Penang: Cantonese Pig's Intestines Porridge

[klyeoh]

Another eating expedition to Penang. This time: New Lane, off MacAlister Road in downtown Georgetown in Penang, a real culinary haven of sorts for Penang street-hawker foods. I found almost all the food there to be very good: Penang "loh bak" (somewhat similar to Singapore "ngoh hiang"), Cantonese "sar hor fun" & "yee fu mein", Penang fried koay teow, oyster omelette, Penang-style nyonya popiah (fresh spring rolls, not the deep-fried type), curry mee (Hokkien yellow noodles in a mild coconut-curry soup), barbecued chicken wings, fried "koay kak" (similar to Singapore fried carrot cake), etc.

But the best item I tried there last weekend was the famous New Lane "Chee Cheong Choke", Cantonese-style pig's intestines porridge. I was told that the stall has been operating there since the 1950s, and the current operators are the third-generation. The white, smooth rice porridge was very flavourful by itself - but it comes chockful of delicious slivers of pig's intestines (both boiled & also crisp-barbecued varieties), pig's liver, pig's stomach, thinly-sliced "char siew" (barbecued pork), a sprinkling of chopped green spring onions, finely-julienned ginger, and a generous dusting of white pepper. The result - an extraordinarily delicious pig's intestines porridge. We have such porridge in Singapore, but I've not tasted any which comes close to the Penang version. A definite 10 out of 10 in terms of taste!! Now I know why the stall's been there for more than 50 years.

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New Lane Pig's Intestines Porridge
43 Jalan MacAlister Penang

[lost squirrel]

Went here last week, wonderful! -- Thanks klyeoh

Also in that area, we had the beef ball soup and a guy selling barbecued chicken wings with a very spicy sauce. All were quite good. Farther down away from McAllister on the left hand side of the road was a small dim sum cart which I can't recommend, but the 3 or 4 things up closer to McAllister were all great!

[klyeoh]

Thanks for reporting back!
Penang hawker food's probably the best in Asia (Saigon/HCM is a close rival). Unfortunately, Penang don't do "dim sum" well - in Malaysia, only top-class Cantonese restaurants in KL do "dim sum" well.

[OneBigMouth]

Actually the best stall for chee cheong chok that most people missed out is that at the back of Chowrasta market. Opens during market hours in the morning. It is a roadside stall with a few old tables/chairs located on Jln Kuala Kangsar between the proper market building and Jln Campell. The whole place is very crowded because of all the stalls, street vendors - selling fish, vegetables, clothings etc etc. So if you can't find this stall, look out for a Malay man/lady selling watches/toys (also a roadside stall), it is just right next to it. Tip : order a large bowl plus "ker liao" (extra ingredients) ~ don't worry it is only MYR3.00. Similar size and extras will cost you more double at New Lane.

If you are into GPS, hope this help (5.418037,100.332609) I use google map it's approx only.

[klyeoh]

Thanks for the heads-up. Please post any other good Penang food finds here, OBM. I trawl Penang food blogs for new eating places, but most of them were too long-winded. On CH boards, we tend to be more to the point & also interactive.

[klyeoh]

Third time lucky, OneBigMouth, I finally found the "chee cheong chok" stall open today - two previous attempts during my past visits to Penang in the past 12 months were unsuccessful as the chap closes his stall without prior notice.

It was fab! Tasty porridge with a mixture of crisp-roasted and soft-boiled pig's intestines.

The stall is located in front of the retro-looking New Cathay Permanent Wave hair saloon on Kuala Kangsar Road (near the intersection with Campbell Street), and is only open in the mornings when the market is in full swing.

I absolutely *loved* this neighborhood. After the porridge breakfast, I strolled into the nearby Chowrasta Market, found a used books store on the 2nd floor, and bought a hardcover Latin book published in 1918 for RM15 (US$4.80)!

[penang_rojak]

klyeoh: you didn't ask for the congee with pig's blood inside? It's tastier and more robust than the bloodless congee.

[klyeoh]

I did see the rice porridge option flecked with small cubes and bits of pig's blood pudding! I should've asked for that!

[penang_rojak]

"look out for a Malay man/lady"
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You mean that effeminate chap called Albert? He's Chinese. He's been selling watches and clocks there for a long time. The chee cheong chok seller calls him "leng chai" all the time.

[eztou]

Yaya... this congee porridge is not bad i tried b4. But.... on last few months i hav tried another porridge in cintra streer (Penang)...OMG i only know wat is the BEST. The cintra street is 70yrs since their grandpa, which is brother of this macalister road. You can hav a try!!!

[klyeoh]

Thanks for the heads-up, eztou. I'll have to check that out. I only know that Cintra Street has a famous yee sang (raw fish) & chicken porridge stall (near junction with Lorong Kampung Malabar). Are you referring to this one? See review here:
http://samlee86.com/2010/03/15/cintra...

Is there any other stall which sells pig's intestines porridge on Cintra St, and what is the address, please? I may be making a trip to Penang later this year.

[eztou]

yaya...u are right. the chicken porridge is selling at night. But the congee is selling 2pm-4.30pm, the stall just behind the coffee shop of the yee sang porridge. yaya... is the green gate coffee shop that you snap in the photo of yee sang poorridge here. wowww... you really know to find a delicious food leh...haha!!

[klyeoh]

Oh, that's NOT my foodblog which you're referring to :-) I was just referring to it for the details/photos.

[eztou]

ooo...nvm la. if u know the address of the chicken porridge sure u will see the stall of the pig congee porridge. i forget to tell u tis congee porridge will be close on weekends. They only selling on weekdays.

[klyeoh]

Thanks for the headsup, eztou - that's pretty important info since I live in S'pore and only make weekend trips up to Penang. I'll have to take a couple of exra days off if I'm to catch this place then.

[eztou]

hahaa...yaya u should. Just 2 & half hour to 3 hours bzness hawker, u should hav a good try. If you try & really like it pls snap the photo at here too so that other tourism can test it...:P

[penang_rojak]

This place provides comfort food #1 for me. A place I've been going back again & again for more than 50 years (it started about the same time Ray Kroc opened the 1st McDonalds franchised restaurant on the other side of the globe) - and the taste had not changed one iota!

I wonder how many million bowls of pig's intestine congee this little stall had served to generations of Penangites.

[M_Gomez]

I love offal - in any cuisine. In Eurasian cooking, we have feng (chopped, spiced lung, kidney, liver & stuff). I like the "ter huang kiam chye" stall in Tiong Bharu Market, and also the pig's intestines with glutinous rice stuffing. Unfortunately can't find good "chee cheong chok" in Singapore nowadays.

[M_Gomez]

I think this stall was featured in Bobby Chinn's "World Cafe Asia" episode on Penang last night, televised on MediaCorp Okto channel.