stalls

RM 19.50 bowl of big prawn Sarawak Laksa

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Big Prawn Sarawak Laksa

I have been lusting after this delectable dish since I saw it during Chinese New Year – the last time I was back. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to eat it then. I just came back for my mom’s first Ching Ming and was determined to taste the RM 19.50 bowl of big prawn Sarawak Laksa for myself.

Laksa Udang Besar

The friendly tau keh nio (lady proprietor) had shown me how big the prawns were and I was quite impressed. There are different sized prawns for their RM 6/9.50/19.50 bowls of laksa. They also have fish laksa and fish/prawn combinations. It’s not the price of the bowl of laksa that’s unusual – we have RM 33 bowls of big head prawn noodles too, but that being said, this is the most expensive bowl of Sarawak Laksa I’ve seen.

Lady Showing Big Prawns

This is the size of the prawns for the almost RM 20 bowl of Sarawak Laksa. These are big white prawns (Litopenaeus vannamei/大白虾) not big head prawns (Macrobrachium rosenbergii/大头虾) but it’s still unusual to have such large and (relatively) expensive prawns in a commercial bowl of Sarawak Laksa. Golden Arch in Kuching used to have huge tiger prawns too, but it’s a different species (Penaeus monodon) of prawn, which tastes different.

Blanch Big White Prawn

The prawns are frozen and it took a while to prepare this dish as they had to blanch the peeled shrimp in hot water before serving them.

RM20 Big Prawn Sarawak Laksa

I was given four (4) big white prawns instead of the usual 3 and the proprietor actually remembered me from CNY – she asked where I was from since it has been a while during the gap when I expressed interest and actually came back. The previous time was when I came to eat kampua mee and happened to stumble across the signage on this stall when I was walking back to my table.

Chopsticks Sibu

I thought it tasted quite good. It’s not as good as our favorite place in Aloha – the composition of the laksa broth is less prawn-y and intense here but it does the job for a Sarawak Laksa craving and I’ve been curious about this dish for a long time. You can find this stall at Chopsticks in Pedada, Sibu.

Ah Po Estuary Grouper, Ma Yau and White Pomfret Fish Noodles @ Kota Damansara

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Ma Yau Fish

This is my favorite place to eat fish noodles! It’s really fresh as they source the fish directly from fishermen and slice it on-site. That’s a whole Ma Yau (Threadfin fish) above. You have to go really early in the morning before they run out of fish so the long weekend was a great time for me to eat all the types of fish noodles they have. Haha!

Estuary Grouper Loong Tan

Ah Po Fish Noodles carries a lot of different types of fish with prices ranging from RM 14 – RM 22. You can ask to have a peek inside their cooler to see what they have. Yes, one of those plates equals one portion of fish! This stall is actually at the *same* coffee shop as Min Yee Estuary Grouper. However, you get more options here and (arguably) better quality fish.

Estuary Garoupa Fish Noodles

Their flagship dish would be the Estuary Garoupa Fish Noodles (RM 22). This is RM 4 more expensive than Min Yee but the cuts of fish are better. Ah Po uses the prime cuts with lots of fatty collagen and it’s really good while Min Kee seem to use offcuts. I prefer the fish from this stall but the cleaner broth from Min Kee.

White Pomfret Fish Noodle

The cheapest fish noodle you can get here is the White Pomfret Fish Noodles (RM 14). This is a whole fish and since it’s a white pomfret, it can be really bony so watch out for bones! If you love eating fish noodles though, that wouldn’t be a problem.

Ma Yau Fish Noodles

The mid-range offering is Threadfin Fish Noodles (RM 18). This is better known as Ma Yau (馬鮫) or Senangin locally. This is pretty decent and the fish is pretty fresh but for that price, I’ll rather eat the Estuary Grouper Fish Noodles at Min Yee or fork out an additional RM 4 for Ah Po’s top of the line Estuary Garoupa.

Estuary Grouper Collagen

They also have Red Grouper Fish Noodles at RM 18 but it seems to be permanently sold out and the owner and owner’s daughter has confirmed this on numerous occasions (something to do with Chinese New Year and demand for the fish). I would personally suggest coming here for their awesome RM 22 Estuary Grouper (Malabar Grouper/Greasy Grouper/龙趸) as they have the best cuts in town!

Just look at the sheer amount of collagen in the picture! 🙂

Ah Po Estuary Grouper

Ah Po Fish Noodles
Restaurant Big Family
Lorong TSB 10A, Taman Industri Sungai Buloh
GPS: 3.166326, 101.569765

Rabbit, Deer, Lamb and Ostrich Burgers @ Burger Boy Corner

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Burger Boy Corner Truck

I was driving around Kota Damansara at 12:30 am just now looking for a bite to eat. The usual Ramly burger stand that I go to wasn’t open so I just cruised around the Encorp Strand area to find another and bumped into this one. Burger Boy Corner is a slightly more up-scale version of a Ramly burger stand – it offers a variety of different burgers in addition to the usual suspects.

Ostrich Rabbit Deer Lamb

I was particularly intrigued by their sign that advertised Rabbit Burgers, Deer Burgers, Lamb Burgers and Ostrich Burgers!

Rabbit Burger Patties

I’ve had lamb and venison burgers plenty of times before so I opted for the rabbit and ostrich burgers. I was curious as to whether they had their own supplier for the meat so I asked to see what the patties looked like and the guy (presumably Burger Boy himself) kindly showed me the cooler.

Ostrich Rabbit Patties

The ostrich burger seems to be the most popular since it’s already open and 3 patties are missing, but the others are all new, including the rabbit burger. I’ve actually had ostrich burgers in Sibu before – this was just before my mom passed. There’s actually an ostrich farm and I went with my mom to buy an ostrich egg (which the owner reluctantly parted with for RM 50 – this was before they were selling them).

Burger Boy Truck

We took it home and I planned to fry it in a HUGE omelet but despite both our efforts with a chopping knife, we couldn’t even crack it! I was sooo careful bringing it home coz I was afraid it’ll smash too. Haha. In the end, we just boiled it and had such a hard time opening it that I ended up using a screwdriver and a hammer.

Ostrich Rabbit Burgers

I digress. Anyway, I got both of the orders as Special, which means it comes with an egg and the choice of either black pepper or mushroom sauce (went for the former). I quite liked the ostrich burger (RM 7.50) – the meat is red coz it’s from the leg, it’s dark meat, just like chicken legs are. I’ve always seen people puzzled by the fact that ostrich meat is red due the fact that it’s a bird.

Interesting fact: The meat from an ostrich is red coz it’s from the legs! That’s the *only* part of an ostrich you eat, there’s no meat in the breast so there’s no white meat from an ostrich.

Ostrich Burger

The rabbit burger (RM 7.50) is on the lean side, so I was glad to see he took it off the grill faster than the ostrich burger patty. It was cooked just nice, right before it went dry and although it’s pretty lean for my tastes, it’s not too bad if you like lean meat. I still prefer the ostrich burger though.

Rabbit Burger

Burger Boy Corner also has jumbo hot dogs for around the same price as the new food truck Amaze K near Encorp Strand Mall. I was surprised to be told that the jumbo sausages are quite expensive so that’s why they need to retail it at those prices. They also sell cold drinks from the fridge and seating is available on one side of the Burger Boy Corner food truck.

Burger Boy Corner

Burger Boy Corner is open till 1 am and usually parked in front of the 7-Eleven beside The Joy of Sharing.

5 popular street food we ate in KL over the weekend

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Lot 10 Hutong

Hutong Lot 10 has some of the most established and famous stalls from all around Klang Valley located in one convenient place. If I recall correctly, the criteria for getting a stall here is very high – your street food stall needs to be a household name and it has to be in operation for at least 2-3 generations.

Famous Street Food KL

This is the best of the best street food KL has to offer, and we ate here *every meal* during our staycation (our hotel was right beside Lot 10). Here’s five of our favorites:

1. Cheras Woo Pin Famous Fish Head Noodles

Cheras Woo Pin Famous Fish Head Noodles Stall

This is the distinctive fish noodles cooked with fresh milk that’s famous over here. The broth of the fish head noodles is almost white in color, due to the addition of either fresh milk or evaporated milk. It offsets any “fishy” taste and to top it off, the fish is fried, making this a very friendly dish for people who don’t like fish.

Cheras Woo Pin Famous Fish Head Noodles

Woo Pin Cheras Fried Fish Noodles (RM 10.85) comes with a few pieces of fish head and part of the fun is digging out the flesh from it. There’s also an option where you can add more fried fish slices for RM 21.30. My better half ordered this, I actually prefer a clean broth and blanched fish to fried fish – the latter destroys the taste but I know a lot of people like it and I’m trying to get over my discriminatory thinking. smirk

2. Pin Qian Klang Bak Kut Teh

Pin Qian Klang Bak Kut Teh Stall

This is one of the best BKT or “pork rib tea” I’ve had. There are a lot of Klang Bak Kut Teh outlets around nowadays but not all of them do the dish justice. Pin Qian has been operating since 1986 and they also have an outlet in Hutong Lot 10 (at ridiculously high prices).

Pin Qian Klang Bak Kut Teh

I had a small mixed bowl of fat and lean pork belly with a side of rice for RM 18.20 (over RM 20 after tax and the mandatory tissue packet). There’s always a long queue to get this though coz it’s absolutely fantastic – the meat is fork-tender and the herbal soup is so thick, it’s divine!

3. China Town Seng Kee Claypot Chicken Rice

China Town Seng Kee Claypot Chicken Rice Stall

This is the sister outlet of the famous place in Petaling Street. It was actually the first place I ever tasted “KL style” Claypot Chicken Rice as a kid. We were living in Sibu and came to KL for a family vacation and my dad brought us here since he missed eating this from when he was himself a university student.

China Town Seng Kee Claypot Chicken Rice

I love the crispy caramelized rice at the bottom of the sizzling hot claypot which you have to dig out! I ordered it with an extra egg cracked on top for RM 14.25. It’s delicious but China Town See Keng in Petaling Street is more famous for their Claypot Loh Shu Fan, which they also serve here in their Hutong Lot 10 branch.

4. Imbi Road Original Pork Noodle

Imbi Road Original Pork Noodle Stall

This is an awesome place to eat if you love pork although I still think the original outlet in Jalan Imbi is better. The RM 9.90 bowl of pork noodles here is made by foreign cooks and although the same process and recipes are used, as you can see in this video:

It somehow tastes better at the founding outlet.

Imbi Road Original Pork Noodle

This isn’t my taste buds playing tricks with me or ambiance issues, there is also another famous noodle stall at Hutong Lot 10 – this time dedicated to our bovine instead of porcine friends – Soong Kee Beef Noodles, and it tastes the same as the first outlet.

5. Tai Lei Loi Kei Macau

Tai Lei Loi Kei Macau Pork Chop Bun Stall

Yup, the wildly famous Macau establishment which everyone goes to for the esteemed Macau Pork Bun has an outlet at Hutong Lot 10 too! They had a loop of Anthony Bourdain visiting their original Macau outlet in Tai Lei Loi Kei Taipa playing on a TV in an episode of No Reservations.

Tai Lei Loi Kei Macau Pork Chop Bun

The RM 13.90 Choapa Bao (Pork Chop Bun) here is decent, but not as good as the one I had in Macau. We ordered one to share and found the pork chop itself to be slightly overcooked and overseasoned. I did find one inch of juicy meat though but unfortunately the rest of the (rather large) pork chop was dry.

Min Yee Estuary Grouper Fish Noodles (RM 18)

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Garoupa Fish Noodles

Min Yee is located at the same coffee shop which hosts Ah Po Grouper Noodles so it has some stiff competition. However, their estuary grouper fish noodles are cheaper at RM 18 compared to Ah Po’s RM 22. The portion seem to be slightly larger too, at least at first glance – this is due to them not slicing the fish too much and presenting beautifully thick slabs of fresh garoupa.

Min Yee Grouper Fish Noodles

They’re also known for their fresh handmade grouper fish ball noodles too! The Estuary Grouper Fish Ball Noodles are RM 6 per bowl and the fish balls have that prized bouncy texture:

Grouper Fishball Noodles

I ultimately found that each stall has its own charms. I’ll go for Min Yee’s Estuary Grouper Fish Noodles if I want a simple clear broth, untainted by soup stock, that allows the thick slices of estuary grouper (also known as “Loong Tan”/King Grouper) to shine through. The fish slices are equally fresh but this stall does it thicker so it’s more satisfying to eat.

Loong Tan Fish Noodles

I love eating fish noodles, and I don’t mind paying the higher prices, especially if it’s good fish. There’s a RM 30 fish noodle in Sibu but the fish noodles I’ve eaten here is a lot better, and more reasonably priced too.

Estuary Grouper Noodles Me

My current favorite is Ah Po Grouper Noodles but Min Yee Estuary Grouper Fish Noodles does a more than satisfactory job too, especially if you prefer a blander broth with no MSG that allows the estuary grouper fish slices to shine through.

Estuary Grouper Noodles

Min Yee Estuary Grouper Fish Ball Noodles
Restaurant Big Family
Lorong TSB 10A, Taman Industri Sungai Buloh
GPS: 3.166326, 101.569765

The best pork leg rice in Hat Yai

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pork leg rice hat yai

I’ve heard a lot of good things about this place. My better half wanted to come here for lunch – she’s been here before and thought it was delicious. We had just arrived in Hat Yai and checked into the hotel before taking a short walk to this place.

khao kha moo hatyai

Braised pork leg with rice is called khao kha moo in Thai. Obviously, my Thai is limited so I don’t actually know the name of the stall but it’s located on Prachatipat Road. It’s very close to Lee Garden Plaza Hotel – turn left after you walk out and it’s two blocks down, at a very conspicuous corner lot that’s always *packed* with customers.

pig in bikini

There’s a really funny life sized cast of a pig dressed in a bikini sitting on her own chair beside the stall. You won’t miss it, it has a way of catching your eye. smirk The meat served here is braised pig’s trotters, one of the best parts of the pig! They only have one cut of meat but that’s a good thing coz they do it so well.

sugarcane juice

It was a hot day and we ordered a big bottle of nam oi (fresh sugarcane juice) to share. It comes in a recycled 640 ml beer bottle and costs 100 baht (RM 10). It’s worth it though, the chilled raw sugarcane juice here is undiluted and comes complete with sediments. I asked for ice cubes so it made it all the more refreshing (and it boosts energy from the sugar too).

thai condiments

You have the choice of a plate of pork leg rice with egg for 60 baht (about RM 6) or platters for two starting from 140 baht, excluding rice. There’s also the option of having the pig trotter meat on top of your rice or served separately – we went for the former.

It didn’t look like much when it came – there were a few slices of choice pork from the trotters, braised pig’s skin, egg, pickled vegetables on top of a plate of rice with the gravy poured over it. However, when I ate the first bite, I was instantly converted. It’s crazy good!

khao kha moo

The Thai style salted vegetables are slightly sweet (unlike our local salty pickled vegetable) and goes very well as an acidic component on the plate. The smattering of fresh coriander (whole stalks, not just the leaves) adds a great dimension of flavor and the star of the show, the braised pork leg is absolutely fabulous – fork tender, melt-in-your-mouth porcine goodness.

I told my dear that I wasn’t very hungry then but I polished off my plate faster than she did! Even the humble braised egg adds a lot to the dish. The khao kha moo here is delicious and everything on the plate belongs there, including the Thai style chilli sauce. I like how they’re generous with the gravy too.

pork leg rice stall

I could eat here everyday and not get sick but since we’re on holiday, I had to limit myself to just that once so we could eat other things. The bill came up to THB 222 for two. I’m thinking fondly of this pig trotter rice now, I would certainly go back again next time we’re in Hat Yai! 🙂

Sabah Kampung Beef Noodles (Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap)

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beef brisket noodles

I remember eating the absolutely fabulous and rightfully famous Inanam ngiu chap in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah when I was based there a few years back. Ngiu chap is the local Hakka dialect for beef noodles, prepared in a distinctive way. The traditional Inanam style consists of a semi-clear broth but there’s another preparation which has a darker soy sauce tinged soup. This is the latter.

sabah kampung beef noodles

I was pleased to see an outlet for Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap open up near my place in Kota Damansara. It’s just been open for a couple of months and we wondered what shop will pop up there. I’ve been to Kota Kinabalu several times – sampling the local delights, climbing Mount Kinabalu and even stayed there for 1 ½ years so I’m quite familiar with their food.

sabah beef noodles

Their signature Ngiu Chap Soup Noodles (RM 13.90) is a hearty bowl of beef tripe, beef stew, beef slice, and beef balls in a rich broth. There’s HUGE chunks of brisket inside and the meat portions are *very* generous. There’s three types of noodles to choose from – yellow oily noodles, rice vermicelli and ho fun and I personally think the first choice is the best way to enjoy it.

ngiu chap kota damansara

You can also add on a portion of the following to your bowl of noodles starting from RM 2 onwards:

  • Beef tendon
  • Beef intestine
  • Beef heart
  • Beef liver
  • Beef tongue
  • Beef omasun
  • Beef tripe
  • Beef stew
  • Beef slices
  • Beef ball
  • Beef spleen

ngiu chap kolo mee

The Ngiu Chap Kolo Mee (RM 14.90) is similar to the above but separates the noodles from the soup. The waiter got our orders wrong and thought this is what my better half ordered so it took a while for me to realize that and send it back (she doesn’t like beef).

chicken kolo noodles

My dear ordered the Chicken Kolo Noodle (RM 9.90) which comes with pieces of chicken cooked with soy sauce. It’s an afterthought in a beef joint and it tastes just like that – dismal. The chicken offerings are for people who don’t like or eat beef and they’re not good at it. It tasted pretty awful.

ngiu chap soup

However, I loved my order of their flagship Ngiu Chap Soup Noodles. Sabah Kampung Beef Noodles are good at what they do best – which is beef. I strongly suggest you eat beef noodles when you go or not go at all. This is strictly a place for people who love our bovine friends…in their stomach! smirk

ngiu chap us

Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap is actually a true Sabah chain that came over to Peninsula Malaysia. It takes up a large corner shoplot and you won’t miss the bright signage. It’s always pretty empty though, it seems like it didn’t really take off here but their beef noodles are really good. I’ll recommend it if you like bowls of hearty beef noodles with lots and lots of beef!

kah hiong ngiu chap

Sabah Kampung Beef Noodles (Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap)
No 2-1, Jalan PJU 5/7
Dataran Sunway
Kota Damansara

3 cooks from 3 stalls serving 3 types of food

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This is my Top 3 favorite food from just one single coffee shop – D.U. Cafe in Kota Damansara…and it’s all done by locals, no foreigners. smirk

1. Penang Popiah

popiah

Popiah can best be described as a Chinese burrito. Instead of tortilla wraps, a thin wheat paper is used. Finely grated turnips is the main filling, this one has shredded omelet, small pieces of diced chicken with jicama (bengkuang) and chopped peanuts for a bit of crunch.

If he’s in a generous mood, he’ll add 2 cups of pai tee (which they call Singapore popiah – technically, it’s Nyonya cuisine) to your order free of charge. It’s quite filling and the secret home made chilli sauce is numbingly superb.

2. Nasi Lemak Panas

fried chicken

This stall can fry up a new batch of chickens in just 10 minutes. When there’s no cuts of chicken that I like, I’m prepared to wait that long for a new batch. Plus, you can’t beat the taste of fried chicken just out of bubbling hot oil.

RM 5 is a total steal for this – there’s also a fried sunny side up egg included in your order, in addition to the usual accoutrements of nasi lemak. The sambal is awesome too, and if you’re hungry just add RM 0.50 for an extra serving of rice.

3. Pork Rind CKT

pork crackling CKT

Not many places serves char kueh tiaw with pork crackling e.g. the crispy skin of a deep fried pig. This one does. They also load your CKT with heaps of finely diced garlic and chilli, making it taste so *intense* that it’s the most seasoned CKT I’ve ever had.

They’re generous with their clams and lap cheong (Chinese sausage) too. Too bad they don’t have prawns but the pleasant surprise of crunching into the melt-in-you-mouth pork rind more than makes up for it!

Borneo Cultural Festival 2014

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borneo cultural festival

The Borneo Cultural Festival is back! BCF 2014 is the latest iteration of this Sibu festival celebrating local Dayak/Iban and other native cultures. It’s our version of Kuching Festival and there’s a similar emphasis on food! The last time I went was when I was working here, during Borneo Cultural Festival 2008.

sellers

I went with my dad for the last two days and the layout is similar, with sections for Dayak cuisine, Malay cooking and Chinese food. I first wrote about Borneo Cultural Festival in 2003 when my blog was just over a year old (they had a beauty pageant for Miss Malaysian Chinese that year) and went again for BCF 2006 – check out the Borneo Cultural Festival category for full coverage!

bcf2014

Here is my photoblog for BCF 2014:

ayam pansoh

Ayam Pansuh is a Sarawakian dish that uses bamboo to cook chicken. The meat is stuffed into the tube with tapioca leaves and some water before being cooked over a charcoal fire. The bamboo is then cracked open and the water becomes the stock of this chicken dish. You can eat the tapioca leaves too!

beancurd sheet

This is a piece of tofu skin that’s been dipped in *real fish batter* before being deep fried. I’ve never quite had something like this before. It’s made of soybeans – basically a bean curd sheet that’s rehydrated and coated with fish. My dad loved it.

satay

12 different types of satay! There’s chicken skin, chicken heart, chicken liver, rabbit, beef, lamb, cockles, ostrich, and many other unusual proteins on skewers. No pork satay here though coz this is a halal stall. However, my favorite guilty pleasure is here in abundance – grilled chicken skin actually tastes wonderful, but you can’t eat too much of it or you’ll get sick of the ultra rich fat.

wife biscuits

Wife Cake comes in many different variants here. Besides the traditional lao por peng, there’s also “Husband Biscuits” (Biskut Suami) which uses star anise as a filling.

pulut panggang

Pulut Panggang makes an authentic appearance too! It’s glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaves that’s been grilled over a charcoal BBQ, giving it the distinctive smoked flavor. I bought several of the beef and chicken filled ones and it was good.

potato twisters

I got potato twisters as well – a staple fair food. It’s a whole potato that’s been cut into spirals and this version uses a sweet batter to coat it before it’s deep fried and slathered with mayo and chilli sauce.

bcf2014 me

Awesome stuff.

ice cream cone

This is a very diluted soft serve ice cream cone. It’s a mix of chocolate and vanilla but it tastes horrible – akin to a penny pinching coffee shop being miserly with the cocoa powder. smirk

chess competition

Chinese chess competition that’s open to the public. It was played on one of the smaller stages in a tournament format.

best pavilion

This particular booth got Best of Show. The Chinese pavilions are usually very well decorated compared to the sparse Malay booths.

pavilions

Here’s another example.

chinese culture art

These pavilions are usually made by clan associations e.g. Heng Hua, Foochow etc but some of them are owned by more general groups like the Chinese Culture & Art Appreciation societies…

gula melaka puffs

…and they have the manpower from clan membership working inside too!

clan pavilions

The Chinese pavilions line the side facing the main road so it’s beautiful when you look in that way – the lights, the glitter, the jazz! (or rather, er-hu ;))

taiwanese food

There’s also a huge Taiwanese food trend in the stalls this year.

bcf

Music, dance and cultural performances are constantly done on the main stage – it’s also a major attraction besides the food.

sugar machine

Sugar twill machine that makes candy on a stick with CAD printing that you can choose – anything from your Chinese Zodiac (Rooster, Dragon, Snake etc) to intellectual property (Doraemon, Hello Kitty and the Disney character lineup). It’s very popular with kids.

sugar twill

(and the young-at-heart)

sibu pasar malam

The Sibu Pasar Malam Association also has a booth selling traditional night market fare.

UniqBun

Gardenia, Massimo and other commercial large-scale baking and distribution operations in KL don’t sell their RM 0.80 ready-to-eat cream filled buns here, so people often buy them in bulk at LCCT/KLIA2 before flying back. There’s now a Sibu company doing it – UniqBun.

cook-to-order

This is my favorite food of the Borneo Cultural Festival 2014. I award it my personal blue ribbon. 😉 I even went back the next day with my dad to get some more. It’s cooked-to-order palm sugar balls filled with glutinous rice (pulut). It puffs into a ball when it’s deep fried and it’s a sweet treat at RM 1 each.

palm sugar balls

You just can’t argue with piping hot, deep-fried sweet balls of caramelized airy dough.

dabai sarawak

Oh, and it’s dabai season again! I like how this stall had samplers that has been blanched and marinated in soy sauce and sugar (the traditional way of preparing it). You can only get these in Sarawak. It’s called okana (black olives) but it’s not technically in the olive family. A delicious, seasonal local delicacy.

cultural performance

I quite enjoyed going to this year’s Borneo Cultural Festival with my dad. It didn’t run for a while due to politics but now that it’s back, I hope it’ll be an annual event. It wasn’t very packed on the last day due to the rain and some of the food items sells out fast since it starts at 5 pm but it’s a lot of fun!

food stalls

More importantly, BCF 2014 is a festival we can call our own! 🙂

RM 16 bowl of Heng Hua Spicy Assam Tom Yam Fish Noodles

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henghua assam tom yam noodles

There are a lot of fish and prawn noodles in town but none quite like this. The most (in)famous one would be the RM 35 bowl of fish noodles from Min Kwong. There’s also a RM 15 bowl of prawn noodles in the small and hilariously named town of Jakar. However, the closest tasting one would be the justifiably popular RM 14 bowl of Asam Tom Yam Big Prawn Noodles in Glory Cafe, Sarikei.

It was my dad who suggested this place for dinner. He’s a Heng Hua and this is a Heng Hua owned coffee shop, and since it’s a small community, we might be somewhat related. smirk

sieng hing cafe

The first question the lady asked me when I ordered this RM 16 bowl of goodness is whether I can eat spicy food. I replied in the affirmative, taking pride in my cast iron stomach (and tongue) and the chilli flakes in the broth gave me the sniffles and nearly drove me to tears…in a good way.

I asked why they use a thick kind of rice vermicelli noodles called hung ang in the local dialect and it’s coz that’s the best pairing for the dish. The thick but short noodles doesn’t clump together and unlike wheat based noodles, the rice vermicelli noodles is the perfect vehicle for *transporting the broth* to your palate.

henghua assam rice vermicelli

There’s a lot of space between the rice vermicelli – you can’t really pick them up with chopsticks without large gaps – so the spicy asam tom yam broth gets into the crevices and it allows the full flavor impact to hit you.

cat
Resident cat approves of this nomz!

The fish is a mixture of tapah and patin and there’s easily 3-4 times the amount in the regular Foochow twice cooked noodles I had for RM 14 at Y2K Cafe. There’s also generous amounts of lemongrass, egg, tomatoes, chilli flakes, baby corn, fungus and a special type of pickled salted vegetable in the asam tom yam soup.

assam tom yam noodles

It left me sweating but very satisfied when I finished the dish. They also sell a large prawn version for RM 26. The generous amounts of fish and the ultra spicy broth made the Sieng Hing Cafe fish noodles one of the best gastronomic finds in Sibu. It’s perfect if you have a blocked nose since the spice will clear up your sinuses in no time! 🙂

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