Song Kheng Hai, Kuching

Place where you can get half of you Kuching-Food-Cravings fixed! We get "Siew Mai" or 烧卖 almost everywhere, as long as there is Chinese food or any Dim Sum restaurant. Even in countries like Philippines and Vietnam where you don't get to see many Chinese residents, you CAN still find "Siew Mai" rather common.

This is rather traditional as it existed even in the Qing Dynasty. It was named as "捎卖" which means side dish since then. The name slowly transformed to names like 烧卖 which is commonly known in Malaysia. In Kuching, we call it "Sio Bee" which is translated to Hokkien from the word " 烧米". However, borned and raised in Kuching, I love how different the taste of Sio Bee is. There are a few places in Kuching where you can find really good Sio Bee (which will be blogged about soon). We usually have stuffed pork *usually non-halal but you can find some with stuffed chicken instead*, nothing else but just lots of meat. I rate "Sio Bee" as "Excellent" when it's chewy and when it has this amazing bland taste of sweetness. It is usually complimented with sweet chilli sauce which is actually a good combination :D

Sio Bee 烧米

Owwwkayyy. Back to this place- Song Kheng Hai @宋庆海. It's located at Pandungan or some say Ban Hock Road area, just right beside the rugby field. 

Remember to try the Kwong-Piah, traditionally from the Foochows. Can be found at Rihga (stall number 7). It is a savoury bun covered with lots of sesame *it's already good on its own* sandwiched with sweetened minced pork. Deep fried for several minutes and it's good to be served. Just try and you will not forget how good it is :) 

Do you see a small hole in every kwong-piah? My grandmother told me that during the war, the foochow-s used to string them into necklaces, put them over their necks while they run for their lives. Amazing idea isnt it. To date, they still maintain the shape of its origin. 

Kwong Piah 光饼

Other food to try if you're there for lunch are sweetened fried mee, tomato crispy noodle *sob, I can't find the photo I took* (by far my favourite from stall No3? Just a few stalls away from Rihga), nyonya foods are also sold here. If you want to have some homecooked food, they have very homey-taste of ngo-hiang 五香卷 and mani-cai @cangkuk manis too. 

This place is also famous for its freshly squeezed sugar cane juice either with coconut or with lemon. Definitely a good choice during a hot day. Also not to forget, drinks worth mentioning here are "white lady", "me-ta-horn", "mixed fruits special" and "ngo-mee-tng". You can find all these in the drinks stall with ice-shaving machine. 

Sweetened Fried Mee 炒甜面 @Tee-Mee

p/s: if you're there on Saturdays, around 12noon, try your luck to spot the auntie who carries "ham-chi-peng" 咸煎饼 around as it will be sold off within minutes. I dont really have to describe how good it is, it's freshly homemade from sweet potatoes :) *awesome!*