Day 60 of the interminable Movement Control Order (MCO) 3.0 Lockdown in Malaysia. 479 days since the commencement of the first MCO on 18 Mar 2020.
Breakfast take-outs from Genting Cafe at Island Glades this morning:
Kopitiam-style dim sum - these are the more rustic renditions of HK-style dim sum we normally get from Cantonese yum cha tea houses. The kopitiam dim sum versions usually are much cheaper, but has cheaper ingredients - in place of shrimps, you may get crab stick, or chopped carrot in place of shrimp roe. Also, more “fillers” like tapioca starch to bolster the lack of meat.
But, from Penang down to Singapore, “kopitiam dim sum” seemed a genre all of their own.
Economy beehoon mee - a favourite breakfast item in Penang, as well as Singapore: a combination of rice vermicelli (beehoon) and wheat noodles (Hokkien mee) - the two types of noodles are fried separately, then combined upon order.
In Singapore, the economy beehoon mee usually have optional sides of fried egg, Spam, chicken nuggets, etc. In Penang, it’s usually only topped with crisp-fried sweet beancurd strips. Two types of chilis are added to the noodles: pickled green chilis and a spicy red chili paste.
Penang-style Hokkien mee - the Penang-style Hokkien mee consisted of yellow wheat noodles and rice vermicelli in an intensely-flavored pork-prawn soup.
It differs vastly from Singapore-style Hokkien mee, which is stir-fried yellow wheat noodles and rice vermicelli in a pork-prawn broth, cooked till the noodles have absorbed all the broth.
KL-style Hokkien mee is also a stir-fry but consists only of the yellow wheat noodles, and has a signature dark, glossy appearance from the use of copious amounts of dark soy sauce. The dish also has pork and shrimp stock added gradually during the frying process, and cooked till the noodles have absorbed the stock.
Koay teow th’ng - this is the quintessential Teochew noodle soup dish: flat rice noodles in a chicken broth here (other places in Penang has either duck, chicken or pork version of this dish). Fishcakes and fish-balls, besides shredded chicken meat and crisp lardons are added as garnishes:
Roti bak kwa
These are small sandwiches consisting of soft baked buns sandwiching “bak kwa” - Hokkien caramelised, BBQ pork jerky.
These little filled pork buns were traditionally sold outside cinema halls in Penang since back in the 1960s, but seemed to have completely disappeared from the cineplexes/multiplexes these days, replaced by the ubiquitous popcorn, nacho ‘n’ cheese, and hotdog options - a “sad” result of globalization of cinema junk food.
