Also known as "Bean Sprouts Chicken", Ipoh's famed "Tauge Ayam" was another lip-smacking draw of that city other than the famed “Ipoh White Coffee” and other local dishes such as "Sar Hor Fun", "Hor Hee", "Nga Choi Kay", and "Hakka Mee". That mouthwatering dish was composed of steamed chicken topped with sliced onion leeks that came with a side dish set of bean sprouts, flat noodle soup, rice, and pork barbecue (char siew).
Tasting Ipoh's Signature Dish: The Savory Spell of Tauge Ayam at Restoran Onn Kee
Hawker Culture at Jalan Yau Tet Shin
Following the usual traveler’s habit of discovering the local cuisine first and foremost upon arriving in a new city, we rolled into the area of Jalan Yau Tet Shin—a known hawker street in Ipoh—to satisfy what Ipoh’s gastronomic culture could offer.
Upon stepping out of our bus, I immediately saw the row of different restaurants, all marketing their versions of Tauge Ayam. Each seemed to follow a format of [name of the restaurant] + Tauge Ayam. So anywhere one ended up taking a seat, they were sure not to escape the savory spell of Ipoh’s signature dish.
Our group, comprising fellow travel writers and vloggers along with our hosts from Stratworks and Cebu Pacific Air and our tour guide, occupied two tables inside Restoran Onn Kee Tauge Ayam—said to be the best one in the neighborhood.
The Open-Air Kitchen Symphony
The vibe of Onn Kee reminded me of the modest joints in Binondo—or what one could describe as a typical Chinese restaurant—with an open-air dining area so adjacent to the kitchen that you could hear every cook yelling commands to each other.
The best part about it was watching the cook chop the fresh chicken, red chilies, scallions, and other meat and vegetables right in front of us with gusto. At each drop of the dicing knife, we could smell the aroma emitting from the various ingredients.
As if on cue, the staff started serving various side dishes before finally bringing out the much-raved Tauge Ayam (Bean Sprouts Chicken), filling the oblong-shaped melamine plates with an appearance of tastiness and tenderness.
An Enhanced Adaptation of Hainanese Tradition
Tauge Ayam was basically a version of Hainanese Chicken made more flavorful through added twists from generations of Ipoh's best kitchen masters. It was served with hacked chicken parts of mostly breast and thigh over a thick sauce, topped with chopped scallions and chilies, and paired with crunchy bean sprouts.
While the main star of our table was the Tauge Ayam, the other supporting dishes like the Sar Hor Fun (flat noodles), Pork Char Siew, Pork and Fish Balls, and Ipoh Egg Tart did not disappoint.
Tauge Ayam was a simple chicken dish, and while it would not become my go-to food when craving some of Ipoh’s culinary offerings (my money would be on the Pork Char Siew), it afforded me another reason to like Chicken Hainanese—which I used to find too bland for my taste. At least with Ipoh’s version of the Tauge Ayam, there was enough flavor to go around satisfying my taste buds.
