Food for Thought: Some Things Are Different

There are some things that are done differently in Penang. 

Take for example chye tow kway.  In Singapore, this is normally fried with eggs and chye poh and comes in two versions - white (crispy egg batter) and black (with sweet sauce).  But in Penang, their char koay kak is fried in black sauce with egg, taugeh, prawns and strips of sotong.  A good place to have this dish is at New Road off McAlister Road.

Char Koay Kak

When we think chee cheong fun, immediately visions of it drenched in sweet sauce and chili sauce comes to mind.  Also popular is the Hong Kong-style which has fillings of different ingredients like prawns, char siew or chicken strips.  And in Penang, they have what is known as fried chee cheong fun in dried prawn sambal - a dish that is unique to Penang.  It is really delicious and personally I prefer this to char koay teow.  Try it, you'll surely like it.

Chee Cheong Fun in Dried Prawn Sambal

In Singapore we call it orh luak; in Penang, orh chien.  The main differences are the amount of starch used and, of course, the size of the oysters.  They use less starch and more eggs; and the oysters are larger.  Although I am not a fan of this dish, I can still see that the Penang version looks much more appetizing.

Orh Chien