Mini Hawkers Affair Chulia Mansion Georgetown Penang Malaysia

I love food and travelling. Discovering new things to nibble and gorge on is my kind of fun. Him Indoors is of like mind. So we decided that the best place to get away from the chill of the English Winter would be somewhere warm with good food. We agreed on Penang, in Malaysia, widely regarded as the country's food capital.

However, when we arrived we found ourselves bewildered by the sheer choice available to us! There are a great many restaurants, which we had every intention of visiting, but first we wanted to dig into the internationally famous street food.

Practically every street corner in Georgetown has a stall serving up something tasty looking, from snacks, sweets to light meals. There are small individual stalls everywhere, and occasionally a few set up together in a small shop providing a rotating service all day long, with different food provided for breakfast, lunch and dinner. How were we going to work out which way was up?

Our hosts at our home-from-home in Georgetown, the newly opened Chulia Mansion hotel on Chulia Road (Lebuh Chulia) had a novel way of solving this problem for us and for their other guests. Frankie and Fred (the CEO and Business Manager) decided to bring the street food inside! For their Christmas celebrations, they held a 4 day "Mini Hawkers Affair" festival, with what they informed us were the street food icons and classics of Penang.

Char Koay Toew
We kicked off with what is the most popular street food dish; rice ribbon noodles of medium width (tagliatelle pasta width), which are pre-cooked and then rapidly stir fried with beansprouts, spring onions, prawns and dark soy sauce. The wok is heated to scary hot before the stir frying even begins. 

Somehow the cook was so skilled that the eggs and prawns are just cooked and everything is piping hot. The skill is in keeping everything moving in the super-hot wok. 

Optional extras can include Chinese sausage, finely chopped pak choi or carrot, thin slices of pork and cockles.

Asam Laksa or Penang Laksa
Nothing like the orange, fiery Singapore Laksa, this is a sour and tangy tamarind affair. 

The soup is made of a seafood broth, tamarind paste, prawns and fish. This may not sound appetising in writing, but if you get the chance to try this dish, I hope you will hold your scepticism at bay. This is a noodle soup dish full of bold, fresh flavour. 

The noodles are a mix of fine rice vermicelli and 'yellow' (wheat) noodles. Served with spring onions and halved boiled eggs,

Rojak
A fruit salad with a difference! Cucumber, pineapple, pear, apple are smothered in a dark, gloopy, tamarind sauce sweetened with natural palm sugar to give a sweet dressing with a very slight sour tang. 

The fruits (and sometimes vegetables) selected are chosen to provide different textures. Some crunchy, some soft. It's a sweet and savoury combination which felt unfamiliar, but went down a treat.

Satay
Different from its more famous Thai counterpart, this strongly marinaded grilled chicken skewer is not served with peanut sauce. 

The strong spiciness of the marinade rendered it completely unnecessary. Him Indoors and I kept coming back for more of these as they came off the grill.

Pasembur
A vegetarian dish made of layers of tofu, cooked potato, crispy crunchy fried crackers, slices of onion and julienned cucumber. 

The sauce depends on who makes it. Apparently these recipes are trade secrets and are disclosed to no-one. No self-respecting Pasembur hawker wants their 'secret sauce' being ripped off elsewhere!

Belachan chicken
It appears that nearly every culture has its own take on 'fried chicken'! Belachan chicken is marinaded in fermented shrimp paste, lightly battered and then fried in a medium depth of oil in a hot, hot wok. The shrimp paste marinade brings depth of flavour to the chicken meat, particularly the wings. 

Super tasty, finger food, these tasty little nibbles are dangerously addictive. I had to have some the very next day...  and I will confess to hunting them down elsewhere on my travels around Penang! I may have succumbed to the addiction!

Our experience gave us a new awareness of what we were looking out for, and a familiarity with the flavours of Penang street food and names of the most popular dishes. We and the other guests thoroughly enjoyed a festive celebration which was full of colour and life, yet a world away from roast turkey and Brussels sprouts!

Him Indoors and I stayed at Chulia Mansion as full price paying guests. I have not received any payment or incentive for this post.

Chulia Mansion
413 Chulia Street
10200 Georgetown
Penang
Malaysia
enquiry@chuliamansion.com
http://www.chuliamansion.com/

The (Inaugural) Chowtzer Awards 2013

The recent resurgence of street food in London has shown us that fast food and street food doesn't have to be unhealthy or poor quality. Twenty or even ten years ago, 'street food' in England conjured up images of illegal hot dog stalls; dodgy vans or hand carts with questionable hygiene, which you probably would only frequent if you'd had a skinful. Or 'Mr Whippy' vans who allegedly sell ice cream. But food fans and food adventurers often love to travel, and sampling the far flung delights of street food in more exotic climes has been an inspiration for many. So now we have our current street food revival, which can be sampled at Borough, Whitecross Market, and the South Bank to name just three locations. Even Leather Lane market near my workplace has handful of stalls where people queue up for enticing and exotic delights. 

Picking the best of this kind of food globally is a big challenge, and a challenge that Chowzter is keen to embrace. From their website http://www.chowzter.com/ the Chowzter organisation have the aim of finding the tastiest food on earth. They don't want to recommend unhealthy, lazy or poor quality fast food. Their concept is to find 'Fast Feasts' - food which is healthy, made with love and from good ingredients. As they say, they "hope to provide amazing tips to foodies around the world about where to get delicious fast feasts of the highest quality at a good price anytime and anywhere". 

They intend to do this by recruiting passionate food specialists and bloggers to represent their city who are willing to find the best Fast Feasts in their city. Their team of 70 recommend the offerings of the best informal restaurants, cafes, delis and street food joints they know, so that the rest of us food lovers can benefit from their knowledge. The current list of bloggers can be found here: http://www.chowzter.com/fast-feasts/bloggers-list

I was really pleased that the people at Chowtzer invited me to their Inaugural worldwide awards to find the best Fast Feasts. They intended to give awards for:

Best Sandwich

Best Sausage

Best Pizza

Best Curry

Best Burger

Best Chicken dish

Best Taco

Best City for Foodie

Outstanding Contribution

Best Food Item In The World

Held at Village Underground, Shoreditch, we had a mini street food extravaganza with food available from Pizza Pilgrims, Ambriento, Big Apple Hot Dogs and The Ribman. Anyone who had a ticket for the event was given an armband so they could walk in and out as they pleased to sample the street food offerings. A lovely touch, given the spirit behind the awards themselves.

Jeffrey Merrihue, founder of Chowtzer, kicked off the evening with an explanation of the thinking behind the organisation. The idea that people who live in the cities in question who are passionate about food put together the lists of the best dishes, is to me a good one. I look forward when I plan future travel to check Chowtzer to find out the best Fast Feasts in my destination city!

Our host was the irrepressible Alexander Armstrong, self confessed 'journeyman comedian', actor, 50% of Armstrong and Miller (please don't get me started with how much I love the 21st Century WW2 Airmen sketches) and Host of BBC1's cult tea-time quiz show Pointless.

The great and the good of the London and international food scene were in attendance. I had the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end as I saw food legend and food luminary walk around and take their seats for the award.

I was totally amazed when I saw Chef and legend Angela Hartnett come in, mill around and say hello to people. I have admired her for years! She is a remarkable woman who has climbed to the top of a male dominated profession with style and class. She has published cook books which have been loved by gourmands, chefs and simple food lovers like me. I have cooked and loved her recipes and thoroughly enjoyed reading her food writings. Anxious and unsure - after all, she might have told me to go away and leave her alone - I felt I had to meet her. So I gingerly walked up and introduced myself. It turns out that she is a lovely person as well as extremely talented. She was kind, accommodating and very pleasant. 

The first award, for Best Sandwich was suitably international. There were shortlisted candidates from Venezuela, China, the USA, and England. The winner was Banh Mi Thit as served at Huynh Hoa, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Banh Mi sandwiches are made from crusty baguette bread, an influence from when the French ruled what they called French Indochina. They are filled with a healthy amount of vegetables, herbs and meaty goodness, frequently pork or possibly chicken. A sauce is often drizzled over the meat to give some spice and zing.

The Best Sausage award was contested by candidates from Korea, USA, Ireland, and Argentina. The winner was the Kielbasa of the Kielbasa Truck, Krakow, Poland, who grill their sausages on a wood burning barbeque. Their Kielbasa, served in a bread roll with mustard and onions is said to be worth the trip to Poland alone. 

The Best Pizza award was fought over by competitors from Italy (Naples, of course, the birthplace of Pizza), Argentina, UK, USA and Tokyo. The winner was the Story Deli in my own beloved London town! I will confess it was a pleasing shock to me to find that the Pizzeria in Naples had been beaten by home-grown talent, and now I must dust off my Oyster card and sample the Margherita Pizza as served by Story in east London. 

The Best Curry award was presented by the author of Cook In Boots, Ravinder Bhogal. The award went to the Mutton Vindaloo from the Ritz Classic, Panjim (Panaji), Goa, India, beating off another contender from India, and rivals from Canada, Cambodia, and the Philippines. 

Ravinder Bhogal presents the Best Curry Award

Jonathan Downey, the noted Michelin starred chef presented the award for Best Burger, which went to perhaps the earliest producer of the burger, Louis' Lunch, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Founded by Louis Lassen in 1900, Louis' Lunch still uses the same presses to form their burgers. Rival burgers were from Istanbul, London, Sydney and India.

Petra Barren presented the Best Chicken dish award, which went to HanChu of Seoul, Korea for their Fried Chicken wings. I love chicken wings, all fiddly finger food deliciousness, so I now have a place to put on my list when I travel to Seoul!

Martin Morales, founder of Ceviche restaurant, presented the Best Taco Award. This went to the BBQ Goat Tacos at Barbacoa Santiago, Queretaro, Mexico. Interestingly, the other shortlisted taco dishes (from Mexico, London, Arizona and California) had very varied fillings, including Tuna. Of course, a taco is very versatile, allowing for all sorts of meaty goodness to be served inside!

So, which cities were up for the Foodiest City award? Well, not everyone was going to be happy about the shortlist, mainly because it had to be a short list and omit many amazing cities noted for excellent food. The shortlisted cities were Lima, New Orleans, London, Portland (Oregon) and Hanoi. Of all the categories (and I have to say they all made me come all over with wanderlust), this was the one which made me want to pack a case and book the first plane out, because it went to Hanoi. I love travelling, particularly in south east Asia, in no small part due to the food. One day I will make it to Vietnam, a country whose food I love, and hope to have a steaming bowl of Pho, a bowl of Bun Cha and some Ban Cuon there.... although there are probably so many other dishes I'd want to chomp my way through, I might never come back!

The Outstanding Contribution Award went to Tuba Satana, for her work on the Istanbul Food website, showcasing the best food in that amazing, vibrant and historical city. Tuba is a professional photographer who has published a book of her photographs entitled Güneşin ve Ateşin Tadı (A Taste of Sun and Fire), and calls herself a 'food storyteller'. Her website, which is a must if you are planning to visit Istanbul can be found here: http://www.istanbulfood.com

Finally, there was the award for the Best food item in the world. This was the most anticipated award of them all, and was given by Russell Norman, the restauranteur behind Polpo Soho, Polpo Covent Garden, Polpo Smithfield, Spuntino, Polpetto and Mishkin's who has recently treated us to the Polpo cookbook, featuring his unique take on Polpo's Venetian inspired food. The award went to Story Deli (currently at a temporary address at 123 Bethnal Green Road, Shoreditch, London) for their Margherita Pizza. The pizza, in the ultra-thin style is made from Molina Grassi SpA organic flour. It is literally 'shown the oven' since it is only baked for 30 seconds!  Lee Hollingworth of Story Deli accepted the award. 

My final surprise of the evening was when I went to fetch my coat to drift back home after an evening of food and drink. I had managed to get my coat on when I pretty much stumbled into someone tucking into the Ribman's rib meat roll.... none other than Giles Coren! He was a real sweetie - I was really impressed by his kind and engaging manner. He really could not have been nicer to me. What a memorable end to a great evening!

I would like to thank the organisers of the Inaugural Chowtzer Awards for inviting me to attend as a guest.

Snig's Street Food 101

When I go travelling, even for a short time, it is always rewarding to get the measure of a country's food heritage. As the late, great Keith Floyd once said (a quote which I think is an important truth of the human condition): 'To know a country, one must eat a country'. Now, obviously, he didn't mean REALLY eating a WHOLE COUNTRY; what he meant is their cuisine. If I interpreted him rightly, I think he was saying was to know the heart and soul of a people, their food is a pretty good indicator of their culture, history and shared experience. Now, people are not always themselves in a formal surrounding, so a posh restaurant won't be real reflection of the place. And in some countries, the indigenous simply can't afford the pleasure of eating in a restaurant. Hence, what better place for them to eat and be themselves than on the street? Street food, just like street photography (the capture of images of people unsuspectingly about their daily business), is often a telling statement about the place it is consumed in.

Many people tell me that they are scared of trying street food. If you live in London and all you have to go on is grubby hot dog stands and dodgy (but strangely alluring) late night kebab vans, I can see your concern. However, as you travel further afield, street food is often the best you can get, both as a culinary experience and as a cultural statement about the place you are visiting. I can vividly remember eating 'fish-bread' (tasty rolls of freshly grilled fish) in Istanbul (from the fish-bread men of Eminonu). In India I have partaken of delicious bhajis and pakoras. In Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Singapore, I have tasted some of the best food I have ever eaten at street food stalls; and that compares with some of the best restaurants London has to offer.

Possibly the best Satay in the world, Jalan Petalling, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

So my advice when it comes to street food is GO FOR IT! But just mind a few basic rules.

Check the stall you are visiting out THOROUGHLY. There are a few things you should look out for. If you can see them prepare the food, then you will be able to see how clean everything is. Don't simply rely on cleanliness. You should also check how well stored the food is: cold items should be kept refrigerated or on ice, hot items should be kept hot. Raw and cooked foods should be stored separately. In Malaysia, I saw street stalls wash down their surfaces regularly with steaming hot water; this is a good sign, as the heated water will kill any germs. Food left sitting in the sun is best avoided, unless a hot dish kept piping hot (see below).

Any food cooked over 60°C will be safe. 60°C is a temperature which is the borderline of getting burnt; about the same temperature as hot candle wax. The temperature that germs and nasties are killed at. So if you cannot touch the pot the food is in without worrying about getting burnt, the food is hot enough. Anything piping hot (so hot there is steam coming off it) will be safe. Avoid any cooked food which is not piping hot. Curry which has been pre-cooked is fine as long as it is hot enough that germs cannot grow in it.

Hot enough for you? Frying gathia (spicy snack food) in Delhi, India

Wok food will generally not make you ill. In south east Asia the wok-cooked food is cooked over extremely fierce gas burners which gets the wok so hot it smokes. This is much hotter than any domestic UK gas burner and will ensure the food is raised to a temperature that no nasties can survive.

A queue is a good thing! I realise we, particularly in big cities, want instant gratification. Therefore we are much more likely to visit a stall with no queue. However, this is not the best logic where street food is concerned. Especially when you are not familiar with the place or quality of the food. A place frequented by locals is a place to be trusted. After all, if they got ill (and there is much likelihood of it happening where hygiene is poor), they won't return to the same place twice and will advise their friends accordingly. So if the place is deserted, on the one hand, they may just be unlucky and on the other, may just have poor standards.

Guide books like the Lonely Planet and Rough Guide used to warn you to shy completely away from all ice. These days that advice is a little extreme. And if you happen to be somewhere hot and humid, it is pretty punishing too! So my advice is, when checking out a stall, check out the ice situation. Mass produced ice cubes are much more likely to be safe and can be recognised by their factory consistent shape. These will tend to be made of purified water in factories. However, crushed ice could be made at home from local water and is best avoided.

A smaller choice is generally a safer choice. If a street food stalls sell few dishes, then the chances are they will have a quick turn over. If the turnover is fast then you can be quite sure they are using fresh ingredients and cooking fresh on the spot. The more dishes on offer, the greater the likelihood they have been left hanging around. If so, provided they are kept hot/cold (as appropriate – see above) you should be fine.

There is a theory that having had pro-biotic cultures before you travel can help. In other words, the 'friendly bacteria' in products like Actimel and Yakult can offer protection. It is possible, but I'm not testing this one out: rather you than me!

Don't be too paranoid! I've never gotten ill on my travels from street food. My most violent illnesses were from a restaurant which unbeknownst to me had its kitchen right next to the toilets (in Kerala) and a hippy bar with unclean glasses (in Malaysia). This accords with anecdotal evidence from many of my friends, many of whom were ill from meals from 4 and 5 star hotel restaurants. After all, their kitchens you cannot see, whilst a street stall's kitchen is transparently on display.

Openly open for business, the visible street kitchens of Sukhumvit Soi 38, Bangkok, Thailand

Beware the water. Free water will often be proferred with a meal, and is a kind gesture. However, if the water comes from the tap, it may make you unwell. On the other hand, it may be boiled or filtered water. Unless you can see the source, then do not drink it (although you may out of politeness not wish to refuse it). In Thailand, I saw hygienic chilled water filters where the customer could help themselves – a safe option, which may not always be available. Where you doubt the water, stick to bottled. Although if you saw 'Slumdog Millionaire', you will be aware that sometimes bottled water is not what it appears to be. Check you have an unopened bottle with seal attached. Many manufacturers are wise to the scam and make a cellophane cover over the seal which you have to turn to tear.

Think about ancient ethnic wisdom. The dishes which include turmeric, chili, ginger etc did so not just for flavour, but from a science which at the time was not capable of verification. It in fact turns out that ginger is anti-microbial and antiseptic which can kill germs such as salmonella. Chili stimulates the immune system and is thought to have anti-bacterial properties. Turmeric is both anti-bacterial and antiseptic (which is why it is rubbed onto cuts in India), keeping germs away from your food. Dishes including these ingredients are highly likely to be safer than those which do not.

If you get ill, please bear in mind the following:

• Sometimes it is the sheer amount of spice that may trouble your stomach not the food.
• It is dehydration which will do you harm more than the vomiting/diarrhoea. Keep drinking clean bottled/filtered water, checking your urine colour remains light. If orange or brown, you are severely dehydrated.
• When unwell, eat very simply prepared foods. Nothing spicy, or too fatty.
• Always pack some anti-diarrhoea medicine (such as loperamide) and fluid replacement salts (such as dioralyte). When illness strikes, you may feel too unwell or weak to make your way to a pharmacy.
• You won't thank me for this, but please check your sick and your poop. Check there is no blood in either. Check that your poop doesn't become jelly-like or greenish in nature – this may be a sign of infection. Look for any other radical abnormalities and see a doctor or pharmacist when you notice them.
• If your symptoms persist for more than 2-3 days, see a doctor or pharmacist, since you may have a bacterial infection and need antibiotics.