THE battle of culinary supremacy continues unabated at the Battle of Penang Hawkers Masters with some contestants putting their family recipes on the line to wow the judges in the Mee Goreng category.
The risk paid off handsomely for Seeni Mohamed Sheik Abidin as he not only qualified for the final on Sunday but also scooped the Most Popular Hawker award.
Swamped by visitors from the word go, the 34-year-old Seeni attributed his success to the recipe that was passed down to him by his grandfather and father.
“One of my specialities is the ‘sotong’ (squids) which are cooked separately to retain their freshness and not prepared together as were normally done,” he said.
(from left) Australian couple, Ben and Ekayi, postponed their flight just to take part in the taste and vote for the best mee goreng prepared by participants of the competition Seeni, who started helping his father to prepare mee goreng since the age of 15, said he made a few tweaks to the recipe to cater for the new generation.
“I changed the style of preparing the noodles so the younger generation can also enjoy it,” said Seeni who operates his mee goreng stall at the Sri Weld Food Court on Beach Street.
Another finalist who stayed true to the family recipes was Mohammad Idris Mohammad Husin who used charcoal to cook his mee goreng instead of gas stove.
“This was the technique passed down from my grandfather and it has gone down well with my customers,” said the 33-year-old who also had a long queue of customers.
Traditional style: Idris dishing out his winning recipe using charcoal fire as a crowd gather around to witness his cooking technique and wait for a taste of the delicious fare. Idris, who picked up the trade at the age of seven, expressed confidence he would do well in the final.
“The fire in me is still burning strong and I am confident I can win at the end of the day,” said Idris, who runs his stall at the PISA Corner Cafe in Relau.
For Muhammad Abdul Hadi Abdullah, he was not surprised at entering the finals.
“This is because I will only serve food to my customers if I like to eat it,” said Abdul Hadi who operates his business at the Penang Times Square Food Gallery.
The public were seen having a field day tucking into the mee goreng with nine hawkers battling it out to win their approval during the third day of the competition at Penang Times Square yesterday.
Cream of the crop: Entering the finals on Sunday are Mee Goreng category winners (from left) Idris, Seeni, and Abdul Hadi. Spotted gleefully enjoying the Malaysian favourite dish were five members of a Scottish family who were visiting their children for Christmas.
“We read about the event in The Star while visiting our daughter and her family who are staying in Penang under the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme,” said 70-year-old Robert Hamilton, who was with his wife Jean, 67.
Robert, whose favourite dish is char koay teow, said he was sad to have missed it the day before.
His daughter, Alison Steele simply loved the dish because of its spiciness.
“I love my mee goreng to be spicy as I love some heat in my food,” said the 45-year-old Alison.
Not being able to part with the island’s exotic cuisine, Australian couple Ben and Ekayi Koo, both 35, said they rescheduled their flight just to take part in the taste and vote session.
“We were supposed to catch an early morning flight home but decided to reschedule it after being told by our tour guide about this competition,” said Ekayi.
Ben added they were already planning to return to Penang for holiday soon as they had fallen in love with the island, especially its culinary delights.
The Mee Goreng category is judged by a panel of judges comprising food writer and Star2 columnist Helen Ong, Penang Night Market Malay Hawkers Association deputy president Mat Jamil Saad and Shangri-la’s Rasa Sayang Resort & Spa’s seasoned chef Amir Hamzah Abdul Hamid.
The preliminary rounds will resume from noon to 2pm today for the Hokkien Mee Category, followed by Satay tomorrow and the finals for all categories on Sunday.
On Sunday from 12.15pm to 2.15pm, there will be a food tasting for the public on all the top rated recipes of the finalists in all the categories who will be competing in the final round.
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