IPOH: The city’s trademark taugeh (bean sprout) chicken restaurants in Jalan Theatre here are closing early due to the poultry supply shortage.

       Lou Leong Ipoh Chicken shop owner Jess Neoh said that prior to the shortage, she used to open from 10am to 9pm.

       “However, I have been operating from 9am to 6pm over the past two weeks.

       “Before this, I used to order about 60 chickens daily, but now, I am lucky if I can get 10 per day.

       “For the past one week, I have not got any from my regular supplier,” she said when met at her shop.

       Neoh also sells various biscuits and, for now, she would be selling these items only.

       “I have been doing takeaways since the movement control order started.

       “The 10 chickens a day that I get are sold out in less than an hour, so I don’t see the need to open longer than that,” she said.

       Ong Kee Restaurant owner Cheng Sow Keong said on normal days, he used to get about 200 chickens daily, but now he only gets 80.

       He said that prior to the shortage, he used to close shop at 11pm but in the last few weeks, he would stopped operating by 3pm sometimes.

       “After selling all the chickens, there is no need to remain open. Outstation visitors have been coming over and returning disappointed when they don’t get to savour the dish,” he said.

       Aun Kheng Lim salted chicken shop manager Lim Dao Kang said the supply of chickens had dropped by about 20%.

       He said they used kampung (free-range) chickens to make the dish but due to the shortage of normal chickens, many other outlets were also resorting to kampung chickens now.

       “So suppliers are unable to give us our regular supply of kampung chickens.

       “Currently, our ‘vacuum chickens’ (frozen) are all sold out as we do not have enough stock to prepare in advance,” he added.

       Ipoh’s taugeh is the king of bean sprouts in the country, and the city’s supply comes mainly from Buntong.

       Many attribute the bean sprouts’ quality to limestone formations in the vicinity and the naturally occurring underground mineral water.

       The famed taugeh chicken is actually blanched bean sprouts served with steamed chicken and rice or hor fun.