Two weekends ago, we took a drive up north to the town of Ipoh in the state of Perak. It was a scenic 3 hours drive passing oil palm plantations and fruit orchards.
As we neared our destination, we pass the famous limestone hills of Perak.
"Perak" in Malay means "tin". In the early days, immigrants from China mined tin from the rivers of Perak and prospered from the tin trade. The Malaysian pewterware is made from locally mined tin from Perak and Selangor. Tin is not so much in demand now. However, the region has continued to flourish with other types of industries and activities.
Some of the old colonial style buildings and structures can still be seen around the city. On arrival, we headed off for a late breakfast in one of Ipoh's "coffee shops" well-known for its noodles (kway teow) soup, coffee and spring rolls (popiah).
Did you know that "Old Town White Coffee" originates from Ipoh? It tastes so good that tourists even buy packets of it back to their home country. Of course it tastes much better if it is made by the "old master" in the coffee shop kitchen and served in the traditional way.
We preferred our coffee with lots of ice....especially after a long, hot drive. Mmm not too sweet or bitter and very refreshing.
Did I mention the main purpose of our trip? Of course it's to eat the delightful variety of food that Ipoh offers. We moved to another part of the city to sample the most famous dim sum in Ipoh at the Foh San Restaurant. This restaurant is only open till 2.00pm everyday and it's crowded with locals, occasional visitors like us, and lots of tour groups.
You need to find your own table, and most likely you end up sharing a table with other strangers. You even need to serve yourself.
Being rather full after our breakfast, we ordered just a few dishes to try out. The portions are much bigger and prices are lower than in Kuala Lumpur.
Ipoh is also famous for chicken rice. I don't know why the chickens here are more tasty than in other states but I do know that the bean sprouts served with the chicken looks different and tastes much sweeter than anywhere else. Apparently it is because they are germinated using water from the limestone hills.
Lots of restaurants are selling the same but we visited this one as it is recommended by the food critics. Must be among the best.
Here's the dish of chicken that I ordered. Not much of a presentation but the meat is indeed firm and sweet.
And this is the dish of bean sprouts....just blanched with some sauce. Yummy! Notice that the sprouts are unusually short and fat.
On our way home, we stopped to buy salt baked chicken take-away. Again, lots of other shops in this area were also selling this specialty but apparently this one is the best.
First you need to unwrap the many layers of paper around the chicken. The chicken does not look very impressive but the meat is very tender and the salt gave it a special flavour.
I gave some of my ACAP friends packets of biscuits from Yee Hup. As you can see, this biscuit is a specialty from Gunung Rapat in Perak. To some, the biscuit is even better than those from Ghee Hiang in Penang, but I guess it depends on individual preference.
Lastly, I could not resist taking this photo of a crowd lining up in front of a small shop to buy its soya bean drink. What's so special about "Funny Mountain" soya drink? I shall find out on another trip when I am not feeling so stuffed with chicken rice.
As we neared our destination, we pass the famous limestone hills of Perak.
"Perak" in Malay means "tin". In the early days, immigrants from China mined tin from the rivers of Perak and prospered from the tin trade. The Malaysian pewterware is made from locally mined tin from Perak and Selangor. Tin is not so much in demand now. However, the region has continued to flourish with other types of industries and activities.
Some of the old colonial style buildings and structures can still be seen around the city. On arrival, we headed off for a late breakfast in one of Ipoh's "coffee shops" well-known for its noodles (kway teow) soup, coffee and spring rolls (popiah).
Did you know that "Old Town White Coffee" originates from Ipoh? It tastes so good that tourists even buy packets of it back to their home country. Of course it tastes much better if it is made by the "old master" in the coffee shop kitchen and served in the traditional way.
We preferred our coffee with lots of ice....especially after a long, hot drive. Mmm not too sweet or bitter and very refreshing.
Did I mention the main purpose of our trip? Of course it's to eat the delightful variety of food that Ipoh offers. We moved to another part of the city to sample the most famous dim sum in Ipoh at the Foh San Restaurant. This restaurant is only open till 2.00pm everyday and it's crowded with locals, occasional visitors like us, and lots of tour groups.
You need to find your own table, and most likely you end up sharing a table with other strangers. You even need to serve yourself.
Being rather full after our breakfast, we ordered just a few dishes to try out. The portions are much bigger and prices are lower than in Kuala Lumpur.
Ipoh is also famous for chicken rice. I don't know why the chickens here are more tasty than in other states but I do know that the bean sprouts served with the chicken looks different and tastes much sweeter than anywhere else. Apparently it is because they are germinated using water from the limestone hills.
Lots of restaurants are selling the same but we visited this one as it is recommended by the food critics. Must be among the best.
Here's the dish of chicken that I ordered. Not much of a presentation but the meat is indeed firm and sweet.
And this is the dish of bean sprouts....just blanched with some sauce. Yummy! Notice that the sprouts are unusually short and fat.
On our way home, we stopped to buy salt baked chicken take-away. Again, lots of other shops in this area were also selling this specialty but apparently this one is the best.
First you need to unwrap the many layers of paper around the chicken. The chicken does not look very impressive but the meat is very tender and the salt gave it a special flavour.
I gave some of my ACAP friends packets of biscuits from Yee Hup. As you can see, this biscuit is a specialty from Gunung Rapat in Perak. To some, the biscuit is even better than those from Ghee Hiang in Penang, but I guess it depends on individual preference. 
Lastly, I could not resist taking this photo of a crowd lining up in front of a small shop to buy its soya bean drink. What's so special about "Funny Mountain" soya drink? I shall find out on another trip when I am not feeling so stuffed with chicken rice.
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