8 January 2012, Singapore – Missing the taste of your favourite street delicacies from Malaysia? Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) has heard your wishes and they sent a scouting committee to track down the best hawker fare across Malaysia and are bringing that authentic taste to the new Malaysian Food Street at RWS.
For many of these legendary hawkers, this is their first time branching out of Malaysia. To ensure the standards of their recipes are not compromised, the hawkers from Malaysia will work closely with RWS F&B team to uphold their cooking standards to stay true to their traditions.
Opening on 12 January 2012 at 12 noon, the Malaysian Food Street promises to serve your favourite Malaysian hawker food starting from S$4 in a 22 square feet fully airconditioned nostalgic 1950s-style themed coffeeshop to complete your experience in this food haven.
The Malaysian Food Street is located at The Bull Ring (beside Universal Studio Singapore), and is open daily from 11am-10pm (Monday-Thursday); 9am-12midnight (Friday to Saturday); 9am -10pm (Sun).
My personal DIE DIE MUST TRY recommended dishes include the Huen Kee Claypot Chicken Rice, Famous Jalan Alor KL Hokkien Mee and Penang Lim Brothers’ Char Koay Teow.
List of Malaysian Food Street stalls
1. Famous Jalan Alor KL Hokkien Mee
2. Fung Wong Confectionery
3. Petaling Street Famous Porridge since 1949
4. Huen Kee Claypot Chicken Rice
5. Ah Mei Hokkien Prawn Mee
6. Penang Hai Beng Hainan Lor Mee
7. Penang Ah Long Lor Bak
8. Penang Lim Brothers’ Char Koay Teow
9. Roti Canai & Nasi Biryani
10. Kampung Nasi Lemak
11. Malacca Chicken Rice Ball
12. Petaling Jaya Dim Sum and Drinks
13. Ampang Yong Tau Foo
14. Klang Bak Kut Teh
15. KL Wanton Mee
16. Penang Cuttlefish Kang Kong
BIOGRAPHY OF THE HAWKERS
Famous Jalan Alor KL Hokkien Mee (厨留鲜)
At 64 years of age, Mdm Helen Lem is still going strong with her Famous Jalan Alor KL Hokkien Mee stall business. Having started the noodle stall in 1976, Mdm Lem has served all kinds of customers and met with many requests; from locals to expatriates and Caucasian tourists. She tries her best to tailor to their demands, like how Indonesian customers prefer their Hokkien mee with only light soya sauce and how others want their noodles long and dark. According to Mdm Lem, the secret to her Hokkien mee recipe is the proportion of light and dark soya sauce that’s drizzled over the noodles when stir-frying. The trick is to achieve a delicate balance between the salty flavour imparted by the light soya sauce and the sweetness imbued by the dark soya sauce. Together with the fresh ingredients tossed in like lean pork, prawn, squid, and cabbage, the noodle is served with a home-made chilli belachan (shrimp paste) dip. Customers can also choose from different noodle varieties.
Petaling Street Famous Porridge since 1949 (茨厂街靓粥- 老字号1949)
Started in 1949 by Vivian Wong’s grandfather, a migrant to Kuala Lumpur (KL) from Guangzhou, the recipe of the famous Petaling Street porridge has been passed down for three generations over 60 years. The stall in KL is open daily from 4am to 2pm. Most popular during breakfast, Vivian has sold up to 1,300 bowls of porridge on busy weekends. Prior to cooking the porridge, the stock must first be prepared by boiling chicken and pork bones for three hours. It is then added to a mixture of three types of rice grains to be put on the stove for another two hours. Not only is the cooking time crucial, how the porridge is stirred during this time determines its consistency and texture. Vivian’s famous crispy intestine pork porridge and raw fish porridge will be available at the Malaysian Food Street.
Huen Kee Claypot Chicken Rice
What makes Huen Kee Claypot Rice so palatable is the way it’s prepared as well as the marinade for the chicken. Rice, marinated chicken and other ingredients like Chinese sausage called lap cheong are cooked directly in the clay pot on a charcoal stove. Burning charcoal is placed on top of the clay pot as well, so as to lock in moisture and retain the flavours of the rice and ingredients. Ray Teoh, son-in-law of founder Mdm Huen May Lan says that chicken broth is used to cook the rice to give it a full-bodied flavour and before serving it, a mix of sesame oil, shallot oil, Chinese wine (Hua Diao Jiu), ginger sauce, and dark soya sauce is drizzled over the rice and topped with chicken lard. At the Kuala Lumpur stall, they have about 13 charcoal pits to cater to demand, selling up to 200 bowls of claypot chicken rice a day.
Ah Mei Hokkien Prawn Mee (亚妹福建虾面)
Mdm Lim Mooi Moey started the Ah Mei Hokkien Prawn Mee stall with her husband in 1985 and they’ve been in business for 26 years. Their store is open from 7am to 1pm daily and they sell between 200-300 bowls of prawn mee on an average day. The tedious process of cooking the prawn mee starts with boiling the broth with stir-fried crushed prawn shell, pork bones and ground dried chilli for three hours. With every order, the hot spicy clear broth is then poured into a bowl of kang kong, bean sprouts, prawn, hard-boiled egg, pork rib, vermicelli and egg noodle. Famous for her speciality, Mdm Lim has been invited to Macau and Singapore for Penang-themed food promotions. Her most recent stint was at York Hotel in Singapore.
Penang Hai Beng Hainan Lor Mee
The Hai Beng Hainan Lor Mee is one of the oldest signboards in Penang that sells lor mee—egg noodles in dark, heavy, thickened gravy. With its long history, it has attracted a huge following. Started by Cheah It Kheang’s father in 1957, the younger Cheah was introduced to the business when he was just nine years old. Learning the ropes of the trade, he soon graduated from cleaning duties to taking the reins of the kitchen, and has since expanded the business from a street stall to a coffee shop that seats 180 customers. The laborious cooking process involves boiling pork bones for about 11 hours and stirring tapioca starch into the broth to achieve a thick gelatinous consistency, before serving it with a variety of ingredients like stewed hard-boiled egg, mushroom, lean pork, pork lard, pork belly and rice noodles.
Penang Ah Long Lor Bak (戏班脚阿隆五香卤肉)
Lor bak is essentially marinated minced pork, rolled in paper-thin soybean sheets and then deep fried. It is usually served with a small bowl of Loh—a thick pork broth thickened with corn starch and beaten eggs; and chili sauce. Penang Ah Long Lor Bak stands out from other lor bak stalls in Penang because it sells more than just lor bak, it also offers vegetable options like yam and radish. Owned and managed by Mr Tang Kek Long and his wife, the original Penang stall was set up by his father in the 1960s. On a busy day, he can sell up to 1,000 rolls of lor bak. The loh (dip) made of pork broth, five spice powder and other secret spices, together with the home-made chilli sauce give the lor bak its winning edge. Mr Tang and his wife have also visited Singapore several times to participate in Penang-themed food promotions held at the York Hotel and the Yishun Orchid Club.
Penang Lim Brothers’ Char Koay Teow
This brothers-run business has achieved much fame in Penang and won many fans over with its char koay teow—fried flat rice noodles. Unlike the Singapore char koay teow that uses thick dark soya sauce resulting in a darker and sweeter dish, Penang char koay teow is saltier and lighter in colour. Mr Lim Chye Lin started his own stall when he was just 16 years old and had enlisted the help of his younger brother in his business. Fresh quality ingredients like prawn, clam, Chinese sausage, pork lard and egg are stir-fried with the noodles.
Chendol is a dessert with green jelly and red beans on shaved ice, and drizzled over with coconut milk and palm sugar (gula merah). Mdm Loh Swee Gain’s recipe for Penang chendol is originally from her husband. Now, she has her grand-daughter helping her with the desserts stall at the New World Park food court in Penang. Doing everything by hand, Mdm Loh makes the green chendol jelly from scratch as well. The process involves boiling green bean powder, alkaline water, pandan leaf and green colouring over low heat, and passing that soft dough through a sieve to achieve the long slim shapes of the chendol.
Fung Wong Confectionery (凤凰饼家)
Fung Wong Confectionery has become a household name over the years since it started in the early 1900s. It has gone from selling just six types of pastries to more than 20 varieties now. Famous for its wedding cakes, Melvin Chan will be introducing his great-grandfather’s popular egg tarts, kaya puffs, baked char siu bao and many other types of pastries to the Malaysian Food Street. Baked daily, Fung Wong’s egg tarts have attained perfection with smooth, moist egg custard nestled in crispy, crumbly pastry shell. Unlike other baked pork buns which are overly dry and becomes very sticky in the mouth, Fung Wong’s baked char siu bao is moist and encases a good amount of barbeque pork sauce to satiate the taste buds. Also catering for private events, Melvin says they can bake up to 3,000 baked char siew bao for functions.
- Royal Plaza on Scotts Eight Treasures Lobster Yu Sheng (superadrianme.com)
- Unleash the Golden Dragon Lunar New Year at Szechuan Court (superadrianme.com)
- Madrid Hosts Gastrofestival 23 January to 5 February 2012 (superadrianme.com)
- Chinese New Year alert: Crystal Jade (superadrianme.com)
- Enjoy a Rijsttafel Weekend Brunch at The Moluccas Room (superadrianme.com)