Iโd been searching for good char-siew (BBQ caramelised pork), siew yoke (crispy-skinned roast pork) and siew ngap (Cantonese-style roast duck) in Penang for years, but never could find a good one, at least those which reached the standards of good ones in Kuala Lumpur or even Ipoh. My search was over when I came across Rong Ji, a fairly new set-up on the corner of Carnarvon Street and Carnarvon Lane: juicy, perfectly-marinated char-siew, melt-in-the-mouth siew yoke with wafer-crisp crackling skin, and roast duck with the right flavours and texture.
Run by KL-born Hakka, Sam Lee Yoong Yaw, 54, and his Penangite wife (sheโs also Hakka), the roast meats he offered were simply a class above those Iโd tasted anywhere else on the island!
This was actually KL-style curry mee, but localized to suit the Penang palate. The chef, Sam Lee, is a KL-born Hakka from Cheras. His char-siew (Cantonese-style caramelized BBQ pork) and siew-yoke (Cantonese-style crackling-skinned roast pork) are peerless here in Penang: really KL-standard.
Sam Lee made sure his curry mee has the distinctive Penang flavor profile, in order to attract the clientele here: more liquid, slightly sweet to offset the savoury element, not too aggressively spicy. So, it just looked like KL-style curry mee (down to its inclusion of long beans), but tasted 100% like Penang-style curry mee, ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐ด the pigโs blood cubes.
One can also opt for Hakka-style noodles - similar in appearance to Cantonese wantan noodles, but more springy as Hakkas love their food quite chewy compared to the other Southern Chinese. Hakka-style noodles are usually dressed very simply with pork lard, shallot oil and salt.
Popped into Rong Ji at lunch today, to get a quick update on its offerings. Cantonese roast meats served with curried noodles - no one else in Penang comes close to his unique offering here:
Samโs โsiew yokeโ (crackling-skinned roast pork) is also one of the very best, although quite a few other roasters (Old Soon Kee on Burmah Road, the Cantonese BBQ stall in Old Winston food court, etc.) do versions that are as good, if not better.
But only Sam serves these wonderful roast meats atop curried noodles here in Penang (unlike in Kuala Lumpur or Ipoh), so we still need to make a trip down here to satisfy our cravings.
