Penang Asam Laksa

It is undisputable that Penang asam laksa is the most famous and commercially hawker's food available everywhere in Malaysia. Normally we use chopsticks to eat the noodles. Otherwise, you use fork and soup spoon to eat laksa

Nasi Kandar

Nasi Kandar is a popular northern Malaysian dish, which originates from Penang. It is a meal of steamed rice which can be plain or mildly flavored, and served with a variety of curries and side dishes. The rice for a nasi kandar dish is often placed in a wooden container about three feet high, giving it a distinctive aroma. The rice is accompanied by side dishes such as fried chicken, curried spleen, cubed beef, fish roe, fried prawns or fried squid. The vegetable dish would usually be brinjal (aubergine), okra (lady fingers or "bendi") or bitter gourd. A mixture of curry sauces is poured on the rice. This is called 'banjir' (flooding) and imparts a diverse taste to the rice.

Pasembor

This is our very own local salad, sometimes known as “Indian Rojak”. It is sometimes referred to as “cheh hoo”, literally translated to “green fish” ie raw fish, because that used to be one of the constituents. Originally these were two different dishes, but time and cultures have blended the two, and they are now more or less the same thing.

Whatever name you know it by, up here in Penang, pasembor is the mixture of sliced-up dough and cucuk udang (prawn fritters), bean curd, boiled potatoes and hard-boiled egg served atop a bed of roughly-julienned vegetables, primarily cucumber and bangkwang (yam bean). It is served with a dressing that is totally unique to the east – a large, loving ladleful of thick, rich, sweet, reddish-brown spicy sauce made with Ubi Keledek (sweet potato) and chillis.

As soon as the salad is served to you, toss it to ensure the sauce mixes well with all the layers. It also softens the crispy fritter edges and flavours the vegetables at the same time. Although slightly sweet for some, the combination of carbohydrates and vegetables (and grease notwithstanding), is quite tasty and relatively healthy, as there is plenty of fresh crispy greens.