Taiwanese Traditional Snacks @ Yong He Soya Milk, Ipoh

KLites and Penangites have their Shihlin Taiwan Snacks, with their signature oyster mee sua (meant to be slurped, not eaten), XXL Fried Chicken etc.

While Ipohans drooled away and sulked in one corner ....

Until now.

YONG HE Soya Milk @ Medan Ipoh Bistari

Started business barely a month or two ago, the place has been picking up steam, judging from the breakfast and lunch crowd. Though packed to the brim, the tables and chairs merely occupied HALF of the shoplot, while the larger-than-usual kitchen took up the other half.

Bet they're performing acrobatics in there. :)

Reasonably-priced and various rarely (or in fact, NEVER) seen snacks and familiar beverages

They take pride in their soya milk drinks, served either hot in a bowl, warm, or cold. And indeed the soya milk is good, but not breath-takingly marvelous. A notch above most offerings out there, except the one I had in Hong Kong. But let's not compare.

But the star beverage in Yong He, (at least to me, anyway) is their Rice Peanut Milk drink, served either hot, warm or cold as well. Saw this in TV some time ago, in a Taiwanese food documentary, and was pleasantly surprised to find the drink available here. Milky, yet not overly rich, the concoction reminded me of a typical Chinese sweet soup (tong sui), the Fa Sang Wu, aka Blended Peanut Soup.

They also have salty soya milk, on top of the usual sweet version, and a sugar-free version. Choices, choices ....

There's the Chilli Oil, Garlic Sauce, and Soy Sauce for all your condiment needs

Clockwise from top left : Ham Egg Cake (RM3.50), Bacon Egg Cake (RM3.50), Twisted Bun+Egg (RM3.00) and Rice Roll+Meat Floss (RM2.50)

Serving mostly snacks, one can REALLY pig out here, without a care in the world. OK, maybe practise some self-restraint, but everything's rather cheap here, one can't help but over-ordered. The Egg Cake can be served with ham, bacon, pork chop, etc. Akin to our Popiah or spring rolls, the egg roll is quite tasty as the fried egg with spring onions is fragrant, and paired with either ham or bacon, the combination of flavours work on every level. And dip them into the garlic sauce+chilli oil combination, and the taste was somewhat enhanced tremendously.

The same could not be said bout the twisted bun though, as we find them rather dry, and required some chewing. The rice roll with meat floss filling was another good choice. Very much alike nasi impit (of Sate Kajang fame), the roll is stuffed with lots of meat floss, and a crunchy and savoury combination of choy pou (preserved mustard) and dried shrimps (I think).

The SPICY sauce

Aside from the garlic sauce and chilli oil, they've another container filled with dark, watery, un-assuming liquid, with hints of chilli seeds. Their signature spicy sauce. Unlike the ones usually found in restaurant serving Xiao Long Bao, it's rather diluted, but pack a punch nonetheless. Not extremely spicy though (which would be nice!!!), but would be a tad better had it been more concentrated, as I found it rather funny pouring the watery sauce onto the snacks, rather than dipping the snacks into the sauce.

Clay Oven Rolls + Egg (RM2.50)

Another one of their signature item is the clay oven rolls, dough sprinkled with sesame seeds, baked to crispy perfection, and sandwich-ing either egg, ham, bacon, or any combination (I kinda forgot ... hehe) Just remember to have them FRESH, as it'll harden rather fast.

Meat Bun (RM2.00)

Piping hot from the steamer, the steamed Meat Bun is purpotedly a Taiwanese favourite snack. Forgot the translation, but something along the line of 'Sui Zhing Yuk Bao'. Correct me if I'm wrong, k?

The filling of dense pork meat was marinated and the taste mimicked the fillings of Xiao Long Bao. Minus the soup, of course. Not bad, but be warned; the filling is darn hot when served, hence do not risk burning your tongue over this one.

Radish Cake (RM2.50)

Good ol' radish cake. Or 'Lor Bak Kou', a perennial dim sum superstar, pan-fried to crispiness. Not one of the best, as the soft and soggy cake was slightly different from the usual ones in dim sum restaurants. But still flavourful, nevertheless.

Opens from 8am til 6pm daily, the place is pretty easy to locate. In fact it's at the same row with SSTC Italian Cafe, and Serai Sate Kajang.

Location : YONG HE SOYA MILK @ No 7, Jalan Medan Ipoh 1E, Medan Ipoh Bistari, 31400 Ipoh, Perak. Tel No : 605 - 545 6318

Having trouble finding a good spot for tea-time snacking pleasure? Worry no more. =)