I may be in Hanoi snacking on pomelo and digesting a street-side dinner of delicious fried rice with beef, slivers of sweet lap cheong and crisp sour pickled vegetable, but I still yearn for cendol. The grass is always greener.
For those who are yet to experience cendol, it is all about pandan flavoured rice flour noodles, toothsome red beans and shaved ice drenched in coconut milk with lashings of deep dark palm sugar syrup. Sago optional. Simple. Mix it, the ice will melt changing the texture and flavour all the way to the end of the bowl. Refreshing perfection for the Malaysian heat and humidity.
The makings of Cendol – shaved ice and gula melaka
For me the heart of a cendol is its gula melaka (palm sugar), the best being rich, fragrant with an almost bitter sweetness. Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul is disappointingly light on the gula melaka, but this subtelty makes it refreshing and light. Generous red beans, and kidney beans I think, are softened but still have some bite, providing the whole ensemble a reassuringly solid base. The squidgy noodles are wormlike, but the fragrant coconut milk makes up for this.
The production line here is quick, your cendol appears before you’ve even found the right change, ice already melting. It should be eaten at the same pace, standing up, in any scavenged piece of shade, making way for the gathering queue. Although this isn’t my favourite ever cendol the experience of eating here is the most novel, and the one I’ve eaten at the most thanks to its proximity to my hotel. One thing to love about Penangites is their love for food. I skipped the paltry ‘included in room price’ breakfast daily, in favour of deliciousness outside the grounds. After a few days the breakfast man asked me why I didn’t eat, his eyes lit up when I mentioned the kuik kak, coffee and wan than mee I’d eaten the previous day. He directed me to the best laksa and char kway teoh in town, but his opinion almost led to all out war amongst the hotel staff. But there was one thing they agreed upon and Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul was it, the daily crowd here confirms its popularity. My hotel manager reminisced about visiting Chowrasta Market with her mother thirty years ago and eating this cendol as a post-shopping treat.
There is something to be said for such staying power.
Penang Road Famous Chendul
21, Keng Kwee Street
( off Penang Road )
10000 Penang
West Malaysia
Cendol 1.70 MYR = $0.55AU
7 Comments
bastard! I hate you… You’re making this when you come back, so start learning.
SydneyCider´s last blog ..Kugelhopf Recipe
looks so good. wish we had one of these in sydney
SimonFoodFavourites´s last blog ..Simon’s Wok: Cheap and Cheerful Asian, Randwick (2 Feb 2010)
Wow. Cendol comes with sago sometimes? I want that!
@SimonFoodFavourites: You can get a decent cendol in Sydney from Makan@Alice’s in Thornleigh. No sago in it, though.
Woo! Great pics.
We’re going to be in Penang in a few days for Chinese New Year. Hope the vendors will be open!
Nate´s last blog ..Cat’s Eye Fruit (Mata Kuching)
i really salute for diz cendol.coz im the regular customer.i alwayz ask cendol with more black sugar n without red beans
My mum reckons that place has been around since she was a schoolgirl
(50 years ago!)
SydneyCider: Hahaha! You can get it in Sydney, at Mamak and Alices, but it doesn’t compare
SimonFoodFavourites: Yeah, I wish it was right outside every job I’ve ever had – maybe I’d still be working!
James Foster: Yeah, I think they break all the rules!
Nate: Oh yeah, what a shame to go to the food capital and have everything shut! Happy New Year!
VELA: I should have asked for more sugar too! Oh well, next time.
J: Wow, something to be said for its staying power then!