Peng Heong Hakka Paikut Restaurant @ Klang

I have many Hakka friends at work who are picky about the food they eat, and tend to have extremely discerning palates. This is because when it comes to the science and the lore of the kitchen, as well as producing great food, the Hakka are definitely pioneers in that department. They are the Han people who moved from North China to the hills and mountains of the South over a long historic period from the Qin to the Song dynasties. Even now, in our current setting, tradition is always reflected in Hakka food, which emphasizes original flavours and nutritional value rather than a brilliant appearance. It lures customers with its solid material and no nonsense taste.

Anyway, on this weekend food pilgrimage to hunt down the best Hakka Paikut(pork ribs) in town, C&C with a lil fat monkey in tow headed down to Klang.. in search of this one legendary Hakka Paikut restaurant known as Peng Heong.

The pièce de résistance at this restaurant is none other than the Hakka Paikut.

This is William Yong. He is the owner of the restaurant. His grandfather’s recipe is what he cradles in his hands with much pride. Never mind the blistering heat of the spare ribs – “THIS “, he exclaims, holding up the sizzling paikut, “is what it’s all about.. now take the picture.. quick! “

12 noon and already the place is packed to the gills. Klang people we realised, tend to eat really early. We thought we might beat the crowd but the place was already pulsating with hungry patrons.

I need one of these for work and for blogging! Taking down notes and “To-Do’s” would be a breeze.. Anyway, traditional Hakka no doubt, but one cannot under estimate the power of modern day technology.. Uncle William is certainly rolling with the times and embracing change, oh yea.

I like the way they serve the Herbal Tea at Peng Heong. It’s all very sterile – individually bottled bottles of  ‘Leong Char’. Very nice.

Peng Heong Restaurant.. posters and banners of  spare-ribs  juxtaposed against that gleaming backdrop of a mosque is a rather incongruous sight.. which came first I wondered – the paikut restaurant or the mosque? Both seem like steadfast, unshakable icons if you ask me.

Claypot curry Pork Ribs – RM6 (small)

The food. Back to the food. This claypot curry ribs was heavenly. Enough potatoes and rich curry gravy and meat that fell off the bone. I liked this dish best. It did have a funny aftertaste of .. erm, mutton?

Says Cumi, “this taste like mutton”.

Says A lil fat monkey, “It must be due to the mutton curry that they serve in the same claypot”.

Says Ciki, “burp”.

Sambal Kangkung (Water convolvulus/Morning glory) (RM6), Hakka Meatball RM1 each.

The Sambal Kankung had a boiled taste rather than stir-fried, and the hakka meatballs were rather doughy. Not enough meat perhaps.

Ah.. these are the legendary Peng Heong spare ribs. Rather than being bony  and hard, these are super soft pork fillets with solid meat in them – hardly any bones. If you think about it, truly value for money, priced at RM6, onwards. The prices may go up depending on the size of the serving but still incredibly affordable – RM8, RM10 and RM20 etc..Taste wise we found the Paikut ok, but not really knock your socks off fantastic. If you like soft, succulent pork meat with a sweetish sauce, then you’ve come to the right place. I normally prefer mine with more of a bite to it.. but that’s just me.

Other dishes here that we spotted where some wonderful authentic hakka braised tofu dishes as well as chicken feet and pickled vegetables (Choy Keok). Our bill for three was RM25. Mad cheap.

After lunch we went for some Chendol.

‘Cendol Klang’ is FAMOUS. Everybody comes here for their cendol dessert. This place is just a two minute walk from Peng Heong.

The dessert’s basic ingredients consist of coconut milk, noodles with green food coloring from pandan leaves, and palm sugar. Red beans, glutinous rice, grass jelly, creamed corn, are optional additions.. sometimes I just go a bit crazy and ask for the whole damn lot. I know if I cannot finish it all , there is always Cumi .. and now, A lil Fatmonkey 😛

Ah.. Cendol ..  a quintessential part of cuisine here in Malaysia.. and even south east asia.  This is a truly Malaysian dessert.

Unfortunately though, whichever angle you looked at it, the Cendol was flat that day. We turned the bowl to face east, west… we asked for some salt to add the the santan (coconut milk) but to no avail. Sigh, Cendol Klang has gone down in taste and standard unfortunately. We hope it’s just an off day. We want it to be an off day because we like the Cendol here and what it represents!

That ends our lunch excursion to Klang. Stay tuned to see what adventures we get up to next week.

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