Jing Hoe Mei @ Pandan Indah

As you all know, I love steamed fish to death but it's not always possible for me to eat steamed fish since my family does not share the same love for the dish.  Once in a blue moon I would ask my husband to go for a steamed fish meal...and I would have to be ready to finish the whole thing by myself. >.<

So, on one rare occasion when I had the opportunity (when my son wasn't joining us for dinner), we made a visit to Jing Hoe Mei @ Pandan Indah (apparently there are two other branches in Bukit Tinggi, Klang and Taman Bukit Indah, Johor Bahru).  I find the name rather charming as it simply translates to mean something like "Has it finished steaming yet?" in Cantonese.  The name of the place clues you in that it specialises in all things steamed!  And yes, that's also the very place made infamous by a homemade car bomb that exploded in an ongoing murder case (of a worker there)....so drama oh! O_o

Well, I'm here for one thing and one thing only.....and that's their steamed fish obviously (this first visit was before the car bomb incident!).  Although their speciality is their steamed song fish head (or Asian bighead carp) @ RM4 per 100g, they also offer tilapia (the black variety) @ RM5.50 per 100g.

I ordered the Garlic Steamed Fish Head @ RM32 (an 800g sized-one, fish is charged here based on weight).  When it arrived, I realised it was just one half the head (the fish head had been sliced lengthwise)...that goes to show how big a song yue tau (fish head) is.  Not that I wanted the whole head, heck I can't even finish half.  The fish head was super fresh and perfectly steamed to yield tender, flaky flesh.

I decided to go with garlic steamed (which I've not had before) as their other choices of shredded ginger with bird's eye chillies, blended ginger paste, jeong jing (bean paste sauce) and just chopped chillies are the more common forms of preparation of steamed fish.  I'm also not a fan of jeong jing as I feel the salted bean sauce overpowers and takes away from the subtlety of the true flavour of the fish. 

When the fish arrived, I noticed a layer of yellowish paste on the fish (besides the fried garlic) and thought it was ginger paste.  Although I love ginger, I don't like steamed fish with blended ginger paste as the ginger flavour can be pretty strong when blended + they also tend to use too much (I prefer shredded ginger which can be easily scrapped away if there's too much).

I was clearly mistaken as the paste turned out to be blended garlic....ooo, I loved this + they didn't use too much which might have overpowered the taste of the fish.  It needed a combination of fried garlic and blended (raw) garlic paste for it to work.  It wouldn't have worked with just the fried garlic (in my opinion) as that will just act as a garnishing to the fish whereas the blended raw garlic added punchy, but not too potent, flavours to the fish.

The other key factor to a good steamed fish (besides super fresh fish) is the soy sauce used.  This one wasn't the most fragrant I've had but it's delicious enough and (more importantly) not too salty (which I like) and when the blended raw garlic steeped into the sauce, the sauce tasted even better.  You can see that in the portion of fish that I tapau-ed home (which I reheated the next day and topped with fried shallots).  I proacted and brought along my trusted glasslock container as I know I wouldn't be able to finish the fish in its entirety on my own.

This is the aftermath of someone who clearly enjoys eating steamed fish.....bones and all! ^o^  One thing that deserves mention is that the condiments of chopped garlic and green bird's eye chillies were one of the freshest I've seen.  The garlic was a bright sunshine yellow (no brownish blemishes) and the bird's eye chillies a vibrant green, nothing like those with darkened, browned spots in the seeds.

I ordered the Steamed Minced Pork with Salted Fish @ RM15 for my husband since he won't be having any fish.  When it was served, the generous amount of soy sauce in the dish made it look like it was very robust in flavour.

Topped with some fried garlic, chopped spring onions and chillies, the minced pork patty was very decent, tasting tender and smooth, just that I didn't get much of the salted fish taste (then again, I only had two bites as I wanted to leave that for my spouse).  He commented that the soy sauce wasn't very salty....no wonder by the time the steamed minced pork was gone, so was all the sauce.

I also got us a plate of greens, Siew Tong Choy @ RM12 (listed as such on their menu but I know it as siew pak choy or baby bok choy).  The baby greens were blanched and so lightly drizzled with light soy/oyster sauce and fried garlic (there's also hardly any oil).  Bland to most but acceptable for me.  If you're looking for healthy greens, this is it as I've eaten (far too often) greens that are drenched heavily in oil and oyster sauce.

Seeing that the steamed minced pork turned out all saucy and pretty tasty, I was confident that my son would enjoy it too, so we returned another time for dinner here (second visit was after the car bomb episode!). This time I ordered the Steamed Minced Pork with Sotong @ RM15.

Just like the earlier steamed minced pork with salted fish, my son (like his father) was also of the opinion that the soy wasn't very salty (my family clearly prefers robust tasting food).  I, of course, thought it was salty enough.  I did concur with him that the taste of sotong (actually dried cuttlefish lah) was rather understated.  He said the one I cook for him at home has more dried cuttlefish taste (but that's because I was willing to put in a lot).  It's expected that restaurants will be stingy with it since dried cuttlefish is known to be expensive (I get it from my dried goods seller at RM12 for a small packet of 80g!).

Besides steamed fish and steamed minced pork, one can expect steamed eggs on their menu too.  They do it plain, with tofu & otak-otak or the one we ordered, Steamed Egg with Tofu & Fresh Shrimps @ RM16.

No complaints on the steamed egg as it was silky smooth and slurp-worthy although this one was a tiny bit more compact/dense than some of the softer/more watery ones in consistency from the chap fan stalls. There was a good splashing of soy sauce on top for flavour but only a few smallish prawns (probably not worth the extra RM8 for just 6 small shrimps since the plain steamed eggs cost RM8).

We also had the Steamed Tofu with Dried Shrimp & Shallot Oil @ RM10 consisting of a block of silken tofu (cut into half lengthwise) and topped with crispy fried dried shrimps and shallots.

You'd probably find more fried shallots than dried shrimps. >.<  A simple, peasant dish that's super easy to make at home (after all, it comes out of a box, I make it all the time too) and one that's easy to please (just as long as you find the right brand of tofu).

We rounded our meal with a plate of Iceberg Lettuce @ RM12 tossed in oyster/soy sauce and finished with a sprinkling of crispy fried garlic.  Other vegetable choices include bean sprouts and ladies finger (all at RM12). A cheap dinner for three for around RM60+...a healthier choice of meal and a satisfying one as well.

My Personal Opinion

Their speciality of steamed dishes, especially steamed fish, is what they're known for (but, unfortunately, will forever be known/associated with the car bomb murder case) though their steamed minced pork and steamed egg turned out rather pleasant too.

After only two visits, we've more or less sampled most of what they have to offer (steamed fish, pork, egg and tofu) other than their steamed corn-fed chicken with herbs or blended ginger paste.  So, we were happy to learn that they've recently added claypot curry fish to their menu and a lot more other dishes that you can eat with rice (like dai chow fare) from their advertising banner displayed at the restaurant as well as their Facebook page.  Also included are individual servings of one-dish rice and noodles.

I guess they have to expand their menu from just steamed dishes at some point when diners get tired of the few choices and want more variety (which would explain why they weren't as crowded these days as when they first started).  With the introduction of their new menu, I can foresee my family returning to try those new dishes as a dai chow dinner features regularly in our choice of meals. ^_~

Update: The place has converted to a dai chow (but still offering their steamed specialities) and business was flourishing, so it came as a big surprise to learn that they have since closed.

Jing Hoe Mei

No 39 Jalan Pandan 1/22

Pandan Indah

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 011-3190 3753