, soya sauce chicken, roast pipa duck, poached cuttlefish, roast sausage

Explaining the different types of tofu (beancurd), holding a silken tofu

Browsing at Pon Tip Thai grocery and vegetable shop (few shops from Mae Cheng)

Browsing the canned good at Mae Cheng

White radish aka daikon (Japanese) or lor pak (Cantonese)

Explaining the usage of green papaya

Explaining the usage of kangkond (aka morning glory, swamp or water spinach, pat bom)

Explaining the usage of galangal – see glossary for description

Mae Cheng-Thai grocery and vegetable shop, 18 Campbell street

Explaining the garlic chives (kow choy). One of the core ingredient in Pad Thai and Malaysian char kueh teow

Explaining the pandan leaves (aka screwpine leaves or pandanus leaves)

At Mae Cheng Thai grocery shop, Campbell street

At Ho’s dim sum kitchen

Hot dim sum at Ho’s dim sum kitchen

At Ho’s dim sum kitchen. A take-away shop selling fresh and frozen dim sum, rice dumpling, hot dim sums like egg tart, coconut tart, bbq pork bun, spring rolls, siew mai etc.

Group of participants for the Chinatown walking tour

One of the highlights of yum cha, dessert! This little dainty mango pancake is filled with pieces of mango and whipped cream

Dim sum lunch

Enjoying dim sum

Enjoying the dim sum lunch

Live small abalone (left) and pippies (right)

BBQ meat (pork, beef and chicken), comes in different flavours: chilli, honey. In Singapore and Malaysia, it is also madre from prawns and have other flavours like black pepper

Curiously observing the barbecue of thin pieces of meat (lon yoke) at the Singapore BBQ meat stall

Shopping for Asian greens at Paddy’s market, basement of Market City, Chinatown

Betel leaves – refer to glossary page for description.

Arthur, the manager at the Taiwan cafe explaining the making of Yu Tiao (fried bread stick)

Shopping at Pon Tip – mecca for Thai groceries, fresh herbs, green papaya, banana blossom, drumsticks and banana leaves

Photo shoot before the start of the tour

Smorgasboard of dim sum

Highlight of the tour – Yum cha at Eight restaurant, Market city

Cooking Classes

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  BBQ pork (char siu)

  

  Shantung chicken – Fried crispy chicken with green shallots, peanuts, garlic in a black vinegar-soy sauce dressing

  

  Crispy skin chicken with spice salt

  

  Loh soi kai / See Yau Kai (Poached chicken Maryland in spiced master stock)

  

  Fried chicken with ginger-green shallots dip

  
  

  

  Loh soi kai/see yau kai (poached chicken Maryland in spiced master stock

  

  Cooking Singapore chilli crab

  

  Singapore chilli crab wiuth steam bun (mantou)

  

  Grilled octopus, mint, coriander, cuucmber, tomato with tamarind-lime dressing

  

  Curry mussels, pineapple, smoked trout, betel leaves and coconut milk

  
  

  

  Wok-fried prawns with garlic, ginger, chilli and oyster sauce

  

  Plain bun (mantou) – purchase from any Asian grocery in the frozen section

  

  Kalaj busy cooking Singapore chilli crab

  

  Singapore chilli crab with fried and steam bun (mantou)

  

  Curry mussels, pineapple, smoked trout, betel leaves and coconut milk

  
  

  

  Crispy chilli squid

  

  Vasa, Kalaj and Vasu with their wok-fried prawns

  

  Rodney, Marie and Alana in the Nonya cooking class

  

  Tamarind concentrate, okra, pineapple, Vietnameses mint for the Assam fish (Nonya sour curry)

  

  Assam gulai fish (Nonya fish in tamarind) on the stove

  
  

  

  Happy students with their Nonya dishes

  

  Curry chicken with kaffir lime eaves

  

  Assam gulai fish (Nonya sour fish curry), pineapple, okra and Vietnamese mint

  

  Nonya prawn salad with toasted coconut (kerisik), onion, lime leaves, sambal belacan and coconut milk

  

  Nonya stew pork belly with cinnamon, onion, garlic and ground bean paste

  
  

  

  Vegetarian bun (dim sum class)

  

  Cooking vegetables for the bun filling

  

  Shaping the dough for the fillimg

  

  Pleating the bun

  

  Working the pau (bun) dough

  
  

  

  After 10 minutes of mixing the dough. To be rested before scaling into individual pau

  

  Resting the dough

  

  Rested and ready for the steamer

  

  Ready for steaming

  

  Ready to eat

  
  

My recent trip to Penang, eating my way through the various streets food of Penang, a foodies paradise

Rendang Tok & ketupat (dried beef curry and compressed rice cakes)

Char Kueh Teow (Stir-fry f resh flat rice noodles)

The Char kueh teow stall. Look at the fiery charcoal stove!!

Popiah – Fresh spring rolls.

Kueh Chap (Cooked wheat sheets in a rich duck broth)

Hokkien Prawn Mee or Hae Mee (Prawn noodle soup)

Apom (thin crispy pancake) stall using the Indian claypot

Thin crispy apom (pancake)

Char Kueh Kak (stir-fry rice cake “cubes”)

The Char Kueh Kak stall

The Fritters stall

Deep fried cempedak

The apom equipment and the menu for different fillings

Plain and pandan flavored pancakes

Apom (pancake)

Chee cheong Fen (steamed & rolled rice noodle sheets)

Ap Toi meen (Stewed duck drumstick noodle)

Lor mee (Mixed noodles in a rich, dark and thick pork gravy)

Lobak (Crispy spiced pork roll)

Penang style Curry Mee or Laksa

The putu mayam hand press mould (little gadget for making string hoppers)

Steamed putu mayam on the go

Putu Mayam (Sri Lankan string hoppers)

Kai See Hor Fen (Flat rice noodle in clear chicken broth with shredded poached chicken)

Kueh Teow Teng

Otak-otak

Kee Nya Kuih (Dessert)

Hoong Toh Meen (A Cantonese Noodle dish)

Cendol stall

Delicious creamy and refreshing bowl of cendol

Assam laksa stall

Assam laksa stall – Bowls of pre-packed noodles & its condiments for the hungry locals and tourist alike.

Assam laksa stall – Pot of assam laksa soup simmering

Iced nutmeg (left) and umbra (right) drinks -very refreshing.

Preserved fruit stall, Chowrasta market, Penang street, Penang

Siamese laksa, Balik Pulau

A typical Malaysian fruit stall.

Durian is famously known as the “King of fruits”. This cross pollinated durian is named “Hor Lo”

Durian 101.

Ang Hae (literally means red prawn) durian

Durian and Rambutan stall

Musang King or Kunyit (Turmeric). This is the “King of Kings” durian –

Durian 101

Almond Tea Drink

Penang assam laksa

ABC the acronym for air batu campur or “mixed ice”

Typical curry mee (Laksa) stall in Malaysia

A typical Siew Lap (roast meat ) stall

Hokkien Se Koh Teng or Cantonese Leng Chee Kang (a sweet dessert drink). Served ice-cold or warm

Food from Ipoh – 75 minutes drive from Teluk Anson. Famous for its tin mining in the 1940’s

Ipoh Hor Fun – Ipoh is famous for her silky & smooth flat rice noodles (hor fun) served in a rich chicken and prawn broth with shredded poached chicken, prawns & garlic chives (kow choy). Accompanied with a bird’s eye chilli -soy dip.

Satay – Grilled skewered meat on a charcoal barbeque. Different from the traditional Malay satay (The Malays do not sell pork satays) as these satays are sold by a Chinese man. The satays come as skewered pork, chicken, chicken gizzards and pork intestine, served with wedges of cucumber and peanut sauce. You are only charged how many satays you eat, the man counts the number of skewers left on the table once you have finished. I was quite surprised this practice is still around, used to be a norm in the 1960’s.

Tofu Far (a type of Chinese pudding dessert made from soya bean milk) – A popular dessert usually served warm. The texture is velvety and smooth sold at the Funny mountain stall in Ipoh. It is served with white sugar syrup and certain places also has a palm sugar syrup. The smoothest tofu far I have ever tasted, even better than the one in my hometown, Teluk Anson but the soya drink is pale in comparison – too watery making the drink insipid.

Baked salted chicken – Opposite the Funny mountain stall is the “Yim kook kai” shop (selling baked salted chicken).The chicken is seasoned with tong kwai (ginseng), pepper and wine, wrapped in 2 layers of bakiing paper and then wrapped with aluminium foil, embedded in very hot rock salt in a wok and baked until cooked.

Food from Kampar – 45 minutes drive from Teluk Anson heading North

Yong tofu – a Hakka specialty. As the name implies, soft/fried beancurds are stuffed with fish paste, other vegetables commonly used are okra, bitter gourd, eggplant, red chilli, beancurd sheets, shitake. The stuffed beancurds and vegetables are cooked by steaming or lightly shallow fried. Comes in a clear chicken broth . Eaten as it is or served with noodles or plain chee cheong fen (steamed and rolled rice sheets). The accompanied sauce is a combination of hoi sin and chilli sauce. Fried won tons and fried gow chee are also part of the varieties.

Chee cheong fen (steamed rice sheets) – This is another version served differently. My brother always ordered this dish for me whenever we stopped at Kampar for breakfast. We were enroute to Penang. Sold at the market stalls. I liked it because it is served with a curry pork skin, round beans poured over the cut rice sheets. Unhealthy but yummy – everything in moderation!!

Kopi-O, Local brewed coffee with sugar only, no milk . The coffee should be “thick”, more coffee taste & flavor and not watered down too much.

Roti ayam (curry chicken wrapped in bread) – A local invention by some chefs in Kampar – cooked curry chicken wrapped in baking paper and then completely wrapped in a bread dough, baked until the bread attains a beautiful brown color. You break open the dough and dip the bread pieces in the curry chicken sauce. Comes in another version, chicken cooked in a herbal concoction.

The dissected roti ayam (chicken in bread) showing the curry chicken. You tear a piece of the bread and eat with the curry chicken, dunking into the sauce.

Food from Teluk Anson

Nasi Kandar – so called because the hawker in the early 1940’s used to carry their wares on a long pole and moved around the town to sell their food. A plate of rice served with your choice of curries-meat, seafood or vegetables.A word of caution, ask for the price of the seafood (especially crabs or large prawns) per piece before you order, it could be an expensive lunch.

Apom – A mild sourish pancake made of rice flour and yeast, fermented for several hours. The fermented batter is poured into a mini wok, cooked over a charcoal or gas stove and covered with a lid to aid in cooking. Eaten with sugar or usually with a bowl of creamy green pea or pearl barley dessert cooked in coconut milk.

Pan meen (Chinese style fettucine) – “Dried” style pan meen, the noodles are blanched and tossed with a seasonong mixture consisting of soya sauce, dark soya sauce, pepper, sesame oil, onion oil, served with shredded poached chicken and a pickled chilli-eshallots relish.

Another version of “Dried” style pan meen with crispy anchovies, shitake and eaten with a pickled chilli-eschallots relish

Apom manis (sweet pancake) – Asian pancake, a flour base batter is poured onto a mini pan. When bubbles appeared on the surface, crushed roasted peanuts, sugar, creamed corn and a dollop of margarine are sprinkled on top, covered with a lid and cooked over a gas stove. Best eaten hot when the pancake is still crispy

Comfort breakkie food – Yau char kwai (right photo – fried crullers), kap chong (centre bottom photo – with sticky rice fillings), ham chin pang (centre top photo – filled with red bean paste) and bei hua chi (far left photo – sweetened version of the fried crullers with sesame seeds.

Loh mai chi or steamed glutinous rice balls wrapped with crushed roasted peanuts and sugar, rolled in glutinous rice flour. Had a soft and chewy texture, similar to the Japanese mochi.

Crispy roast pork (siu yoke) – Famed for its crackling & crispy roast pork belly. Served with plain or the Hainanese fragrant rice, chilli-ginger dip and a thick dark soy sauce

Food from Teluk Anson

Mee rebus (meaning blanched noodles) - Mastan Ghani is an icon in Teluk Anson, the business had been around for 60 plus years and still serving the ever popular mee rebus & Indian rojak. Another Ansonian favourite. A mild spiced thick gravy made from sweet potatoes and potatoes. Served with Hokkien noodles, prawn fritters, cooked potato slices, boiled egg, fried tofu, beansprouts, garnished with flat leaf parsley, lime wedge and fried shallots.

Pusmuk or pasembor or simply Indian style salad consisting of shredded cucumber, yam bean, beansprouts, boiled egg, fritters in a sweetish thick sweet potato base gravy. This dish is sold together in the mee rebus stall.

Food from Teluk Anson

Chee cheong fen (steamed rice noodle sheet) - A unique street dish to Teluk Anson and very popular with all Ansonians. Similar to the steamed rice sheets found in yum cha outlets but its uniqueness is found in the savoury (closely guarded secret!!!) fillings consisting of diced yam bean, dried shrimps & pork. Must be eaten with pickled green chilli & soy sauce to acentuate the taste & flavor.

Kopi ( a Malay word for coffee) - local coffee made with sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk. A must have breakfast drink served either hot or with ice to go with any of your favourite breakfast item.

Food fromTeluk Anson (Teluk Intan, Perak)

Wan tan meen - another popular street food, similar preparation like pan meen but the noodles are usually commercially bought. Think spaghetti. Served either in a clear broth or in a "dry" form,tossed in a seasoning consisting of soya sauce, dark soya sauce, pepper, sesame oil and accompanied with shredded poached chicken, char siu, choy sum and a piping hot bowl of won ton soup, must be eaten with pickled green chilli-soy dip.

Pan meen - every pan meen stall made their own fresh noodles using a pasta machine. Think fettucine, that's what the noodle looks like, after all Marco Polo brought the art of making noodles from China back to Italy. The noodles are served in a clear chicken broth with Asian green, shredded chicken and crispy anchovies. Accompanied with pickled sliced bird's eye chilli & eschallots relish.

Malacca

The famous Hainanese chicken rice balls served with poached white chicken, chilli-ginger dip and a rich bowl of peanuts soup with pork ribs. The rice balls are unique to Malacca.

Cendol - Green jelly made from mung bean flour, served with red kidney beans, shaved ice, palm sugar syruo and coconut milk