Pandamaran, Port Klang
We have been back to Malaysia for almost a month and today is my mom’s birthday. My sister, Helen suggests getting mom her favorite “Chai Pau” for lunch in Pandamaran, Port Klang. “Chai Pau” (meaning vegetables dumpling in Hokkien) is a snack popular among the Chinese Teochew and Hakka. I can’t recall the exact location because I have been away for over 28 years and everything has changed. However, it looks like Pandamaran is still a treasure trove of great food and has stood against time and development. Helen drives deep into this old establishment and she says the stalls are close to the Pandamaran wet market. You won’t see any tourists unless he is lost or a local brings him here…like Shane.
Pandamaran Wet Market
The old ramshackle stalls are still there just the way I remember them. They are close to the Pandamaran wet market. Don’t be misled by their dilapidated appearance because this place is a treasure trove of authentic great food! The road is narrow and is always jam packed with cars.
Chai Pau
I haven’t eaten “Chai Pau’ in years and the thought of it just make my mouth waters. Our mom used to buy them when we were little and it became one of our childhood favorites. This Pandamaran’s version comes in a very thin skin and is translucent after steaming. The filling is the usual mung beans, bean sprouts and carrots. We always drown these savory morsels with their homemade sweet sour chili sauce.
Helen is a regular customer so the women invite Shane to learn to make them. Their nimble fingers move so fast; they don’t even have to look at what they are doing while chatting with us. It comes with a lot of practice because they produce several thousand pieces a day. A batch of chai pau are steaming on the stove when we arrive but they aren’t ready yet. Shane wants to order 100 pieces to go. It is MYR0.50 a piece making this order at MYR50.00 (about US$12.35). The price here is still cheaper than in the city. Call this number if you are interested to order from them: +60 12 656 8777 or +60 3 3381 2149
Treasure trove of great food
Helen brings us to her other favorite stalls while we wait for chai pau to be ready. I feel like I’ve entered a treasure trove of great food I don’t ever want to leave. Just like our Japanese food frenzy recently, this food wonderland has all my favorite food! We have fried radish cake (Chai Tau Kueh). I like mine crusty and Helen loves hers with more chili. Shane doesn’t quite fancy the taste so I happily finish our plate myself. I take a video of the hawker frying this dish and Shane is suppose to explain what he is doing. Check out the video below.
On the way back to Chai Pau stall, we stop to get “Yew Char Koay” which is Chinese deep fried strip dough. I call it the ‘skeleton bone’ when I was little because it looks like one to me. A woman operates this stall with her Indonesian helper. The woman’s daughter helps out when she isn’t at school. This place is definitely a treasure trove for great food and it is worth exploring for food enthusiasts.
Piranhas at home
We have piranhas at home waiting for us to bring back lunch. Helen’s two teenage boys can go through so much food at every meal, hence the name piranhas. Mom is shocked with the amount of food we buy but she happily enjoys the “Chai Pau”. They are so good and the stall has generously given us a big bottle of the sweet sour chili sauce. Everyone enjoys Chai pau to their hearts content. Afterwards, mom and I share a bowl of “Tau Foo Faa” (soy bean pudding). All the food is eaten just hours before we go out for mom’s birthday dinner at a Chinese restaurant.
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