Finally, l got to taste the famous Cowan Street chicken kway teow and taugeh (beansprouts) after missing it a few times on previous Ipoh trips. If you are from out of town and catch Cowan Street Ayam Tauge and Koitiau open during your stay, it's like you struck lottery ๐
When we arrived, the brightly lit shop was fully packed with some people waiting outside for a table.
Only a few birds hung at the front.
Don't panic - there's plenty of stock ๐ Cowan Street Chicken dunk their poached birds in cold water the Cantonese way to lock in the juices and flavours in the tender flesh. They only hang a few ready to chop and serve ones at the front.
The lady boss looked unfazed like it's another day at the office (which, of course, it is). No matter how big the crowd, she fastidiously inspected each piece of chicken individually. Any pink piece was dipped briefly into hot stock to get it up to the precise desired doneness.
Our whole chicken arrived in about 20 minutes. The kampung chicken was moist, slightly chewy and stringy though still tender (not soft). It is served bathed in a robustly savoury sauce with lots of aromatic oil. This sauce and shallot-sesame oil blend made the somewhat mild tasting chicken meat taste much better.
The boss asked if we would like chicken innards. We said yes reluctantly after moments of hesitation. For me, chicken innards often tasted bland and were a waste of calories and cholesterol - but, not at Cowan Street Ayam. The chicken innards turned out to be the tastiest I've had for a long time. The well cleaned intestines and gizzard had a light springy crunch as well as subtle natural sweet flavour.
Oh my...., I love Cowan Street's kway teow soup. The round bodied, robustly savoury chicken soup was well balanced by the natural rice sweetness from the oh sooo..... smooth and slurpy soft Ipoh kway teow noodles.
What they say about Ipoh kway teow noodles being the best in Malaysia is true.... ๐ฎ
(By the way, Cowan Street Ayam does not serve rice, only kway teow. So, this is not strictly speaking a chicken rice place.)
And then, there's the humble blanched beansprouts served in a watery pool of mildly savoury sauce and a light dusting of white pepper which turned out to be the hero dish of the evening.
The fat and stubby beansprouts were blanched to the right doneness. The tender taugeh was full of crunch (which you can hear in your ears) and bursted sweet juices when we crushed it between our teeth. The mildly savoury sauce and subtle pepperiness complemented the beansprouts' sweetness well.
We love the taugeh so much that we ordered a second helping. Aaron who is allergic to beansprouts because those he ate before had a combination of green and earthly taste, became a convert after eating Cowan Street's version. He was even trying to encourage us to order a third serving ๐
(We would have had another go at Cowan Street tauge had we not planned to taste another rendition of beansprouts from a different famous shop - which shall best remain unnamed ๐ )
๐ We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at Cowan Street Tauge and Koitiau. The poached chicken was nice. The Ipoh kway teow soup was even nicer. But, it was the humble beansprouts that left the deepest impression on everyone. To me, the chicken innards were also special.
Is Cowan Street chicken shop Ipoh's best? Smart Dory thinks so ๐ click
Please recommend me other excellent chicken and taugeh shops in Ipoh ๐
Restaurant name: Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau ้ซๆธฉ่ก่ฝ่้ธกๆฒๆฒณ็ฒ
Address: 44, Jalan Raja Ekram, Kampung Jawa, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
GPS: 4°35'51.3"N 101°05'09.1"E ๐ 4.597590, 101.085849
Waze: Restoran Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau
Tel: +60 12-520 3322 (boss Ah Meng)
Hours: 6:00pm - 10:00pm (Mon, Tues, Weds off)
Non Halal
Date visited: 30 Nov 2018
(We would have had another go at Cowan Street tauge had we not planned to taste another rendition of beansprouts from a different famous shop - which shall best remain unnamed ๐ )
๐ We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at Cowan Street Tauge and Koitiau. The poached chicken was nice. The Ipoh kway teow soup was even nicer. But, it was the humble beansprouts that left the deepest impression on everyone. To me, the chicken innards were also special.
Is Cowan Street chicken shop Ipoh's best? Smart Dory thinks so ๐ click
Restaurant name: Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau ้ซๆธฉ่ก่ฝ่้ธกๆฒๆฒณ็ฒ
Address: 44, Jalan Raja Ekram, Kampung Jawa, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
GPS: 4°35'51.3"N 101°05'09.1"E ๐ 4.597590, 101.085849
Waze: Restoran Cowan Street Ayam Tauge & Koitiau
Tel: +60 12-520 3322 (boss Ah Meng)
Hours: 6:00pm - 10:00pm (Mon, Tues, Weds off)
Non Halal
Date visited: 30 Nov 2018
Another best is at Central point food court. Taste similar like cowan street. Its call FATt GOR nga choi kai. Must try his garlic rice and chili.
ReplyDeleteAddress: https://goo.gl/maps/25rErL3WKZM2
Thank you for the suggestion. Appreciate it. Will visit them.
DeleteYah , , i tried before after MCO , its really nice ! Thanks for the suggestion, i can say 90% similar
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ReplyDeletemanaged to try it in our first attempt ๐ loved it. watching the boss blanching the taugay and the handling the food was quite the experience too.
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