Penang Hawker food at Super Tanker Food Court @Bayan Lepas Penang

I prefer going to food courts than roadside hawker food whenever I visit Penang. Reason? Easier to find a car park space, as looking for a parking lot to park my car normally gives me a lot of stress. The driving round, looking left and right, driving round and round again to get a parking space along the roadside. Sometimes you see one empty lot, it's happiness and start to manoeuvre or reverse your car into it. Then, somebody suddenly appear and shouted at you to saying,  "this is my space, I have waited for it!"

Super Tanker food court in Lip Sin Garden, Sungai Dua Bayan Lepas has two car parking area. I went to the parking area where I have to drive after food court and continue going after seeing the Sekolah Menengah (JK) Phor Tay school. This parking lot is after the school and it is less busy.

Penang Char Koay Teow

At Super Tanker, this is the original Penang Char Koay Teow. As a Penangite, I am very particular on not only how the taste is like but also the overall color. I have found out through my years of staying from the North of Peninsula Malaya to the south that the color of this dish of Char Koay Teow varies. It becomes darker as it goes further down south. Authentic Penang Char Koay Teow is lighter in color. I was once invited to review Penang Char Koay Teow by a shop in Damansara, where on first look I would say that it is not the authentic Penang Char Koay Teow as it has too much dark soya sauce making it too dark in color.

Penang Curry Mee

I was surprised when I first shifted to Kuala Lumpur, why Curry Mee was called Curry Laksa. For me Laksa is a Laksa (with spicy sour broth), thus how come curry mee can become laksa? 

How to distinguish authentic Penang curry mee? Again, first it is the basic broth which is white in color. It's only after we have mixed the sambal into it that it turns red. The main must have ingredients for Penang curry mee  are taupok, cockles, coagulated pig blood, char siew and fish balls. Then after you stir everything together, you will get the best curry mee. But, of course, for those who do not fancy too spicy broth, you just donot add all the chill paste that is on the spoon into your broth. Try adding half first and test it. So this is the DIY way of getting the correct spiciness. Cool, isn't it?

Penang Chee Cheong Fun

In Malaysia, a dish with the same name has many different variants when it is sold in different states and zones. So, for Chee Cheong Fun, I would safely say most Penangites like their own version. It is just a simple plate of normally two slices of rolled steamed rice rolls and sauce. That's all. Plain, simple yet delicious. In fact it's a safe dish to eat even when you are sick. Normally, 3 types of sauce are added, that is the the chilli sauce, sweet sauce and shrimp paste sauce.

Then there's a dash of fried fragrant sesame seed on top and some crispy fried sliced shallots . this picture does not have fried sliced shallots which is good to me as nowadays most hawkers buy the commercialized fried slice shallots that is too oily and I am also suspicious of its cleanliness too. Just recently, someone found a dead cockroach among the fried shallots while eating a restaurant!

Apom or Appam

Apom/Appam or Indian Style pancake is another popular local snack and has become Malaysian cuisine. It is made from a mixture of eggs, coconut milk, rice flour and sugar. When I was young, I used to cycle into the back lane of my village to buy from an Indian lady hawker at a small stall by the roadside. She sells the traditional Indian Appam that is prepared using an old-style cooking method with Indian clay pots or belanga, and the fiery heat from charcoal fire. Apom, as it is affectionately called by local Penang Hokkiens has a crispy edges and a soft fluffy round centre. Prices seems to soar, from RM0.60 to RM1.00  few years back to about RM1.50 today. But in Kuala Lumpur it was even sold for RM2.50 - RM3.00 per piece. That's why this is my usual must have whenever I go back to Penang.

Apam Balik / Ban Jian Kuih or 'Turnover Pancake'

Here at Super Tanker food court, this apam balik or Aki pancake is very well known. There are always long queues with people constantly asking "when is mine ready?". You have to queue to place order with the lady boss, then stand around the stall and wait and wait and wait. 

Apam Balik gets its name from the way it is folded over after is is cooked from the brass pan. It is also usually called 'Ban Jian Kuih' by the local Penang Hokkiens. 

Ban Jian Kuih with pork floss filling

Ban Jian Kuih with banana filling

Ban Jian Kuih is made from a mixture of eggs, sugar, flour, water, soda bicarbonate and baking soda. There are two versions of it now, the traditional type where it is thicker and the modern version of crispy edges standing up and a thin soft center which is normally filled with some butter, corn and chopped peanuts. But here at Aki Pancake, he sells the new version but which many types of different fillings such as banana, raisins, chocolates, coconut, corn, peanuts, pork floss and combinations of cheese, ham, sausage, and many others. There are about more than 50 different types of fillings!

List of fillings and the prices for Aki pancake at Super Tanker, Penang

Super Tanker is a food court next to a market in Lip Sin Garden. Thus it is normally full to the brink in the mornings especially on Sunday mornings. Opening hours 8 am - 12noon and 6pm - 11.30 pm

Address: 

Super Tanker Food Court

Lengkok Nipah 2, Off Jalan Sungai Dua

Bayan Lepas,

Pulau Pinang

Malaysia