Ipoh chicken and bean sprouts and Ipoh Night Market, Malaysia

Just another day in Ipoh.

There was no question as to what would be our first dinner in Billy's hometown. Chicken and bean sprouts are the pride of Ipoh, Malaysia, and we headed to the locals' favourite, Restoran Lou Wong Tauge Ayam Kuetiau.

Restoran Lou Wong Tauge Ayam Kuetiau



I can still remember that warm and muggy evening, the plastic stools sticking to the backs of our thighs as we huddled around an uneven table perched precariously on the street.


Locals eating rice noodles

There is no menu here, just a short list of specialties that are ticked on the waiter's notepad. Every table has the same, a plate of white chicken, a serve of bean sprouts and bowls of soup and rice noodles to wash it all down.


White chicken

There is no fuss about service or elaborate presentation. The chicken is chopped with alarming speed, a rhythmic sound of the meat cleaver striking the chopping board.


Kitchen


White chicken RM36 (about AU$13.33) including bean sprouts

We dig in eagerly into chunky pieces of white poached chicken that are soft and juicy, drenched in a light soy sauce and garnished with coriander, shallots and chilli.


Ipoh bean sprouts

Ipoh's signature bean sprouts are short and stumpy in appearance, but deliciously crunchy, snapping between the teeth, dressed with light soy sauce, oil and white pepper.


Fish paste balls RM7.50 (about AU$2.75)

Fish paste balls are smooth and elegant, but it's the local rice noodles that win us all over, slippery silky ribbons that glide down the throat with ease.


Ipoh rice noodles with chicken


Barley drink and gui ling herbal drink RM1.20 each (about AU$0.45)


Diners


Waitstaff


Restoran Lou Wong Tauge Ayam Kuetiau

"There is not much to do in Ipoh," Billy's parents had said. "There is only the night market."

Night market? My eyes lit up at the thought.


Ipoh Night Market


Crepes

The night markets are a chaotic kaleidoscope of gastronomic glee. There are a few stalls selling kitchenware gadgets or plastic bags filled with fish, but for the most part, everything on sale is edible.

We join the jostling crowds, the air thick with smoke and the clatter of woks and hawker calls. There is something to see whichever way you look, and I'm like a kid in a candy store.


Char Tow Kway fried radish cake


Frying pastries


Jellies


Fish paste balls


Fruit stall


Duku Langsat

Billy bought a bag of duku lungsut, which look like a longan but have a tarter flavour beneath its powdery leathery skin.


Mah Lai Goh steamed cake


Pau steamed buns


Making Apam Balik peanut pancake


Removing the cooked Apam Balik


Apam Balik filled with crushed peanuts and sugar


Apam Balik




Cooking crispy peanut crepes


Crispy crepes filled with peanut


Peeling sugarcane


Sugarcane juice


Steamed mantou buns


Kuih Lapis layer cake


Wheat flour cakes


Market aquarium


Steamed corn


Fried snacks galore


Pluto pups and fried pastries


Lok Lok skewer stall

Lok Lok stalls are a popular fixture in hawker markets around Malaysia. Set up like a communal self-serve steamboat, you simply choose your skewers, plunge into the pots of boiling water to cook, and then dip in whichever sauce you prefer.


Lok Lok skewers


Self-serve skewers


Stall holders in a hive of activity


Marinated chicken fried in paper bags


Ice creams


Ice creams for everyone!


Restoran Kam Wan food court



Did the evening end there? Of course it didn't. Despite the early start and long day of travel from the Cameron Highlands, we still perk up when Billy mentions the word "supper'.

It's 11.00pm at night, but in Malaysia this just means the night air is cool enough to enjoy a little more feasting.


Watermelon shake and milo ice

We've barely sat down before a drinks stall operator is by our side, ready to take our orders. I order a cool sweet and icy watermelon shake, but Minh only has eyes for her beloved milo ais.



Aiyu jelly and ice


Ice kacang


Popiah RM1.70 (about AU$0.65)

The boys order ayu jelly and ice kacang laden with sweet corn, basil seeds and jelly, but I only have eyes for the popiah, a delicate crepe wrapping filled with carrot, jicama, bean sprouts and tofu, all mixed with a spicy shrimp paste.

It's crunchy and sweet, refreshing yet spicy, and a perfect late night snack to complete a day of feasting.

> Read the next Malaysia post (Concubine Lane and Funny Mountain soy milk)

< Read the first Malaysia 2010 post (Kuala Lumpur)




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Restoran Lou Wong Tauge Ayam Kuetiau
49 Jalan Yau Tet Shin, Ipoh, Malaysia

Restoran Kam Wan (Aneka Selera)
Ipoh Garden, 17-18 Jalan Canning Estate, Ipoh, Malaysia

> Read the next Malaysia post (Concubine Lane and Funny Mountain soy milk)

< Read the first Malaysia 2010 post (Kuala Lumpur)