Pork ball noodle is somewhat of a side kick in the world of hawker food that involves pork and noodle. While pork noodle is Batman, pork ball noodle would be Robin.
Just like Robin, pork ball noodle isn’t exactly as prevalent as pork noodle, and in places where both types are available, Batman usually takes center stage.
Of course, everything has an exception, and such is the case at Win Heng Seng where the pork ball noodle stall arguably busier than the pork ball counterpart (I love the kidney).
pork ball noodle stall at Win Heng Seng kopitiam
The pork ball noodle comes in soup or dry version, and you get to choose from kuih teow, mee hun, yellow noodle, loh she fun, and the combination of them as stomach filler.
While the stall get get very busy (as with the kopitiam itself over lunch), it usually doesn’t take very long for your bowl of goodness to be served.
dry version is my favorite, with kuih teow or lou she fun
I particularly like the dry version here, there’s the properly flavored minced pork over noodle and black sauce, and the side of homemade pork balls and those super addictive Chinese sausage (lap cheong siu cheong). This is a largely savory, non spicy dish with pickled green chili in soya sauce for those who likes to have that bit of kick to go with.
firm and flavorful pork ball, then there’s the Chinese sausage
I usually devour everything within 10 minutes or so, and maybe next time I should ask for more lapcheong. So irresistible.
The standard bowl goes for RM 5 or RM 5.50 RM 6, a pretty standard price for this area, and you won’t regret it. 
Address:
Restaurant Win Heng Seng
Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.145479, 101.715087
I discovered Restaurant Sing Kee in most unconventional way – while riding my mountain bike for the purpose of waist management (beats running IMHO, you get a bit of adventure thrown in), I found myself at Sungai Way and saw this restaurant that was full of people.
If a restaurant at an old neighborhood is packed, it is usually good, and many weeks later, Haze and I decided to pay a visit for dinner.
Sing Kee at PJ Sungei Way
Sing Kee is just like any “tai chau“, with a huge variety of dishes on the menu. The specialty here though is their asam fish, a dish that we noticed on more than half the tables.
Since it was our first time here, I asked for the server to give us her recommendations. We ended up with asam fish, squid with salted egg yolk, and a plate of vegetable to go with two steamed rice.
the glorious asam fish – tilapia
It did take a while for food to be served, but at least the home brewed loh hon goh drinks accompanying our wait were plenty good.
Our food arrived.
The asam fish (RM 21) was almost a balanced meal by itself – steamed tilapia with brinjal, long bean, lady’s finger, onion, tomato, and red chili all in an asam soup base that strikes a perfect balance of sourness and hotness. The fish were done perfectly too, and despite a generally inferior species when it comes to taste, preparing it in this method clearly removes any muddy tastes that we sometimes associate with tilapia.
It was really one of the best asam fish dish I’ve tried thus far.
squid with salted egg, vegetable for vitamin c quota
Our second dish was the squid with salted egg (RM 22). A dish not recommended for the weak hearted (or those with high cholesterol for sure). It was another win, squid that still retains some chewiness coated with generous amount of salted egg and breading for that extra savory taste. The only problem with it was that the portion should be for 4 pax, not 2.
Then there was the vegetable, which tastes like any normal vegetable dish. Nothing to see here.
Haze and I were positively satisfied
If you’re looking for old fashion tai chau and a good plate of asam fish, you can certainly do worse than Sing Kee. I’m going to visit this place again when the asam addiction strike. Will try other dishes too.
P/S: I later found out that this is also one of Kerol’s favorite place, she is a picky eater.
Address:
Restaurant Sing Kee
No. 28, Jalan SS 9A/16
Sungai Way New Village
47300 Petaling Jaya
Selangor
GPS: 3.086855, 101.62206
Tel: 013-217 7260, 012-380 3918
It’s been too long since the last recipe was posted on this blog, so here goes.
This soya sauce chicken dish was first made by Haze off a recipe she obtained online, it turned out pretty good but I thought there were something lacking, so after giving it a bit of thought I came up with this version that took a cue from the tau eu bak recipe.
cloves, star anise, cinnamon stick, ginger, garlic
The ingredients are pretty similar to the tau eu bak – your usual suspects of Chinese/Nyonya cooking. I use chicken wings as the meat, but you can substitute this with any part of chicken, and I have reasonable confidence that it’ll work well with duck too.
1 part soya sauce, 3 part water
The cooking instruction is about as simple as you can get:
simmer for 30 mins, add sugar and a dash of dark soya sauce
The difference between this and the “original” recipe was the addition of dark soya sauce, this thickens the sauce quite a bit and adds a bit of complexity that sugar can’t bring out.
This is a very easy dish to cook and best enjoy with steamed rice. Happy cooking!
soya sauce chicken wings, le slurps
For more recipes from yours truly, check out ”KY Cooks” section.
For those of you who always asks why I’m not massively overweight while maintaining a seemingly sinful life that revolves around food, well, here is one of the reasons – exercise.
I play badminton every Monday (and sometimes Sunday too), futsal every Thursday & Saturday (and sometimes Tuesday too), and occasionally ride my mountain bike if I haven’t had either of the other two forms of exercise for more than 2-3 days in a row.
While sports is all fun and great, the activities do put a bit of a toll on the body, a bit of aching, sprains, and bruises every now and then aren’t uncommon.
my regular badminton session at Seksyen 13, PJ
A little while ago I wrote about the Tiger Balm cool plaster that I used on my sprained ankle. Well, now that the ankle is 100% back to normal, I’m back on the court again… and made the mistake of not really easing myself into the games after an absence of 3 weeks. Hitting a bit too hard, and the lack of proper warm up left me with a bit of a tight right shoulder.
Which gave me an opportunity to try out the Tiger Balm warm plaster.
Tiger Balm plaster directions
Just like the cool plaster, application of the warm plaster is pretty simple:
Tiger Balm warm plaster on back shoulder
Just like the cool plaster, the warm plaster is stretchable and does not impede movement. The adhesive is secure enough that you can actually sleep in it or use it under a shirt and still it won’t come off accidentally.
The warm plaster gives a soothing warm sensation and does provide pretty good pain relief. I did feel the shoulder loosen up a little better after a while. It felt good.
Tiger Balm plasters give good pain relief and is perfect for many occasions, but if you have chronic aching that bothers you and never seem to get any better, I would think that doctor’s consultation is needed.
Each pack of Tiger Balm Plaster contains 2 units, large pack goes for RM 6.80 while the smaller one is priced at RM 5.20. You can find them at all key chain pharmacies such as Guardian or Watson and nearby pharmacies.
I traveled to Vietnam on numerous occasions in one of my previous jobs, and one of my favorite things about Vietnam outside of those excellent beef noodles, was their coffee.
The coffee drinking culture in Vietnam is very much different from that of Malaysia. Instead of international chains like Starbucks and Coffeebeans, you can find many classy and some quaintly decorated independent coffee houses scattered everywhere in Ho Chi Minh City.
In fact, around Turtle Lake in HCMC, you can even find coffee houses that are easily mistaken as pubs or dance clubs. Coffee drinking is not just for the old folks, it is also a favorite past time for fashionable young adults.
Vietnamese Iced Coffee, known as “cafe da”, is usually plenty thick and fragrant. The coffee consists of about 1/4 condensed milk and best served with ice. I believe most coffee lover would find it enjoyable (albeit not the healthiest choice)
I would sometimes order drip coffee when I have my pho fix at Pho Hoa, but lately I’ve been doing it myself, and here is how you can too!
proper condensed milk is a must, not condensed creamer
The key to good food is in its ingredients, and there’s no difference when it comes to coffee. For cafe da, other than the ground coffee itself, you need proper condensed milk.
I purchased Milkmaid condensed milk from Cold Storage at a price of RM 9.99. You can get condensed creamer for RM 2.40 or so but that’ll be like drinking coffee with palm oil and sugar, it’s not the same. (if you’re interested in why condensed milk are imported, read this article on TheNutGraph by Tony Pua).
My ground coffee and the drip filter was given by a Vietnamese friend (Cheryl Mọi Rợ), but you can actually source them locally. The ground coffee that I got has a bit of a chocolaty aroma to it, and is rather rich and complex too. Trung Nguyen is a well known brand and they have a website at trungnguyen.com.my
use a French drip filter
So here’s how you make a cup of cafe da:
1/4 condensed milk, 3/4 coffee, 100% ice = win
While this is the most typical way to enjoy Vietnamese coffee, some prefer it with sugar or “kosong” too. Of course, ice is also optional.
Now excuse me while I make me another cup of cafe da.
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For those who are still in the dark about the Celcom iPhone 4s launch tonight (0:00 15/12/2011 at La Bodega, Bangsar Shopping Centre, KL), I have some insider info: the 12 & 24 month plans with device price as low as less than RM 600.
click on the above photos to view the iPhone 4s plans by Celcom.
