LOR BAK – PENANG’S OWN MEAT ROLLS
Article and Photos by Helen Ong

This old favourite is often ordered to complement a meal, to add extra protein to what can be an otherwise meatless dish. Alternatively, it is a delicious light snack on its own.

Pieces of chicken or pork and minced turnip are seasoned in ngor yong hoon (five-spice powder) and other ingredients, then wrapped in soft beancurd skin and deep-fried. It is typically served with toothpicks which you use to dip the sliced rolls into the two sauces which accompanies it: a starchy dark sauce thickened with tapioca or corn flour, and a spicy red chilli to give it a kick. It’s full flavoured and tasty, but the trick is to get it, together with both sauces, to your mouth without leaving a trace of it on the table and down your shirtfront!

 Lor bak (or lobak) is traditionally accompanied by crispy prawn fritters and fried tau kua (firm bean curd), although nowadays many other ingredients are offered with it: frankfurters and Taiwanese sausages, black century eggs and battered fish amongst others, together with a few slices of cucumber.

It’s available in many kopitiams (coffee shops), and some lor bak stalls have become institutions in Penang, having been making and selling this perennial delight for decades. Others are well into their second or third generation, and a few are so well known that they are often asked to take their culinary skills to Penang food fairs all over Malaysia and Asia.