Yen Batu Kawan Seafood Restaurant

I guess I hadn’t visited this place for more than a decade. Over the years, it has transformed from a small hut into a proper concrete restaurant. It’s no longer just catering to tourists, but also to workers and visitors from the surrounding factories.

We went back this time because our relatives were visiting and requested a seafood dinner.

 

Lala with Thai Steam – Sour, sweet, and fragrant with garlic, coriander, and chili. Very appetizing.

 

Four Mixed Vegetables, famously known as “The 4 Heavenly Kings” (四大天王). This was probably the best dish of the night.

 

Oyster Omelette (蠔煎) – The kids’ favorite.

 

Belacan Fried Chicken – Considered one of the better dishes we had that evening.

 

Crabs – We ordered two different styles. I can’t quite recall the exact flavors, but judging from the photos, they looked like Black Pepper and Sweet & Sour.

 

Cantonese Steamed Garoupa – A classic and safe choice. Simple, but you can never go wrong with it.

Teo Chew Fried Mee – A comforting carbohydrate staple to complete the meal. Nicely stir-fried with decent wok hei, making it a satisfying dish to share. 

Lastly, we also ordered Octopus.

If you ask me whether I would return… honestly, it’s not as good as I remember it to be. Maybe yes, maybe no.

 

Address:
701, Jalan Batu Kawan, Taman Mutiara Cempaka,
14100 Simpang Ampat, Pulau Pinang

Phone: 04-587 2616

SAMBAL

Sambal serves modern cuisine inspired by both Oriental and European influences—with a twist. That said, I personally noticed more Oriental elements than European.

Overall, it’s a great place to visit, especially for a quick meal or when dining with a group of friends. Price-wise, it’s on the higher side, but you won’t regret it.

One downside is the location—it’s situated along one of the busy streets in Penang, such as Beach Street, so parking can be challenging. However, no worries—there’s a large paid parking compound directly opposite the restaurant, though the parking fee can be slightly pricey.

Now, let’s move on to the food.

We started with a few appetizers. The first was 3 Girls with a Dirty Guy—what a catchy name, right? I assume it refers to a combination of comfort food with a rich, savory (“dirty”) concept. This dish features fluffy steamed baos paired with grandma-style traditional salted fish pork patty, served in three ways: Original, Sambal Butter, and Char Siew Sauce.

On my next visit, I’d like to try their 3 Nuns with a Monk (a vegetarian starter).

Next was the Kerabu Glass Noodles with Prawns. It’s similar to Thai kerabu, but Sambal replaces the usual base with glass noodles. The dish is refreshing, though we felt it could have been spicier.

For the main dish, we ordered Udang Entangled. The soup is made from their house recipe broth, enhanced with fresh milk and Shaoxing cooking wine, and served with two large fresh prawns.

We also had their signature Lap Mei Fan, which was actually the main reason for my visit. This is a must-try entrée—don’t miss it!

 

Another dish we ordered was the Rempah Ribs with House Special Pickled Lotus Root. The pork prime ribs are marinated with house-blended local wild herbs and slow-roasted in fresh coconut water for up to six hours.

On top of that, we also tried the Char Siew Bip Rice—aromatic jasmine rice paired with caramelized BBQ pork belly (char siew), a free-range sunny-side-up egg, and chili padi.

Lastly, we had Teo Chew Nang before heading elsewhere for dessert. So what is Teo Chew Nang? It’s their handmade Teochew noodles served with bean sprouts, Chinese chives, dried shrimp, and crispy pork crackling. It was super delicious!

I will definitely be back to try their other signatures such as Sambal Udang, Grilled Rempah Chicken (which takes about 30 minutes to prepare—worth the wait!), Grilled Barramundi with Kerabu Mango Salsa, Japanese in Malaysia, and many more.

Address:
300, Lebuh Pantai, George Town, 10300 George Town, Pulau Pinang

Phone:
017-567 4778

Picco Polo Cafe

A new addition fusion cafe is set up in Penang that serves a vast variety of western, fusion and local delights. Apparently I was told their specialty is their home baked polo buns which I didn’t have a chance to try it out, perhaps another time. From the display, we could see they have original flavour that comes with butter and matcha flavour that pairs with matcha butter. A bit too fusion for our liking, but will definitely give it a try.

 

They are also serving simple American or French breakfast too, from breakfast to pasta, risotto, burgers and also Malaysians’ favorite Nasi Lemak. 

We didn’t really get to try their specialties but had their breakfast set on that day… more of a brunch for us.

A big breakfast that is less than RM30 (to be exact is RM24.90) is considered reasonable for us, excluding a cup of Americano  (RM9, hot). Seriously, the entire taste is kind of salty to our preference.

 

 

Croque Madame (The "croque" is pronounced somewhere in between "crock" and "croak." The "o" sound is slightly elongated, but not entirely and "madame" is pronounced "ma-daam.") that is a choice of sourdough or brioche, turkey ham, topped with poached eggs and bechamel that costs RM17.90 is honestly reasonable.

Why would it be called Croque Madame? When a sandwich is topped with a poached or lightly fried egg, the sandwich is called a croque madame, so it’s named because the egg is said to resemble a woman's hat. That particular sandwich name dates to about the year 1960. What a beautiful name, is it?

I’ve been missing Picolo Latte from Secawan Hutton which is currently closed for repair and maintenance work. Since Picco Polo has Picolo Latte (RM9), I wouldn’t want to miss it.

 

Italians name everything for a reason…. Piccolo translates into 'small' from Italian, but this drink isn't simply a small latte. The piccolo latte, or piccolo, as it is commonly referred to on coffee menus, is a small milk beverage that's typically served in a 3–4 oz/85–114 ml glass.  (source: https://perfectdailygrind.com/2020/03/what-is-a-piccolo-latte-how-do-i-make-it/). It’s absolutely perfect for my morning breakfast.

 

Besides the main meals, they also have a variety of pastries and choices of cakes to choose. Think we’ll come back for more. 

 

Address & Contact Number
284 Lebuh Pantai
Georgetown
Penang 10300
Tel: +604-226 2776

http://piccopolo.com  

 

 

豆豉青椒炒雞塊 Stir Fry Chicken with Fermented Black Soybean and Capsicum

After a long break, I guess it’s time to pick up blogging or writing some recipes that I recently developed.

Probably this recipe has been developed by others, but it will never be the same when you add something extra on it.

 

All these while I never like the smell of Tochi or Douchi that you called it… as far as I know it’s actually a fermented black soybean. And recently I fell in love with it and tried all sorts of ways of cooking it.

 

This time I am trying it with chicken and coupled with Capsicum.

 

Ingredients

2 Chicken Thigh (debone, chop into cubes)

1 Capsicum

1 tbsp of chopped garlic

1 tbsp of chopped chili padi. If you like it more spicy you can add more

1 tbsp of fermented black soybean

 

Marinate
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp Chinese Cooking Wine
2 tsp light soy sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce
Pepper

Marinate chicken for 20 minutes

 

Step-by-Step
Heat the wok with 2 tbsp of oil
Stir fry the chopped garlic, fermented black soybean and chili padi till fragrant.

After that, add in the marinated chicken thigh and stir fry. Cook until it’s 90% cooked, you may add in 2 tbsp of water to make the sauce of this dish. Alternative if you want a dry version, you may keep stir frying it.

 

The tips of this, you would have to cover it with the wok lid and cook it. The chicken by itself may produce some water. That will make the dry version of this dish has more kick if you added more chili on it.

 

Once done, serve with steam rice. 

Lemon Cake with Crunchy Topping

Malaysia MCO (Movement Control Order) has created many home bakers… does that includes me? Well, not quite. But I would have to say, that actually triggered me and inspired me to go back to bake again.

It’s been exactly a year I didn’t bake after the Cempedak season. And lately found new lab rats in the office, and lab rats also give me good comments and criticizes that gives me some idea to make the cakes better.

Baking to me at times it’s rather painful…. Why? I’ve been suffering from migraine whenever there’s a hot weather or lack of ventilation or to the point it’s not cold enough. That actually stopped me from baking, the suffer can be killing. It can drag for many days as well. But yesterday weather was rather gloomy, and since I have plenty of Self Raising Flour and lemons at home, might as well bake something different. Here comes my Lemon Cake with Crunchy Topping.

Preparation Time: 25 Minutes

Total Cooking Time: 1 Hour 20 Minutes

Cake Tin Size: 22cm (9 inch) Square Tin

Ingredients

250g (8 oz) unsalted butter, softened (I used Lescure French butter, it’s more fragrant)

200 g (6 ½ oz) caster sugar

2½ teaspoons finely grated lemon rind/zest

4 large eggs, lightly beaten (I used grade AA)

2 cups (250 g / 8 oz) self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 tables spoons lemon juice

¼ salt

Topping

½ cup (125 g/4 oz) sugar (I used less than ½ cup)

¼ cup (60ml/2¾ fl oz) lemon juice

 

1. Preheat the oven to warm 170°C (325F/Gas 3). Lightly grease a 22cm (9 inch) square tin and line the base with baking paper.
   
2. Cream the butter and sugar in a small bowl with electric beaters until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the lemon rind/zest, then add the egg gradually, beating thoroughly after each addition.
   
3. Transfer to mixture to a larger bowl. Using a large metal spoon, fold in the combined sifted flour, baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt, as well as the lemon juice. Stir until the mixture is just combined and almost smooth.
   
4. Spoon the mixture into the tin and smooth the surface.
   
5. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes, or until skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake. Remove from the tin and turn out onto a wire rack.
   
6. For the topping, mix together the sugar and lemon juice (do not dissolve the sugar) and quickly brush over the top the warm cake. The juice will sink into the cake, and the sugar will form a crunchy topping.  Leave to cool.

Cempedak Butter Cake

I have been a cempedak fan for a long time, I always love to eat Cempedak Goren / Fritters.  But recently many bakers turn it to Cempedak Cake and it has managed to capture many glutens’ heart and stomach. Honestly, it was my first time trying on this and it turns out to be everyone compliment comments on my Facebook. It was indeed an honor.

Well, here’s the recipe which I’ve slightly twit from JeannieTay’s Blog.

Ingredients:

• 250g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 160g soft brown sugar (as the fruit is already sweet by itself, thus, I cut down the sugar intake)
• 5 eggs (65g, A1 egg), room temperature
• 250g plain flour (all-purpose flour or rose flour)
• 1 tsp double-acting baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 40g full cream milk
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 250g Cempedak (weigh without seed) cut into tiny pieces
• 8” square pan

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 150°C for 20 minutes. Bake on 2^nd rack counting from the bottom. Line an 8” square pan. Sift flour and baking powder together.
2. In the stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter, salt, and sugar until light and pale. Add eggs 1 by 1, beating well after each addition. Add in a tablespoon of flour after each egg if the mixture curdled.
3. Add vanilla extract then add half the flour and milk and beat on low speed until well incorporated. Add the remaining flour and mix again. Lastly, fold in the cempedak and mix until combined.
4. Pour into prepared pan and smoothen the surface before baking.
5. Bake 170°C for 1 hour. Once done, use a skewer to insert into the center of the bake, it should come out clean, with no streaks of batter.  

Passion Heart Cafe

I am not sure you will agree with me, good friends are hard to come by; especially friends that love to eat and searching for good food. Circle of friends can be varied from many interests, some just love food, some loves cars, movies, etc.  Some even formed a book club.

A spontaneous lunch get-together is often arranged within the gang, and this round we were yearning for cempedak. Thus, we all agreed to have our lunch in Passion Heart which is located in Muntri Street.

Apart from cempedak cakes that they have, they also have other dishes like mushroom soup, or pasta for lunch and breakfast too.

But again, we were not going for anything like that but going for some locals instead - Jawa Mee. 

Honestly the bowl of Jawa Mee is big, for a small eater, may have to share out. The bowl of Jawa Mee consists of crispy prawn fritter, prawns, bean curd, hard boil egg, yellow noodle, small amount of lettuce for garnishing, deep fried shallots, and last chili paste.

Currently is the season of cempedak. You will find lots of road side stalls selling cempedak fritters, and with the recent trend, people are now going for cempedak cake. 

 

And the best cempedak cake that I can find so far is Passion Heart, per piece is about RM11 if am not mistaken.

  

Cempedak Crumble Cake is about RM12 per slice.
 

Cempedak Cheese Cake also not to be missed.
 

Chocolate Mint Cake is refreshing too.

If you are lucky enough, you may bump into Nelly Koon the founder of Passion Heart. She will share with you many life stories. And you will learn from her in terms of her philosophies. There’s always ups and down in life, and how we tackle it and move on with it.

Address &Contact Number

Passion Heart

83 Jalan Muntri
10200 Georgetown

Penang
Tel: +016 - 443 1336
Email: nellcis49@gmail.com
Business Hours: 12:00pm - 10:30pm (Mon & Wed - Sat) 
                           12:00pm - 9:00pm (Sun) (Closed on Tue)