One of my favorite Malaysian hawker comfort foods is kuih teow soup, so when I was looking for breakfast during the last JB trip earlier this year, I decided that Ah Hua Kueh Teow would fit the bill. We stayed at KSL Resort, and Ah Hua was just a short walk away, it made perfect sense.
Ah Hua kueh teow serves kuih teow soup that comes with a pretty good list of ingredients – fish balls, pork slices, liver, minced pork, romaine lettuce , and even a sprinkle of fried lard and a pinch of seaweed, all in a broth that’s subtle and comforting. A side of red chili and soya sauce comes with this, making for a simple yet satisfying breakfast that warms the stomach in the morning.
fish cake anyone? I shared this with a couple Singaporean aunties
For those who likes a bit of extra, there’s those deep fried fish cake as side dish. I was sharing a table with 2 retired aunties and that was what they ordered and happily offered to share those fish cakes with me. I did feel bad and ended up paying for them instead, which made for an overall happy day for all three of us.
Would not hesitant to go back there again should I find myself in JB looking for a warm breakfast.
Address: Ah Hua Kueh Teow 21, Jalan Serigala, Taman Abad, 80250 Johor Bahru, Johor GPS: 1.485697, 103.761054
Kuih Teow Soup is one of those Penang hawker food that receive very little attention in Klang Valley, and I believe this is mostly due to the fact that pork noodle and the KL style fishball noodle (very subtle differences) serves most of the same demographic that gravitates towards this type of dishes.
do re mi kopitiam at Ara Damansara
Here’s the subtle differences in these three types of noodle soup, even though their broth are all clear and choice of noodle is usually kuih teow (flat rice noodle):
pork noodle – major ingredients of pork slices, innards, and even pork balls, sometimes you get to add poached egg, no bean sprouts
KL style fish ball noodle – fish ball, fish cake, bean sprout, mustard green
Penang kuih teow soup – fish ball, fish cake, chicken/pork/duck meat slices, bean sprouts, sometimes with coagulated duck/chicken blood, spring onion
So in essence, kuih teow soup has a more complex taste when compared to plain old fish ball noodle, while being not as savory and heavy as pork noodle.
For a proper bowl of Penang kuih teow soup in Klang Valley, my favorite at the moment is the hawker stall at Do Re Mi kopitiam at Ara Damansara. It is one of the very few places in town that serves kuih teow soup with duck meat. Duck meat is an ingredient that you don’t often find in hawker dishes in KL, I suppose mostly due to cost, and perhaps lesser appreciation from the public.
kuih teow th’ng, with duck meat
If you’re a fan of kuih teow soup in it’s proper form, this is surely a place to check out. Let me know if you have other favorites of yours to share.
Address: Restaurant DoReMi 123 Jalan PJU 1a/20b Ara Damansara Petaling Jaya, Selangor GPS: 3.119897, 101.579194
One of my favorite hawker style comfort foods is kuih teow soup. Back in Penang, this is a rather ubiquitous dish that you can in just about any kopitiam or food court. However, in Klang Valley, pork noodle seems to take center stage to fill this niche instead. Which can be a good/bad thing depending on your preference.
Restoran Berkeley Sua Teng
The situation in Klang is a little bit different, and I suppose due to the prevalent of bak kut teh which already heavily involves the usage of pork as an ingredient in a dish that involves soup, pork noodle is quite rare, and probably as a side effect, there are some kuih teow soup places instead, such as Restoran Berkeley Sua Teng at Taman Berkeley which I happily discovered just recently.
kuih teow soup, hawker style comfort food
The almost kopitiam style restaurant offers the usual kuih teow soup, curry version, dry version, with rice, and a few other side dishes.
We tried their plain old fashion kuih teow soup which came with bouncy home-made fish balls, fish cake, tofu skin, and a slice of vege. The ingredients may be slightly different from the version I love in Penang, it does still tastes very light and balanced, comforting and perfect for when you’re looking for something light.
fish cake, fuchuk, and suikao, complete with kampong koh chili sauce
For side dishes, we tried their fish cake, sui kao, and tofu skin. These were all deep fried and served with one of the best chili sauce you can get – naturally from Kampong Koh! A satisfying lunch for sure, and I won’t hesitate to go back there again.
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Address: Restoran Berkeley Sua Teng Lorong Angsa, Bandar Baru Klang, 41150 Klang, Selangor GPS: 3.057078, 101.465631 Hours: 9 am to late lunch
Due to the proximity of where I stay, Mingtien food court is my most frequented food court especially when it comes to late dinners.
This huge food court has at least 30-40 hawker stalls at any one time and operates 24 hours a day, which is rather convenient if you’re hungry at the wee hours and don’t feel like going to yet another mamak eatery.
new kuih teow soup and laksa stall at Mingtien food court
When I was first introduced to Mingtien some 10 years ago, most of the stalls were, for the lack of a better word, rubbish. But like many food court that manage to stand the test of time, the bad stalls were eventually replaced with better ones ala Darwinian evolution, and today, most of the hawker stalls actually provide more than decent dishes.
As a fan of Penang kuih teow soup, I was delighted to discover this new stall that offers this dish (in addition to Penang laksa which we haven’t tried). Naturally I had to give it a try.
kuih teow th’ng with coagulated blood and lard
What came was a version that is pretty true to the origin – with shredded steamed chicken, fishball, garlic oil, lard, and even coagulated blood, the rarest of all ingredient to be found in Klang Valley for this dish. The soup was subtle yet supple, and I bet it’ll satisfy any kuih teow soup fan.
I can’t say that the fish ball is top notch, but everything else hits the spot. For RM 5, this is more than just a “tahan gian” dish.
Address: Ming Tien Hawker Center
Jalan SS24/8, Taman Megah,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor GPS:3.114334, 101.611658 Hours; this stall operates from evening till late
As someone who’s born and bred in Penang, we obviously love our hawker dishes, and hence it is always a mission for many of us Penangites to find the local taste right here in KL whenever we can.
New Apollos kopitiam at USJ 4
Now when most think about hawker foods in Penang, curry mee, prawn mee, laksa, and char kuih teow is often high on the list, and if you mention kuih teow th’ng (or kuih teow soup), many don’t even realize how difficult it is to find a place that offers the dish here in KL. Hence when I accidentally ended up at Restaurant New Apollos in USJ 4 and saw this stall, I knew it was something I had to order.
proper Penang style kuih teow th’ng
The operator (not the one in the picture, she was just the helper) speaks Penang Hokkien, which passed the first litmus test whenever I order Penang food.
When the bowl of kuih teow soup arrived, I was already pretty happy. The dish looked the part, with three fishballs, shredded steamed chicken, a few slices of fish cakes, vegetable, fried garlic, and a few bits of lard.
I was well satisfied with the kuih teow soup
As for the taste, this RM 5 bowl of goodness hits all the right spots. It might lack strips of duck blood, but the fish balls and fish cakes had the right texture and tasted rather good. Portion was not overly big like other KL hawker dishes, and the shredded chicken cooked just right as well.
In fact, I liked it so much I rode all the way from Damansara Perdana to USJ 4 just for this yesterday. This kuih teow soup is now on the top of my list so far as Klang Valley is concerned.
Address: Restaurant New Apollos 2, Jln USJ4/6B Subang Jaya GPS: 3.051770, 101.576209 Hours: Lunch and Breakfast, Closed on Tuesdays
