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Motormouth From Ipoh

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Teluk Batik AGAIN/2 Salted Egg Chickens - Happy & Bei King @ Sitiawan

Never say never. I never stepped on Langkawi's soils all throughout my life, yet last month I flew there not once, but twice. (The chocs are STILL in my fridge until now .... a case of over-estimation, at best).

Not of pristine waters & golden sands, but can lah .....
And being a Perak-ian, I only discovered Teluk Batik (physically) back in March. Surprisingly, duty called, and I was there again in April, AND last weekend. Which kind of more or less changed my perspective on life. Good things only happen once? Nah .....

Footprints in the Sand & The Lost Stallion?
Not going to bore you with shots of the beach and its surrounding this time. But instead focusing on some Foo Chow (or Hock Chew) food in Sitiawan. Two of them, to be exact. Told ya good things come in pairs.
Yee Si @ Kg Koh's the place for freshly steamed 'pau' ... but not opened for dinner. Boo-licious covered the 9 layers peanut bun HERE.
For dinner on the first day, we ventured out to Kampung Koh in Sitiawan to meet up an old friend of ours. No, not in the sense that she's OLD (The opposite, in fact. She looks 10 years younger than her age, really!). But a friend since our secondary school days.

Clockwise from top left : Foil-wrapped Sweet & Sour Pork Ribs, Salted Egg Chicken, Oyster omelette and Fried Squids
Staying in Ayer Tawar for a good one year plus certainly has its advantage. She has transformed from a young, naive gal with no sense of directions whatsoever (hehe), to a tough nut making ends meet in Changkat Melintang (even the GPS may falter at this one!), and perpetually searching for yummy food in and around Daerah Manjung. But of course, with a little help from her prince. (Don't kill me ..... LOL)

Foo Chow Mixed Vegetables
The place is easy to find, as the restaurant is located opposite of Kampung Koh's wet market, which in turn is very famous for the Lor Mee (a type of noodles in thick, sticky broth).
The meal was satisfactory in more than one way. Notable dishes include the Or Chien (oyster omelette) which was very crispy, with M-sized oysters, and paired with Kampung Koh's famous garlic chilli sauce. The deep-fried squids was another tasty snack that was complemented well by the aforementioned dipping sauce.
But the BEST dish of the evening, in my opinion at least, was the salted egg chicken. Now at this restaurant, their intepretation of the dish is slightly different from the others. Whereas most restaurants incorporate salted egg in the batter, and deep-fried their chicken, here the dish is slightly 'wet', as the salted egg is added into the gravy used to cook the chicken. The result? A sumptuous combination of tender chicken pieces cooked in the slightly sweet, saltish, and glistening thick sauce, with finely-chopped bird's eye chillies for that extra fiery kick.

How could we NOT be feeling HAPPY?

Secondly, that was a free meal. Hahaha ... us the freeloaders eh? Thanks to her charming prince, for the food, the company, and the recommendation.

Location : Happy Restaurant @ Main Road of Kampung Koh, Sitiawan. It should be somewhere around here, in the MAP. From the traffic lights at Kampung Koh's Maybank, go towards the road opposite of Maybank, and go straight from there. The shop is on the left, about 300m down the road.

So WHERE'S THE SECOND RESTAURANT, YOU ASK?

Bei King of course.
It has been a year, since my last visit to Bei King in Sitiawan. No doubt THE most popular Foo Chow restaurant in Sitiawan (albeit many claimed the commercialization brought about inflated prices and compromised quality), Bei King has been in the business for about 2 decades now.

Sambal Belacan Kangkung - Ma Lai Fung Kong
Their version of Kangkung stir-fried with Sambal Belacan was surprisingly very good. You know they really care for their greens when they do not simply stir-fry them, but instead with enough fire (wok hei), rendering the greens with a pleasant smoky flavour, with piquant sambal belacan paste, chopped onions and shrimps added for good measure. Not a typical Foo Chow dish, but who cares? :)

Sweet and Sour Fish Maw Soup
Now this is one of their signature dish, the sweet and sour fish maw soup. Fish maws are the gas bladders (or air bladders) of certain species of fish, considered a delicacy in Chinese cuisine. Cooking them may be tricky, as they've to be fresh (without the unpleasant overnight/stale oil taste), braised until soft yet maintaining that bouncy texture, and the sauce must not overwhelm the subtle flavour of the maws.
At Bei King, the sweet and sour soup is a suitable choice; thickened with strands of egg whites, and served with other ingredients, the soup was a tantalizing starter. But the fish maws paled in comparison to the ones I've had in Sekinchan.

The golden block of Signature Beancurd cooked in that wholesome stock

Salted Egg Chicken (again?!)
The salted egg chicken at Bei King is the typical batter-fried version, BUT the salted egg was sandwiched between the batter and the chicken meat, instead of being incorporated into the batter mix. Crispy on the outside, tender and savoury on the inside, we could really taste the salted egg in this one.

Red Wine Chicken - Dry version
The epitome of Foo Chow cuisine, the red wine chicken mee sua is being dished out in Bei King as well. Though we opted to have ours sans the mee sua (we had rice), AND without the soup (we had the fish maw one). The dry version was equally good, though first-timers may have doubts, wondering the possible use of excessive dyes/colourings. In reality, the blood red shade comes from the red rice used in the fermentation of the wine. IF my memory serves me correctly.
Location : Bei King Restaurant @ 1, Taman Lekir Baru, Jalan Raja Omar, 32000 Sitiawan, Perak. They've a site HERE. Tel No : 05-6910253/6926951. It should be somewhere around HERE (a Google map)

Happy Sunday Everyone ........

35 comments:

minchow said...

What a Salted Egg treasure trove sleepy Sitiawan is!! Some fish maw soup for lunch would touch up this Sunday very nicely for me!

allie said...

I am a Perakian too but I never visit Teluk Batik before.. what a shame :(

YilingL said...

wah first time I heard of salted egg chicken... normally is salted egg crab/squid/prawns...

JENCOOKS said...

Beyond call of duty was a blessing; truly remarkable places of interest and the food, outta of the usual fares we have. Wish I was there too.

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

tats a lot of salted egg yolk man..n did u say chicken sandwich and egg yolk in the middle?? wow..ultimate heart buster..

J2Kfm said...

550ml jar of faith : seconded! :)

allie : there's no need. the beach aint running anywhere, so there's still time.

YiLingL : ham dan kai. i think KL also got lah, tried that b4 somewhere in KL.

Suwei : uh-oh. let's hope she doesnt read this. hahahah ...

Jencooks : still during call of duty leh, just that more relaxing type.

Joe : haha, thankful the portions aint big eh?

worldwindows said...

I skipped Teluk Batik for Pangkor island with ACS classmates hopping hotels and island hopping. Usually staying there till we were bored. No cell phone, parents not knowing when we will be home. Those days we eat to live but now wiser live to eat.

Agnes Cheong said...

Sitiawan, my frens' hometown. Nice food can be found there hoh? Eh ur fridge still have those chocs can spare me if u cant finish... LOL

J2Kfm said...

worldwindows : those days eat to live? hahaha ... i'm trying to practise that now, seeing the aftermath of bingeing.

Agnes: hehehe, i'm trying to slow down my intake of them though. :)

Anonymous said...

i would like to check out the steamed bun shop.....special huh....so many nice things in perak still haven't explore!!!

foodbin said...

foo chow food are in a league of it's own-has a special taste and feel about it. love it!

iamthewitch said...

I think I'd prefer the second type of Salted egg chicken. It's making me salivating now! :P

choi yen said...

What is on the side of the plate of beancurd?

PureGlutton said...

Ahhh... salted eggyolks seem to be the "in" ingredients now... mostly in seafood. I have yet to try the chicken version! Yes, BeiKing - have been there before - miss all those wholesome fuchow dishes there!

ai wei said...

the beach is super nice!!!!!!!!!! wish i can step on those warm sand now...

Life for Beginners said...

Your "Foil-wrapped Sweet & Sour Pork Ribs, Salted Egg Chicken, Oyster omelette and Fried Squids" collage may be my favourite food collage this year... Ooh, all that deep-fried goodness.... :D

cariso said...

The last round I went to Pangkor + sitiawan + Teluk Batik, that time all shops closed. Didn't manage to try any good food. :( I would have gone to that fu chow restaurant if I were to know earlier.

Bangsar-bAbE said...

Dad loves going to Restoran Happy for dinner. And he has to have his stir fried snails and sweet & sour pork.

Bei King's Fish Maw Soup is not thick, spicy and sour enough right? =P

ck lam said...

A nice post with lots of food and adventure. I would like to pay a visit to Teluk Batik too in the near future.

foongpc said...

Wow! Drooling at all those food!

I have never visited Teluk Batik. Would love to go there : )

J2Kfm said...

Simple Girl : i'd like to go one day as well, given the fact that i missed that the other day.

foodbin : agreed! esp the sweet and sour stuff.

iamthewitch : both had their own taste, and attractions, no doubt.

mimid3vils : thats the sliced canned abalone i think. cant recall exactly. either that or some kind of mushrooms.

pureglutton : salted egg chicken's also very IN now, adding a touch of zing to the usual fried variety.

ai wei : warm sand ... hmm, just dun go during noon hours, it's scorching.

LFB : really? you like fried stuff that much huh? hehe .. ditto.

cariso : why all closed? aiks. funny though, given the fact that the area's a tourist spot.

Bangsar Babe : stir fried snails?! oh they have them? ok ok .. will take note. the fish maw soup a little watery, yes.

ck lam : thanks, and cant wait to see your take on your KL/Muar experience.

foongpc : photos can tell a thousand lies though ... =P

Anonymous said...

HI j2kfm
it's me again! not sure if you remember, i asked you about ipoh food 3 months back. thks for your blog and your advices, i did manage to try some of the yummy food! i am going to malaysia again in 2 wks' time, this time, i will be going to Port Dickson for one night, thereafter penang and KL. need some food recommendations in PD...do u happen to know of any good chinese seafood restaurant or any good chinese food at PD? or are there some blogs which i can visit? tks
octopusmum

Ciki said...

never say never!

I love your wide angles! what cam??!

HairyBerry said...

i like the idea of the slighly wet salted egg chicken and the dry red wine chicken. different, yet goes well with rice. good stuff.

great sunset pic as well!

J2Kfm said...

Anonymous aka octopusmum : hi there! thanks for re-visiting, and glad i was of help somehow.

I myself havent been to PD (=P), therefore no ideas on what to eat there. but you can perform a Google search, and hope to strike some familiar blogs, or random ones which cover food from PD. as for KL/PG, I'm sure you dont need much help, right? hehe ...

CUmi & CIki : thanks, i'm using Panasonic Lumix LX3.

Nic : yummy stuff, sometimes simple Chinese fare's better than the western invasion.

Anonymous said...

thks for your reply! am going to search for pd food and guess what, i'll be returning to Ipoh on my way to penang to stop for lunch and one more time along the way to KL for lunch as well... going to try those yummy food eg curry mee which i missed out the other time. btw,the pun chun duck noodles (dry) are really good!!!
octopusmum

Hulk said...

Hey finally u found the local favourite eatery. The last time u went, one forumer & I did actually recomend u to this Happy Restaurant. My family favourite & price is reasonable.

Well ..remember I did trying to direct u the direction also for the local famous kom-piah. Best in town..better version then S'wan. Sekali makan..ta-pau berdozen. I gurantee u.....u know what, its just few shops away from Happy restaurant. In fact u can just walk over..say less then 50 m away. But it is not open at nite. U can also find another outlet..just at the junction near the market where u turn right, instead of straight left turn to Happy Rest. Is just almost to the corner row of shops.

U r certainly very close...oh btw, I wasnt quite like the Nasi Ayam u recomend the other time.
chinese version is soooo very much better.

Finally u get to taste the local Hok Chiew stlye cooking..its spicier, sourish...& most time wet gravy dish type.

Hulk said...

oh..?eh Worldwide..u from ACS? Me too...schoolmates perhaps?
Spend my holidays beach..ing around. Wuahahaha..I like fishing too.

J2Kfm said...

Anonymous : good luck in ur food hunt! :) go for all the dry curry mee, and chee cheong fun ok?!

Hulk : I aint from ACS, nor sitiawan for that matter. :)
i've went to the shopm Sin Lay is it? bought 2 pcs today, one with char siew, another dunno what filling (havent eat yet).
still think it's best to eat them while hot and fresh from the oven.

fatboybakes said...

u only discovered teluk batik this year??? SHEESH!!! hahaha, i was there in 1981 for our college's annual camp!!!

Hulk said...

Sorry ..was actually asking Worldwindows if he/she from ACS S'wan.

BTW...bro, r u still in S'wan?
U must eat it immediate or else oven it later. Once soggy its taste horrible.

At nite, try out the restaurant 777..lots of local hawker dish. Try out the 'cucur udang Pantai Remis', dry bak kut the, mix seafood grill etc.
Directions: from Lumut road straight towards the traffic light (KFC) after passing The Store, turn just left..a litlle further away on the right, a brightly restaurant with large projector screen. Park ur car at the opposite road & walk over.

U must also try out the "Duck noodle" near the junction of T.Batik during the nite.
Say if u are out from the TLDM , near the traffic light turn left to Lumut..just a little further away on your left u will see this hut stlye eatery. the main road access to Lumut.
It sells delicious Duck noodle & dry saouce noodle(konlo). It may be pricey..but certainly good. Would say its Duckmee is a better version then the Bidor.

J2Kfm said...

FBB : hahaha, i wasnt even born in 81! geez ... now i feel so much better. =P seriosly, YES. this year's many firsts for me. twice langkawi, 3 times teluk batik.

Hulk : 777 is on the road to Manjung? to Kg Koh? or to Kg Acheh? i'm speaking from the direction of Ayer Tawar (using Jln Lumut) reaching the crossroad traffic lights with KFC on my right.

Hulk said...

Hope this reach u on time. Traffic light , KFC on right, turn right then...go stright along the road access to Kpg Acheh. That road.

U can also use a shorter access which is from Ayer Tawar..right b4 KFC, turn straight in along the 1-way street until the almost end as u will see this "padang Astaka", get a car park..and thereafter walk to the bright lit restaurant which face the main road , opposite an only cinema.

Tot of giving dropping my cell phn for u. So u can text me.

Try the Duck Noodle Mee at the road going to Lumut, on the left , near to interjunction road to Teluk Batik & Kpg Acheh & Sri Manjung.

J2Kfm said...

Hulk : hey, never too late lah! haha .. but i'm in Ipoh now.
i go rather often, manjung n sitiawan. thanks ... i think i know where the places are.
you can mail me at messon2k(at)gmail.com

kevin_chungx said...

wow, salted egg chicken? I've tried the famous salted chicken in ipoh but haven't tried salted egg chicken before, but i know it'll be very fragrant and yum yum :p