Pearly shells…

Well, people get pearls from oysters and they also eat them – the oysters, I mean. I, for one, have not acquired the taste for raw/uncooked fresh oysters with a squeeze of lime and the only way that I like them is as or chian (oyster omelette).

This is one of my favourite hawker delicacy in Penang and according to my friends in the island republic, when it comes to hawker food, one would find the best at the stalls in the oldest, darkest, not very pleasant looking coffee shops like this one…

It was Eugene who took us here where there was this man…

…who, according to Eugene, cooked the best or chian in town…

It was nice and in fact, they ordered a second plate after we were through with this one…

I felt it was fine but somehow, I was not really crazy over it. Probably it was because he had taken us for Hailam lor mee not too long before that…so I was still quite full at the time. As for the Hailam lor mee, it was pretty good, but I prefer the one at the stall I usually patronise here in  Sibu which definitely had little or no Hainanese influence and the gravy was not so thick or gooey…

Anyway, back to the or chian, my friend, Eng, took us to this place called Northam Court and among the many things he ordered for us to relish was this…

Again, it was pretty good but somehow it did not drive me crazy either, despite the size of the oysters.

All in all, I think the or chian that I liked the most was the one at Red Garden, the hawker centre somewhere across the road from Cititel Penang where I was staying…

I think it tasted better…and I loved the chilli dip that came with the dish.

Anyway, as always, “one man’s meat is another man’s poison” and unlike what the English proverb says, what’s good for the goose may not be good for the gander…