Penang Food Directory

Selera Pulau Pinang

The Penang Food Directory lists all the famous foods of Penang, and where to find them. If you love Penang food, you've come to the right place. This is the page on the web where Penang food is celebrated. The passion that the people of Penang have for eating has given Penang food an aura of its own. Penang Food is famous not only in Malaysia, but all over the world, from Sydney to London to New York City!

Most of Penang street food have their origin as food for blue collar workers in the 19th and early 20th century. The coolies working in the harbor, the ricksaw peddlars, and others engaged in heavy labor required food that give them energy at a low cost. As is the usual case, necessity was the mother of invention, and through such a need came Penang street food such as the Char Koay Teow, Curry Mee and Hokkien Mee, three dishes that originated in Penang. Indeed, there is no equivalent to the curry mee and Hokkien mee elsewhere in Malaysia, which has their own variation of street food, often holding the same name as in Penang, but looking very different from the Penang version.

The Penang Food Directory attempts to put a face to all the street food that is available in Penang. Having listed the foods, we then advise where to find them. Read also the other page on Penang Food in this website.

How to use the Penang Food Directory

If you are living in Penang, or you've just arrived in Penang, and you're looking for a specific Penang food item, the first thing you do is to scroll down to that item. For example, scroll to Char Koay Teow. Click to enter. On the Char Koay Teow page, you are given a broad list of coffee shops where it is sold. Every food item is illustrated with a location map which you can zoom in-and-out and scroll about, so you never have to think hard to find the location. Select one which is most convenient for you, according to where you are staying, or when it is sold. Alternatively, look at the number of votes each stall receive, and visit the one with high scores. Easy, isn't it? Good luck on your gourmet journey!

Penang Nyonya Dishes

I have created a new page to list Penang Nyonya dishes. Many of these dishes are what I enjoy at home, as my wife loves to cook. I have also created a page on the Ingredients of a Nyonya Kitchen.


	Apom Indian paper-flake pancake. Also known simply as Apong in Hokkien.

	Apong Balik Nyonya foldover pancake. Best in Penang: Apong Guan

	Ban Chien Koay Chinese peanut pancake

	Bee Koh Moy Black glutinous rice porridge taken as afternoon dessert.

	Beef Ball Noodles Noodles served with beef balls and minced beef. Best in Penang: Ho Ping Beel Ball Noodles, Kampong Malabar

	Cendol Dessert of green starch-noodle in coconut milk and palm sugar. Best in Penang: Penang Road Teochew Cendol

	Char Koay Teow Stir Fried Rice Noodles. Best in Penang: Gurney Drive Hawker Centre

	Chee Cheong Fun Steamed flat rice noodle rolls in hae ko (shrimp paste sauce) and huan cheo chiau (chili sauce). Penang version differs from Chee Cheong Fun available elsewhere in the country. Best in Penang: Genting Coffee Shop & Seow Fong Lye Coffee Shop (tie)

	Chicken Rice Meal of Hainanese origin of rice cooked in chicken stock, and served with roasted or steamed chicken, or both, on a bed of cucumbers, some times accompanied by beansprouts, spring onions or parsley.

	Curry Mee Spicy soup of egg noodles and rice noodles with prawns, cockles, beansprouts, pig's blood cubes, soybean puffs, cuttlefish and mint leaves.

	Durian Strong smelling seasonal fruit with an acquired taste enjoyed by many people in Penang and elsewhere.

	Economy Bihun Fried rice noodle fast food.

	Eu Char Koay Chinese bread sticks taken on their own or with porridge.

	Fried Oyster Succulent oysters fried in an egg omelette topped with parsley or coriander.

	Goreng Pisang Deep-fried banana fritters.

	Hokkien Mee Noodle in spicy prawn-based soup topped with fried onion and kangkung (water spinach).

	Hoo Bak Bihun Fish meat rice noodle soup.

	Hum Chin Peng Deep-fried yeast dough, some times called the Chinese donut.

	Jawa Mee Egg noodle in potato-based tomato gravy, topped with sliced boiled eggs, prawns, beancurd, fritters, a sprinkling of toasted grounded peanuts and chilli paste.

	Koay Kak Chunks of rice cakes fried with eggs, bean sprouts and chye por (preserved vegetable bits).

	Koay Teow Th'ng Flat rice noodle soup with slices of chicken meat, fish balls, fish cakes, minced meat. Best in Penang: Seri Nibung Cafe, at junction to Taman Seri Nibung.

	Laksa Fish-based spicy rice noodle soup. Penang version, known elsewhere as Penang laksa, differs greatly from laksa available elsewhere in the country - almost every state has its own version.

	Lek Tau Thng Nyonya sweet broth made from green beans

	Loh Bak Mixed dish of deep-fried titbits that may include loh bak (meat rolls), boiled egg, taukua (beancurd), tauhoo (tofu), prawn fritters, octopus, ikan pari (ray) and sausage.

	Loh Mee Egg noodles and rice noodles in dark starchy broth, with chicken meat, julienne shittake mushroom, chicken feet, and garnished with minced garlic sauce.

	Mee Goreng Indian fried noodle with fritters, beancurd, egg, prawn, squid, and a dash of lemon.

	Mee Rebus Indian cooked noodle with fritters, beancurd, egg, prawn, squid, and a dash of lemon.

	Mee Suah Tau Vermicelli soup with shreded crab meat

	Muah Chee Peanut-coated glutinous rice-balls.

	Nasi Kandar Meal of Indian Muslim origin of rice served with a variety of self-selected dishes.

	Nasi Tomato A Malay-style meal of rice cooked in tomato paste and served with a selection of dishes. Submit Your Vote

	Or Koay Steamed yam cakes topped with dried shrimp, fried shallots, springonion and slided red chilli. Submit Your Vote

	Otak-Otak Steamed fishcake drapped in banana leaves.

	Pan Mee Flour-based noodle, served either dry and in soup.

	Pasembur Fried titbits and shreded vegetable salad in sweet-and-spicy sauce.

	Popiah Teochew-style springroll with a filling comprising turnip, beancurd, egg bits and a dash of chilli paste and sweet sauce

	Putu Mayong Indian-style steamed rice vermicelli cakes

	Rojak Mixed fruit salad in prawn-paste sauce. Best in Penang: Esplanade Food Court

	Roti Canai Indian Muslim flatbread

	Roti Jala Malay-style lacy crepe

	Satay Malaysian-style kebab

	Tau Sah Pneah Green bean pastry.

	Wan Tan Mee Egg noodle dish with wonton (Chinese ravioli), barbecued pork and vegetable. Available in dry form and in soup.

	Yam Rice Rice cooked with yam.

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Penang Travel Tips is researched and written by Timothy Tye, universally known as Tim. The text is the copyright of Timothy Tye, and may not be copied for commercial use or re-published in another website without the author's permission. Information provided is in goodwill and is believed to be correct and up-to-date at time of writing. Photographs on this website are the copyright of the author and may not be reused without prior permission. For commercial licensing of photographs, read the licensing terms. Tim is a Christian. Click here to know more about his beliefs.