Our tour bus stopped near Kimberley Road and our guide gave us 30 minutes "to contribute to the Penang economy".
I remembered that the char kway teow stall at Sin Guat Keong coffee shop at the junction of Kimberley Road and Cintra Road is always mentioned in any list of the top char kway teow in Penang.
Since I have not tasted this famous Penang char kway teow before, I dashed to Sin Guat Keong to make the best of my 30 minutes of "free program". (The rest went to buy tau sar piah and such.)
It was 5pm and Mr Lien was just getting ready for the day's business which is listed as 6pm to 11pm daily. Mr Lien pre-fries the kway teow noodles and pre-cooks the ingredients like prawns, mantis prawns etc. This is necessary as Mr Lien has huge crowds once he opens for business.
Mr Lien has been running this char kway teow stall for over 30 years. The stall was founded by his dad in the 1960s.
During this time, Mr Lien's char kway teow has been featured in numerous local and international social media and traditional media as among Penang's best.
Mr Lien asked me in Hokkien if I like to "加料" i.e. go for the luxury edition which comes with prawn, mantis prawn and squid. I opted for it even though I have a dinner appointment coming up next.
Mr Lien still fries his char kway teow with charcoal fire.
The famous Kimberley Road char kway teow at Sin Guat Keong kopitiam. Lux version at RM8.60.
When the plate arrived, there was a very slight (not pronounced) aroma of caramelised soy sauce.
The tender kway teow noodles were in a lump, held together by the fried egg. I was glad that the serving was small as I wanted to save my stomach space for the dinner appointment coming up next.
There wasn't much, if any wok hei, in the kway teow (i.e. no toasty taste). Perhaps, it's because the charcoal stove wasn't fully fired up yet as I was one of the first customers of the day (I really don't know).
The kway teow noodles were quite greasy with lard (which is good) and had a nice but mild quite flat savouriness (personally, I always prefer noodles to have more robust, quite intense, layered flavours).
There were a couple of small prawns and blood cockles (the size of the nail on my pinkie). There were no greens like chives or choy sum.
The mantis prawn which is Mr Lien's char kway teow's claim to fame. Mr Lien's dad was the hawker who pioneered the use of mantis prawns in char kway teow.
The fresh mantis prawn flesh was battered, deep fried and then stir fried together with the kway teow.
The mantis prawn flesh was softer than prawn. The batter gave it a bit of firmness. The crustacean savoury sweetness was subtle, less pronounced than in prawns.
Sin Guat Keong kopitiam is a tourist destination. While I was there, several Japanese tourists came for Mr Lien's char kway teow. (Customers are required to buy a drink to sit and eat Mr Lien's char kway teow at Sin Guat Keong kopitiam. I bought a cup of sugary herbal tea for RM2.)
Mr Lien let me try this (supermarket) fish nugget which he uses in lieu of blood cockles for those who don't eat clams (tourists, I presume).
Restaurant name: Sin Guat Keong char kway teow
Address: 86, Lebuh Kimberley, George Town, 10100 George Town, Pulau Pinang
GPS: 5°24'59.2"N 100°19'57.6"E | 5.416448, 100.332660
Hours: 6:00pm - 11:00pm
Non Halal
Date visited: 16 Jan 2018
Return to Johor Kaki homepage.
Went to eat there a few times. The ‘tang sui’ and kway chap stall along the street is famous. The ckt is not authentic. Pre frying and adding in the final ingredients before serving is cheating. This stall is definitely for tourist who does not know better
ReplyDeleteTotally agreed on the part of pre-cooked ingredients. It sacrificing food quality for more sales with faster turnaround. Not really tantamount to cheating as diners know way in advance before placing your order. Unfortunately the reality of balancing quality and profits, something gotta give. And this have led to many hawkers losing their authenticity and flavour. Cited an example, the Hokkien mee seller at Lorong 29, true that he is sticking to charcoal fuel wok, however frying 2 wok worth of Hokkien mee in a single wok have led to deterioration in quality. And he’s busy counting his takings (literally) while frying the mee...
ReplyDeleteYes, this CKT is on many viral lists of best CKT in Penang. So, I give my personal take on it after eating it.
Deletethere is a shop near the pelangi pasar malam that claims to be related to this kimberly street CKT. was full of wok hei, use duck eggs, plenty of ingredients. only complaint is the prawns are usually not fresh so i ask the guy to just add more of the other stuff and skip the prawns
ReplyDelete