Local dish

Food

Taste Penang’s famous fried noodles – Char Kway Teow

Char Kway TeowStir-fried flat noodles with shrimps, bean sprouts and egg

A signature dish coming from the food-loving state of Penang, Char Kway Teow essentially is a stir-fried rice noodle. A dish tossed with seafood, eggs, Chinese sausages and bean sprouts. The characteristic features that make Char Kway Teow the nation’s favourite signify its distinctive flavours; a well-seasoned wok diffusing with the fresh ingredients and the smoky charred taste attributed to the extremely high temperatures cooked complements the dish perfectly.

More about Char Kway Teow

Mostly served among the labourers upon its first invention. The reason being its high-fat content providing the source of energy and nutrients. The fishermen and the farmers were the first to serve the dish as at the evening market. Meanwhile, this contributed to their source of income.

The locals believe, there is no better way to end a day than to indulge in a bowl of the piping hot flat rice noodles. The various flavours of spice and sweet with a hint of sour makes you naturally attracted to a bowlful of the stir-fried noodles. You may inadvertently indulge in a bit of overeating throughout your tour of Malaysia.

A cook preparing Char Kway Teow
A cook preparing Char Kway Teow

Found in almost every third stall in Penang, Char Kway Teow is a dish worth seeing during its preparations too! Prepared in single servings mainly, the rhythm the stall owners get into, almost synchronised dance-like rhythm sounds mesmerising. They further continue to get the “Wok Hei” seasoned perfectly; the rice noodles charred to a moist crunchy texture. Simultaneously ensuring the quantity of the rest of ingredients brings the whole dish and its exploding flavours together! You won’t mind waiting in the long queues usually found infront of the famous Char Kway Teow stalls.

Traditionally served on a banana leaf and eaten with chopsticks, Char Kway Teo is the perfect excuse to practice your chopstick skills and eat a sinful meal found at almost every corner in Penang. When planning your Penang itinerary, don’t forget to ask your local travel guide from Locaguide to take you to a few famous local haunts best known for serving the most authentic Char Kway Teow.

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Food

Drool over Penang’s iconic Asam Laksa

Asam LaksaOne of the many versions of Aam Laksa

After a day’s city tour and souvenir hunting, a bowl of soup is just what the soul demands. And when in Penang, nothing other than a bowl of steaming Asam Laksa will do! A fish and tamarind based soup with a touch of a sour aftertaste, it remains a local favourite of all time; right from when the Chinese immigrants moved to the island to this present day. Said to be a dish born out of the intermarriage of the Chinese and local Malays, it is a dish made for the soul.

Asam Laksa
Asam Laksa

The many versions of Asam Laksa

Ever since it featured in CNN’s top ten best food list, the dish inevitably remains on everyone’s must-try dishes. Made from poached and shredded mackerel, the sourness of the soup makes it the perfect “feel good” meal. The distinctive flavour attributes to the use of tamarind, lemongrass, chilli and galangal (Asian plant of ginger family) in the right quantities and mixtures. You can customise the soup as per your liking, from the variety of base ingredients used to garnishes. Also, adding a dollop of shrimp paste would do the trick to enhance the flavours a lot more.

The dish tantalises your taste buds with its tangy flavour. Priced low, Asam Laksa makes up a whole bunch of different versions you can try and experiment with. Meanwhile, a friendly little chat with the locals can get you close with the food culture of the locals. 

A local guide from Locaguide will ensure an experiment with the perfect meal to re-energise with, between shopping sprees. The guide will make you try more than just a single version of Asam Laksa during your tour of Malaysia. Take your guide’s help to find the local hole in the wall shops selling the most authentic version of this dish. The dish lets you take home food memories of a lifetime. Thus, sure to change your idea of soup noodles upon tasting the iconic Asam Laksa.

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