Latest news with #HongKongCuisine
Malay Mail
13 hours ago
- General
- Malay Mail
Get your fix of Hong Kong-style cart noodles and peanut butter ‘cheong fun' at Sri Petaling's Luckee
KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — Cart noodles are as much a part of Hong Kong as dim sum and siu mei, but they haven't quite found the same footing in KL. Known in Cantonese as che zai mein, the dish dates back to the 1950s when hawkers served noodles with a wide variety of toppings out of mobile carts, hence the name. The options ranged from pork intestines and beef tendons to, later on, curried fishballs and luncheon meat. Diners would pick from these along with an assortment of noodles and broths, which varied from stall to stall, in a build-your-own-bowl tradition. These days, most of the mobile carts have vanished, and cart noodles are more often found in proper restaurants, with famous names like Man Kee Cart Noodle in Sham Shui Po making it into the Michelin Guide. Fortunately for us in KL, there's Luckee in Sri Petaling. The restaurant has been open for a year in a busy commercial area known for its high concentration of Chinese restaurants and cafes, and it specialises in the aforementioned cart noodles. It's no roadside cart, but the steel tables and retro Cantopop do their part to evoke a bit of Hong Kong. Dry versions are available, like this dry curry version with luncheon meat, minced pork and pork intestines. — Picture by Ethan Lau You start with a base: cart noodles with two toppings for RM11.90 or three for RM13.90. Anything extra depends on the topping. From there, it's all about preferences: dry or soup, spice level, and choice of noodles. The usual options are covered, but instant noodles offer that guilty pleasure slurp, while bamboo egg noodles bring a satisfying springiness. For broth, there's curry, braised (lou zap), beef, tomato, or the numbing, oil-slicked hit of spicy mala. I won't bore you with the full list of toppings, but expect classic Hong Kong offerings like curried fishballs, pig's blood curd, red sausage (a lesser-known part of siu mei, said to have originated in Lithuania), braised beef brisket, tendon, pork chops and, of course, my childhood guilty pleasure: luncheon meat. There's something about that unholy obelisk of sodium-laced forcemeat that spoke to me at 10, and still does now. Optimising your bowl takes a bit of strategy. I went with luncheon meat, minced pork and pork intestines on a dry bowl of bamboo noodles with curry sauce. The idea of a wedge of fried luncheon meat bobbing in a beef or braised broth didn't quite appeal to me, and I've always had a soft spot for the mild, slightly sweet character of Hong Kong-style curry. The luncheon meat scratched that sodium itch, while the intestines were braised with a sweet, soft chew that worked well with the springy noodles, all lightly coated in curry. Washed down with a bowl of white radish soup, it makes for a satisfying bowl. But that doesn't even begin to go beyond the surface of the potential combinations here. You could go all in on curry, with curried fishballs, pork skin and a thin, fried pork chop for good measure. Or you could beef up with a broth surprisingly deep in flavour, where radishes play a starring role, and round it off with soft, slippery beef tendons, tangy stir-fried pork with zha cai (pickled mustard greens) and some fried beancurd rolls for texture. The possibilities are endless, and most are comforting. Still looking for more food? The cheong fun with mixed sauce (RM6.90) is a must-have from the small snack selection Luckee offers alongside its cart noodles. Little chewy, unrolled tubes of cheong fun sit in a mixture of peanut butter, hoisin and sweet soy sauce. It's a canvas of beige streaked with dark brown, sweet and savoury, creamy and thick. A rare Hong Kong treat that's hard to find elsewhere, and one more reason to come. Luckee 叻記 19, Jalan Radin Bagus 6, Bandar Baru Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur. Open daily, 10am-12am Tel: 017-651 1005 Facebook: Luckee 叻記 Instagram: @luckee0905 * This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal. * Follow us on Instagram @eatdrinkmm for more food gems. * Follow Ethan Lau on Instagram @eatenlau for more musings on food and mildly self-deprecating attempts at humour.
Malay Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
Your breakfast just got better with these slippery steamed rice rolls filled with fresh, juicy prawns at Pandan Indah's Wah Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun
KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 — Whenever I see a signage that says Hong Kong chee cheong fun, my heart skips a beat, thinking it's rice rolls doused with hoisin and peanut sauce plus a sprinkle of sesame seeds, usually served in Hong Kong eateries and called cheung fun. Instead, they're more like the chee cheong fun we get at restaurants, served with dim sum, with fillings like prawns and char siu. Stalls like this particular one called Wah Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun, will prepare these rice flour rolls upon order, steamed over a cloth, scraped out and served with soy sauce and sambal. Add a dash of yellow with Prawn and Egg Chee Cheong Fun doused in soy sauce and their homemade 'sambal'. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi When it comes to Hong Kong chee cheong fun, everyone has their preferences, like some judge them by the silky texture of the steamed rice rolls. Or it could be a combination of everything on the plate, from the sauce, fillings and the texture of the rice rolls, which is what I rate the dish. This stall uses house-ground rice flour to make their chee cheong fun. Their steamed rice rolls — the slippery sheets hold the fillings well — are not like those thinner sheets that tend to fall apart mid way as you're eating. The prawns are bouncy and fresh, enhancing the Prawn Chee Cheong Fun. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi Even its look is smooth and opaque rather than wrinkly or sometimes translucent, resembling those served at luxurious Chinese restaurants offering dim sum. There's a choice of char siu, prawns, or a mix of two flavours should you be undecided. While egg in chee cheong fun isn't a Hong Kong thing, apparently it's a local preference, where beaten egg is drizzled over the rice flour batter just before steaming, for an extra RM1. Add a dash of yellow with Prawn and Egg Chee Cheong Fun doused in soy sauce and their homemade 'sambal'. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi With their fillings, it's the prawns that trumps. Your order for Prawn Chee Cheong Fun (RM9) arrives with seven prawns peeking under the blanket of rice rolls, enticing you to relish them. The prawns are bouncy because of their freshness rather than any artificial enhancements, giving a slight sweet taste to the chee cheong fun. Fresh prawns, mellow well-cooked 'sambal' and 'chee cheong fun' makes a great breakfast. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi As their own cooked soy sauce tends to be a lighter and balanced type without any jarring sweet or salty flavours, it's the perfect background for you to relish those prawns. With the Char Siew Chee Cheong Fun (RM9), it's a different story as the shredded pieces of meat don't do much for the rice rolls, leaving not much of an impression. For those who prefer stronger flavours, you will find it with their house made sambal. The dark red sambal is well cooked — slow fire and long hours — coaxing the flavours for a mellow spiciness. Tender roast duck (left) with a hint of herbal aroma goes well with the silky 'chee cheong fun' can be sourced from this stall selling chicken and roast meats rice (right) which opens after 10am. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi Coincidentally someone else had recommended the roast duck at this coffee shop, from the stall that offers chicken rice, which I also tried. The roast duck may not have crispy skin but the meat is moist and infused with a pleasant mix of spices and herbs. If you dine here after 10am, that stall is open and you can try pairing the chee cheong fun with roast duck, just like how it's done at a certain popular place in Puchong. One can even create a new flavour here by pairing Plain Chee Cheong Fun with roast duck from another food stall. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi The tender pieces of duck with a light, herbal scent work well with the Plain Chee Cheong Fun (RM5) and the savoury sauce. Give that interesting combination a try, if you prefer a heavier taste profile for your chee cheong fun. One portion of the roast duck is RM9 without rice. This chee cheong fun stall used to be located at Taman Muda's Medan Selera Putra. This area around KW Food Street may be packed so patience is needed to find an available spot. — Picture by Lee Khang Yi Wah Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun stall, KW Food Street, 56G, Jalan Pandan Indah 4/3, Pandan Indah, Kuala Lumpur. Open: 7am to 2pm. Closed every second Tuesday of the month (The last date they were closed was June 10). • This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal. • Follow us on Instagram @eatdrinkmm for more food gems.
South China Morning Post
11-06-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
Typhoon shelter crab, Hong Kong seafood dish made with garlic, chilli and dab of nostalgia
Yeung Yan-chi knows his way around a crab. In his nearly 30 years as head chef of Bamboo Village restaurant, in Kowloon's Jordan neighbourhood, he estimates he has prepared about 60,000 of them. These days, the Hong Kong-born 64-year-old works in a front-of-house role at the restaurant, a position that is less demanding on his body. But the vast knowledge he accumulated over the years has stayed with him. That includes the skills needed to prepare typhoon shelter -style spicy fried crab, one of Bamboo Village's signature dishes and a Hong Kong classic. 'I started as a chef at Bamboo Village in 1988 and the spicy crab has always been a favourite dish with diners,' Yeung says when we meet just before the dinner rush. Mud crab expert Yan Chi-yeung has worked at Bamboo Village restaurant in Hong Kong's Jordan neighbourhood since 1988. Photo: Kylie Knott He says mud crabs from Vietnam are best suited to the dish, holding one up to reveal its mottled green armour that, when exposed to heat, turns a reddish orange. Weighing about 1.5kg (3.3lbs) on average, the crabs are sourced from the mangrove forests of central Vietnam, where salty seawater meets fresh river water.
South China Morning Post
15-05-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
How Hong Kong's egg and beef sandwich became so beloved and the best places to eat it
The Hong Kong-style egg and beef sandwich is not just a sandwich, but a testament to how a seemingly simple snack, served quickly and conveniently, can stand the test of time and become a collective memory among busy city dwellers. Many restaurants have made it their own by adding salted (corned) beef and various inventive ingredients, infusing even more 'Hong Kong-ness' into the dish and increasing the reverence it receives from locals and tourists alike. It has been speculated that the Hong Kong egg and beef sandwich was a product of British colonisation, similar to how the Vietnamese banh mi was influenced by the country's French colonial history. Corned beef and egg sandwiches were a popular snack among the British Army during World War I and II, while some of the earliest mentions of canned corned beef place its origins in the British agricultural revolution that took place between the mid-17th and late 19th centuries. An egg and corned beef sandwich at Australia Dairy Company in Jordan, Hong Kong. Photo: Joseph André 'The use of salted beef in Hong Kong cafes probably had something to do with the British, who were already making salted beef sandwiches,' says Michael Lui Ka-chun, a veteran food writer and author of the 2023 Chinese-language book, The Taste of Hong Kong. 'Although salted beef cans were already quite popular when I was growing up in the '80s, they were not a household item. They were used only, and widely, in cha chaan tengs [Hong Kong-style diners], as convenience is key in those kitchens.'
Malay Mail
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
Hong Kong's On Lee Noodle Soup, with its 50 years-plus fish ball noodle soup legacy, to open in Pavilion KL in June
KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — Famed fish ball noodle soup shop On Lee Noodle Soup from Hong Kong's Shau Kei Wan will be hitting our shores by the end of June. It will open at the Level 4 Connection of Pavilion KL, sandwiched between Arthur's Storehouse and the yet-to-open Naughty Babe Dirty Duck, just one level below Dadi Cinema. According to a write-up on its hoarding, the shop was started back in 1966 — as a humble dai pai dong opposite Tin Hau temple — by Cheung Kwong Chung who had apprenticed at a fish ball noodle shop in Sheung Wan. When the area was redeveloped, the stall was allocated a space in a municipal building in Fortress Hill. However they didn't want to leave the area, hence Cheung and his wife decided to open a shop on East Street in 1993. After he died in 1997, his wife continued the business. As time passed, their three children returned to help with the business, giving up their careers to carry on their father's legacy. Throughout the years, they have maintained the practice of making the fish balls daily using fresh eel. It's served with a soup made using pork bones, beef bones, fish, dried shrimps and a variety of spices. The shop in Hong Kong also serves a signature butter toast with condensed milk and on Sunday, fried fish skin, a by-product of their fish ball making process, is available in limited quantities. Apparently Hong Kong stars Chow Yun-fat and Ekin Cheng have eaten at the shop. On the hoarding, there's also a photo of Hong Kong actress Charmaine Sheh, saying she'll be at their grand opening of On Lee Noodle Shop in KL. Sheh is famous for her work in Hong Kong and China television serials, including the iconic Story of Yanxi Palace, the most watched television show in China in 2018. Last year she picked up the best actress award for the third time at the TVB Anniversary Awards, a first-time achievement in the industry, for her gripping role as the passionate television news anchor on The Queen of News. Apparently she's a big fan of On Lee's cuttlefish balls, which she tried at a hotpot restaurant, as seen in their social media post from 2022. On Lee Noodle Soup, Lot C4-06-01, Level 4 Connection, Pavilion KL, 168, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. For updates for the KL outlet, follow their XiaoHongShu page @安利鱼蛋粉（马来西亚分店 and for their HK outlets, follow their Instagram: @on_lee_noodle_shop * Follow us on Instagram @eatdrinkmm for more food gems.
