More eats in Penang...Padang Brown

Padang Brown in Penang is an institution for foodies. A must visit place, for local Penangites or vistors alike. The place come alive from about 2pm in the afternoon, and for most of the stores featured here, the action is over by 4pm. Come early for your afternoon snack.

I used to live just a stone throw's away when I was a wee kid...and some of the hawkers doing their stuff there have been there since then...from about 40 years ago! I start with one of my favourite Penang dishes...char kway teow...variously spelled as char kueh teow.

The CKT is quite good...

Freshly fried each plate on its own...the noodle is flat rice noodles...kway teow...but the variant in Penang is somewhat thinner, more delicate in physical structure, but altogether a bit more robust in taste than the variety we get in Singapore. Fried without any sweet black sauce, but with seafood. Lovely. Not the best in Penang, but will best any Penang style CKT in Singapore. The wok hei is wonderfully fragrant, the ingredients super fresh...the prawns were sweet and crunchy. Lovely.

I normally would order a plate of Pasembur...a Chinese rojak, but that afternoon when we arrived, they had finished their stock and called it a day.

But one of our favourite popiah was still available

Seafood popiah like you never seen in Singapore

Vigrous, full flavoured. Breath of the sea. Appropriate words to describe this dish. But the special from this stall, not even found in other Penang popiah stalls is the super good, savoury gravy they pour over the popiah. And the skin of the popiah is so delicate, yet resistant to tear, even when soaked in the gravy. Within, fresh crab meat, prawns and divers vegetables. Excellent, and highly recommended.

One of my mom's favourites is the ohr kueh

This is a steamed yam cake, with bits of dried shrimp and deep fried shallots as garnishing...

Within is found huge chunks of very light, almost airy yam. The flour which holds it together is also light and delicate...imparting little flavour of its own, but rather letting the yam speak. The garnishing complements the yam...as does the rich, chilli sauce. Again highly recommended.

A must visit for the visitor...and indeed a regular haunt of locals looking for that afternoon snack.

Padang Brown
Penang Island