Desperately Seeking Ah San

One fish head beehoon place that my parents used to frequent at an alarming rate was the one prepared by this legend of a man named Ah San. He used to operate out of one of the houses behind Convent Pulau Tikus, along Medan Maktab. Unfortunately, complaints from residential neighbours brought that era to a close. To this day, the whereabouts of Ah San remain a question mark. It was rumoured he had closed the business down to retire properly, only to reopen somewhere in town, Lorong Selamat, went the latest installment of said rumour.

So this fine morning, we went searching for it, but it was a fruitless hunt. Dejected, but still fixated, we headed to No. 7 at Parma Food Court, along Jalan Burmah. Mama Chow had tipped us off, saying that while it was no Ah San, it subscribed to Ah San's methods, i.e. the use of anchovies in the broth.

Alas, this brought my great Penang food streak to a screeching halt!

The picture says it all - one look and I couldn't even be bothered to attempt a better shot of it. The soup was bare, the ingredients were far and few in between - two pieces of fried fish head and four cubes of fried bean curd (Tau kua). Also, I didn't appreciate the gooey batter of the fried fish head pieces and the beehoon texture, which was a little too tough and dry. A poor student of Ah San's.

Breakfast was not a total loss, thankfully for No. 7's redemption came in the form its Fried Tau Chiam (soy noodle) with fish fillet, served with punchy sambal. This offered great relief from the lackadaisical fish head beehoon, plenty of bite from the noodles' unusual texture and the fresh fish pieces (gooey batter absent here) were utterly complementary and delightful!

I would definitely order the Tau Chiam again but to satisfy that nostalgic craving, the search for Ah San continues. If anyone out there has any clue where he has gone, please, please let me know, I will be eternally grateful!