Must Try Local Dishes in Penang
Part of the Penang travel guide — see every topic in All Penang Guides.
A number of Penang's signature dishes carry names that mean something else in Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, which causes real confusion. Penang laksa is sour, not coconut. Penang hokkien mee is a prawn soup, not a dark braised noodle. Penang rojak is a fruit salad in shrimp paste, not a fritter dish. Learning the local definitions is the first step; the second is accepting that everyone here has a favourite stall for each and will tell you about it.
The noodle dishes
Asam laksa: poached and flaked mackerel in a sour tamarind broth with torch ginger flower, mint, cucumber, pineapple, raw onion and a dab of hae ko prawn paste, over thick rice noodles. Pungent, sour and utterly distinctive. Hokkien mee, also called prawn mee: a deep orange broth built from prawn shells and pork bone, with yellow and rice noodles, prawns, pork and egg. Curry mee: coconut curry noodles, usually with cockles, tofu puffs and congealed pork blood, and a spoonful of chilli paste stirred in at the table.
The fried dishes
Char koay teow: flat rice noodles fried hard over a fierce flame with prawns, cockles, Chinese sausage, egg, chives and bean sprouts. The whole thing is judged on wok hei. A stall cooking two plates at a time rather than eight is a good sign. Oh chien is an oyster omelette with a starchy batter, crisp at the edges and gooey in the middle. Lor bak is minced pork rolled in beancurd skin and deep-fried, served with a thick starchy gravy and chilli sauce. Koay teow th'ng is the clear-soup version of the noodles.
Nasi kandar and the Indian-Muslim tradition
Nasi kandar is Penang's contribution to Malaysian food: rice with a choice of curries — fish, chicken, squid, beef, okra, egg — and, critically, kuah campur, a mixture of several gravies ladled over the whole plate. The name comes from the shoulder pole that vendors once used to carry the pots. Line Clear on Penang Road and Hameediyah, running since 1907, are the famous names. Alongside it: roti canai, murtabak, mee goreng mamak and teh tarik, all available around the clock.
Sweets and snacks
Cendol: shaved ice with coconut milk, palm sugar syrup and green rice-flour jelly, sometimes with red beans. The Penang Road stall queue is a fixture. Ais kacang is the loaded shaved-ice version. Rojak in Penang is cut fruit and fritters dressed in a thick, dark, sweet-savoury sauce of prawn paste, tamarind and sugar, with peanuts. Tau sar pneah are small flaky mung-bean biscuits and the standard thing to carry home. Nutmeg juice, made from a fruit Penang grows, is the local drink.
Must Try Local Dishes at a glance
| Asam laksa | Sour mackerel and tamarind — the Penang laksa |
|---|---|
| Hokkien mee | Prawn-shell broth soup, orange, not braised |
| Char koay teow | Judged on wok hei; look for small batches |
| Nasi kandar | Rice with mixed curry gravies; Line Clear, Hameediyah (1907) |
| Dessert | Cendol — coconut, palm sugar, green jelly |
| Take home | Tau sar pneah mung-bean biscuits |