Where would Penang’s Chulia Street (Lebuh Chulia) be without backpackers? This two-lane street that crosses from west to east through George Town, the historic center of Penang in Malaysia is also the first stop for backpackers visiting Penang: its glut of hostels, cafes, bookstores, travel agencies and shops of Convenience puts Lebuh Chulia at the top of every Penang backpackers’ must-see list
Lebuh Chulia’s popularity increases tenfold after dark, as the sidewalks along Lebuh Chulia flourish with carts of street vendors selling a varied menu of Malaysian street food favorites.
Street vendors
Street vendor action along Lebuh Chulia is mainly concentrated between its intersections with Lorong Love in the west and Lorong Sechchuan in the east. It’s not a long stretch by any means, but the variety available within this Lebuh Chulia segment will stun the first diner’s mind.
However, the scene is not the cleanest. Malaysian street food can be messy and unhealthy-looking, and ordering isn’t the easiest thing, especially when you’re vying for the street vendor’s attention with a dozen other diners. It is a test for your comfort zone.
“Keep an open mind!” says Mark Ng, co-founder and partner of the Simply Enak food tourism company. Mark, a food enthusiast from Penang, understands the concerns visitors have about local street food.
“Penang is all about street food; be adventurous about it. Food that is deep fried and boiled in soup is generally fine. ‘
What to eat
Here’s how you know Lebuh Chulia is good – it’s not just about tourists fighting each other to eat street food. “The locals go there for the curry noodles, the wan tan mee, the kway teow soup,” Mark tells us.
- Wan tan mee: These are thin, opaque egg noodles drowned in soup broth and garnished with wan tan (meatballs) and cha siu (roast pork). The soup is optional; you can also have this dry.
- Curry noodles: These are egg noodles soaked in curry, coconut milk, and bites of blood jelly, cuttlefish, cockles, and fried tofu ( tau pok ).
- Kway Teow Soup – A Penang classic, this noodle soup combines clear pork broth, vermicelli, and a variety of side dishes: minced meat, fish balls, roasted garlic, and meat slices.
- Hainanese satay: Unlike the satay that you will find in the rest of Malaysia and Indonesia, the Hainanese satay uses pork and chicken; the pieces are strung on a bamboo stick and roasted over charcoal until done. Your cooked satay should be dipped in a sweet bowl of peanut sauce.
Char Kway Teow
This writer found the queues for all these foods too long. And as Mark explains, Penang char kway teow is completely different from the things you find in Singapore; in his opinion, it is simply better .
“Singapore is quite sweet compared to Penang or Kuala Lumpur, it is tastier,” Mark tells me. “And the texture is not so soggy and less oily.”
The secret lies in the temperature of the pan used to cook the kway teow : “The higher the flame, the drier the texture of your kway teow ,” explains Marcos. “There will be a feeling that it is not so oily, it is a little dry and fragrant, a little charred with flavor.”
So it was with the char kway teow dispensed by auntie near the corner of Lorong Love: Expertly sautéed over high heat, the resulting egg-infused noodle dish was smoky, just a little moist, and not greasy at all.
