This Chee Yuk Fun Place in Lintas Plaza Kota Kinabalu has my Good Old Taste Vote

RESTAURANT JIA SIANG

LOT 1-0, GRD FLOOR, LORONG 3, LINTAS PLAZA RING ROAD 88300 KOTA KINABALU

CONTACT:Lai Siong Fatt 0168303435 & Jenny Ng Siew Chen 0138302435

Hello! I am back blogging about food. Surprise surprise! I had stopped for two years now because there is nothing on the dining table I ate that reminds me of good old mother/grandmother or aunty's cooking until now.
The above deserves opening the password to blog again. Hopefully, food fans will pick this up because  it is not going to remain forever as the helpers are local ethnic Sabahans.
Jia Siang serves chee yuk fun KL style in Kota Kinabalu. But in Kota Kinabalu, it is called Sang Yuk Mian(Hakka dialect). See picture and it will remind you of chee yuk fun of yesteryears because the soup contains minute particles/grains of meat oozing out of the sliced pork, liver, intestine or stomach when they are cooked in the soup. You actually see the soup having rich essence of the pork meat or organs oozing out their flavours.
Surprisingly, none of these flavours are over powering one another. And the best part, the soup is not to heavy that you cannot drink the entire serving the bowl. The sweetness coming from the meat, no sugar or MSG taste or other bones to make it sweet. Just enough good quality fresh meat.
I can't find this experience anymore not even from the two stalls in Bricksfield KL.(Peter)
Like the Bricksfield ones, each bowl is individually cooked and garnished with pork fritters. The soup is however not heavy on sauces(at least I did not taste soya sauce). Seems like it is just lightly salted no sugar.
Jia Siang offers this main dish with dried rice flour, egg noodles or rice vercimilli. They are mixed into black sauce and topped with minced pork and pork fritters. I however find the sauce on the sweet side unlike those in KL.
There are side dishes like yong tow foo, brinjal stuffed with pork paste, tow foo pok stuffed with pork paste, fried swee kow, pork tendon balls and pork ball stuffed with minced pork.
All very porky stuff I discovered at this suburban neighbourhood in Lintas Kota Kinabalu.
My wife and I ordered  a set of kon lou egg noodle and its signature pork soup mixed with liver, intestines and pork balls. I also ordered a bowl of pork tendon balls. The pork tendon balls were classic old world style. It was not hard or soft just the right texture to sink between the teeth. It exudes ginger taste, the bite has the restraint of pig tendons and the pork flavour most of all does not have smell/flavour we find these days when we eat roast pork belly.
Why good old taste? it is cooked using fresh meat, no additional ingredients like bones or chicken stock, sugar or msg to make it sweet. It does not require sauces to bring out the flavour, only salt is likely added. More importantly, the meat was cut perpendicular to the grain which makes the meat soft and smooth. The liver was also cut perfectly and it makes the piece not thick and not hard when your teeth sink into it. Many do not like to eat liver because of the taste and the weird feeling when the teeth sink into it. You may change your mind after you try this. As for the intestines, they are well cleaned, no bitter taste after you bit a piece and it is not tough to bite and break up easily when you bite it.
It was 2.30pm when we arrived and it was full. The restaurant was still full on that Sunday we were there and crowd continute to come when we left.
The crowd was not just locals but Hong Kong and China tourist brought there by locals? or how did they find this out? from Daniel Wong's food blog?

GOOD OLD DIM SUM NOT FOUND IN KL BUT BRISBANE

My trip to Australia in March/April 2012  has been well rewarded with good old tasting dim sum in Brisbane. I am deeply surprised that old style dim sum is still available in this part of the world which many people would conjure offering fusion Asian food. I have not been impressed with Chinese food in Brisbane until I set foot inside Shangri-la Restaurant at Market Square, Shop1,309 Mains Street, Sunnybank, Queenland 4109. My son's friend , a HongKonger recommended to my son who brought me to this restaurant which is  about 45 minutes by bus from the Brisbane CBD.

The food here is well worth the journey and unmatch all those Chinese restaurants at Chinatown in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane.

What drew me to put this up on my blog knowing that many of my readers may not be able to visit this restaurant is that I can find good old taste, taste of the 70's to mid 80's here in Brisbane. The taste of old fashion dim sum. My memory tells me that Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun must not be marshy, firm to hold using the chopsticks, firm when one bites into it but not hard to bite. Of course, it must not break when held by a pair of chopstick( by someone who knows how to use chopstick correctly).Next, my memory recalled that the same texture for Har Gow when I bit into one at this restaurant. I believe producing good and firm texture for Chee Cheong Fun and Har Gow are lost skill if you try recollecting how often your chopsticks have to prick into Har Gow in order to pick up this food item or having a hard time preventing parts of the dim sum from falling before it reaches the mouth.

The next surprise for my memory is the filling inside the Chee Cheong Fun and Har Gow. It contains winter bamboo shoots. I cannot recollect having eaten one in Malaysia for the past 10 years. This applies to my Hong Kong dim sum adventures in the past five years. Most restaurants fill Har Gow with turnips instead of winter bamboo shoots. I cannot recall any restaurant filling Chee Cheong Fun with winter bamboo shoots. Only Teluk Anson Chee Cheong Fun has turnips and mushrooms fillings.

Finally, the chilly sauce was also a surprise when I requested for chilly oil. The sauce reminds me of yesteryears dim sum/ yum cha restaurants such as Lai Cheong, in front of the old Central Market in Kuala Lumpur. From the color you would notice it is not the clear, translucent type of chilly sauce which many dim sum restaurants offer now.

The texture of the Chee Cheong Fun, and Har Gow, the filling using winter bamboo shoots and the old style chilly sauce make this dim sum meal truly old style, old world and my good old taste of the '70s.
What do you have to say?Besides Chee Cheong Fun, the Hsiao Loong Pao dough is also kneaded lightly. What raises the skill level of the chef was the smaller than usual Hsiao Loong Pao still had good balance of soup and meat and the soup does not easily leak. Another good dim sum is beef ball which is tender and soung. A rare item is lai sar pao

Back to this obscure restaurant in the suburb but well patronised by Hong Kongers', I find the pricing to be very competitive and at least 30% less than those in Brisbane CBD.

One another occasion, I had dinner at this restaurant and ordered a plate of mud crab fried with ginger and spring onion and topped with yee meen(cantonese dried noodles). Mud crabs in Australia are much bigger than those found locally. The wok hei was excellent and the flavours of the crab exuded nicely into the noodles. The second dish I had was steamed baby abalone with spring onion and finely chopped ginger. The third dish was kai lan fried likely with garlic. The vegetable was crispy and tender and sweet. The meal came with free soup of the day; dried lettuce leaves boiled with carrot and meat bone, fruits and water chestnut foo chuk sweet. The bill came up to AUD 84.00. well worth it. In Hong Kong the same meal would certainly cost more.

AN OLD RESIDENT AND SCHOOL FRIEND IS LOOKING FOR HER FAVOURITE PRAWN MEE IN PUDU

PENANG STYLE OR KL STYLE PRAWN MEE ?

Restoran Tong Fong Prawn Mee(behind SEAPARK KFC)

Lean Gaik Prawn Mee

TWO BOWLS OF PENANG PRAWN MEE PREPARED BY PENANGITES AND SERVED IN KL.

A long time KL friend came back with her husband, an Ang Moh and both planned toenjoy her favourite Prawn Mee of yesteryears in Pudu, a stall located a few doors away from a TNB shop along Jalan Pudu. That was two months ago but to their disappointment, the stall has changed owners. No longer would you see the crowd sweating it out in the coffee shed where the stall operates from or by the roadside pavement. I was told the owner of the famous Prawn Mee (Weng Kee)of 20 history has retired.

For those who know this famous Prawn Mee which serves what I call the KL style of prawn mee, the soup being darker and the chilly flavour more subdued, and who miss its offering, don't fret, I have discovered its new business premise. The new outlet is called Madam Chong's Prawn Noodle House and its address, 22 Dinasti Sentral, Jalan Kuchai Maju 19, Off Jalan Kuchai Lama, 58200 Kuala Lumpur(0192247895).

Madam Chong's  Prawn Mee

I tasted its standard serving and topped it with its popular pork meatballs. My first reaction; it is not quite like what I used to remember it to be. The soup seems to have  shell like taste and not  much prawn taste.Probably its method of extracting the prawn flavour has changed from the conventional pounding of the prawn shells to grinding the shells? The pork meatballs is still as good as before, chewy and flavourful.
Do try it and let me have your view. I am not really a fan of this prawn mee.
My favourite KL style prawn mee is Restoran Tan Kee which operates from a shop along Jalan Pahang, next door to a Goodyear Tyre shop about two kilometers from Tawakal Hospital. This vendor's soup is more flavourful and its serving can be topped up with pork ribs and not pork meatballs. You can also opt for larger prawns for a price. Unfortunately, the soup is oily but you would have to trade off  the oil for more prawn fragrance.
What is prawn mee if the prawn flavour is not strong enough.
If you prefer a strong prawn flavour with less oil, you would have to opt for Penang style prawn mee which in Penang is called Hokkien Mee(this is different from the KL black mee.)
This type of prawn mee used to be very popular in PJ especially in SS2 where many Penangites have their homes. Remember Lim Kee prawn mee which have a few stalls in coffee shops around SS2, the remaining one operating from Restoran Chow Yang.
Today, it is still at the same coffee shop although the ownership of the coffee shop has changed. Restoran O & S at Paramount Garden PJ also has good prawn mee Penang style . Both serve their prawn mee with extras such as pork ribs and intestines.
In PJ New Town, the coffee shop next to UOB Bank is also popular and this stall has been around in the PJ New Town area for about 40 years,
In OUG, Restoran Ong Lay also has a popular prawn mee and the operator learned it, I was told  from his relatives from Taiping.Both these operators serve basic prawn mee with half a hard boiled egg without pork ribs, meatballs or intestines. The earlier operator will provide crispy pork lard when requested.

the stall at Restoran Ong Lay in OUG.

a bowl of Prawn Mee at Restoran Ong Lay. Notice the soup is ligther and redder than the KL type.

Still, I am bias towards prawn mee served by Penangites. They are good at balancing the right amount of prawn flavour and chilly with each not dominating the other. A good bowl of prawn mee would be one which you would drink up all the soup! My vote goes to Restoran Tong Fong and Lean Gaik Prawn Mee House. The earlier is operated by an old couple who have been operating in the SEA Park area for quite sometime now. They also serve Penang curry mee and Kway Teow Th'ng. The prawn mee is basic and wholesome. The soup is not so hot that it will deter you from drinking up the soup. Crispy pork lard is also available on request. They operate from morning till lunch time.
As for Lean Gaik, it is operated by the son of the family which operates Lean Gaik in Butterworth Chai Leng Park. For those of you from Penang, yes this is the famous Chai Leng Park prawn mee. It has opened a branch in KL. A friend from Penang whom I brought to test the prawn mee, affirmed that it is up to his mark. It also offers pork ribs and large prawns as extras. Crispy pork lard also available on request.
Here's the address; Block B-G-2A, Jalan Metro Perdana 2, Taman Usahawan Kepong, Kepong Utara, 52100 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 03-62578323. They are open till night.
Well! to all those who left KL a long time ago, GOOD OLDTIMES  prawn mee is still not totally lost in KL. As for those from Penang, let me know if the last to choices can check your desire to drive home to Penang for your prawn mee fix in the short run???

WHERE ARE THE RESTAURANTS OUR PARENTS HELD THEIR WEDDING DINNERS?

Remember Kum Leng Restaurant,Teochew Restaurant, Pitt Yau Thin Restaurant and Sek Yuen Restaurant at  Jalan Pudu Kuala Lumpur. Today only Sek Yuen Restaurant is still open for business. Those of us born in the sixties or earlier would recall attending wedding dinners at these restaurants.  Our parents may have held their wedding dinners at one of these restaurants.

I drove past Teochew Restaurant today and noticed that it is no longer open for business and nostalgia for good old fashion wedding dishes came to my mind. Do you recall eating " cold chicken" ie boiled chicken kept inside gelatin and then iced; a centre piece on the cold platter, an opening dish during wedding dinners.? (remember to ask for mustard sauce to dip the chicken with)What about sharkfins fried with eggs and crab meat which is eaten with fresh lettuce?(black vinegar is important to bring out the flavour) or eight treasure duck?

I had the pleasure of enjoying these good old dishes with my classmates at Sek Yuen. Here, the management are already in their sixties. The cooks still use firewood to cook and you have the option to enjoy these nostalgic dishes either is air condition comfort or at the old world section where giant fans and wooden chairs and tables greet the diners.Sek Yuen operates from two restaurants which are located next to each otther but separated by a lane.

Other old style dishes which are popular are pei par duck, char siew, fried spring roll, cantonese fried kuey teow (they still include gizzards, liver and pig stomach as part of the ingredient). You can also try the yam basket and the sweet and sour pork if you choose to have rice to complete your meal. The restaurant serves two types of soup; a fish head soup (which is herbal- a lot of tong kuai and kei chi) or a watered down fatt thieu cheong- also known as buddha jump over the wall.

On this visit, I ordered the cold chicken, eight treasure duck, fried sharksfin with crab meat in egg omellette, white chinese cabbage with dried scallops, and fish head soup.The dishes go well with steam rice. The cook was not heavy with salt and msg hangover was not perceived. Whilst I have tasted better quality cooking in the past, I must give  a big tick to the chef as the taste is close to what I can remember when eating these same dishes at weddings in the seventies and early eighties.The "wok hei" strong heat from firewood heating up the wok to give the flavour is still present in the cooking to make the claim of "good old taste"

Do head to this restaurant before the old cooks call it a day!

Address: 313 & 315 Jalan Pudu Kuala Lumpur . Tel:03-92220903 Enjoy!

"Good Old Taste" and Hokkien Mee I Know

I had reservations when I decided to post this blog. I have concerns; would it become just another one of the many in the blogsphere, will there be many readers who share my interest and views, what value could I add to the many food blogs in the blogsphere.

To those who know me, I am a food connoisseur. I am particular who cooks the food, the environment,ingredients, the background of the food operator/restaurant owner and chef.

Price is not the main criteria, taste, flavour,quality and authentic skills are more important. I would make the extra effort to seek these food operators/restaurants when I hear or read of them. Distance and time do not matter. Most important is satisfaction after enjoying the food and a majority who enjoyed it are in agreement.

To lay claim to these criteria, the chefs/food operators would have many years experience and many would have handed down their business to their children or grandchildren or their assistant chefs. Hence, "Good Old Taste"

What would be my first blog then?

Of course, Hokkien mee......big fat fried with black sauce and oozing with lard and .....

I am not talking about the Hokkien mee at the lane next to Lai Foong coffee shop at Jalan Tun Cheng Lock, Kuala Lumpur or the stall at the corner of Jalan Hang Lekir and Jalan Petaling, Kuala Lumpur. It is also not AhHwa(back of Shell Station) at Jalan 222/Jalan 14/48 corner, Petaling Jaya or the stall - Ah Wah at Millennium Sixty Eight Restaurant, previously called Pak Lok at Jalan 20/16 in Paramount Gardens, Petaling Jaya.

Reason: all these stalls cook a style which leaves a layer of oil on the plate after you clean up the plate of noodles. The stall I now introduce is Nam Kee......How many of you know this place at 3rd mile, Jalan Kuari, Cheras. Landmark a corner brick coffee shop separated by a side road from BH Petrol.

Here an elderly couple would plough through the process six days a week(Sundays off) with one Indonesian help. Signature dish is Hokkien fried noodles. The cook also produces a mean fried rice and Cantonese fried Kway Teow. Servings are small and the price for a serving for two people is RM 8.00 . But I don't think it would be enough unless it is for snacks.

What is it that I am pleased about the food? It has a burnt fragrant flavour and it leaves behind more wet than oily effect on your palate. You will notice gravy left behind on the plate after you have cleaned the plate of food. The extra kick to the flavour is not just the crispy lard cubes but dried ikan sebelah. (chor how yi) Typically, by adding crispy lard cubes to the noodles, a vendor can safely accomplish his hokkien mee. But the dried ikan sebelah gives it a boost.

Unfortunately, not many vendors put this ingredient anymore. It was common ingredient in yester-years. Now not many provision shop stock this item. Furthermore, it has to be grilled and pounded into a fine and fragrant powder before it is added into the wok when the cook heats up the oil. The ingredient is also not cheap.

So head to this place before this elderly couple hang up the wok.Be prepared to wait(can be 30 minutes) on busy nights. The cook wears a white singlet(China type) dons a cap and wears gold rimeed glasses. Environment is pretty pleasant.

I SHOULD NOT HAVE MENTIONED ABOUT HANGING UP THE WOK ON THIS BLOG AS I HAVE JUST BEEN TOLD THAT THE OLD MAN AT NAM KEE HAS RETIRED. HAPPY RETIREMENT !!! BUT WHAT ABOUT HIS FOLLOWERS  LIKE ME, I HOPE I CAN NAME A SUCCESSOR TO NAM KEE. TILL THEN BE HAPPY AND ENJOY HOKKIEN MEE AT THE OTHER STALL I HAVE NAMED ON THIS BLOG. BASED ON THE LIST HERE, MY FIRST PREFERENCE WOULD BE THE STALL AT JALAN 222, PETALING JAYA.

Look out for my postings on this blog!