We did venture out of the hotel to hunt for street food a couple of times in a big group whilst in Kuala Lumpur last month. Those certainly were one of the highlights of our trip - it's almost like we never felt hungry at any given moment in those few days as we literally ate non-stop.
We had an awesome feast at Lau Heong Seafood Restaurant (蒥香海鮮飯店) in Sentul a few years ago in our last outing so we were happy to return this time, if only for their signature chicken wings. This humble looking restaurant sat on the ground floor of the public housing estate in the mainly residential neighborhood of Sentul, around 15 minutes away from city center by car. Place was packed with local customers when we arrived at around 7pm on a Friday evening, even with tables set up on the street right outside the restaurant, and some 40 of us basically just took up the entire space upstairs by ourselves.
Our local friends took charge of the ordering duties and soon our tables were filled with dishes. Of course, the best of all were still their chicken wings, deep-fried with a batter seasoned with nam yu (fermented tofu) and shrimp paste for the rich umami taste and crispy skin. All of us devoured our share in no time and asked for the second (or third) plate.
We had a few other food too - the fish head curry was served in a huge earthenware casserole pot and filled with long beans, fried bean curds and eggplants along with bits of fish heads simmered in a slightly spicy curry sauce. I could just have a few plateful of rice just with those salivating and rich sauce. The steamed stingray was said to be done in Sichuan style, with the large piece of flat fish (like a dover sole) steamed with soy bean paste smothered on top - the meat was delicate and smooth.
I don't know what the seafood dish was called, but it's served on a large piece of banana leaf, with seafood including prawns and sotong (squid) sauteed in a delicious creamy gravy sauce - think beurre noisette and soy sauce meets coconut milk. The golden mantis shrimp was another beauty - with the delightful meat de-shelled, coated with batter mixed with salted egg yolk and deep-fried. Reminded me of popcorn shrimps except it's 100 times more tasty.
This sure got our Malaysia trip off to a great start with everyone ate and drank merrily at this casual restaurant.
When? December 27 2019
Where? Lau Heong Seafood Restaurant, 43A-0-9, Jalan 3/48A, Sentul Perdana, Bandar Baru Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Menu Highlights? Signature Deep-fried Chicken Wings with Prawn Paste and Fermented Tofu
The district of Klang was known for its Bak Kut Teh - some even said this is where the iconic dish in Malaysian Chinese culture originally came from. So one morning we hire a coach to get us to one of the restaurants which came highly recommended by our friend.
There’s no way we would be able to find this place called Ah Poh Bak Kut Teh (亞寶巴生肉骨茶) if not the coach led us right to the front of the restaurant, located at a street corner of a residential neighborhood. Bak Kut Teh was considered food to be eaten during the day and we arrived right towards the end of their busiest time, slightly before noon.
The menu was posted to the wall right next to the open kitchen, and there were essentially two items – the traditional Bak Kut Teh served in soup, or the Dry Bak Kut Teh, braised in a richer, thicker sauce – plus all other side dishes. The Bak Kut Teh’s were served in various sizes and served in the old-school clay pots.
While they were busy getting the Bak Kut Teh for the big group of us, we began with the side dishes. I am usually not a pork innards person especially the intestine, but I loved the version served here, with the intestines lined with good amount of fat, and the stomach with firm and bouncy texture, served in a bowl with the Bak Kut Teh broth plus soy marinate. We also got ready by mixing our own dipping sauce, with fried onions, garlic, chilies and sweet soy sauce available on the table.
Our table went silent the moment the pots of Bak Kut Teh arrived and we started spooning them into our plate of steamed rice - everyone was just too focused eating. Inside the claypot casserole was the whole hock with the meat and skin so tender from slow cooking that it fell off the bone and into the bubbling hot soup. Inside the casserole was handful of other ingredients – dried tofu sheets and mushrooms – which added more to the texture than the flavor. Fried dough, or Yu Jia Kueh/Yau Tiu, was served in a bowl on the side, so we could soak them into the soup and took in all the flavor. Here the version of the Bak Kut Teh was said to be in Hokkien style, which focuses more on the herbs like angelica as seasoning more so than garlic and peppers like those in Teochew style. I could live with a stronger herbal flavor but it’s well balanced as it was. One of the best part was the refills of the soup which was the essence of the dish – I must have shamelessly asked for half a dozen times for that. I did have a bite of the dry version as well – true the meat probably has better flavor, but then you lost out on the soup if you went for it.
Definitely a morning well spent taking the trip out to the de facto Bak Kut Teh capital – I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
When? December 29 2019
Where? Ah Poh Bak Kut Teh, No. 44 Lebuh Setaka Tmn Chi Liung 41200 Klang, Malaysia
Menu Highlights? Klang Bak Kut Teh
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