PERAK TRIP 2018 - IPOH 'TA FONG SOH' DINNER

Recently, joined my Taichi group for a Day Trip to Ipoh.  I didn't know that this meal [Ta Fong Soh] was included.  A variety of food were served and plated in a grand style for a sumptuous meal. This is the second time I had this at the same restaurant.

The first time I tried this meal was also on a Day Trip to Ipoh with friends. The food was no longer hot  or warm [except the Fish Beehoon Soup] due to the diners busy snapping at it before enjoying it. 

The second time the food tastes much better as the diners just took photos of the food instead of posting with the food platter for photo shooting.

 This food platter consists of roasted chicken,  fried fish, baby abalone, prawns, scallops, seafood rolls, lobster salad, seafood meatballs etc.  It is for a table of ten and everyone will get an equal share of all the variety of food served. 

 Most diners say that the portion served is really very filling to one's tummy.

Of all the varieties, I love the fried fish fillets most [quite similar in taste to the Butter Prawns] serve with some stir fried fresh Shimeji mushrooms, ginger and spring onions.  Very tasty, I like.

 If you ate the others before this seafood meatball in the oval bowl, you probably will not be able to finish this because your tummy would be full by then.

 The baby abalone is served on a spoon with a piece of fish maw at the bottom.  The scallop is served over a piece of winter melon [I think] on the sauce plate below the abalone.
The prawn is placed over fish paste served on a spoon too. The fried rice vermicelli lining the plate is not good to eat as they are no longer crispy. 

 The lobster meat salad consists of some lobster meat some fruits [apples/honey dew melon etc] cut into cubes  with mayonnaise. 

The fried fish head and bone is removed from the platter immediately to prepare a Fish Beehoon soup towards the end of the meal.  The noodle soup is quite tasty.

 The roasted chicken is removed too to be served later in two ways. One - roasted chicken skin with a thin layer of meat served with canned pineapple slices and two - the remaining chicken meat is used for stir frying with celery cubes and grounded peanuts served with salad leaves.

These rolls with a strip of seaweed and sweet peanut sauce is something like fish fillet wrap with beancurd skin and deep fried.  This is quite tough and chewy. 

  Lastly, there is this fruit platter.  Overall, great try and experience.  

KEW ONG YEAH FESTIVAL-FLOAT PROCESSION 2017

Organising Committee Members

Again, once a year is time for vegetarian meals in conjunction with Nine Emperor Gods Festival, a Taoist celebration of the Gods birthday. 

In my home vicinity there is a makeshift temple set up to celebrate the festival in a rather grand scale with numerous temporary vegetarian food stalls along both sides of the road leading to the temple.

The area is full of activities throughout the nine days starting from 20 October 2017. Many can get to enjoy vegetarian food not necessarily for religious reasons.  Anyway, my family members have been observing vegetarian meals during the duration of the festival for almost 4 generations.  The main reason is because my family members are involved with the yearly send-off of the Nine Emperor God’s ‘Boat’ to the sea on the 9^th day night from our clan jetty [Ong Jetty, Penang].   Those involved have to be on vegetarian diet as a respect.

The Wooden Boat For Send-Off

If you like to try vegetarian food, do check it out HERE.  These are the numerous vegetarian dishes which I have prepared over the years.

Anyway, we always enjoy vegetarian meals during this time with very good appetite no matter how simple the dishes are.  The food tastes so tempting and satisfying, especially the curries and stir fry dishes with a combination of ingredients and simple seasonings.
This year, there was a special float procession organised by the temple today [2nd day of the ninth lunar calender]. There were numerous floats, deities in trance, lion dance, fireworks etc.  It is a lively event tonight with many spectators lining the road.

 

There will be another procession in conjunction with the celebration on the 9th day night where the boat will be sent off to sea after the procession

Apart from the above, Teochew puppet show performances are available on the last 3 days of the festival during daytime and night time.