This small unassuming circular “food court” is just known as Jubilee Ground & it’s located near the school ground of SRK Chung Hwa No.3 School/DBKS office. Though small, it is a very popular place and is always packed; be it a rainy day or a hot day or weekdays or anyday!
As you can see from the picture below, even the Malays dine here, although the stalls are all operated by the chinese. Could it be that the Malays here are more open-minded??
The school right beside it.
We were here specifically for the desserts, and the BELACAN beehoon.
Yup, these plates of the local pungent, murky culinary creation are elusive in the Peninsular and there is no way I’m leaving Sarawak without trying it!
Everything about the belacan (fermented shrimp paste) beehoon lies in the stock/soup. Seriously, as you can see below; the dish is very very plainly just rice vermicelli (bee hoon), boiled cuttlefish, belacan stock & a shot of chilli paste.
Yup, that’s it. My plate of Belacan Beehoon – RM2.50.
Taste-wise? Well, think of belacan that’s diluted into soup form. Flavours is a complex amalgamation of slightly sweet, sour, fishy and all in all, it is very difficult to pinpoint the exact taste. Some of us thought it reminded us of “laksa”, which is not too far off, since the base of the soup utilized belacan.
Anyhow, I can assure you that eating belacan beehoon does take some getting used to! 😉
Kuching totally tops the rest of the states for their innovative desserts. The popular ones are White Lady, Metahon, Lady Gaga (yes, you read right, funky isnt’ it??) and the tall glass you on the right below is given the moniker Shui Kuo Ping, or otherwise known as Fruit Ice. It consisted of nata de coco, fresh fruits & canned ones like lychees, papayas, etc. I just wish we have these concoctions back in our food courts & coffee shops in KL. Though sweet, it is still such a refreshing & ‘healthy’ drink no? 😉
The red beans used here in Kuching totally beats the ones we are served back in KL. These red beans are of a better variety & the beans retains its shape even when it is fully cooked. Soft and smooth, it was really pleasant to eat. So far, I only found the Stall No.42 in SS2 Wai Sik Kai that serves these red beans with their ais kacang.
Another thing that I realized, desserts in Kuching tend to have more ingredients per bowl. A simple bowl of dessert comes with chockful of jellies, beans, nuts, fruits and anything else you can imagine! Such value for money since each bowl ranges from RM2 – RM3.50 only.
The same dessert stall was churning plates after plates of fruit rojak hence we ordered a large one (RM6.00) out of curiosity. The rest thought it was ok but it just so -so for me as the dressing was really mild. It is almost similar to the Penang version, but lacking in “he kor” (shrimp paste) and chilli.
The desserts & rojak stall: Yeo Ah Leng.
The belacan beehoon stall: Ah Kheng.
And again, we were very thankful that we had Pierce & Norman – the Sarawakian social media avengelists as our hosts during our Kuching adventure.We had such fun on our food hunts. 😉 I certainly hope I get to return the favour when they are here in KL!
Food Place at Jubilee Ground, Kuching.
GPS: N01° 54.993′ E110° 36.067′
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Belacan! That’s something we ate a lot in malacca, with sambal and seafood, but I’ve never tried it before with beehoon! Seems like an interesting pairing. But ya, it’s mostly only available at nyonya restaurants in KL. I guess it’s difficult to make unless we have a fresh supply of shrimp and other ingredients =)
Oh you mean in KL got? I’ve never seen before.. or it could be that I seldom eat Nyonya in KL.
THey just dont do it that well… 🙁
This is the first time hearing something such as belachan bee hoon! Hey how does the lady gaga dessert look like?
Ahh..alas I tried the Matterhon, White Lady but I havent tried the Lady Gaga!
Yupm belacan beehoon aint common!
oh, sorry, what i meant was that nyonya restaurants use belacan as an ingredient. but i’ve never seen any restaurant that does beehoon belacan =)
Oh ok!
Yea, same here! It’s a Sarawak , or more specifically, just Kuching thing. However, Miri & Bintulu are famous for their belacan, so mayb it is avail there too!
It’s very common to see Muslim eating at stalls operates by non Muslim there.. 🙂
Actually I was shocked when I first reached West Msia and found out that everyone here doesn’t eat together and even pork are sold separately in a closed area/shop.
Oh btw, every district in Sarawak hv Belacan Beehoon 🙂
But the desserts , White lady and Matterhorn only available in Kuching ^^
Oh! I see. Haha so now I’m the one that felt vice versa as you when I was in East Msia.
Hey thanks for your helpful list of food to eat in Kuching! Shannon shared it with us 😉
Now I knw that belacan is a big thing in Sarawak , other than pepper! And I so so love the desserts here!
Muslim has certain guide when it comes to what to eat and food we eat. the place we eat and what we eat cannot be a tools to measure the level of “open mind”. I know a strict vegetarian non muslim and she never eat at a restaurant where kuali to cook the food was used to cook meat. it is a matter of choice and faith…not about open minded.
Oh yes. Some of the vegetarians (like myself even) esp if its the 9th month of the Chinese calendar are not allowed to eat from utensils that are used prior that may have had contact with meat. I know what you mean.
But still, .. Ok, maybe the word is not open-minded, but more of the individual muslim having a choice to dine there or otherwise? And either way it is not against the Muslim guide?
it is against muslim guide if we eat food that is cook/put same container/pot/frying pan from the non halal food like pork. and we can’t eat if the animals not slaughter in a proper muslim way. And if we are like confused with certain makan place/food ; like if it is halal or not, it is not permissible for us to eat the food. But then again in certain conditiions, there is no other choice, neither craving nor transgressing, it is permissible for us to eat the food.
Hey, thanks darling for educating me! I understand it so much more now! *hugs *
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This is something you definitely don’t find in West Malaysia. We non-Muslim and Muslims can share a table and we can have kolomee/kampua/whatever pork dishes while sitting at the same table and they do not mind at all. We accept each other differences rather than tolerate the differences. At least for most Muslims whom I know. As for those who are very particular, it’ll be another story but overall it’s not really a big deal here in Kuching. Not to the extend of what what happen in the west. Even a Malay stall can be next to a kolomee stall, no big deal too.
Stall one is my friend’s cousin stall. Stall two is my friend’s. Stall three some sort of their competitor ;p Hehehe… If I was there with you all that day, I’ll be torn ;p
By the way, it’s pronounced as “metahon”. “Pierre” is “Pierce” hehehe…
Glad you had fun! Nice meeting you!
Thks again babes for the clarification. Seems that in East Msia things and ways of thinking arent the same!
Though we are in the same country!
It was nice meeting you too! Wish you could have joined us that afternoon! 😉
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