Today, I revisited the Food Place food court, located at Pavilion Mall. The food court is located beside the Oriental Kopi Restaurant.
This time, I ordered Yam Rice with steam herbal chicken from the BM Yam Rice stall, which cost RM19.90 per set. BM here stand for Bukit Mertajam.
This set meal is a comforting and balanced combination, rooted in northern Malaysian Hokkien–Teochew heritage cuisine.
The Yam Rice is cooked with dried prawns, soy sauce, garlic, and shallots, giving it a deep, savoury fragrance and slight umami smokiness. A piece of yam (taro) is added into the rice, which softens during cooking and infuses its subtle earthiness into each grain. Yam is a traditional staple in Chinese home cooking, often used to bulk up meals and provide a creamy texture.
The Herbal Chicken is steamed and simmered with Chinese red dates, wolfberries (goji berries), ginger, and black fungus, creating a naturally sweet and aromatic broth. This reflects the tradition of Chinese medicinal soups, believed to warm the body and replenish energy.
The Braised Side Dish Includes soy-braised egg and tofu puff in dark herbal soy gravy, providing a stronger savoury balance to the lighter herbal chicken.
The dish is then balanced by a bowl of sour preserved vegetable soup (kiam chai th’ng). The soup, made with mustard greens and preserved vegetables, has a tangy, refreshing taste.
Yam Rice (芋头饭) is a Hokkien–Teochew speciality, brought by migrants from Fujian and Chaoshan to Malaysia. In the past, yam was a cheap, filling crop. Combining it with dried prawns and soy sauce turned simple rice into something hearty and fragrant. Bukit Mertajam (BM), Penang, is known for its famous yam rice, typically served with kiam cai soup and pork offal dishes. BM Yam Rice restaurants continue this heritage, adapting it for modern food courts.
In Short, this set meal is a Penang Hokkien comfort food, modernised for city dining — earthy yam rice, tangy preserved vegetable soup, and herbal chicken that balances flavour with health.
