Daily: Sekinchan Road Trip

So, for New Year's Day, we did something different this year! We went on a roadtrip to the famous Sekinchan. Sekinchan is a small town located in Selangor and is a major rice producing area. Therefore, this place has been attracting tourists for its beautiful scenery of green paddy fields. However, when we went yesterday, it was unfortunate because the paddy were just harvested leaving only small areas of green and majority of the other area was brown in colour.

Sekinchan may be famous for its paddy fields but what led us to this small, little gem is its fresh seafood. Many may not know that Sekinchan is also a fishing village and for those seafood lovers, this is the place to be!

So, we headed out pretty early in the morning and reached Sekinchan by 9 AM. Our first stop for brunch was Cha Po Tion Restaurant. It is located at the row of seafood restaurants but it's completely easy to miss due to its signboard which was hidden behind a tree. We placed our order based on recommendations by Jason and waited for about 20 minutes before we were served.

Spicy Sour Vermicelli

This was really good and the noodles are much smoother than the usual vermicelli. It has salty pickled vegetables (ham choy), tomatoes, fish slices and fishball in this. Some parsley was added to bring out the taste of the soup. I liked this very much because of the combination of both sour and spicy at the same time. Flavorful broth with bouncy fishballs!

Superior Soup Lala with Ginger (Xiong Tong Lala)

I love clams (lala) cooked in literally any style possible. The lala served here are extremely fresh and is definitely of different grade, considering the orange-yellow colour of the flesh. It is also smaller in size compared to the ones in Kuala Lumpur. But, the sweetness of the lala is complimented by the ginger and this is just heavenly.

Baby Shark Soup

In terms of taste, this is pretty similar to the broth for the vermicelli which I have mentioned previously. This is perfect to eat with rice and the fish meat was tender while the fishball was very bouncy as well.

Deep Fried Calamari

Yummy calamari coated with a layer of batter and fried to golden brown! This is really crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Great to be eaten with rice or just as a snack on its own.

Our bill came out to a total of RM 100. It was a steal with the fresh seafood at such a cheap price.

We then headed to the beach (Pantai Redang) and walked along the seaside. There is a temple by the beach and a wishing tree as well. It is believed that if you write down your wishes and hang it on this particular tree, they will really come true.

I managed to grab a shot here although it was filled with people. I was happy because the cloth which I used to write my wishes got caught on the tree on my first try :) Hope my wishes really do come true HAHA.

After the beach, we headed to the paddy museum and the rice factory. Well, it was informative and we got to learn a little on the paddy harvesting process.

Green paddy fields as far as the eye can see. Just joking, this was just a part of the fields which were still kind of green. I took this shot while being chased by a rain cloud. As you can see, the sky is pretty dark and trust me, a storm was approaching but I insisted that I definitely need to take a selfie at this famous paddy fields. 

Close up of a paddy plant.

We were done by 3 PM and trust me, all of us were already hungry by then. It was time to fill the tummy and we drove to Sungai Janggut Seafood Restaurant for our early dinner. Thanks Jason for the recommendation too.

'Kam Heong' Bamboo Shoots

The meaning of 'kam heong' translates roughly to golden fragrance. One word to describe this dish is flavorful! The meat was juicy and super large, like never before. Such generous servings of bamboo shoots. The sauce made from dried shrimps and garlic was so fragrant and its satisfying enough for me to just have the sauce mixed with white rice for a meal.

Coconut Tomyam Prawns

This dish was served in both a coconut shell and the soup in a large bowl. The tomyam prawns were cooked with the coconut water for the extra sweetness and to preserve the authenticity of tomyam. Sweet and tangy at the same time, this dish is sure to tickle your tastebuds! 

Pork Knuckle 

You can't find pork knuckle in their menu, instead, it is written as Germany pig foot. Anyway, the skin was crisp and I was amazed with the large portion of the pork knuckle. The traditional pork knuckle is served with sauerkraut and potatoes but here, it is served with a special dipping sauce.

Steamed Crabs

Glorious crabs, steamed with wine and soy sauce. The steamed eggs at the bottom of the crabs were too salty though. Otherwise, the crab was fresh and the crab roe were a taste of heaven. I'm not a big fan of crabs, but I would say this was one of the freshest I've ever tasted.

And, this marks the end of the gastronomical adventure on New Year's Day. I would definitely return to Sekinchan for the seafood which are cheap and fresh. For those who would like to try the food, here are the addresses of this place:

Cha Po Tion Restaurant

9990B, Jalan Bagan Sekinchan, Sekinchan, 45400 Kuala Selangor

Sungai Janggut Seafood Restaurant

Lot 139A, Batu 15, Jalan Bagan, Sungai Janggut, 42200 Kapar, Selangor

03-3250 2558 / 010-225 2558