A quick taste of Ipoh

No, this isn’t a blog about food. It is about the many experiences that I have in life, one of which involve some of the sinful (and mostly not sinful) pleasures of life, which includes food! Fresh from a date with a concubine on New Year’s Eve, and with the knowledge (yes, knowledge can sometimes be dangerous) that there is certainly more to Ipoh than rather nice old buildings and narrow streets – Ipoh is to many, better known for its food, I decided to indulge a little in some of the culinary treats that Ipoh offers.

Ipoh is well known as a glutton's paradise. Among its famous dishes is Sar Hor Fun found at stalls at either 73 or 75 Leech Street (Jalan Bandar Timah).

So, armed with the recommendations of a long time Ipoh resident whom I had met in Singapore, but with a little more than a day and the desire not to put additional strain on my tight fitting garments caused by the fast expanding waistline stemming from the overindulgences over the festive season, I decided to have a quick sampling what he had recommended. First stop was at one of the must-eat-at steamed chicken places, Onn Kee (安記) diagonally across on Jalan Yau Tet Shin from an old Ipoh favourite Lou Wong (老黄) (Onn Kee or Ong Kee as it is sometimes spelt also has a restaurant next door to Lou Wong).

The crowd at Lou Wong on Jalan Yau Tet Shin - popular with the locals for its chicken and bean sprouts.

Ong Kee (of Onn Kee) offers an alternative.

I arrived at about 7 in the evening, and a healthy crowd had already occupied the tables laid outside the restaurant (the crowd across at Lou Wong was even larger!). Ordering the standard fare, it promptly was served with what seemed like the standard practice in Ipoh, a generous amount of brown liquid which qualifies as sauce. Having made a pit stop at Lou Wong previously when I found the chicken to be smooth and tender, with maybe too generous a dash of sodium chloride in the sauce, I decided to take the recommendation of my friend to make a comparison. Onn Kee’s chicken as I bit into it felt a bit too tough and chewy and certainly not the tender smooth variety of steamed chicken I am used to in Singapore. The plus point, compared to Lou Wong’s was that it did taste a little less salty, and maybe had a richer taste. Where Onn Kee stands out is probably with its bean sprouts (known locally as “nga choy” in Cantonese or “tauge” – pronounced tow-gay in Malay) which was crunchier and tastier than its rival’s from across the street.

Ipoh is well known for its steamed chicken ... (the one from Onn Kee is shown here) ...

and ... which begs to be accompanied by crunchy bean sprouts ...

The chicken crew at Onn Kee ...

Of course we know that there is more to life, or rather food, in Ipoh than chicken and bean sprouts, and the Sar Hor Fun that I have previously mentioned. Ipoh has also a reptutation of having the best Dim Sum (not the variety with the word “Dollies” appended to it that MRT commuters in Singapore had a serving of very recently), on the Malayan Peninsula. Another long time favourite (when it comes to these bite sized treats in Ipoh) is the Foh San (富山) which is now housed in the mother of all dim sum restaurants along a street that has become so much associated with dim sum that it is know locally as “Dim Sum Kai” or Dim Sum Street, Jalan Leong Sin Nam. On the recommendation of my Ipoh insider, I headed instead across the street to Ming Court (明阁), where true to the reputation my friend had staked on his recommendation, dish after dish of some of the best dim sum I have had was served, washed down with a pot of tea. Of course I can’t say if it was the best, especially not having the opportunity to taste what Foh San has to offer.

Ming Court (as with Foh San) offers tasty treats of dim sum in Ipoh.

The aftermath ...

Walking around Ipoh does in fact give a sense of it being a glutton’s paradise. Another favourite among many Malaysians are its biscuit shops and salt baked chicken (chicken baked in rock salt). There is also an interesting concept which I guess comes from the fondness the locals have for eating chicken curry with bread and with sweet bread, to be found – Chicken in a Bun! Chicken curry wrapped in aluminium foil, in this case is baked in a sweet dough, allowing the finished product to be taken away and eaten almost anywhere, without the need for additional packaging. All that was certainly too much to handle in a matter of 24 hours – so I did the next best thing … take all that away to allow me to continue with my culinary exploration of Ipoh at my next destination, Kuala Lumpur.

Food - including biscuit shops are everywhere in Ipoh!

(Curry) Chicken in a bun another of Ipoh's famed delights.

What's inside the bun.

Another is Salt Baked Chicken - chicken baked slowly with rock salt - shops are found all over Central Ipoh

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