Romancing Taiping

To most, Taiping is this quaint little sleepy town in middle Malaysia with lovely green lungs but to me, it is a romantic birthmark of sorts.

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My parents met, courted and fell in love here under trying circumstances and if their current seasoned-couple disposition is anything to go by, Taiping mined enduring love and passion, apart from tin in its heydays.

We chanced upon Taiping Ho Chiak when in the vicinity for the SS2 branch of Super Kitchen Pan Mee last year.

I had surrendered to the fact that you can't force an appetite when dogged by a nasty sick bug clogging up the respiratory system, until this ill-timed meal to which a kind and generous cavalier had whisked me away from a pounding work-addled weekend. We arrived around 2PM so the place was fairly empty. All the better. Wouldn't have been able to stomach crowds or queues, which were evident when we checked it out last year.

Got down to the business of ordering. First things first, Sambal Petai Prawn. The serving was larger than life and upon arrival, we looked at each other "uh-oh we're in trouble!" The stinking beans were abundant, laced in pungent sambal perfume that couldn't escape even nasal blockage. Forget durians, I could sleep in this stuff!

The Kerabu Paku was graciously green and crunchy - the love-or-hate cincalok flavour was mild, and I would've suspected the nasty bug at work again had he vetoed the presence of it altogether.

The Assam Fish arrived a staggering portion, increasing the panic in us of the collision ahead with unconsciousness. The gravy was caked with spices and flavour and even though the carb police in us called for back up, we couldn't resist ordering an extra serving of rice.

The Hainanese Pork Chop arrived last and thankfully, was not too daunting in size. The battered pork cutlet added metal to the meal but we cringed at the crippling use of MSG in the gravy. Not ordering this again.

The bill came up to a square RM100 for two. And a sullen, sluggish afternoon to boot. The menu also features more sensible single portions of noodles and such, a better option if you're not planning to sleep off the rest of your weekend.

If romance is on the cards, I'd say Taiping the town would serve to invoke the tenderness of simplicity but failing that, the gallantry of the food here might work too.

Taiping Ho Chiak
28, Jalan SS2/10
Petaling Jaya
(Chow Yang, same row as Super Kitchen and Nasi Kandar Kayu)

Goh Teo Kee, Gurney Drive

Another of Papa Chow's firm favourites from yonks ago is Goh Hun Kee, now renamed Goh Teoh Kee on Gurney Drive. I am enjoying these revisits to old haunts, much more than I actually remember enjoying them when he dragged us sulky-faced brats there for meals instead of KFC or Eden. We had to exercise some restraint, seeing that there were only three of us this particular visit. First up was this braised cabbage dish with chicken and Chinese mushrooms. Simplicity at its best. I go through periods where braised cabbage smell and taste like stinky socks to me. This was fortunately not one of them.

Now this Assam Curry Fish is hardly authentic Teochew but it was still full of kicks! This was the first time I've tasted this here, I believe it's a recent introduction to the menu. Papa Chow, whom I had branded unfairly as a bigoted Teochew cuisine loyalist, shows that he has developed strong Malaysian inclinations, after arriving here from Guangdong nearly 60 years. Teochew with a twist, just like the revived Goh Teo Kee!

And of course lovely greens, kailan done very nicely here with preserved pork meat.
And to finish it all off, complimentary dessert of red bean soup.

Can't believe it took me this long to realise this is better food than KFC and Eden put together!