A FEW MORE MEALS

A lunch of Tandoori Chicken from a restaurant that never closes.  That's right it's there waiting to serve you 24 hours a day.

The Tandoori was made tastier by a glass of cold watermelon juice to wash it down on a hot day.

Dinner was Claypot Chicken.  You have to try this at least once just to watch it being made.  Chef John Elson is putting the final touches on mine.  He can prepare 10 of these simultaneously on that stove!

A close up of my claypot chicken.

For lunch the next day, what's better than some roast duck?  What about roast duck, roast pork bellies and chicken?

And, don't forget about dessert.  That are US types of desserts like the banana split above which I enjoyed the other evening from a hawker's cart.  And, then there are more unusual Penangian desserts.

This afternoon I asked the hotel concierge to help me find the two most elusive dishes on my top 20 list.  He sent me to a small restaurant which featured both.  One is Fruit Rojak and the other is Ice Kacang.  These two items became my dinner.

Fruit Rojak is a fruit and vegetable salad of sorts.  Pineapple, cucumber, papaya, small fried ‘puffs’ of tofu, apple are common ingredients, although other things may find their way in.  It is actually difficult to tell all the things in it because everything is covered with a heavy sludge-like mixture.  The mix is made out of a little water, palm sugar, tamarind, ground sautéed  peanuts, shrimp paste and birds eye chili and red pepper to give it a kick.

Ice Kacang starts off as a large strawberry snow cone (in a dish).  Then it gets a little complicated.  The one I ate had traditional toppings which included creamed corn, crushed peanuts, kidney beans and ribbons of a black bean-like substance.  Oh yes, let's not forget green maraschino cherries.  

I am glad I included them in my top 20.  Let's just say that I'd eat the other 18 again.