On the 5th of March we were invited to review a newly establish specialty shop that sells everything(almost) about beef. The invitation was extended by Steve through Steven Goh to us to try out the beef steamboat and other dishes that focus on beef as the main ingredient. If coming from Jalan Tan Sri Teh Ewe Lim or the Jelutong Police Station to Perak Road, the shop is on the right hand side just a few hundred meters from the junction. Before we began digging into the prepare food, we shared some small talk and we found out that the owner of this Kang Beef House is somewhat related to the other Beef Noodle stalls that we have wrote about previously. There was also an Mandarin version that was written by Gill.
The star attraction for the night was their beef theme steam boat. But if you are dining alone or light, there are also other choices to choose from. The steamboat is priced at RM20 per head count with a minimum order for 2 persons, and it includes ‘牛腱’( tenderloin, muscle or shank meat), brisket, tripes, tendons, 2 types of beef balls, thinly sliced beef, Chinese Lettuce and Enoki mushroom.
We have been having this cut of beef in our daily beef noodles, and yet I have yet to find out its true name. Some call it tenderloin, I though is part of the shank or muscle section due to the existence of the transparent gel type casing. But in Cantonese it is call 牛腱 or ‘ngau jin’ (腱子肉是大腿上的肌肉，有肉膜包裹的，内藏筋，硬度适中，纹路规则). Anyway, the meat is tender and the gel type casing gives it a smooth and springy texture after it has been poached in the the accompanying beefy soup.
Another meaty side dish is portion from the bell which can either come from the brisket, plate or flank area. This meaty portion would contain meat fats and some tendons, thus the texture is slightly chewy and flavorful due to the fats. In Cantonese this part is call 牛腩 or ‘ngau lam’ in general (即牛腹部及靠近牛肋处的松软肌肉)
Another side dish is the beef tripe. The tripe is usually made from the rumen (smooth tripe) and the reticulum (honeycomb and pocket tripe). These two tripes forms the series of 3 stomachs chanbers. Taste wise is slightly blend and texture is crunchy and slight chewy.
Another body ‘parts’ that we had was the beef tendon or 牛筋. It is firm and rubbery, but after poaching it turns to a soft and slight slimy texture, like firm Jello. Taste is also blend.
Then there the bovines’ balls. It is actually beef meat ball made the Chinese way. There are 2 type on the plate, the darker colored balls have a tastier and beefy taste but rougher on texture; and the pale color balls are slightly blend but finer and crunchier on texture.
Then there is the thinly sliced beef fillets. The thickness is standard, thus one does not need to poach it for too long. I my prefer the slices with the egg, but it is there to give it additional smoothness. When the egg was introduced into the soup,it changes the taste of the otherwise light and beefy soup into a sweeter and eggy pot of soup.
Our Beef Steamboat experience:
2.5/5 for value (assuming the portion that we had were for six persons and per pax is RM20, it is equitable)
2.7/5 for taste & texture (darker beef balls and the tendon was my favourite)
Beef Koay Teow at Kang Beef House goes at RM6, 8, 10, 12, and RM15 for serving size. The soup stock is similar to the steamboats, but without the reddish and Chinese pickled vegetables(咸菜). The one we shared was the largest serving size (RM15).
Our Beef Koay Teow experience:
2.4/5 for value (slightly out of my means)
2.8/5 for taste & texture (taste better then some of my previous experiences in other places, plus there was less contamination of taste by the noodles)
Actually the steamboat session began, were introduced to a few fried and deep fried items that they serve. We began with the Crystal Beef Fried Rice. there was sufficient wok sear and the rice was individual and the had an infusion of the beefy taste. In addition to the soft gluteny pearls, there were also crispy bits of deep fried rice which gave an additional texture. The beef slice in this rice dish was tender and glistening with juices.
Our Crystal Beef Fried Rice with Beef Ball Soup experience:
2.5/5 for value (RM12.50 for fried rice is a bit on the high side for me, but with beef balls and soup it may be worthwhile) (we did not see the portioning of the beef balls)
2.9/5 for taste & texture (good wok searing and tender beef slices maintain their juices)
Stir Fried Beef with Black Pepper sauce has serving sizes ranging from small at RM15 to big at RM28. Texture of the beef slices were soft and tender and the sauce was not overwhelming to many. But I personally do not like heavy a sauce that will cover the natural flavor of the main ingredient. The accompanying capsicum and chili was still crunchy and firm.
Our Stir Fry Black-pepper Beef experience:
2.7/5 for value
2.8/5 for taste & texture
Their version of Crispy Beef Balls was the only deep fried dish that we had the whole night. Each beef meat ball individually encased in crispy golden brown croutons.
Our Crispy Beef Ball experience:
2.9/5 for value
2.9/5 for taste & texture (Crispy outer shell and tender soft meaty chunks in side)
Address: 474, Jalan Jelutong, Penang, Malaysia, 11600
To sum up our experience at Kang Beef House:
Taste & Texture: 3.0/5 (average with room to improve)
Money Value : 2.9/5 (may need to look at the portioning of the steamboat and beef noodles)
Service: 2.5/5
Cleanliness: 3.5/5 (still new, lets wait and see)
Atmosphere: 2.4/5 (noise from the busy traffic and the hot and humid feeling from too many burners turned on)
Most probably I would return for their beef koay teow, Crispy Beef Balls, Crystal Beef Fried Rice, and Dry Stir Fried Hor Fun with beef slice.
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酥脆炸云吞
弹牙十足的鸭蛋面条
看那大虾!
