Malaysia: Bah kut teh, chicken rice and more food from Kuala Lumpur

I just can't stop raving about my food adventures in Malaysia. Every time I visit Kuala Lumpur, I look forward to trying out something new, or craving for something good I had eaten before.

Bak kut teh is a Hokkien-style herbal pork broth which translates as pork bone tea, a very popular dish in Malaysia. It's a complex mixture of several herbs and spices boiled with pork ribs for hours! The dish which is served in a clay pot also has other ingredients such as mushrooms, tofu and lettuce.

It comes from Klang and that's where they serve the best! Here's a previous post on Klang's legendary bak kut teh. Anyway, since we were craving for bah kuh teh in KL, we went to Sun Fong Bak Kut Teh at Medan Imbi to satisfy our taste buds. We also ordered (1) stewed pork, (2) steamed fish, (3) lettuce with garlic or yau choi, and (4) egg pancake with shrimp to go with the dish. It was a feast!

For lunch the next day, shopping at Sungei Wang, we had Nam Heong's Hailam chicken rice which comes from Ipoh. It was really good especially with the ginger. I'm not a chili fan but this goes well with chili too.

We also ordered (1) pork sandwich with yam, (2) pork leg vinegar which was really good, (3) steamed bean curd with oyster sauce, and (4) tauge with garlic. They say Ipoh food is good because of the high calcium content in its water. Anyway, for more on Ipoh food, check out: Old town kopi tiam of Ipoh.

Issue 3 of Northbound Magazine is out!

In this issue, we talk about adventure! Issue 3 of Northbound Magazine, a free quarterly travel guide to North Philippines (Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, the Cordilleras and Central Luzon), will be available in hotels, restaurants and information centers around the region beginning this week. This magazine is a publication of the North Philippines Visitors Bureau. You can download the online version from www.northphilippines.org.

Eid’l Fitr holiday on September 21

Eid’l Fitr is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. We have another long weekend coming up with the Eid’l Fitr holiday pegged on September 21. For a complete list of holidays this year, read Philippine holidays and long-weekend schedule for 2009.

Update: September 7 was also declared a non-working holiday and a national day of mourning for the burial of Iglesia ni Cristo leader Erano Manalo. So this weekend is another long weekend.