Hot scene: A chef cooking up a mean dish of char koay teow as visitors line up to sample the food. IT was an intense family affair on the second day of the Battle of Penang Hawkers Masters 2011 when Chew Ai Imm went up against her sister-in-law Teh Bee Geok in an attempt to reach the final round of the Char Koay Teow category.
Chew not only brought all her ingredients — ranging from fresh prawns and cockles to ‘koay teow’ (flat noodles) — from Taiping, but also her entourage of supporters.
However, it was not enough to beat her sister-in-law in the preliminary round.
Teh managed to secure one of the top three spots to make it to the final round while Chew was edged out.
“It was really discouraging but I have no regrets as I tried to give my all in the competition,” said the 33-year-old Chew who learnt the art of char koay teow with Teh under the same 'sifu' (master).
Strong support: Chew (left) and her entourage of supporters who come all the way from Taiping with fresh ingredients. Chew added that her only regret was that she felt she had let down her group of supporters who travelled all the way from Taiping.
“On the bright side, at least my sister-in-law managed to get through to the final round,” she said.
An elated Teh, 37, said she would be raising her game in the finals.
“I will continue to taste and research on where the dish can be better improved,” she said.
For now, Teh, who opens her stall at night markets in Macallum Street, Batu Maung, Jelutong, Bandar Baru Air Itam, Perak Road and Paya Terubong, said she would just relish in the fact that she had reached the next round of the competition.
Simply the best: (From left) Teh Bee Geok, Thong Chen Poh and Chong Wei Tuck make it to the finals after winning the Char Koay Teow category. The other contestants who made it through to the next round are Chong Wei Tuck and Thong Chen Poh.
Despite having a three-year hiatus from cooking char koay teow, Thong came back with a bang as he not only qualified for the next round of the competition but also nicked the Most Popular Hawker award.
“A few years back, I stopped being in the char koay teow business because I was really worn out after doing it for over 10 years.
“However, two years ago, I decided to take up the wok again and now I am preparing dishes like char koay teow and fried rice for the Bamboo Buffet Catering Services,” he said.
Thong, 47, said the competition was good as it would open the eyes of the world to the char koay teow dish.
“If I can win the competition, I will try to further elevate the dish and make it internationally famous,” he said.
On the other hand, Chong will be carrying his family’s legacy on his shoulders in entering the final round of the competition.
The third generation of char koay teow sellers, Chong said the recipe was passed down in the family by his grandmother, who is the family’s pioneer in the business.
“Personally, I have been behind the wok for the past four years,” said Chong, who is operating his business at the Sin Hwa coffee shop in Pulau Tikus.
The 27-year-old believes that to make the dish taste better, it requires the chef to have a lot of determination and sincerity.
“Without these attributes, no matter how fresh the ingredients are, the dish would not turn out nice,” he said.
Earlier, a strong crowd of over 300 visitors waited excitedly at the entrance of the cooking arena at the Chin Ho Plaza in Penang Times Square for the taste and vote session.
Taste and vote: Kang enjoying her favourite char koay teow with her son Chan Cheow Kheng. Standing in front of the line was 80-year-old Kang Siew Kee, with the support of her walker.
Despite her limited mobility, she was adamant in showing up at the competition to sample the savoury dish.
“Char koay teow is my favourite dish and I would usually ask my children to buy it for me since I can’t walk properly,” said Kang, who arrived as early as 11am.
“For this, I insisted on coming myself because most of the char koay teow sellers would be here.”
For American student Julie Olson, she has been a fan of Penang hawker food since she first came to the island’s shore a year ago.
“I love Penang hawker food in general because they make it for you live at the stalls and you get to see how they do it,” said the 23-year-old.
On the dish itself, Julie said she really liked the 'lap cheong' (Chinese sausages) and the dish being served on banana leaf.
The preliminary rounds for the competition will continue from noon to 2pm today for the Mee Goreng category followed by Hokkien Mee tomorrow and Satay (Saturday).
The finals of all the categories will be held from noon to 6pm on Sunday while the Teh Tarik category will be from 4pm to 5pm on the same day.
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