"Ten years!" Eng replied, when I asked her how long she'd been serving curry mee from her stall on George Town's Cintra Street. I had to ask again to be sure I'd heard her right. Dave and I have been eating the relatively decent koay teow th'ng at the stall just across the street for a good while now but I couldn't recall ever having noticed Eng or her bubbling cauldron of currry.
Apparently timing is everything. Eng is off Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I can only assume that for the last couple of years our occasional wanderings in what is pretty much the center of George Town have been confined to the first three days of the week.
Penang-native Eng's curry mee is worth working your schedule around, traversing as it does that fine line between unctuously coconut-y and weigh-you-down rich. We asked for extra heat and she delivered, in the form of a large blob of sambal dissolved in the broth and an extra-large portion in our spoon. Eng's is chicken curry mee -- expect a fair bit of gizzard and a chicken wing (more protein on request).
There's attention to detail in the way Eng warms the bowl before dishing up your noodles. She places noodles (ask for a mixture of beehoon and yellow mee) into a wire basket and softens them with several dips into boiling water, lifting them over the bowl and letting the hot liquid run into and then out of it. Care is also evident in the sprigs of fresh mint leaves (a wonderfully sprightly counterpoint to the mellow, sweetish curry) and chopped torch ginger flower that garnish each serving.
The voluble Eng doesn't speak much English but she's generous with her smiles. You'll know her cart by the gaggle of regulars camped out at her four tables.
Eng's Curry Mee stall, Cintra between Campbell and Chulia, George Town Penang. 8am-4pm, Wed-Sat only.
OMG, how I miss Penang and curry mee! I like mine thick, spicy hot with lots of morsels in it.
Posted by: Marts Aziz | 2010.10.14 at 15:11
another hidden gem.
Posted by: foodbin | 2010.10.14 at 15:25
Oh my, that bowl of curry mee looked INCREDIBLE! Don't think I'd ever had chicken curry noodles in Penang before!
Posted by: Pete | 2010.10.14 at 16:21
This post made me smile. A lot. Mint leaves and ginger flowers! Very classy.
But where are the cockles?!
Wen
Posted by: Going With My Gut | 2010.10.14 at 17:49
That looks like scrummy food. I am at the stage now when I long for something different that will kick my tastebuds off again.
Posted by: Natalie - Turkish Travel Blog | 2010.10.14 at 17:56
The torch ginger flower sounds like an intriguing ingredient. Is it pictured on the spoon in the second photo?
Posted by: Sticky | 2010.10.14 at 18:22
Marts - mee too! Emphasis on the spicy.
This was a first for me too, Pete.
Wen - the mint and ginger flower make it Penang-style. Cockles replaced by gizzard bits is her own thing, I think (plus the chicken wing).
Natalie - perhaps a bit hard to find in Turkey...
Sticky - yes, on top of sambal. It's a very Penang ingredient, intriguingly spicy-and-astringent. Key also to a good bowl of asam (sour) laksa, which is a Penang dish, and kerabu beehoon, a sort of cool noodle dish of rice vermicelli with belacan/shrimp paste and chili!
Posted by: Robyn | 2010.10.14 at 18:35
Salivating......
I don't seem to recall the addition of mint in the curry mee we had back then. It's been way to long; time to visit! Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Jenny | 2010.10.15 at 11:03
Jenny -- this was our 2nd or 3rd time for mint leaves on curry mee in Penang, but the first for ginger flower. They're both wonderful touches!
Posted by: Robyn | 2010.10.15 at 11:10
Sounds delicious! We're definitely finding timing the key to eating out in Penang. A few minutes to late or early and not only do miss out on stalls but if you ask for roti after 11am or chicken rice porridge for dinner you get looked at as if you've asked for the most ridiculous thing on earth. And I've lost count of the number of times we've promised the kids their favourite breakfast only to turn up and realise the place was closed on that particular day.
Posted by: Tracy Burns | 2010.10.15 at 12:01
Alas, we have only ever had the pleasure of Malaysian cuisine in restaurants in Britain. This looks soooo good - flavours we have got next to zero chance of getting our hands on now that we're here in Turkey. We'll have to get creative to see what we can come up with. :)
Posted by: turkey's for life | 2010.10.15 at 13:12
Can see that the curry mee from this stall looks so much like a Nyonya style of creamy, decadent curry mee with rich broth. And no coagulated pig;s blood?
I am not a fan of Penang's curry mee for I felt the clearer broth seems watered-down version of the richer counterpart.
But this one looks delish.
Posted by: J2Kfm (Malaysian Food Blog) | 2010.10.16 at 12:55
The curry mee of Penang is the best in the world. Can not be beaten
Posted by: Dave | 2010.10.16 at 16:00
this makes me really miss home!! my mother makes great curry mee, but I am dying to try the Penang version.
Posted by: baobabs | 2010.10.21 at 10:56
I have to chime in and say how amazing that curry mee looks. I'm now going to obsess about it until I can either get myself to Malaysia or find/figure out a recipe for it, whichever comes first. I have a feeling ginger flower might be a bit difficult to find in the States though.
On an unrelated note, I've been reading your blog for some time and want to thank you for inspiring me to recreate some of the things I see here at home - most recently pide from an earlier post. Although for the life of me, I still can't figure out how people cook eggs on pides/pizzas without making a giant mess.
Posted by: riceandwheat | 2010.10.25 at 16:27
Just return from Penang where I went for holiday. Had Eng's curry mee on Friday morning and my goodness it was excellent! The best I ever have! We wanted to try our luck again on Saturday morning but it was closed. So unfortunate!
We also had coffee at Toon Leong. It was good, though I must admit that I always prefer Australian style coffee (flat white or piccolo latte) to Asian style. However, I find this coffee house one of the best looking kopitam in Penang. Most coffe shops are really too run down. We enjoyed this place a lot.
Thank you very much for all the good advice!
Posted by: Jodi | 2010.10.26 at 17:01
FYi: curry mee stall had shifted to Lebuh Keng Kwee, off Jalan Penang (the same lane as the famous Penang Road cendol). We just went to her new place yesterday noon.
Posted by: Loh | 2011.09.11 at 12:16
Hey Loh -- thanks for the heads up! Wonder why she moved. Did she say?
Posted by: Robyn | 2011.09.11 at 12:23
I went Eng's new place in November (Thanks Loh for the head's up - your directions are spot on). The location is easier to find now and Eng has a huge sign displayed on the corner of the street referencing her famous curry mee on CNNGO.
Eng has the same stall with added indoor seating now. Robyn, she moved so she could stay open during rainy days.
Posted by: Shirley | 2013.02.27 at 05:44
This curry mee is interesting. Penang curry mee doesn't normally has chicken unlike that from KL. It is not associated with the Nonyas but the torch ginger links it closer to other laksas. In Singapore they add kesom to their Singapore Laksa.
In my book, Penang Heritage Food", I considered curry me as a laksa.
Posted by: Teong ONG | 2014.08.02 at 08:43
Hello Teong Ong -- I am not sure I've actually ever had a "Penang" curry mee. Is it similar to KL-style with eggplant and snake beans? Is there one on Penang that you recommend?
To tell the truth I've never understood the laksa/curry mee distinction. What makes a curry laksa a laksa and not a curry mee?
Thanks for your comment!
Posted by: Robyn | 2014.08.02 at 09:23