Watch out, Guest Article!
Feli's sister Franzi was living in Penang (Malaysia) for three months
and wrote down her food impressions.
In any case, the water in my mouth has now melted,
because once again I sit in front of the PC and am hungry!
Have fun reading!
Feli's sister Franzi was living in Penang (Malaysia) for three months
and wrote down her food impressions.
In any case, the water in my mouth has now melted,
because once again I sit in front of the PC and am hungry!
Have fun reading!
Altogether I lived three months in Penang, a peninsula in Malaysia, and experienced and saw a lot during this time. There is a great mix of cultures, mainly Malay, Chinese and Indian. This mix is also noticeable in the open-minded and friendly nature of the inhabitants. You feel directly welcome here, almost everyone speaks English and is super helpful.
Penang is especially known for its great and varied food. There is a small food stand at every corner, mostly run by a family that earns a living. Often there are many food stalls next to each other, which is called a Hawker Center. Here you can find fresh food at every stand and there is a huge choice - from Indian, Chinese, malay to western food everything can be found here. These food markets can be found almost everywhere in Penang on street corners or in the meantime in residential complexes. So far it tasted best at the Sunshine Market in Bayan Lepas, near the airport.
The choice and freshness is not the only advantage, the food usually costs a maximum of 10 Ringgit, which is about two euros. Cheap, good and fast food, perfect for lunch.
But for Germans it can be a bit unusual, because it is not very clean and smells strange in some places. So far I've only had good experiences there and haven't spoiled my stomach yet.
But those who are looking for healthy, vitamin-rich and above all low-calorie food in Malaysia will probably find it rather difficult. Rice is a fixed part of every meal and raw fresh ingredients are rare. A lot of meat is eaten, which makes it hard to live without it for one day, unless you only eat rice with dry vegetables. The largest selection can be found at Indian stalls, probably because over 50% of Indians are vegetarians.
The rather rich food is especially noticeable to the Malay people. Breakfast starts with rice and meat or an instant noodle soup. If you are looking for muesli or fresh fruit, you will probably not find it here. We often ate fried eggs, yoghurt (but only sweetened, natural yoghurt is rare) or fruit.
I especially liked the fact that when Asians go out to eat in a restaurant with several people, they order a lot of different dishes to share. So everybody can try everything and has a big choice of different food.
What is noticeable is that almost everything is sweetened. Be it a black(!) coffee or a drink at a Hawker Center, everything is provided with a heap of sugar. Also known is the White Coffee in Penang, that is instant coffee powder with milk and sugar, which you only have to pour with hot water. That's what most people drink here as coffee. Luckily my boss had a coffee machine in his office where everybody could get a coffee for a Ringgit. So I was lucky to get quite good and above all drinkable black coffee. But coffee is generally quite expensive in contrast to the food, you usually pay between 1 - 2 Euro per cup. This is similar to Germany.
Now I have put together for you a small selection of the typical dishes in Penang.
Penang is especially known for its great and varied food. There is a small food stand at every corner, mostly run by a family that earns a living. Often there are many food stalls next to each other, which is called a Hawker Center. Here you can find fresh food at every stand and there is a huge choice - from Indian, Chinese, malay to western food everything can be found here. These food markets can be found almost everywhere in Penang on street corners or in the meantime in residential complexes. So far it tasted best at the Sunshine Market in Bayan Lepas, near the airport.
The choice and freshness is not the only advantage, the food usually costs a maximum of 10 Ringgit, which is about two euros. Cheap, good and fast food, perfect for lunch.
But for Germans it can be a bit unusual, because it is not very clean and smells strange in some places. So far I've only had good experiences there and haven't spoiled my stomach yet.
But those who are looking for healthy, vitamin-rich and above all low-calorie food in Malaysia will probably find it rather difficult. Rice is a fixed part of every meal and raw fresh ingredients are rare. A lot of meat is eaten, which makes it hard to live without it for one day, unless you only eat rice with dry vegetables. The largest selection can be found at Indian stalls, probably because over 50% of Indians are vegetarians.
The rather rich food is especially noticeable to the Malay people. Breakfast starts with rice and meat or an instant noodle soup. If you are looking for muesli or fresh fruit, you will probably not find it here. We often ate fried eggs, yoghurt (but only sweetened, natural yoghurt is rare) or fruit.
I especially liked the fact that when Asians go out to eat in a restaurant with several people, they order a lot of different dishes to share. So everybody can try everything and has a big choice of different food.
What is noticeable is that almost everything is sweetened. Be it a black(!) coffee or a drink at a Hawker Center, everything is provided with a heap of sugar. Also known is the White Coffee in Penang, that is instant coffee powder with milk and sugar, which you only have to pour with hot water. That's what most people drink here as coffee. Luckily my boss had a coffee machine in his office where everybody could get a coffee for a Ringgit. So I was lucky to get quite good and above all drinkable black coffee. But coffee is generally quite expensive in contrast to the food, you usually pay between 1 - 2 Euro per cup. This is similar to Germany.
Now I have put together for you a small selection of the typical dishes in Penang.
Das ist ein sogenannter Claypot, das ist Reis in einer heissen Schale mit Pilzen, Huehnchen und Fisch, gewuerzt mit einer dickfluessigen Sojasosse und einem Ei. Nicht besonders gesund, aber sehr lecker und man wird auf jeden Fall satt. Das Tolle daran ist, dass es in einem heissen Topf gekocht und dann auch serviert wird, das heisst, es bleibt die ganze Zeit ueber warm.
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Indian Food was my favourite food in Penang. The spices are simply great and hard to get in Germany. I liked best white cabbage with curry and chicken tandoori. At the Indian food stands you can take whatever you want and pay per dish at the end.
Naan was from time to time a great change to rice, which is always served with every meal. |
pic credits via http://www.curiousnut.com
MURTABAK
Murtabak ist ein gefuellter Teigfladen mit Ei und Fleisch. Es schmeckt ein bisschen nach Ruehrei, aber den genauen Geschmack kann man ziemlich schwer beschreiben. Das gab es bei uns ganz frisch am Night Market, sollte man auf jeden Fall mal probieren. Allerdings schmeckt das nur ganz frisch und noch warm. |
pic credits via http://www.elle.fr
RAMEN
Ramen can actually be compared quite well with homemade noodles. These are hand-made wheat noodles, which are served as a thin variation in the soup or thick with sauce, which usually consists of soy sauce. I had a portion of vegetables and duck. You can't really do much wrong with ramen, it tastes good most of the time, but in my opinion it's nothing really special. |
You can get more than enough of Thai food here, for example chicken in a sweet-sour sauce and a fried egg. Unfortunately I don't know the exact name anymore, but I can recommend it very much. Generally I ate very little Thai food, because after my time in Malaysia I travelled with my family to Thailand and wanted to try my hand at Thai food. Generally the food consists mainly of a meat dish with vegetables and rice.
Xia Long Bao are a kind of dumplings, i.e. steamed dumplings with filling. The special thing about these small dumplings is that they also contain a kind of soup. The filling is first frozen with a vegetable soup and then enclosed in a dough coat and steamed. The stuffing consists mostly of meat, but is really very tasty. They are eaten with dark vinegar and ginger strips. In any case a must in Asia!
Xia Long Bao are a kind of dumplings, i.e. steamed dumplings with filling. The special thing about these small dumplings is that they also contain a kind of soup. The filling is first frozen with a vegetable soup and then enclosed in a dough coat and steamed. The stuffing consists mostly of meat, but is really very tasty. They are eaten with dark vinegar and ginger strips. In any case a must in Asia!
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Korean food has definitely conquered my heart during my time in Malaysia. The food is characterized by a lot of fresh and steamed vegetables, which I missed a bit during the meal in Penang. You should definitely be used to spicy food, otherwise you won't taste much the first time you eat Korean food. My favorite dish, which I will definitely recook - maybe after a recipe from Epifood (JAAAA, that was a side blow!! ☺), is Bibimbap. Translated it means "mixed rice". The basis is rice and then comes various steamed vegetables such as carrots, spinach, mushrooms, sprouts and depending on your preference meat or tofu and on top a raw or fried egg. The whole thing is seasoned with a red hot Korean chili paste. It is served in a hot pot, so it stays warm and the raw egg coagulates. Bibimbap fills you up and you still don't feel full and carry.
About three hours by car from Penang you will find the Cameron Highlands, a tea growing area. There the climate is a bit milder and the air is much cooler and cleaner than in Penang. There we happened to notice a Hotpot Restaurant. Hotpot consists of a big hot pot, which is kept warm or boiling with coal. We were served meat, fish, eggs, noodles and fresh vegetables. This can be added to the hotpot at will. Personally I was surprised to get such a good quality of ingredients. Everything was top fresh and super delicious and all for only 20 Ringgit per person (about 4 Euro). I was especially happy to eat something healthy and not so heavy, but that made me full. This is unfortunately not so often the case with Chinese food. Chinese is often very greasy and hard to digest, so that was a welcome change. |
A few recommendations:
RESTAURANTS:
Dragon-i (Queensbay oder Gurney Mall) (Xia Long Bao)
Kapitan (Indisches Restaurant neben Queensbay Mall)
Soul Café (Western Food, Pasta)
Indian Palace (Indisch, Bayan Lepas)
Homestyle (Chinese, Pearl Hill, Tanjung Bungah) (Mango Chicken, hausgemachter Tofu)
Mekong (Vietnamese)
Pinxin (Veganes Restaurant, Georgetown)
Sushi Mentai (Elit Heights)
CAFES:
The Bean Sprout Café
Mugshot Café & Rainforest Bakery (belong together)
Gusto Café (Pearl Hill, Tanjong Bungah)
PARTY/BAR:
Chulia Court
The George
Coffee, Tea or Me
RESTAURANTS:
Dragon-i (Queensbay oder Gurney Mall) (Xia Long Bao)
Kapitan (Indisches Restaurant neben Queensbay Mall)
Soul Café (Western Food, Pasta)
Indian Palace (Indisch, Bayan Lepas)
Homestyle (Chinese, Pearl Hill, Tanjung Bungah) (Mango Chicken, hausgemachter Tofu)
Mekong (Vietnamese)
Pinxin (Veganes Restaurant, Georgetown)
Sushi Mentai (Elit Heights)
CAFES:
The Bean Sprout Café
Mugshot Café & Rainforest Bakery (belong together)
Gusto Café (Pearl Hill, Tanjong Bungah)
PARTY/BAR:
Chulia Court
The George
Coffee, Tea or Me
Your Guest author, Franzi