First meal in October: hawker options for breakfast this morning from 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁, Burmah Road:
- Penang-style curry mee - Penang curry mee is lighter, with a soupier gravy compared to KL-style curry mee’s thick, spicy version, or Singapore’s chicken-and-potato curry one.
One of the distinct characteristics of Penang-style curry mee is the pig’s blood pudding garnish - a must-have and unmissable.
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Penang-style Hokkien mee - Penang’s version is known as prawn mee in Singapore, KL and elsewhere. Only Penang-style Hokkien mee is soupy, whilst Hokkien mee in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are both wok-fried, drier renditions, with the latter given a dark-brown hue using dark soy sauce.
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Koay teow th’ng - a Teochew classic, known as Hu Tieu Nam Vang in Vietnam and Keiv Teav Phnom Penh in Cambodia.
In Penang, koay teow th’ng vendors are divided into 3 genres: the ones using pork (e.g. One Corner Cafe), the ones specializing in duck-meat (e.g. Cecil Street Market), and the rarest ones which used chicken-meat.
What is unique about the vendor here at The Shark is that he offered all three types: pork, duck and chicken! We surmised that his very tasty broth was slow-brewed, most likely overnight, using pork bones, chicken and duck. The broth has deep, smoky flavors - perhaps from the pork bones being roasted, before simmering.
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Penang wantan mee - I was never a fan of Penang-style wantan mee, but it has grown on me in the past 3 years that I was in Penang. Unlike HK-style wantan mee, with its emphasis on a subtly-flavored but very complex broth, or Singapore-style wantan mee, with its more supple Hakka-style noodles and fiery chili dressing, Penang wantan mee has a texture closer to its HK counterpart, but is usually served “dry-ish”, with a dark soy sauce dressing which also included lard, sesame oil, and shallot oil. Some stalls in Penang also added drippings from “char siew” (Cantonese BBQ pork).
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Penang char koay teow - the rendition by the stall here at The Shark was surprisingly weak, compared to excellent renditions of hawker fare by the other stalls. I won’t be coming back for this one here.
But still, char koay teow one finds anywhere in Penang is still much better than what one can get in Singapore, KL or anywhere else in Malaysia. The Penangites never douse their fried noodles with heavy sauces or made the dish too greasy or gluggy (like what happens in Singapore or KL).
- Orh kueh (steamed taro pudding) & chye kueh (jicama-filled steamed dumplings) - pretty average versions here - I won’t return for these.
Excellent: Koay teow th’ng
Above average: Penang curry mee, Penang wantan mee
Average: Penang char koay teow, orh kueh, chye kueh
