Quan Zhou Cafe is named after the ancient Chinese port of Quanzhou, located in Fujian Province, China, which was once the starting point of the ancient Maritime Silk Road and a global maritime trade center back in the Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1271-1368) dynasties.
The earliest Chinese emigrants to Southeast-Asia set sail from Quanzhou in the 12th-century. Due to its geographical location, most of the seamen and emigrants were Fujianese (or Hokkiens, in their own native dialect), and their language and culture were spread to the areas which would constitute modern-day Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Culinary-wise, the cuisine of Quanzhou pre-dominates the other regional sub-variations in Penang’s Hokkien restaurant scene. The dishes are all quite heavy, by their very nature. In fact, this factor influences Penang’s overall Chinese culinary culture, as the Hokkiens are the largest ethnic Chinese group in Penang.
Like the other Hokkien restaurants in Penang, Quan Zhou is a very rustic eatery. It’s located in a large zinc-roofed building along Sungai Pinang Road, in a largely industrial neighborhood.
Our lunch at Quan Zhou consisted of:
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Bak kee th’ng - pork with tapioca flour coating in a clear soup. I can never get used to this dish, but my Penang-Hokkien friends here could never get enough of it. Maybe it’s something we need to grow up eating, whereas I only first encountered this dish a few years ago.
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Kiam bak chien - this is a rather addictive dish which I absolutely love: salt-marinated then deep-fried pork belly. It’s the very epitome of simplicity, but tasted so good! A small mound of pickled daikon-carrot, plus some fresh coriander leaves, and a small dish of chili sauce were perfect accompaniments.
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Heh kien - prawn fritters, basically whole, super-fresh de-shelled prawns which are covered in batter and deep-fried till golden-crisp. Another simple dish which is perfectly executed.
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Lor too kar - soy-braised pig’s trotter. The slow-cooking yielded gelatinous pig’s skin and melt-in-the-mouth tender fatty pork. The balance of flavors here is spot-on. The tasty soy-braised, hard-boiled eggs were a bonus.
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Oh chien - the Fujianese-style oyster omelette, with tapioca flour slurry worked in, is thinner and crispier here.
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Cha tung hoon - stir-fried glass noodles with shrimps, oysters and pork is a house specialty, and we can see why - positively bursting with flavors.
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Crisp-fried silver whiting - a local answer to Japanese shishamo: these 4- to 5-inch long fish are crisp-fried and can be eaten whole, bones and all.
A good lunch - one can only waddle from the table of a Hokkien lunch.
Address
Quan Zhou Cafe
161, Sungai Pinang Road, 10150 George Town, Penang, Malaysia
Tel: +6019-410 2609
Opening hours: 8am to 4pm, Tue to Sun. Closed on Mondays.
