Pork Satay @ Thean Chun Coffee Shop, Ipoh

Need a porky place to satisfy the barbecue itch that you are having? 

Crowded lunch haunt

Located near Concubine Street, Thean Chun (天津)  is a very easy place to spot. Famous for its chicken broth rice noodles (kai si hor fun), it has always been a checkpoint to many a tourist's food radar. They were closed for that day when I went. However, undeterred in making my trip worth while, I followed the scent of charcoal to the end of the shop. At the back was a stall prepping and selling satay.

Grilling on the way

It seems that other than the usual pieces of pork that is in store, uterus was on the menu. Looking at that bizarre option, I easily got myself a few sticks. I have had organ meat on a stick before, like gizzards, livers, intestines and tripe. Uterus was never my radar and this will be the first time having it. Gotta live an adventure once in a while eh? Both versions of the skewered morsel was RM 1 per stick. 

Lunch is served

The first thing that caught my eye when the food arrive were not the skewers, but rather the sauce. it was loaded with nuts and was slightly sweet. It is savoury and thick as well. Unlike the Malaccan version, which as some sour tones due to the addition of pineapple, the sauce here is similar to the Malay version of the sauce. 

The usual suspect

The meat itself is great. It is quite tough as it is the loin of pork, different than the belly of pork from other porky satay places. That does not mean it is any less tasty. There is great texture and the meat was marinated well. I think the loin is a good change of pace although some people might not like it as you would need more effort in chowing it down. I for one enjoyed it.

The uterus. Also, look at how nutty the cause is. 

Then came the uterus. It was surprisingly crunchy with texture similar to chicken gizzards. It was very hard to describe the flavour though. It tastes a bit like intestine, but then it is not as "dense" smelling, lack of a better word. It is peculiar, yet tasty. If you are not a fan of organ meat, you can skip this. 

The kopi tiam does sell other food items as well. But as the other dishes were quite generic like the chee cheong fun, it did not make it into blog. The satay itself is not too bad but I would still prefer the ones I can get in Malacca. The marinade is flavourful and you can identify the spices, but it lacks a depth of flavour from what I usually get behind my Gran's. Still, this is a good place to get a barbecue fix and I enjoyed what I ordered. So if you are in Ipoh and you need to be a bit carnivorous, the address is as follows:

73 ,Jalan Bandar Timah, 

30000 Ipoh