Fish porridge & "Hee Kiao"

This is one of my family favorite. When we were little, dad use to bring us for the fish porridge. The owner use to operate his stall by the road side opposite Rainessance Hotel (a.k.a Ramada Hotel). The space was small and cramp, however people from far and near will come to him for nice fish porridge. Back then, to secure a table, you will have to go really early, if not you must have the patience to wait in the queue.

Probably about 8 years ago, they decided to moved their business to the hawker center next to Grand Continental Hotel. Now there are ample seats for everyone. They also have a branch at Jalan Gajah Berang, opposite Select Star Hotel.

So what is so nice about this fish porridge?
I am sure all of us are quite familiar with the thick and ‘meshy’ porridge. This one is just the total opposite. The grains are not all mesh up, it is just slightly softer than rice, and the soup of the porridge is also of the clear type. It is served with slices of fresh fish meat and some chinese parsley. Add a little bit of pepper to the porridge and it is a perfect finishing for fragrance and taste! A bowl of standard fish porridge cost RM3.50. However it will cost you RM8 if you go for the high end fish like white ikan bawal.

Apart form the fish porridge they also sell the fish paste noodle. The fishball and fish paste are fresh so it is REALLY nice! For the noodle, it also comes with pork lard! (all you pork lard lovers do take note on this! Hahaha!). They have noodle, bee-hoon, glass noodle (tong fan) and kuey teow. I must tell you that the kuey teow is not like the normal hor-fan that you get in K.L. These are the thicker ones and they are a bit more oily. So, if you want less oil, then go for other noodles. A bowl of standard fish paste noodle cost only RM3.50. Very affordable :)

Our family still frequents the stall every now and then. During our growing up days, there were times that we were quite embarrass with the numbers of bowl that stacked on our table. You see, by default there will be 8 bowls for sure since there are 8 of us in the family, and dad will always order another 2 bowls of extra. Sometimes there will be more if the boys decided to have more. Now, we don’t really care if people were to stare at us for having so many bowls stacked on our table! No one can resist good food, right? Ha!

Jehan Chan Art Gallery

After almost a month long, I am back in this beloved old town once again. I was walking along Jalan Hang Jebat on Saturday morning hoping to find some interesting subject matter for photo shooting and unexpectedly I saw this (picture below). Hence, I decided to check out this place.

To my surprise the signboard on the wall says “Jehan Chan Art Gallery”, and next to it is his famous painting! This must be the new location for his gallery.

Anyway I am glad that his gallery is still around. During my last trip back, was trying to locate his gallery at Jalan Tan Cheng Lock, but no where to found, now it is here, at new location!

If you have read the previous post, “Jonker Street”, you would have come across a rather personal intro about Jehan Chan. Here, I’ve extracted from the internet a more serious description about him and his work

Jehan Chan Yee Hing (his full name) has been painting and exhibiting for more than 30 years. He resides Malacca and devotes all his time to painting, Jehan experimented with water color collage on crinkled rice paper in the late 80's. It was in the late '80 that he perfected the technique that enabled him to put together the Seascape Series which found an appreciative audience in Malaysia.In 1992, Jehan started painting thc carps that he reared in his family home. He has captured their charm and grace with engaging artistry. And the visual poetry of a serene lotus pond has proved to be immensely popular. In this series, the carps are regarded as a symbol of prosperity there are about nine of them in total.
(source: http://www.mir.com.my/rb/designart/chineseart/jehan/htmls/bio.htm)

Here’s the address (picture below). Still can’t get the location bearing? Very easy, just look for the big orangie Orang Utan that is painted on the sidewall of a shop along Jalan Hang Jebat. The gallery is just a few doors away.

chinese herbs mutton soup

Yummmy! Yummmy!
This is the famous chinese herbs mutton soup at Jalan Bunga Raya. It is a good meal to go for if you are REALLY hungry in the early morning. The taste of the soup is just nice, not oily and the hearbs is not too overwhelming.

Normally rice is served together with the soup. So, that's why i said unless you are really hungry, else it will be a breakfast too heavy to have. Inside the soup you can find chunk of mutton, some parts are meaty bit, some are with the tenden. You can also find "tao kee" (bean curd), "tao fu pok" (fried bean curd ball) and chinese black fungus. They are quite generaous with it.

You can eat it just as it is or go with the chili sauce. The chili sauce is home-made. It is a mixture of blended chili with fermanted bean curd and lime juice. Yummy!!!

The man and the woman you see in the picture below is the owner. They have been there for more than 20 years. The stall used to mend by his father, and later on was passed on to him. Their business hour is from morning 'till about 2pm. Apart from selling the soup, they also sell chicken rice. I've never tasted their chicken rice, maybe you can try it and let me know whether or not it is nice!

To find them: [from Jonket Street] As you come down from the bridge, take the left turning (right turn lead you to the clock tower), once you take left turn, you will see chinese shop lots on both side of you, continue going straight until you see a junction on your left. (on you right you will see a hotel, slightly further front, you will Madam King Shopping center) Trun left, and you will see shops that sell fake flowers and bags on your left, continue to go straight (slowly) until you see some fruit stall on your left, further down you will see an old chinese coffee shop on your left. They are right there at the coffee shop :)

Jonker Street

Aiks! can't believe that Wikipedia doesn't have a record on Jonker Street. Anyway, I'll have to rely on my memory to tell you the story that i know about Jonker Street :)

Jonker Street, also known as Jalan Hang Jebat is a MUST-visit destination whenever you come to Malacca. In Mandarin it is called "He Lan Jie". "He Lan" basically means Holland and "Jie" means street.

Back then, most of the community who lived here were the Chinese and the Peranakan or best known as Baba & Nyonya. Long ago this is the place where the rich and famous live in. Now, most of them (their decandence) have moved to better houses made of bricks and whatever that is left behind (some of them) are well preserve 'old house' or 'ancestral house'.

So what can you do here? A quick tour around the place, you'll find a lot of antic shops. If you want to learn more about the history and culture of Malacca, antic shops are the best place to stop by. There are also a lot of souvenier shops where you can find interesting handicrafts, clothing etc.

There are several art galleries and one of them belongs to the famous water colour painter Mr. Jehan Chan. I won't go into detail here, will do it in another post in the near future :) But i must say, i am proud to learn under him for a few years... hehehe... He use to rent a place with my grandmother to conduct art classes at Jalan Tengkera...

Places of worship - Here you can find the OLDEST chinese temple, mosque and indian temple. Unique isn't it? Talk about 3 in 1... you have it here in Jonker Street. Among all, i must say that the chinese temple is worth a visit. It is one of the most well preserved historical architecture in Malaysia. On a normal day, you will find a few people from the nearby neighbourhood worshipping here, but during Chinese New Year (CNY), this place will be filled with people from near and far! If you want to experience the CNY mood, this is a good place to be (if you don't mind the crowd and sweat)

Cafes! This place is 'infested' with cafes and bistros! Most of them are open during the night. So if you want a place to chit-chat and chill out, do check out some of the cafes here. ALL of them are tastefully decorated and you will sure enjoy it!

Since i have started with cafes, let me just continue with what you can find here during the night. On weekdays you probably won't find anything happening apart from some old coffee shops that sell simple stuff like coffee, cendol and ABC (Air Batu Campur) a.k.a Ais Kacang. However, during the weekend (Fri-Sun) this place comes ALIVE! Every Friday to Sunday night there will be the Jonker Walk. It is actually a flee market. Here you'll find the mordern and the old (or ancient if you want to put it that way...hahaha). During festive season like Chinese New Year, Mooncake Festival, or any function that the MCA decided to have, there will be performances and interesting programmes.

Food! The most famous one here at Jonker Street is the chicken rice ball and Nyanya Food! It is a must try! Again, i won't go into detail here..else it will be a post too long to digest :) I'll put up a post specifically on MUST-try food at this place later. Do come back again from time to time :)

Okai, the picture above, is just a simple snap shot of Jonker Street.

Red Handicrafts

Red Handicrafts is located at Jonker Street and is own by a young man who loves the chinese culture espcially the chinese paper cutting craft. His produce delicate design of animals, people, flowers, motives, wordings etc. Long ago, the chinese like to put up these paper cutting on the door, especially those that feature the goddess. One of the popular cutting that is still in use today is the Chinese word "Xi" (happiness). You can see it easily in any chinese wedding. It is a symbol of happiness and good future.

Apart from selling paper cut out, he also have hand made greeting cards, bookmarks and hand painted T-shirts. Personally i really admire his passion. As a young person, he probably should be doing what everyone else is doing, earning a living and climbing the corporate ladder, but yet he decided to pursue his passion in the paper art. I always wonder how much he actually make each month.

For all you art lovers, you will definately fall in love with this place :)

Putu-piring

Putu-piring is one of local specialties from the Malay community. The outer part of the 'kuih' is made of rice flour and the filling is made of palm sugar or famously known as Gula Melaka. It taste the best when it is still hot and fresh.

The best putu-piring in town is located at Jalan Tengkera. It is a home base business own by a Chinese family. You can find them faithfully selling the putu-piring almost every night except Sunday. It cost 70 cents per piece. They are very generous with the palm sugar and that makes the kuih very tasty!

Putu piring is a perfect dessert after a light dinner in the evening :)