If you are a big fan of 'Bak Chang' (Rice Dumplings) and 'Or Kuih' (Yam Cake), Cintra Food Corner is definitely a perfect place for you. Located along Cintra Street, Cintra Food Corner is situated in the middle of a block of colonial building. We found it by chance when we parked our car along the one-way Cintra Street. As we walked towards Campbell Street along the five foot way, we saw several bunches of lovely and some huge 'Bak Chang' on the stainless steel food stall top. Displayed together was a huge plate with mouth watering 'Or Kuih'. My friend KY could not help but to stop and gazing at them for quite some time.

After curbing our morning hunger at Toh Soon Cafe, on the way back we decided to make a stop for our second breakfast like the Hobbits!

The name 'Bak Chang' is called in Hokkien dialect which literally means Pork Dumpling. It is commonly known among Chinese speaking community as 'Zongzi', made of glutinous rice usually stuffed with pork, groundnut, mushroom, small shrimp, chestnut and sometimes salted egg yolk. It is wrapped in bamboo leaves in a unique four-faced triangular shape and then cook by boiling or steaming.

'Or Kuih' or literally means 'Yam Cake' is also a Hokkien dialect. It is made from cubed yam mixed with rice flour, salt, water; consistently stir under a small fire and cook until the cubed yam are soft and this mixture appearing like paste. Then, the paste is transferred to a plate, flatten and steam to perfection. After garnishing with fried small shrimp, fried onion, spring onion, peanut powder and some fresh chilli, they are ready to be served with sweet and spicy sauces.

Cintra Food Corner is a cozy air-conditioned shop with clean and neat setting. Over here, we had a chance to try all their famous rice dumplings - Hokkien Dumpling, Golden Dumpling and Cantonese Dumpling. An article in a newspaper framed on the wall described the current owner is the third generation that run the dumpling business. Only a couple of tables were occupied when we arrived but when we were about to leave, almost all the tables had been filled up. It is indeed a very popular food spot among the locals in George Town. We noticed most of his customers came by motorcycles for take away.

We also 'mistakenly' ordered a huge plate of yam cake. At the beginning we thought we might encounter a big challenge to finish it. To our surprise, we left nothing to spare except one tiny piece of yam cake for posterity .

According to the friendly waitress, Hokkien Dumpling is made of glutinous rice fried in black soy sauce filled with pork, mushroom, chestnut and yolk of salted egg that come in a size of a handful. Golden dumpling contains the similar filling but size wise is smaller like the commonly found size of rice dumplings. Appearing as white glutinous rice of the same size as Golden Dumpling, Cantonese Dumpling taste is slightly different. It is made of chick pea beans, mushrooms and also pork. All of these dumpling can be eaten with either sweet or spicy sauces. Their glutinous rice was soft, spices blended well with all ingredients and the taste of these savory dumplings were simply fabulous!

Apart from rice dumpling and yam cake, they also serve Sweet-Red Bean Soup ('Ang Tao Teng'). If we did not have our first breakfast, I would love to try as it looks very tempting.

I guess we have just discovered another corner to have a big feast! A place we will go again and again!

Address/Contacts:
Cintra Street
George Town
Penang, Malaysia
Tel: +60-12-4803308, +60-16-4579590
Operating hours: Monday to Saturday (9 am - 6 pm)
Recommendation: 4/5
Location courtesy by Google Map (click to view map & zoom in): Cintra Food Corner

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