IPOH, Sept 28 — While hipster foodies try to impress each other with their latest “private kitchen” or “underground supper club” discoveries, those of us from Ipoh have long enjoyed food served in the compound of some stranger’s home.
Typically we would waltz in past the open gates, all decked out in our classic shorts and sandals combination, and eat to our heart’s content. Of course we paid for our meals but no reservations necessary.
Unlike the private kitchens we hear about these days where style and ambience make for a memorable evening out with loved ones, this older generation of private kitchens in Ipoh focuses more on delectable and cheap eats.
It did not dawn on us back then that we were intruding into the privacy of someone’s home when we fought over the last fish ball in their compound or played with our electronic devices (remember Tetris?) during the inevitable and excruciating wait for our chee cheong fun.
Those quick meals, usually during the daytime, felt like we were eating at a neighbour’s home. Except we paid.
There are two stalls I remember in particular.
One is the still-incredibly popular chee cheong fun stall along Jalan Pasir Pinji 5 run by an old couple who still steam the silky smooth and fresh rice noodle sheets studded with fragrant, briny dried shrimps at the back of their home.
Absolutely fresh, all you need is a mere sprinkle of shallot oil and a drizzle of soy sauce, some toasted sesame seeds and fried shallots. Let’s not forget the pickled green chillies too.
However, be warned that the wait can be an outrageous 45 minutes or more. You need to come and collect a queue number in the afternoon, and then they will advise you to either come back an hour later, or you could hang around and witness the entire process of preparation.
But please ask for permission first. This is their home, after all.
The ludicrous waiting time aside, they only start selling past 1pm but the queue starts forming before that. The compound can reasonably seat a couple of tables but this should not matter since most patrons come for take-away.
Be warned though; don’t feel so lucky if you grab a queue number in the single digit. Some, if not most of the customers here, order more than a couple of packs to take home. I have seen out-of-towners gleefully placing orders for a couple of dozen (!) packets which can easily take up to a good
10 to 15 minutes of preparation time.
Imagine the frustration of waiting for your single plate of chee cheong fun while those orders are being filled, and you’ll be feeling darn ravenous by then.
People come by the bus loads still, even if the stall’s operating days fall on erratic weekdays only (need to check with the locals in Pasir Pinji again), with weekends, public holidays and even school holidays being marked as holidays for the couple too!
The second stall that was even nearer to our old house in Pasir Pinji was this fish ball noodle stall on Jalan Pasir Pinji 4, a corner lot occupying a much more spacious plot of land to double up as hawker stall during the day.
The stall, or house, has no signboard obviously. But look for the breakfast-lunch crowd eagerly tucking into bowls of noodles with yong yau foo at house number 1428 off Jalan Prince at the border of Pasir Puteh – Pasir Pinji. The house faces a field, and is a single-storey corner unit.
We fondly referred to this stall as Ah Peng “Liew Fun”; “liew” refers to the stuffed items aka yong tau foo as they are more commonly known in the other states, while “fun” refers to the noodles.
Although one might argue that just a couple minutes’ drive away is Big Tree Foot along Jalan King -- a stall famous for its freshly fried yong tau foo -- the true connoisseurs of good yong tau foo still swear by Ah Peng’s version which is made fresh every day in the adjacent lot.
It’s not hard to understand why; the YTF (short for yong tau foo) are sold off usually by 10am or so. That holds true for at least the more famous items such as stuffed yam bean or sar kok liew. Come any later than 11am and chances are you will be left with remnants for your picking.
You might have to wait for about 15 minutes or so should you come during the busier hours in the morning. But treat yourself to a refreshing glass of home-brewed red sugar cane drink while you wait.
How do you order your food here? Simple enough; walk into the compound, straight to the counter where they can be seen hastily preparing bowl after bowl of noodles, and pick up a pair of tongs and a plastic bowl.
Then depending on what’s fresh from the kitchen next door, and being deep fried in front of you, you choose your preferred pieces of YTF; stuffed with fish paste, then state what noodles you want. Choose any of the type of noodles available, served in clear broth, dry with soy sauce mix, or with curry or even dry curry. They serve a delightful (and to some degree, mighty sinful too) version of pig’s skin curry to accompany your noodles and YTF.
For a taste of real private kitchens, come to Ipoh and explore the endless possibilities of what could be served within the comfort of someone’s home.
Pasir Pinji Chee Cheong Fun @ House No 1456,
Jalan Pasir Pinji 5,
31650 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
Business hours : About 1.15pm, until the CCF finishes (around 4pm).
Ah Peng Fishball Noodles Stall @ House No. 1428,
Jalan Pasir Pinji 4,
31650 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
RM0.70 per piece of YTF.
Opens 7am onwards until everything’s sold out at about 10-11am
James Tan loves good food and blogs at Motormouth From Ipoh (www.j2kfm.com)
