Miki Ipoh Beansprout Chicken Rice @ Taman Midah KL

What so special about Ipoh Beansprout Chicken anyway.. ?

The thing that caught our eye, was the smooth, white chicken, hanging at the front of the shop.

It kind of gleamed when it caught the noon-day sun, and we knew from the growl in our bellies, that we needed to eat soon, so we quickly found a table and settled into lunch.

So what makes Ipoh chicken rice so famous? Well, any good Ipoh-lite (or Ipoh Mali, in local slang) will tell you that the secret is in perfecting the chicken. The smoothest, plumpest, juiciest one you have ever seen or tasted. Poached in a water bath then quickly dunk into cold water to stop the cooking process to retain its juicy smoothness texture.. this is an art that the Ipoh chicken rice hawker sifus (gurus) have perfected. Then there is also the fine art of serving the perfect Ipoh bean sprout (ngar choy).

It will only need to be blanched no more than 8-10 seconds, then drizzle with garlic, sesame oil and soy sauce, and a healthy sprinkling of white pepper for that characteristic taste. The bean sprouts in Ipoh are lush and plump as well (just like their chicken), and you can expect explosions of crunchy goodness, if they cook it just right. So with all that in mind, you can imagine that the expectation is pretty high, (especially since I am from Ipoh) if you say your chicken in “Ipoh Mali”.

And make no mistake, God really blessed the people of Ipoh with the starting materials, because, the water is rich in minerals and high in alkali content, owing to the fact that Ipoh itself sits on top of a large karstic formation, which means to say that any animal that drinks from or is processed in, this heavenly water, is bound to come out heavenly tasting too. Oh yeah, a far superior beast. They also say that the girls are prettier due to the frequent baths in alkali water.. I am inclined to agree!

And some folks like Ipoh chicken rice, but I prefer Ipoh Chicken Sar hor fun (white flat rice noodles). The rice noodles from Ipoh are particularly smooth. These noodles are slightly translucent, soft, slippery, and usually swimming in oil and a broth that has been boiled overnight using chicken carcasses. Yes, yes.. this winning formulae of dark sauce broth of rendered chicken fat, garlic oil, smooth white noodles and and smooth white succulent chicken should be enough to reduce a man to rubble.

greasy, smooth and full of chicken flavour!

love the fresh ginger, chilli sauce they serve here with their chicken rice

Anyway, we were happy to report that , at Miki Ipoh Beansprout Chicken, the chicken and noodles were pretty good. Not as good as the best we’ve had in Ipoh but smooth enough. The ngar choy was crunchy and plump too. The only let down was the curry noodles, but then again, that’s not the highlight of this coffee shop, so that’s fine.

Another really tasty dish at this coffee shop was the deep fried tofu. These were more thai than chinese, as they had a tangy thai sauce drenched over it. It was served hot and crisp – the thai sauce softened the tofu as it soaked up the sauces, which was nice. At the heart of the tofu was a rather delicious fish paste core.

So Miki delivered a great lunch of Ipoh sar hor fun, bean sprouts and chicken. We will definitely be back for more of its smoothness soon.

cook asks me.. “Are you Ipoh Mali..?” I say, “of course.” He shows me the peace sign !

[Olympus logo]

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