Penang has been voted Lonely Planet's top culinary spot for 2014, British tabloid The Independent recently revealed.
Robin Barton, a commissioning editor at Lonely Planet, said that although Malaysian hawker food has spread worldwide through "food trucks and pop-ups", nothing compared it with the actual experience of eating in Penang.
"Its food reflects the intermingling of the many cultures that arrived after it was set up as a trading port in 1786, from Malays to Indians, Acehnese to Chinese, Burmese to Thais. State capital George Town is its culinary epicentre," he said.
Barton named char koay teow (flat rice noodles with shrimp, bean sprouts, egg and sweet Chinese sausage), Hokkien mee (egg noodles in a pork broth with prawns, egg, bean sprouts and water spinach) and asam laksa (thick noodles in a spicy fish broth with tangy asam, a sour tamarind paste) as the three must-eat foods in Penang.
The best place to try the foods: "Explore the sprawling Esplanade Food Centre, where hawker faves combine favourably with a seafront location."
He also urged tourists to give the pasar malams (night market) a go, where one would be able to find "peppery pork-rib soups, skewered fish balls and sweets such as chendol (cold coconut milk dessert)".
"A pasar malam is an open-air night market – such as Jelutong on a Friday and Macallum Street Market on a Monday. The highlight is always the food," he said.
Barton recommended the air Bandung – rose syrup with evaporated or condensed milk – as a "great accompaniment" to Malay food.
"Try Nazlina Spice Station, a cookery school which also offers guided tours of food markets," he added.
Wrapping up the list of must-visit food destinations are Victoria in Australia, northwest Spain, the Deep South in the USA, Lake District in UK, Puglia in Italy, and Oaxaca in Mexico.
CNN Travel, in November, had also named Penang as having one of the best street foods in Asia. – February 4, 2014.
