Sunday, April 25, 2004

Taiping Chee Cheong Fun


the taste that time forgot


Breakfast on Saturday was the town's most popular Chee Cheong Fun. I introduced Mae to this during her first visit to Taiping and she got hooked ever since. So much so she dragged me up at 8:30am on a Saturday morning just to eat this.

It's a simple flat rice-flour noodle, eaten with chilli sauce and a sweet sauce (I think it's plum sauce) and garnished with deep-fried shallots. The secret of this dish is in the "Fun", the noodle. This one here is home-made and delivered to the stall in batches, every morning. If you eat here you'll notice that every time the noodle runs out, the customers will sit around and wait till the next batch arrives - in a steel box, on a bicycle!

And that has been the way it's been since I started eating this Chee Cheong Fun 20 years ago. The young man who used to deliver the noodle on his bicycle back then, has today taken on the mantle to run the business. And thankfully, he has enough respect for tradition and taste to do it the way his parents did it so many years ago.

If you ever go to Taiping, do check this one out. Just look for the hawker centre on the old circus ground (Pusat Penjaja Padang Sarkas) and you'll find it. It's not the best in the world but it's still pretty darn good.

16 comments:

  1. This one, I think I ate this before. :) When I was younger I was pretty much hooked on Chee Cheong Fun, so I just had to try almost every Chee Cheong Fun in the world. :D Well, I've lost that taste for Chee Cheong Fun though.

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  2. oh yes,tried this one too when i was over in taiping and ipoh last year.i tell you,the weighing scale was my enemy after that trip...hehehe

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  3. thanks for the tip, james. i'll be heading up there for a friend's wedding real soon, and will look out for the place you mentioned. :)

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  4. Mdmafia aka The Sparepart GirlApril 26, 2004 at 12:45 PM

    "Heler"
    Hey I went back to Ipoh for the weekend too for my Godfather's 80th b'day bash! And boy did we pig out!
    We had Ipoh Sar Hor Fun, Satay Babi (sorry guys, this aint halal), Satay Sang Cheong (pig intestines), White Coffee, Chee Chap Chuk (pig spareparts porridge), Beansprouts, Siew Yoke (roast pork), an assortment of Nyonya Kuih, Rojak Buah and on top of all these, an 8-course chinese dinner! Everything tastes so good in Ipoh! Man, I love that place!
    Oink oink!

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  5. Lost the taste, raZZ? I thought Chee Cheong Fun would be an evergreen dish!
    You were in Taiping, Dee? Wow!
    Good on you, SS. Do give us a report if it's as good as I say it is! :)
    You need a blog lah, Sparepart girl! :) Then you can post pictures and wow us! :lol:

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  6. I donch have a mac to work on wor. Jes a pre-historic IBM.
    And I am pretty sure my PC cant support the softwares I need to create the blog.
    :o(

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  7. it will be a LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGggg time before i can eat thouse stuf. :o(

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  8. am i glad i'm not on any atkins diet. i'd sue you for tempting me. maybe i'll have a food retreat, travel to Taiping, stay there 3 days and just eat.

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  9. PCs are better for blogging, Mdmafia!
    Hang in there, Wena. You can do it! :lol:
    Don't sue me, lobakmerah. Go to Taiping when I'm there and I'll belanja you! :)

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  10. went there 2 years back for cg retreat...had lotsa feilouship

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  11. hey james,
    i swear, i like exactly the same food you do. char kway teow and chee cheong fun.
    i like my ccf plain, with light soy sauce and lots of fried shallots, sesame seed and sesame oil. like you said, it's the hor fun which makes it so yummy!
    wanna meet up for breaky some time?
    cheers,
    adriene

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  12. Ah, lobakmerah I have feilouship everytime I go home.
    Breaky sounds good, Adriene. Where's a good place? Will intro you to my other half... no, strike that... the other 3 quarters! :lol:

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  13. Dont know if you know. There was this old man in bike, going round tpg garden when I was a young kid, selling chee cheong fun. He also carried the metal box with the "FUN" inside. Wonder if he is of the same person. Missed his CCF when I came to KL.

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  14. james,
    where's a good place? hmmmm.... SS2 cheow yang? is that convenient? i don't know where u stay.
    email me at adriene at heyadriene dot com for my mobile number.
    would love to meet your 3/4!
    gina,
    there used to be a ccf guy who would cycle around the back alleys of ipoh garden housing area on his three wheeler bicycle stall. he would honk his horn in a certain melody. and if you wanted to buy from him, you'd have to rush out of your back door, bearing your own plates coz he didn't give away disposable plates or carry any of his own!

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  15. adriene!
    I think it`s the same guy lah!

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  16. my guy... your guy...
    getting precious about our ccf guys are we? ;)
    just kidding just kidding!!!
    maybe it is the same guy? taiping and ipoh's not that far off.
    my ipoh ccf guy doesn't do that anymore. don't know what became of him. my guy would be at least 60 yrs old by now, so maybe he's retired?
    james,
    section 14 is fine. any "new town" pj areas would be great.
    ok! email me when u got free weekend.
    take care!

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