Penang cuisine facts for kids

A hawker stall selling rojak, a fruit dish in shrimp and chilli paste

Penang is a famous island in Malaysia, known for its amazing food! The food here is a mix of different cultures, like Malay, Chinese, and Indian. You'll find most of this delicious food at roadside stalls, which people call "hawker food." These stalls are super popular because they offer tasty meals that are often cheaper and easy to grab. They are open almost all day and night!

Penang's street food is so good that it has won awards. In 2013, CNN Travel said Penang was one of the top ten street food cities in Asia. Then, in 2014, Lonely Planet named Penang the best place in the world for food!

Delicious Snacks to Try

Penang has many yummy snacks perfect for a quick bite. These treats come from different cultural traditions.

Indian Snacks

• Apom (Tamil: அப்பம்) – This is an Indian-style pancake. It's thin and crispy on the outside, but soft and thick in the middle. It doesn't have any fillings.
• Appalam (Tamil: அப்பளம்) – A thin, crispy cracker. It's usually made from a special bean flour and can be fried or cooked until crunchy.
• Samosa (Tamil: சமோசா) – A popular fried or baked pastry. It has a savory filling, often with spiced potatoes, onions, peas, or sometimes minced meat.
• Bhajji (Tamil: பஜ்ஜி) – A spicy Indian snack, similar to a fritter. It's often made with vegetables dipped in a spiced batter and fried.

Chinese Snacks

• Eu Char Kuih (Chinese: 油炸粿) – These are Chinese deep-fried bread sticks. People usually eat them with a rice porridge called congee or with sweet almond cream.
• Lor Bak (鹵肉) – This snack is made from marinated minced pork. The pork is rolled in thin soybean sheets and then deep-fried until crispy. It's served with a thick sauce and chili.
• Phong Pneah (Chinese: 清糖餅) – A light brown Chinese pastry. It has a sweet filling of melted white sugar inside.

Peranakan Snacks

• Popiah (Chinese: 薄餅) – This is a fresh spring roll from the Teochew culture. It's filled with ingredients like turnip, tofu, and egg bits. It's often served with chili paste and sweet sauce.

Malay Snacks

• Otak-otak – This unique dish is made from fresh fish fillets. The fish is mixed with light spices, coconut milk, and other herbs to create a fish mousse. This mousse is then wrapped in banana leaves and either steamed or grilled.

Main Dishes to Enjoy

When you're ready for a bigger meal, Penang has a huge variety of main dishes. Many of these are also found at hawker stalls.

Indian Main Dishes

• Banana Leaf Rice (Tamil: வாழையிலைச் சோறு கறி) – This meal is served on a banana leaf instead of a plate! You get white rice with different vegetables, curried meat or fish, and crispy crackers. It's very popular in the Little India area of George Town.
• Biryani (Tamil: பிரியாணி) – Also known as nasi beriani, this is a flavorful rice dish. It's cooked with spices and often includes meat like chicken or lamb. There are many different versions of biryani.
• Fish Head Curry (Tamil: மீன் தலை கறி) – This dish features the head of a red snapper fish. It's cooked in a rich curry with vegetables like okra, tomatoes, and eggplants. It's usually eaten with rice.
• Mee Goreng Mamak (Tamil: மாமா வறுத்த மி) – A delicious fried noodle dish. Thin yellow noodles are stir-fried with garlic, onions, prawns, chicken, chili, tofu, vegetables, and egg. This gives it a special Indian flavor.
• Mee Rebus (Tamil: அவித்த மி) – This dish has fresh yellow egg noodles and bean sprouts. They are covered in a rich, thick gravy made from sweet potatoes. It's topped with cooked squid, prawn fritters, and a boiled egg. A squeeze of lime adds a fresh taste.
• Nasi Kandar (Tamil: நாசிக் கண்டார்) – A meal of steamed rice served with many different curries and side dishes. You can choose from a variety of meats and vegetables. One famous spot for this is Line Clear, near Penang Road.
• Pasembur (Tamil: பசெம்பூர்) – A spicy salad dish sold by Indian Muslims. It includes fried bits and shredded vegetables, all mixed together.
• Penang Acar (Tamil: பினாங்கு ஊறுகாய்) – These are Indian pickles, called Urukai in Tamil. They are made from chopped vegetables and fruits cooked in oil with many different spices.

Chinese Main Dishes

• Bak Kut Teh (Chinese: 肉骨茶) – This name means "meat bone tea." It's a soup dish with meaty pork ribs and meatballs. They are simmered in a flavorful broth made with herbs and spices.
• Bee Tai Bak or Mee Tai Mak (Chinese: 米苔目) – These are "silver needle noodles." They are served in a clear soup with minced pork.
• Char Koay Kak (Chinese: 炒粿角) – This is a stir-fried rice cake dish. The rice cakes are cut into pieces and fried with other ingredients.
• Char Koay Teow (Chinese: 炒粿條) – A very famous Penang dish! It's made with flat rice noodles stir-fried with chili, seafood (like prawns and cockles), and often a fried egg.
• Claypot Chicken Rice (Chinese: 砂煲飯) – Chicken is cooked in a claypot over a fire. It's served with Chinese sausages, egg, salted fish, and mushrooms, all mixed with rice.
• Duck Soup Noodles (Chinese: 鴨腿麵線) – A savory herbal soup served with thin vermicelli noodles. It's topped with a tasty duck drumstick.
• Fried Oyster Omelette or Oh Chien (Chinese: 蚵煎) – An omelette made with fresh oysters. It's garnished with coriander and served with a dip of chili sauce and garlic paste.
• Hainanese Chicken Rice (Chinese: 海南雞飯) – This dish comes from Hainan. It has rice cooked in chicken stock, served with either roasted or steamed chicken. It often comes with cucumber, bean sprouts, and spring onions.
• Hokkien Mee or Hae Mee (Chinese: 福建麵 in Penang, 虾面 in Kuala Lumpur) – A spicy and flavorful noodle soup. It has rice and egg noodles, hard-boiled eggs, small prawns, meat slices, bean sprouts, and water spinach. All of this is in a spicy prawn and pig bone broth.
• Lor Mee (Chinese: 鹵麵) – Rice and egg noodles served in a thick broth. The broth is made with corn starch and beaten eggs. It comes with eggs (sometimes duck eggs), meat slices, and bean sprouts.
• Wan Than Mee (Chinese: 雲吞麵) – Also known as Tok-tok Mee because vendors used to make knocking sounds to get attention. It's a dish of egg noodles and wontons (dumplings) with sliced barbecued pork and vegetables.

Peranakan Main Dishes

• Penang Laksa (Malay: Laksa Pulau Pinang) – A very popular and unique dish! It has thick, round rice noodles in a spicy and sour fish soup. The soup gets its sour taste from tamarind fruit. It's topped with fresh mint, cucumber, onions, shredded lettuce, and pineapple.

Malay Main Dishes

• Nasi Lemuni – A special rice dish. The rice is mixed with daun lemuni (a type of leaf), garlic, ginger, fenugreek, lemongrass, onion, and salt.

Sweet Desserts

After all that savory food, you'll want something sweet! Penang has some delightful desserts.

Cendol

• Cendol – A refreshing dessert with green noodles made from rice flour. These noodles are served in coconut milk with brown sugar syrup and shaved ice. It's perfect for a hot day!
• Tau Foo Fah or Tau Hua (Chinese: 豆腐花) – A Chinese pudding made from very soft tofu. It's served in a sweet sugar syrup.
• Ice Kacang (Malay: Ais Kacang) – This dessert is a mountain of shaved ice! Underneath, you'll find sweet red beans, jelly, barley pearls, sweet corn, and fruits. It's drizzled with rose syrup, brown sugar syrup, and sweetened condensed milk.
• Pulot Tartal – A Nyonya dessert made from sticky glutinous rice.
• Rojak – This is a unique fruit and vegetable dish. It's mixed in a special sauce made from shrimp paste and chili.