Pulau Pinang : Assam Laksa, Char Kway Teaw, Passembur and Penang Rojak

Penang is perhaps the most famous, second only to Bangkok, for its wealth of street food. We don’t really understand what street food is and we’re a bit closed minded on the whole affair. Food…from the street?! How preposterous! However the preconceptions of dirty dishes and salacious salmonella are very far from the truth.

Street food is a way of life for most Malaysians. For thrifty backpackers and wealthy world travelers alike, it gives you an affordable way to sample authentic dishes and truly see the real culture of Penang. The thing is, with high-end restaurants and hotel dining rooms, you don’t really get to see the culture surrounding you, whereas street food allows you to get a real taste of Penang’s life; after all, isn’t that why we travel? Also, you can try eating with your hands, which is far harder and much messier than you can imagine!

But which are the best and what should you eat?

ASSAM LAKSA

Assam Laksa is an extremely famous Penang dish. In fact, it might be the best well known; it’s certainly one that most locals will recommend so I’m definitely adding it to this list. It’s a spicy noodley soup with tastebud-tickling sour undertones. So, the traditional dish is kind of a thick broth whereas the Penang version is thinner. It’s poached mackerel that stews in the broth with tamarind, lemongrass, chillies and shrimp paste. This is topped with a big dollop of rice vermicelli. It’s been ranked 7 of the best 100 foods in the world so it’s definitely unmissable.

As I said, it’s super famous so you can find it lurking on pretty much any street in Penang. However, Ayer Itam Pasar is said to serve the best Assam Laksa in the whole world. That’s is a pretty big claimed so it is worth to try it out.

CHAR KWAY TEAW

OK, another noodle delight for you. This one is usually served with prawns so it’s a littlemore of a seafood delight. Its literal translation is ‘stir-fried rice-cake strips’ and that refers to the big fat, flat noodles that it comes with. Although recipes vary from street vendor to street vendor, the general consensus is that this more sloppy noodle dish contains prawns, cockles, beansprouts, Chinese chives, flat rice noodles, egg, soy sauce, chili, and belachan.

PASSEMBUR

It may seem strange to begin with a salad but that’s the first dish I’m going to highly recommended to you. Passembur is a Malaysian-Indian salad that’s basically a mess of cucumber, bean curd, potatoes, fried octopus, fried crab, turnip, bean sprouts and prawn fritters, dressed in a nutty-spicy sauce. A combo of under-the-sea delights and fresh crisp vegetables, this dish is not only a healthy, scrumptious sweet/sour delight.

Where can you get it? The best and most well-known place is probably Gurney Drive Hawker Centre, which is located next to Gurney Plaza and offers a drove of street food stalls that truly represent the cultural menagerie of food offered in Penang. Street food stalls include Indian, Malay, Mamak, and Chinese cuisine, which give you the opportunity to sample some of the best cooks without having to traipse aimlessly around the city. With all the choice they offer, definitely don’t forget to get your lips around some passembur!

PENANG ROJAK

Rojak is a traditional Asian fruit and vegetable salad. It can be found in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. The term “rojak” means mixture in Malay. Penang Rojak is a typical salad that is similar to a fruit one – cucumber, pineapple, cuttlefish, turnip, but has some other ingredients: guava, squid fritters, honey and sometimes raw mangoes and green apples. This dish has no bean sprouts and fried tofu puffs. What’s most delightful is the very thick prawn sauce.

One of the popular places to eat this local delicate is Hock Seng Rojak (or Rojak king) and I assure you its name says it all. The lady chef is very friendly and she will love to cook your fresh rojak instantly.