Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Ipoh - our food haven

For those of us who lived in Ipoh and have migrated overseas or perhaps moved to another state, there is always a feeling of wanting to Balek Kampung whenever we can. I grew up in Ipoh and lived in Greentown which has changed into a commercial centre. Gone are the govt. quarters and trees. Spiderman, famous for his fried kuay teow, used to pedal his stall everyday along the main roads of Greentown before heading to Cowan Street (as it was formerly known) and back to his home in Fair Park. You could identify his house in Fair Park as his frontage had lots of cockle shells. Another stall would be the Indian man selling Nyonya kueh. He would carry his kandar with a hot pot of laksa gravy and not forgetting Mr. Choong, the famous popiah man. I used to cycle out to Cowan St. at night to buy Apong from the stall in front of the bakeries namely French, Noor Jahan and Paris Bakery. That was way back then.

Of course, Ipoh is famous for its Hor Fun and Nga Choy Kai. Head over to Leech Street and you will find a food haven there. Mention Ipoh, and folks all over will drool when the topic of food comes up. Everyone will have something to say about their favourite food and where they can be found. A friend of mine who now lives in Chicago can attest to that and says that when he's back, he will be on a food trail. Hmmm! Watch those calories. There are lots of yummies that I have not mentioned yet but will do so in my next blog.

4 comments:

dacmo said...

Ipohites will always dream of our hometown food. White coffee, although exported all over the world from Ipoh these days still tastes better in Ipoh. Must be the water

Liz said...

Yum Yum........drooling already thinking of the food. Where have all the hawkers in Ipoh gone..........I guess most of them in KL????

Unknown said...

Hi Joe, we are back in London now, and I managed to find time to go into your blog. Great stuff!!!
This article makes me long for the food - can never find any charkwayteow, popiah or apong that tastes as good as those you mentioned. Ice kacang as well! I also miss the nonya lady who used to sell laksa there and her speciality sweet "see sa goon" which was with dessicated coconut, groundnuts and sugar. Cant get that anymore!!

Do you always jam on Wed nights? Maybe when we are back, we will arrange to watch you guys jam!

All the best to you and Liz,
Phaik Lean

The Travelling Foodie said...

Hi Phaik Lean, so nice to hear from you. Glad you like my blogs of which I have three including 'Food and Places". I just love to write about food and stuff. hehe.
As I'm now in KL, I can only jam with the guys on a saturday when I'm back in Ipoh which about once in three weeks or so.
The 'see sa goon' is still sold in some school canteens though not as nice as that nyonya lady's kind. If you're back in Malaysia and in KL, do drop me a line and maybe I can show you some places to eat here. I found an interesting place in Kota Damansara where you can get a variety of things you may like. Food from Penang to Johore just in one shop. Good stuff.

Happy Valentine to you and John.

Rgds, Joe