GEORGE TOWN, Oct 9 — Of all the hawker fare in Malaysia, fried rice has to be the most versatile and commonly eaten one-plate meal. Best of all, there are so many different styles — from spicy to tomato-based and even fusion — to try.
Though believed to have originated from Yangzhou, China, where it was first introduced during the Sui Dynasty, today fried rice has also been adopted by other cultures and cooked differently.
In Chinese culture, fried rice is what you make when you have leftover rice from the day before. In fact, it is believed that the original Yangzhou fried rice used cold rice cooked at least a day in advance.
The Yangzhou or Yangchou fried rice contains very simple ingredients such as peas, Chinese waxed sausages, shrimps and an egg with very minimal sauces used except for some chicken stock. This results in a steaming plate of white rice made fragrant by the addition of the ingredients.
Here, locally, the Yangchou fried rice has evolved and changed with local tastes and preferences. Most fried rice stalls prepare fried rice with a mix of sauces that results in brown-coloured rice and a variety of ingredients that may include chicken slices, julienned green vegetables and anchovies or ikan bilis.
Other cultures also adopted this dish where some might include tomato and chilli sauces for a different twist or fry it the mee goreng way with the addition of sambal for an added kick.
Though fried rice can be easily prepared at home, it is no less popular outside at hawker stalls, coffeeshops and restaurants. It is one of the most versatile dishes that can be eaten as a meal on its own or alongside other dishes.
Here is our pick of five places to try out different styles of fried rice in Penang:
Kedai Kopi Ali, Jalan Lunas, off Burmah Road
GPS: 5.427522, 100.316939
Time: 24 hours
They don’t offer only fried rice but fried nasi lemak to be exact. Instead of plain white rice, they stir fry the fragrant nasi lemak with some sambal and anchovies before topping it with julienned cabbage and a sunny-side up egg. You can even order the special version where they add on a piece of crunchy deep fried chicken.
Restoran Furqan, Jalan Dato Koyah
GPS: 5.420056, 100.331492
Time: 3pm-midnight
This is a Malay-Thai style restaurant that sells a variety of dishes from tomyam soup to fried noodles. They have a pretty good kampung-style Malay fried rice with kangkung, chicken, anchovies, eggs and a dash of spiciness from chillies.
Fried Rice King, Lebuh Pekaka 4, Sungai Dua
GPS: 5.349406, 100.295245
Time: 11am-9pm
With a name like Fried Rice King, you can expect a variety of fried rice styles from this stall but their best-selling fried rice is the pai kut ong fried rice. Pai kut ong is a sweet and sour pork rib dish so what this stall does is serve its fried rice topped with a heaping serving of the tender, soft and juicy pork ribs. They have the Yangzhou fried rice too and other special flavours available are sambal fried rice and salted fish fried rice.
Fried rice stall, Goodall Cafe, Gottlieb Road
GPS: 5.432971, 100.302539
Time: 6.30pm-11pm
This stall once became quite well known when the cook was a young boy, now a teenager, handling the wok with flair as he stirred and fried rice or noodles. The stall offers several different types of fried rice or noodles including pineapple fried rice, belacan fried rice, salted fish fried rice, fried mee suah and fried tang hoon.
Chef’s Delight, Sin Hup Aun Cafe, Jalan Pasar
GPS: 5.429970, 100.312333
Time: 12pm-2.30pm, 6pm-10.30pm
This is a Western food stall but other than the usual chicken chop and fish and chips, they have a fusion-style fried rice where the rice is fried using butter and has chicken ham and mixed vegetables in it. It is quite different in flavour due to the use of butter.
