Flavours of Penang Buffet
By Lorraine Koh - Wednesday, Sep 07, 2011
When: Now till September 11, 2011
What To Eat: If all you’ve ever known about Penang food is the usual cha kway teow, peanut ice kachang, fruits rojak and Penang laksa, then their home cooked dishes would be an eye and mouth opener for you.
Flavours of Penang Buffet brings you an array of authentic Penang homecooked dishes. Our Penang based foodie, writer and culinary consultant CK Lam comments: “Penang home-cooked food comes in many forms. They are found in many economy rice stalls, such as curry fish, curry chicken, steamed meat and fish, fried egg with chai por (preserved vegetable). Penangites prefer a slightly more sourish and spicy taste.”
For Flavours of Buffet, four chefs who specialise in Penang home-cooked food were flown in to cook their dwelling place dishes. We liked the Fruit Rojak which does not use prawn paste, instead it is doused with a plum chili sauce and the result is a burst of nutty, sweet and spicy flavours. We also appreciate the starfruit thrown in the mix, a fruit seldom seen in rojak here.
The Fried Half Shell Cockles are medium done but well cleaned and fried in rojak-like sauce. Makansutra guru KF Seetoh chimes in: “It’s so refreshing to have these medium done clams tossed in hae kor rojak-like nutty sauce.”
The Wok Fried Porridge is thick in texture with the breath of the wok still intact. Although the ones in Kuala Lumpur have a more intense flavour, we still enjoyed the Penang counterpart. Chef Ah Jing who was in charge of the porridge comments: “The most important ingredient in the Wok Fried Porridge is the Chinese leek (Koo Chai). We fry the porridge in the wok, however not every Penang household will know how to cook this.”
Chef Ah Fen adds that “nowadays, most Penang households tend to eat out. Most families live in flats, so for convenience’s sake, not many cook at home.”
Where is it?
Flavours Of Penang Buffet
Vanda Terrance, Orchid Country Club
1 Orchid Club Road
Tel: 6750 2200
Lunch Buffet: 11.30am to 2.30pm
$28.00 ++ (Adult)
Free (Children below 12 yrs)
Dinner Buffet: 6.30pm to 10.00pm
$30.00 ++ (Adult)
Free (Children below 12 yrs)