Dinner at 1-Michelin-star Auntie Gaik Leanโs Old School Eatery last night. We managed to get a sneak preview of Auntie Gaik Leanโs Chinese New Year menu, which started off with a scrumptious abalone ๐บ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐จ - our first ๐ญ๐ฐ-๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช (the traditional tossing of the yee sang) this year, and itโs not even the Year of the Snake yet (Chinese New Year for 2025 will be celebrated in Wed, Jan 29, whence the Year of the Snake will be ushered in, to replace the Year of the Dragon).
Our dinner spread yesterday evening:
- The abalone ๐บ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐จ consisted entirely of fresh, finely-julienned vegetables - my absolute favourite type of ๐บ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐จ.
The plum sauce dressing for the ๐บ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐จ, plus toasted sesame seeds, crushed groundnuts and cornflakes provided crunch to the mix.
๐๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช - the Malaysian/Singaporean Cantonese practice of tossing the ๐บ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐จ.
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๐๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ช ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฆ - these traditional Nyonya pastry cups are adopted from the Indonesian โkue pattieโ which, in turn, came from Dutch crispy pastry cups, called โpattie shellsโ in America when introduced by the Scandinavians in the 1920s. โPai teeโ is a mispronunciation by our local Nyonyas of the American โpattieโ.
The filling is similar to the Hokkien filling for popiah, i.e. stewed jicama, carrots, chicken-meat and carrots, topped with scallions and red chilis.
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๐๐ต๐ข๐ฌ-๐ฐ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ - Penang-Nyonya spicy seafood custard pudding. Itโs a local Penang adaption of Siamese ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐บ, and Cambodian ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฌ.
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๐๐ข๐ด๐ช ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ - this is a Penang-Nyonya adaptation of the Siamese (Southern Thai) ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฐ ๐บ๐ข๐ฎ rice salad.
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๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฌ - these are Hokkien 5-spiced meat rolls, known in Hokkien as ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐จ.
The Penang term came from the unique local Penang practice of serving a sticky, brown-hued 5-spiced dipping sauce called โ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณโ (similar to the gravy for โ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆโ, a Hokkien noodle dish) with the meat rolls wrapped in beancurd/yuba sheets. โ๐๐ข๐ฌโ is the Hokkien word for meat.
Hence, โ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฌโ refers to the โ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณโ gravy for the โ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฌโ meat roll. The name stuck, even though ๐ป๐ผ โ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณโ gravy is provided with this dish nowadays.
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Achar awak - Penang-Nyonya pickles, adapted from the Burmese community. In the 19th-century, the Burmese community in Penang was known as Orang Awak, and their settlement in Pulau Tikus was known as Kampung Awak. Hence, the pickles they made and sold at Pulau Tikus market was called Achar Awak.
The Burmese โAwakโ was a local mispronunciation of โAvaโ, the old Burmese kingdom (1365 to 1555). The Burmese name for the Kingdom is แกแแบแธแแแฑแแผแแบแแฑแฌแบ which is equivalent to Ava Kingdom.
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๐๐ด๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฆ - tamarind-marinated prawns. The version here is stupendous!
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๐๐ช๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ถ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ - jicama, carrots, and dried cuttlefish.
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๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ง ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ - very good version here, cooked using Australian Angus beef.
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๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ฏ - Penang-Nyonya chicken curry, replete with lemongrass, fresh turmeric, chilis and kaffir lime leaves. Its use of fresh ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฉ (spice mix) instead of dry spices betrays its Thai origins.
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Crisp-fried garoupa with soy-chili dressing. This sea creature was so big, it looked like something the Nautilus wouldโve encountered 20,000 leagues under the sea.
Absolutely delish, and a must-order.
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๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ช ๐ต๐ถ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด - this dish is a not part of the Chinese New Year menu, but an item on Auntie Gaik Leanโs regular menu, a house specialty and a must-order.
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๐๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐บ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ ๐ค๐ฉ๐บ๐ฆ. The local โchap chyeโ shares a common origin as American-Chinese โchop sueyโ, but with a much lighter taste profile, with the vegetables here given a quick stir-fry.
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๐๐ช๐ข๐ฎ ๐ค๐ฉ๐บ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ - duck and salted mustard soup (known as ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฌ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ in Melaka/Singapore-Nyonya cooking).
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Giant freshwater prawns in spicy-chili dressing.
Desserts:
16) ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐บ - black glutinous rice cooked with dried longans, coconut milk and sugar (known as ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ญ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ฎ in Melaka/Singapore-Nyonya cooking).
- ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐ต - bananas (only ๐๐ช๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ข specie) and a selection of yellow, orange and purple sweet potatoes in coconut milk and sugar, scented with pandan.
Fab meal with some really good cooking. The vibe at Auntie Gaik Leanโs Old School Eatery is almost unparalleled in George Town, with a constant train of local and foreign customers, many queuing outside.
More about Auntie Gaik Lean here:
Address
Auntie Gaik Leanโs Old School Eatery
1, Bishop Street, 10200 George Town, Penang, Malaysia
Tel: +6017-434 4398
Opening hours: 12pm-2.30pm, 6pm-9.30pm Wed to Sun. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
