Moroccan snail soup, good for the body

Babbouche snails are served in a bowl with a spiced broth made up of over 12 spices. Amongst them you’ll find licorice root, aniseed, thyme, chilli, lavender, mustard seed, bitter orange peel and tea leaves.

Not just tasty but also healthy, these spices are very good for the body. You’ll never forget this mind you, as the vendor will love to remind you of all the healing powers of this herbal soup.

A steaming bowl of spiced snails

Once you’ve been served your bowl of fresh Moroccan snail soup with an extra side of broth, you’ll be ready to eat.

This is the fun part.

You’ll be given a toothpick as your eating utensil. Its purpose?

To pluck your snails out with it, of course!

It’s by far the easiest way to eat them, and becomes a bit of game to see who has the largest snail.

Each meaty snail is washed down with a large gulp of spiced broth. Moroccan snail soup is perfectly balanced, with a nice warm after-burn from the ginger.

Where to find babbouche in Morocco

Moroccan snail soup is commonly found in the medinas of Morocco. In Fes, the maze of alleyways that is the medina will have a few babbouche stalls around. These are unmistakable by the huge nets of snails hanging on the wall behind them.

The stall we visited is not far from the main entrance to the medina. Lucky for you, whether you happen to arrive or leave this way, you’ll be able to get a taste of these local spiced snails.

Name: Babbouche Snail Cart
Address: Fès Médina
what3words: ///starting.jams.task
Price: 20Dhs

The post Are You Brave Enough for Babbouche, Moroccan Snail Soup? appeared first on Hungry Two Travel.

The Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur began development in 1870 and Petaling Street itself was one of the earliest roads to be built. The area was mostly Cantonese and Hakka who came to the city for the tin trade. With their skills, they brought their incredibly diverse cooking styles and unique flavours.

Petaling Street is now home to temples, shopping, and hawker stalls serving up the top street foods in Kuala Lumpur. A number of these street food stalls have been around for over 50 years and are onto not the first or second, but third generation of family looking after the business. The quality of ingredients and history that goes into these dishes is incredible.

So, let’s get to it! Below is a list of the top 11 street foods to eat on your next visit to Petaling Street Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur.

Roast Duck

The crispiest, juiciest, most tender roast duck in Chinatown is at Sze Ngan Chye. This famous street food cart is run by two sisters that took over from their father, who started the business over 70 years ago. After all this time they still provide the same great taste and quality that he always did.

Sze Ngan Chye means the man who wears spectacles. It got its name from their father who would sell his duck on Petaling Street wearing his unmistakable glasses. With no name for his cart, the nickname just stuck!

We’ve gotta say, they sure know how to roast a duck. Perfectly cooked, juicy and tender with just the right amount of salt… we almost wished we had gotten a full duck and not the half!! Depending on your hunger you’ve got choice, RM34 for half a duck, or RM68 for the whole one. Don’t worry, we won’t judge.

The two sisters start selling their fresh roast duck at 6:00am, and because of their popularity can sell out by noon. So, make sure you head to their stall first, nice and early, to make sure you get some tasty duck.

Name: Sze Ngan Chye
Address: 46, Jalan Petaling, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
what3words: ///usual.singles.gave
Price: RM34 half duck, RM68 whole duck

Muah Chee

Madam Tang Muah Chee Queen (as she is called), has been selling muah chee from her cart on Petaling Street for over 50 years. She’s become a permanent fixture along the busy street, making her stall a must try when in Chinatown Kuala Lumpur.

Soft, chewy and bursting with flavour, these little muah chee pack a punch! Coming in six different flavours, we couldn’t resist the black sesame and mango. Both were delicious and with a surprisingly intense, strong flavour that you can pick out at first bite.

If those flavours aren’t your thing, don’t worry, there’s also lychee, ribena, pandan and original to choose from. Each piece is bathed in crushed peanuts, adding the perfect crunchy texture to the soft and chewy muah chee.

Name: Madam Tang Muah Chee Queen
Address: 42, Jalan Hang Lekir, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
what3words: ///abacus.slimy.poker
Price: RM6/box

Congee

This salty bowl of porridge goodness is congee, a popular Chinese street food of savoury rice porridge with delicious pork, century egg, and green onions. At Hon Kee Petaling Street you have a few different congee options to choose from, including salted egg and pork, crispy innards, pork ball, and raw fish.

Served piping hot, you mustn’t forget the white pepper. It adds the perfect seasoning to the dish to make it mouth-wateringly good.

As with so many of the delicious food choices along Petaling Street, this humble stall began business in 1949 and is still going strong. Spanning three generations and counting, this is one of the top street foods to eat in Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown.

Name: Hon Kee Petaling Street
Address: 93, Jalan Hang Lekir, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
what3words: ///cautious.cared.sporting
Price: RM7

Chee Cheong Fun

This bright red, saucy dish is chee cheong fun. A popular street food of fresh chewy rice noodles with the most amazing, slightly sweet, red peanut sauce poured over top.

As with many Chinese-Malaysian dishes, there’s a decent helping of spicy chilli sambal on the side to mix in as much or as little as you want. The result? Fresh, peanuty, spicy rice noodles that feel like the perfect comfort meal.

What sets chee cheong fun apart from other rice noodles is that they’re freshly chopped to order. At Yooi Kee Chee Cheong Fun, their plates of noodles come in three different sizes based on your hunger. We got the small, which was a decent helping for the both of us, especially if you want to make sure you save some room for the amount of street food you’ll be eating on Petaling Street.

Name: Yooi Kee Chee Cheong Fun
Address: 51, 49, Jalan Petaling, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
what3words: ///sting.trumpet.vitals
Price: RM4 for small

Tau Foo Fah and Dau Jiang

Another stall that is an absolute institution here on Petaling Street is Kim Soya Bean, one of the most popular Chinese street food stalls here in Chinatown. If you merely mention to anyone in Kuala Lumpur that you’ll be in Chinatown, they’ll make sure you make a stop at Kim Soya Bean for their famous tau foo fah and dau jiang.

Tau foo fah is a soft tofu that’s served hot and with your choice of white or brown sugar syrup on top. Its velvety smooth texture, mild flavour and sweetness from the brown sugar (our go to), really make this treat something special, even on a hot day!

If you’re looking for a cool off, however, make sure to pair your tau foo fah with a creamy cup of dau jiang soy milk. Scooped out from the massive container front and centre on the cart, it’s served cold, with or without sugar, sweet and soft on the tongue.

Running now for over 90 years and by the third generation, the current owner is an extremely friendly man who’s been manning the shop for the last 40 years. Things have surely changed on Petaling Street in those years, but the quality and taste of their soy bean treats sure hasn’t, so we’re told by the regulars!

Name: Kim Soya Bean
Address: 49, Jalan Petaling, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
what3words: ///similar.hosts.keyboard
Price: RM2.20/each

Joong

Savoury or sweet, what’s your poison?? We can’t help but always choose savoury, how can you resist salty goodness?!

Whichever way you swing, you’ve got choice when it comes to joong, a popular Chinese street food. This tasty glutinous rice dumpling is filled with either sweet dates, red bean and other sugary deliciousness, or savoury pork with salted egg, mushrooms and chestnuts.

The steaming process makes the rice lovely and chewy, with a soft texture. Everything all wrapped up in a bamboo leaf like a little present, these dense dumplings are jam packed with ingredients, full of flavour, and the perfect snack on the go.

Name: Ho Yoke Kee
Address: 19, 15, Jalan Hang Lekir, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
what3words: ///scar.deep.required
Price: RM8

Fresh Beef Noodles

Just around the corner from the main road of Petaling Street is a noteworthy place that has the best fresh beef noodle soup. Sin Kiew Yee Shin Kee Beef Noodles is a small shop that gets busy during any hour of the day, so be prepared to queue for a table. Luckily the line goes quick so you won’t have to wait for long.

Their beef noodle soup is full of raw beef, perfectly chewy egg noodles, green onion and beef floss, to give you a hearty bowl full of deliciousness.

The beef is added in raw to get the most tender meat possible, being cooked only briefly when it’s dunked into the main broth like a hot pot before being added to your dish. This rich and meaty broth, enriched with all the juices and oils from the beef, is further used as a bath for the egg noodles to cook, and finally being used for the broth itself.

Just a short walk from Petaling Street, we feel like this is worth the extra distance. I mean, with all the food you’ll be eating, you’re gonna need the walk.

Name: Sin Kiew Yee Shin Kee Beef Noodles
Address: 7a, Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
what3words: ///boggles.pinches.situated
Price: RM10

Apam Balik

Apam balik is best described as a peanut pancake. The batter is cooked in a huge pan and covered in sugar and crushed peanuts, then folded in half to keep all the goodness inside. This pancake is massive, mind you, so ordering one portion will get you a decent sized slice. The combination of crunchy peanuts, with the soft and springy interior is something that we very much enjoyed.

While you’re there, don’t forget to pick up one of the smaller coconut pancakes. These guys were the real hit for us, with a super strong smell and flavour of coconut, they were a lovely little snack on the go. If you love coconut and peanut as much as we do, you’ll love these apams.

We unfortunately didn’t catch the name of the gentleman who owns this hawker cart, but we did have a nice chat with him. We learned that he’s been selling apam balik from the same location on Petaling Street for 40 years, “from a young man to an old man,” in his words. With a sense of humour and knowing what his customers want, it’s no wonder he’s been in business all these years selling the top street food pancakes in Chinatown.

Did we mention that his cart is attached to the side of a motorbike like a side car? It doesn’t get much more street food than that!

Name: Petaling Street Apek’s Apam
Address: Kuala Lumpur City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
what3words: ///safest.envy.joggers
Price: RM1.50/each

Yong Tau Foo

Yong tau foo is a popular Hakka dish of vegetables and tofu stuffed with springy fish paste. Found down an alley off of Petaling Street, Madras Lane Yong Tau Foo has a plethora of yong tau foo to choose from. Eaten either dry with a sauce, or in broth as a soup, you can’t go wrong with either.

We went for the dry version and chose a few different yong tau foo, mistakenly picking up a bitter melon! It was nice to try something different, but definitely a little bitter for our tastes! We prefer the soft eggplant, crispy fried wonton, and fish paste balls. Conveniently, you’re charged per piece of yong tau foo that you order, so you can have as much or as little as your stomach can handle.

Name: Madras Lane Yong Tau Foo
Address: Kuala Lumpur City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
what3words: ///terms.skinny.elated
Price: RM1.70/piece

Air Mata Kucing

If you’re craving a little something sweet to keep you going through your exploration of Petaling Street Chinatown, we recommend a quick pit stop at Air Mata Kucing for one of their refreshing mata kucing drinks.

Mata Kucing is also known as cat’s eye, and is a close relative to the plump and juicy longan. Their special mata kucing drink is quite sweet, more so than we were expecting actually, since it’s sweetened with monk fruit, which is far stronger than sucrose.

Starting up over 70 years ago, Air Mata Kucing used to serve their drink in metal bowls/cups, to drink right there and then. Over the years they’ve (unfortunately) switched to plastic, so you’ll be able to take your drink with you as you wander the streets of Chinatown.

Name: Air Mata Kucing
Address: 15, Jalan Hang Lekir, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
what3words: ///typhoon.latest.pirates
Price: RM4

Teh Tarik

Last but certainly not least, is something that you’ll find all over Malaysia, but is an honourable mention when you’re in Chinatown. Nestled away down Madras Lane, right across from Madras Lane Yong Tau Foo, is Kong Chai Coffee Stall. Here you can get a number of hot or cold Malaysian drinks.

Our go to and ultimate favourite Malaysian drink is teh tarik, literally translating to pulled tea.

Teh tarik is made with a strong brew of black tea combined with condensed milk. The two are added together in a cup, and are mixed by pouring, or “pulling”, the drink back and forth from one cup to another.

Not only is this process fun to watch, but it mixes the condensed milk in while also cooling down the tea and frothing it all up to create a velvety tea with the perfect drinking temperature.

Depending on your preference, you can enjoy it hot or cold. For us, on those hot Malaysian days, we prefer ours icy cold and oh so refreshing.

Name: Kong Chai Coffee Stall
Address: Kuala Lumpur City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
what3words: ///successor.twilight.tagging
Price: RM2.40

Petaling Street Chinatown

Some of the most popular Chinese food in Kuala Lumpur can be found in Petaling Street Chinatown. There’s so much incredible street food in Malaysia to try, and this list of the top 11 street foods to eat in Petaling Street Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur will get you more than started on your way to trying some of the best Chinese Malaysian street foods in the city.

We hope this list will be helpful for you to create a personalized street food tour of Petaling Street Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Check out our video below trying all of these top street foods to eat on Petaling Street!

The post Top 11 Street Foods to Eat in Petaling Street Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur appeared first on Hungry Two Travel.

What exactly are khinkali, and why are they so loved?

Khinkali are considered the most popular Georgian food and one of the national dishes of the country. Khinkali are so popular they can be found in almost every restaurant in the country. They’re a type of extra-large dumpling that’s chock full of meat and spices, creating a rich soup inside the dumpling. Georgian soup dumplings are differentiated by their plaited knobs of dough and giant size. They’re incredibly hearty, absolutely massive, full of flavour, and are not to be underestimated.

What are Georgian soup dumplings made of?

In order to make the perfect soup dumpling, the raw meat filling of lamb, pork, beef, or a combination of the last two, is formed into a ball and surrounded by raw dough. Each dumpling is sealed tight with a decent sized knob of dough left on the top. We’ll get to its purpose later.

The dumpling is usually boiled or fried, and as the meat is cooked inside, this is when the magic happens. All the juice released from the meat and flavour of the spices is trapped inside the dumpling. This creates a rich and delicious soup inside the dumpling which the meat sits in, hence the name, soup dumpling!

The best part of khinkali, the soup

Extremely important and the number one takeaway if you get anything from reading this, is that the soup inside the dumpling is the most precious part! You have to be extra careful how you eat khinkali and make sure that you do it the proper way. If not, you’ll lose your soup and most definitely get looked down upon by the local Georgians around you.

The most functional part of khinkali, the tail

The top of the dumpling where the pleats meet is often called the ‘tail’ and is a large knob of dough sticking out the top. This part is the most helpful and functional part of the dumpling when it comes to eating. It acts as your ‘handle’ for holding onto so that you can be sure not to lose any precious soup. The tail is also quite tough and unappetizing, so make sure you don’t eat it! It’s strictly for functional purposes only and keeping track of who’s eating the most.

It’s eatin’ time; how to eat khinkali

How do you eat Georgian soup dumplings, you ask? The proper etiquette is to grab your khinkali by the tail with your bare hands and turn it upside down. Then, carefully pierce the top side of it with your teeth and make a small hole.

From the hole, slowly sip out the hot, rich soup. Do this without the dumpling bursting open or spilling and getting all over the place!

Once the soup has been devoured you can easily nibble around now and eat the dumpling and juicy meat inside.

The use of any utensil is highly advised against. Doing so in any way would pierce the dumpling on your plate, and in absolute horror, you’d lose your precious soup before getting the slightest chance to enjoy it.

Khinkali of all sorts of shapes and sizes

Depending on the region of Georgia you’re in, you’ll get khinkali with a different variety of spices and fillings. Some of the most popular are khevsuruli khinkali, which have onions, salt, cumin, and chili pepper, and kalakuri khinkali, which is the more modern recipe and uses the same spices as khevsuruli, but with the addition of herbs such as parsley and cilantro (coriander).

Some even more modern versions of khinkali do away with meat all together. These have fillings of imeretian and cottage cheeses, mushrooms, mashed potato, and even a potato cheese mix. For those looking for something crispier, there’s also deep fried khinkali. These are one of our favourites, although they’re a little harder to come by.

We even came across a khinkali soup with teeny tiny khinkali floating in the broth. So, whatever you fancy, there’s a wide range of khinkali for any taste and palate. Even if you’re vegetarian, there’s something for everyone.

How to order

When out at a restaurant looking to get your khinkali fix, it’s important to note that one order typically means five or more of whichever type you’re looking to get. This is the case in most restaurants. Only one or two of all the places we tried allowed you to order them by piece. Something to consider when choosing the type you want, since an order of five is actually quite a decent meal considering the size of them!

If you’re interested in seeing first-hand the best way to eat these little beasts without leaking soup on your plate, or all over yourself, then please watch the video below. We try a few different kinds of these delicious soup dumplings and get to experience true Georgian cooking.

The post How to Eat Khinkali, the Most Popular Georgian Dish of Massive Soup Dumplings appeared first on Hungry Two Travel.