A Whiff of Lemongrass

When it comes to fish head noodles, there are two places that I’m crazy about. On one hand, I love the XO fish head noodles at Goon Wah with its unique noodles in XO soup, and on the other hand, there’s the fish head noodles at Woo Pin.

I was first introduced to Woo Pin several months ago. Bizzy Bertie was witness to this happy encounter. Since then, I have eaten at Woo Pin several times, and I never get tired of it. The only thing that deters me from going there too often is the lack of sufficient parking space and the long wait for the food. On my first visit to this restaurant in Taman Danau Desa, my food took 45 minutes to arrive. Which is hard to imagine considering the fact that this restaurant serves only fish head noodles and a couple of side dishes. I suppose you can’t tell a diva how to sing a high C sharp note.

My most recent visit to this restaurant was on Sunday (yesterday) for brunch after church. Feeling peckish, we ordered the fish head noodles (no, we didn’t get the large bowl…still feeling the effects of the extra large plate of nasi lemak on Friday 😛 ) and we shared a bowl of boiled fish paste. This bowl also fulfilled the basic requirement for greens.

And why do I like fish head noodles? Well, the obvious explanation would be that I absolutely love any kind of fish head. Where a lot of people balk at the sight of eating a fish head (and I’m thinking foreigners here) I love digging into the cheeks and around the eyes for the best part of the fish. Of course, when the fish head is fried, getting the tender bits of flesh can be an arduous task. So the second reason why I like fish head is for the flavour of the fried fish. And when one immerses the fried fish head, and body bits, into a boiling soup with pieces of tomato, ginger, cabbage, spring onions and fried shallots together with bee hoon (vermicelli) and a couple of scoops of fresh milk and a dash of wine, the result is a tangy, rich and sweet mix of flavours that makes one wonder why one doesn’t do this more often…

Woo Pin fish head noodles can also be found at the Cheras flats which is the original location. However, the location at Taman Danau Desa is a lot more comfortable than the former.

Woo Pin Fish Head Noodles @ Ho A One Seafood Steamboat Restaurant (opposite S.K.Danau Perdana)
Jalan 1/109F, Taman Danau Desa
Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 7.30am – 2.30pm (closed alternate Mondays)

I’m always in the mood for good nasi lemak at any time of the day, although with age, I’m learning to control my consumption. If there’s ever a seriously sinful meal, this is it. The basic nasi lemak consists of rice cooked with coconut milk, sambal (chilli paste), fried anchovies, fried/roasted peanuts and sliced cucumbers. Of course, Malaysians have taken the simple nasi lemak to a different level, where it is served with a variety of dishes, from fried chicken to sambal sotong (squid sambal).

The nasi lemak stall which I recently discovered when Pretty Pui, Ecstatic Eeyore and I were feeling hunger pangs at 8.00pm on a Friday night is located off Jalan San Peng in KL. These guys serve the chinese version of the nasi lemak, which is also non-halal. I wasn’t quite prepared to witness the partaking of the food by the devotees that night. 😛

We arrived at the stall at about 9.20pm. The best place to park the car is along Jalan San Peng. It’s just a short walk in. DO NOT drive in as you may risk getting caught in a jam, or be unlucky enough to have an inconsiderate driver block your car.

About 12 tables were set up around this stall. Upon arriving, I was surprised to see a couple of tables already occupied, but no one was eating. The nasi lemak stall was also empty. We were soon informed that the food would only be arriving at about 9.45pm. Soon after we sat down, more people congregated at this place, and soon, all the tables were occupied.

A van drove up at 9.50pm. Instinctively, people quietly got up and queued up. We did the same. With reverence, people watched as the pots of chicken curry and containers of sambal and other condiments and dishes were carried to the stall. The murmurings began as the customers inhaled the aroma of the nasi lemak ingredients and made difficult decisions on the types of dishes they would choose for themselves from the smorgasbord of colours.

The food certainly looked appetising. My eyes were drawn to the glistening lup cheong (chinese sweet sausage). A tray of fried luncheon meat stood on the same shelf. Fried kacang panjang (long beans) were sandwiched between the two trays. On the level below that was a pot of stewed pork innards. Pots of sambal sotong and sambal kerang (cockles) fought for attention. A bowl of rich, thick red sambal made with lots of onions stood at the corner. The winner of the match was undoubtedly the aromatic chicken curry with huge pieces of chicken. The proprietors of the stall had brought several huge pots of this chicken curry.

Eeyore and I felt our hearts race as we approached the stall. So many choices! We didn’t know what to choose! I told myself that I would only choose two items, but in my moment of weakness, I gave in to the desires of the flesh. I ended up with a plate of rice covered with chicken curry, sambal sotong, a piece of lup cheong, half an egg, a liberal amount of peanuts and crunchy fried anchovies, cucumbers and extra sambal on the side.

Feeling only slightly guilty as I savoured the nasi lemak, I noticed there were up to 30 people in the queue. Cars came and parked haphazardly along the road as passengers quickly jumped out to ta-pau (take-away) packets of nasi lemak. The numbers dwindled at about 10.30pm, but all the tables were occupied.

Note: There is also a stall serving chee cheong fun/yong tau foo next to the nasi lemak stall. Try the version with chicken curry (same chicken curry served at the nasi lemak stall).

Nasi lemak @ San Peng
Off Jalan San Peng, opposite the San Peng flats.
Opening hours: 9.45pm – 2.30am (closed on Sundays)

I’m a big fan of pork, so you can imagine my excitement when I found out that effective from 9 January, 2007, Old China Cafe was turning non-halal. A number of new dishes had been introduced, all of which contained pork. From babi pong teh (pork belly and pork rump stewed in brown paste sauce with shallots, garlic, mushrooms and potatoes) to sek bak (sliced stewed pork in dark sauce of aromatic spices and malay herbs) to honeyed pork ribs…all glorious sounding pork dishes. The timing is appropriate though, to welcome the Year of the Pig. (Note: Said pig may not be too excited about all the fuss about pork. Oink.)

I’ve always loved Portuguese Devil Curry, a wickedly hot (hence, its name) chicken curry cooked with potatoes, dried chillies, fresh chillies, mustard seeds, vinegar, mustard powder, ginger, garlic and onions. My friend, Molly, once came to my house and gave me a demonstration (how cool is that!) on how to cook this extremely spicy curry, after which we adjourned to the patio to enjoy a lovely eurasian dinner. It’s been a while since I cooked it and it’s been too long since I enjoyed a good devil curry. So when I saw Siew Yoke (roasted pork) Devil Curry listed on the menu, I could hear it calling out my name. Siew Yoke is quite an unusual ingredient in a devil curry, but we’re progressive girls (*smile*) and we’re always game to try something new. However, at RM22.80 a dish, we thought that the portion was rather small and was barely enough for the three of us. Our verdict? The distinctive taste of siew yoke was a little too powerful for the curry and didn’t quite blend in. In addition, the curry wasn’t spicy enough. It ought to be called Devil (L licence-paid off the instructor) Curry instead.

The other pork dish we ordered was Babi Masak Asam (pork cooked in tamarind gravy). We loved the thick, gooey gravy made of bean paste, chillies and daun limau purut (kaffir lime leaves). At RM12.80, it was definitely worth every cent.

We’ve narrowed down our favourite dishes at Old China Cafe to two so far. In addition to Babi Masak Asam, we also like the ayam pong teh, a slightly sweet dish of chicken and bean paste in a black sauce. We didn’t order the ayam pong teh this time as we wanted to concentrate on the new dishes. We finished the meal with a serving of kangkung belacan, which despite sounding extremely ordinary, tasted extraordinary.

Bouncing Barbie and I had sago gula melaka (sago pudding with palm sugar and coconut milk) for dessert while Pretty Pui ordered the bubur pulut hitam (black glutinous rice porridge). The sago gula melaka is DIY, and we liberally loaded up on the dark syrup and coconut milk. Eat first, suffer later! Pretty Pui liked the bubur pulut hitam, but said that it was not as good as the pulut hitam which she had tried in Hong Kong several years back. I thought it lacked enough glutinous rice and santan.

While we ate, the same old chinese music was playing in the background. As always, I was transported back to the olden days in my imaginary world of babas and nyonyas, stained glass, wrapped feet and slim cigarettes.