Happy Vesak day my friends! I was under the impression that everyone will get a day off on Monday but i realized it's not the case! How can?!! It's ok. It is still possible to have some fun on regular weekends and i'm gonna share with you what i did a couple of weeks back.
S and i were trying to decide on a place for lunch on a Sunday. We decided to be spontaneous and drove to JB in hope of finding some good food and adventure. Predictability is obviously neither of our strong suit and his random chicken rice craving resulted in us driving up to Malacca (at 1pm!!) just to have some chicken rice balls! Like Seriously?? Sometimes i swear he's like a pregnant lady. Anyway, i didn't complain since i'm not the one doing the driving. As long as the boy is happy, i'm good. :)
The drive to Malacca takes about 3-3.5h. It's easy cruising on the highway but the troublesome part is obviously getting to the town centre (Jonker Street to be specific) where the food is. I reckon it took us at least 30mins to get from the border of Malacca to the Heritage centre.
I've been to Malacca a couple of times in recent years. There is absolutely nothing to do except to eat. The mission was simple- have as much food as we possibly can and then head back to JB for supper before hitting the sack and getting ready for work the next day. Obviously at 4.30pm in the afternoon, Chung Wah has already closed for the day (they close at 3pm). I was so thankful that Hoe Kee was still opened at that time. If you wanna have chicken rice balls, only eat from these 2 stalls.
The crowd at Hoe Kee. Love the shophouses in Malacca.
I've always been fascinated with chicken rice balls. I have no idea why. I guess it's just cuter presentation and greater convenience when it comes to eating? Definitely less messy too since the grains wouldn't fall all over the place. Child proofed. These balls are the size of regular fishballs. I like my rice a little starchy and sticky so these are perfect. The fragrant and fluffy rice grains have expanded and split nicely to give it the chewy and bouncy texture. I swear you can play ping pong with these.
The chicken is nicely steamed and extremely tender. I absolutely love the soy and sesame sauce that the chicken was sitting in. There's a tinge of sweetness from the sesame oil and light saltiness of the soy sauce which goes so well with the chicken rice. I drenched the rice with this sauce rather than the dark sauce provided along with the chili. Each rice ball is RM0.20. You can simply order the sets which includes chicken and some rice balls. They serve plates of chicken rice along with the balls on weekends to meet the demand. We paid RM13 for 2 person. 1 whole chicken merely costs RM32. I believe i can devour half a chicken easily. They also serve Assam Fish Head which is popular with the patrons!
Our strategy was to eat a bit of everything so that we can taste as many dishes as we can possibly stomach. Took a walk down Jonker Street to our next eating destination to Jonker Dessert 88 aka
Jonker88.com. Everyone Next up is the famous Chendol of Malacca because it has the amazing sticky smoky caramelish Gula Melaka. I so love that thick sugary coconut syrup that they drench all over the shaved ice with more coconut milk, green jelly and red bean. Love this! And it only costs RM3. The durian chendol is famous as well so try that if you like durian.
S decided to give the Nyonya Laksa (RM5) a try. The texture of the translucent noodles is amazing. It looks like mee tai mak but it has a chewier texture. Very smooth. It's quite unlike any kinda Chinese noodles that i've had. The gravy would scare any faint hearted non spicy eaters but the heat is not as strong as it appears to be. I would say it's a little similar to Tom Yum but it has the distinct Assam taste. There aren't a lot of ingredient in this dish- it's accompanied with a few pieces of fried yong tau foo (fish paste wrapped in beancurd skin). Very appetizing dish. After having a few mouthfuls of this, i felt like i was ready to eat everything Malacca has to offer.
Further down the street from Jonker88, we chanced upon a Chinese bakery that serves fresh and piping hot pastries. Traditional bakeries hold a dear place in my heart even though i am not a huge fan of the Chinese pastries (not all of them). They had my favorite Ma3 Ti2 Su1 aka Pong Pia aka Bei Tei Sor aka the pastry that has malt candy in it. :) It's simply amazing when it's warm. Trays and trays of pias greeted us as we stepped inside for a closer look. I simply had to buy a Lao Gong Bing (Husband biscuit) for S and a Lao Po Bing (Wife biscuit) for myself. :P
The aunty kept encouraging me to taste everything so i happily helped myself to the samples. As a result, i left with a bag of baked goodies for the family. Each biscuit only costs RM1.20 or less.
There is a little store in the main store that sells durian desserts. The durian puffs are sold at 3 for RM5 or 6 for RM8. The puff has a custard taste and slight airy texture to it. Once you bite into it, the rich golden liquid would flow and envelop your taste buds. The filling is a little wet and not as creamy as i would like it but taste wise it is pretty good. I like my durian bittersweet and this is just the right taste.
More eats- Ondeh Ondeh. The ondeh ondeh are on the small side so there isn't enough of the gula melaka. Guess we are too spoilt by the Sg ones which are filled with coconut goodness.
We spent 7-8h on the roads and only 2h was spent eating and exploring Malacca. It doesn't seem like a very smart choice mathematically but our stomachs disagree. It's always worth it to travel for good food. Our appetite for adventure was also satisfied when we made several wrong turns along the way. Googlemaps is simply not very reliable especially on Malaysian roads.
If you have a little more time to spare, you could possibly explore the area better. There are old temples and Peranakan houses to check out. You could even stay in a Baba house for the night.
Or take a ride on one of these floral trishaws. They are so adorable and cheerful. Would be awesome to ride one around town. :)
All food featured are along Jonker Street. Start walking from the bridge connecting the Main Square to Jonker and head straight down. Just keep your eyes wide open and eat whatever you feel like having. Come 630pm the Jonker Walk would be closed to vehicles and that's when the night market starts. :) To a great weekend, every weekend!
Hoe Kee Hainam Chicken Rice Ball
4, 6, 8 Jalan Hang Jebat
75200, Melaka
Jonker 88 Desserts
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