The Famous Ipoh Beansprouts

Many things had changed since I left Ipoh in 2001. It has indeed been a very memorable childhood to me right up to high school. I left Ipoh to pursue my tertiary education in Subang Jaya and have lived in Selangor ever since until today. Almost every classmate I knew had left Ipoh. Most of them are now working in KL and some of them are overseas. It's true what they said about Ipoh - only the very young and much older people live there.

I think it's a very nice place to retire. There's a good variety of delicious food, places are nearby and you don't need to go on a highway to get to the city centre. Basically the pace of life is much slower compared to big cities like KL.

Although they have more buildings, new highways and residential areas, the food scene in Ipoh is pretty much the same. You can still get very good and succulent beansprouts there!



See, if you want to enjoy a good plate of beansprouts and chicken in KL, you'll need to do some searching but if you're in Ipoh, almost all outlets serves the fat and juicy beansprouts. That's why you always hear people saying that Ipoh has the best beansprouts! It's afterall the pride of the city.

These mung beansprouts are germinated by leaving them watered with 4 hours of daytime light and spending the rest of the day in the dark. Bean sprouts are grown hydroponically and therefore the most important element here is of course the water. The water in Ipoh is relatively mineral-rich (high alkali content) owing to its location on top of a large karstic formation, which makes the food especially tasty.

Beansprouts soaked in water in tanks made of stone

From what I knew, underground water is drawn from the wells in the sprout farm, about 20 feet (6.1 meters) deep which is iron-rich and perfect for growing the beansprouts. This is not surprising as Ipoh is surrounded by rich limestone hills where the water is rich in minerals. And that is why the beansprouts here are juicy and plump compared to the ones you get in KL. Don't you notice the girls in Ipoh are fairer and prettier?!! hehe...

Pasar Besar Ipoh

I usually get the fresh beansprouts at the Ipoh market which is called Pasar Besar Ipoh located in the city center on Jalan Datuk Onn Jaafar. The wet market for vegetables is located on the ground floor and the stall to get the beansprouts is on the side of Jalan Foo Choo Choon. For RM1, you can get a big bag of beansprouts where you can feed more than 10 people!

They say the best beansprouts come from Buntong ("mun tong" in cantonese) and that is why the locals would go to the Buntong wet market to buy the beansprouts, I think the ones here in Pasar Besar Ipoh is just as good.



Growing beansprouts is definitely not the most profitable business as the returns are quite low if you compared to other vegetables. However, it's the volume that keeps these farmers going. I fear that one day, the new generation would not want to do this anymore and we may not have any good beansprouts to feast on!

Even the tofu is extra smooth. 3 for only RM1...

I really like the wet market in Ipoh as you can get so many different types of vegetables, herbs and spices here for a fraction of price in KL. The wet market is abuzz with locals and especially housewives shopping for fresh vegetables and meat for their cooking. I used to hang out at this market when my grandma runs her hawker stall here. I remembered I had a gf whose mom was selling vegetables but I lost touch with her after I went to high school.

It sure brought back memories when I visited the market a week ago when I was in Ipoh. Nothing much has changed about the market. It's only the people.

For a good bowl of chicken and beansprouts noodles, you can pay a visit to this shop which is just around the corner of the market.