Hot Mom Kitchen @ Pandan Perdana

I first noticed this place, Hot Mom Kitchen @ Pandan Perdana, during my regular visits to 7-Chai (for Ipoh kai see hor fun) but never went in to try as the place was uncannily deserted each time I passed by.

After finding out (from their Facebook) that they offer an array of Penang-style food like char kway teow, kuey chap, Hokkien mee (aka prawn mee), assam laksa, kuey teow th'ng (duck soup kuey teow), Nyonya curry noodle, loh mee, braised duck rice, among others, it got me excited.  So, we came on a Sunday hoping to partake in one of these noodles but to our disappointment were told that they don't sell noodles on Sunday (except for kuey chap) but serve dishes with rice instead.

We were then told what they had and I opted for the Penang Assam Fish @ RM25 which was served in a claypot garnished with lots of mint leaves.  They normally use grouper (sek pan yue) I was told but the fish that day was pou yue.  I didn't know what pou yue was but just nodded my head in agreement...lol.

Turned out pou yue is stingray in Chinese (aiyah, stingray I know lah)...and this stingray was probably one of the freshest I've ever eaten.  Soft, flaky flesh (rather meaty too for stingray) that's not reeking of any untoward smell or taste whatsoever.  I was also told I could add on an additional prawn @ RM7 and so I did. She also told me that they use fung wong har (not that I know what prawn that is and even more clueless when the name is in Chinese!).  But I did see a vlog by a (Cantonese-speaking) foodie and he also made mention that "lat ma" (which literally means spicy mom, not hot aka sexy mom...lol) uses not any prawn but fung wong har (I take it then that they must be good quality prawns).

The single additional prawn was huge and super duper fresh.  I thought the price was very reasonable for such a large prawn (the vlogger also said that RM7 for one is a steal).  If I've to make a comparison, the size is probably similar to the one I had at Ah Koong for RM10.

Not only was the fish and prawn cooked to perfection, so was the ladies finger (the only vegetable in this claypot assam, no medley of vegetables like tomatoes, long beans, brinjal or onions).  The ladies finger was not overcooked or overly soft like some can be...neither was it old and stringy like many I've eaten.

Finally, the assam sauce brought the whole dish home.  It was excellent, both in thickness and taste.  It had the right consistency of being not too watery nor too thick and the flavour was so well balanced between sour and spicy (when some can either be too sour or too spicy).  I can't remember having a better assam fish than this. ^.^

I also ordered the Pepper Pig Stomach Soup @ RM18 and was happy to see the bowl arriving with a fair amount of tender pork stomach slices and sprinkled with lots of yin sai (Chinese coriander).

The soup was fragrant and nicely peppered even though there weren't a lot of crushed peppercorns at the bottom of the bowl (which my husband noticed as well) like some of the other pig stomach pepper soup we've had.  Could this be an indication that the peppercorns used were probably of a good quality (Sarawak peppercorns perhaps)?  Good quality pepper gives you a fragrant-spicy flavour, and not just a pepper-spicy taste.

I also noticed that the soup was better flavoured than most pepper soup I've had.  Turns out that there were some chicken pieces (probably choy yin kai/kampung chicken) in the soup (on further digging).  This is the first time I've been served pig stomach soup with chicken.  No wonder the soup was much tastier coz the soup was boiled with chicken instead of the usual pork-based soup.

After such a positive dining experience, we returned on another day (this time a Saturday) in the hope of finally trying one of her Penang-style noodles.  We were in for a treat as she had Penang Prawn Mee @ RM12 (big, RM9 for small) that day (she has a rather peculiar way on how she runs her shop which I'll explain a little later).  Note that presentation is certainly not her forte as everything is just strewn into the bowl! :P

When the bowl of prawn mee arrived, we noted it was quite a sizeable bowl (we later found out that we were given big by default as we did not mention we wanted small).  This standard bowl of prawn mee was filled with a chock-full of ingredients of prawns, lean pork, fish cake, pork intestines, half a hard-boiled egg, kangkung, taugeh and finished with lots of fried shallots.  There was a decent amount of medium-sized prawns that have been halved lengthwise.

I wasn't expecting to see pork intestines in a standard bowl of prawn mee and was obviously stoked that they were included (it's usually only available as an add-on).  The intestines in my husband's standard bowl landed in mine knowing how much I love them.

As you can see, my bowl of prawn mee is slightly different from my husband's coz I went for an add-on big prawn (additional RM7).  There's also add-on pork ribs, pig tail (!) and intestines available.  I also found two softened pieces of cuttlefish in my bowl (not sure if that's another ingredient or it was there to add further flavour to the prawn mee).

The house-made fried shallots also deserve special mention as they were immensely fragrant and crispy that only inhouse made fried shallots can be, none of that cheap, commercially procured crap.  Omg, look at the plentiful fried shallots clinging onto my freakishly huge prawn....let me give you a close-up to show you just how big it is! O_o  It's the same excellent quality prawn (fung wong har) used in the earlier assam fish dish.

This is a perfectly peeled prawn, if I've to say so myself....lol!  The fact that the tail can be peeled cleanly off its shell is an indication of just how fresh the prawn is.  I saved the best for last! ;)

Of course all the stellar ingredients don't mean squat if the broth isn't as stellar.  The broth was intensely prawn-flavoured with umami from the prawns (and shells) and pork bones (maybe even chicken carcass).  The insanely rich, deep orangey/reddish-coloured broth is a sight to behold (I've not seen a prawn mee broth this vibrant).  It's quite spicy on its own without the need to add any of the additional chilli paste given...and I drank it to the (almost) last drop....it was that good! ;P

This is the best tasting prawn mee I've eaten thus far...but eating it as and when you want to is not always possible.  I say that coz the lady owner/chef of this place has a very peculiar way of running her business. You don't know what noodles will be cooked/offered on a particular day (except for kway chap which is available daily, she says)...and that's because she rotates her daily specials whenever she likes (she says she lacks workers and she can only do so much herself).  It's not a favourable concept (from a customer's point of view) but still acceptable if she can at least determine a fix day for her daily specials (but she can't even commit to that).  Maybe her daily specials depend on what fresh ingredients she can get.  Hopefully, this kind of set-up will change eventually when she hires more help...and she can sell everything on a daily basis (coz not everyone will be able to tolerate coming from afar only to find out that the noodle they want to eat is not available)! >.<

My Personal Opinion

This place scored a 3 out of 3 (I ate 3 things here and all 3 were excellent)....but the one that made the most impression was the prawn mee.  My gold standard and go-to prawn mee used to be from (formerly known as) Kedai Makanan Red Leaf (now known as Piau Kee Kopitiam)...but that has now been dethroned by this wickedly good, current gold standard from Hot Mom Kitchen! ^o^

Their assam fish (usually grouper but we got stingray) and pig stomach pepper soup deserve not only mention but accolades too.  The pou yue and fung wong har were super fresh and in an assam sauce that was super tasty and well balanced.  The pig stomach soup base was fragrantly peppery and had depth of flavour with the inclusion of chicken in the stock.

If you fancy any of the 3 dishes above, then I strongly recommend that you come and try Hot Mom Kitchen's...but not at this address.  At the time of writing, they have already shifted to Restoran Bai Li Men, 1 Jalan Gelang, Off Jalan Sungei Besi, Pudu, 55200 Kuala Lumpur.  Haiyaa, just as I thought I've found my new no. 1 favourite prawn mee, they have to shift to somewhere further away from me. >_<  In fact, this is her third new location.  From their Facebook, I noted that she used to have a stall in New Era Restaurant in Pandan Jaya before moving to this location and opening her own shop at Pandan Perdana.  Now, she's back to being a stall at Restoran Bai Li Men.  P/S: For now, your best bet to enjoy this prawn mee is on weekends (Friday - Sunday).  That's what the lady boss told me...but don't come after me ya if she changes her mind on her specials for the day! :P

Now I understand why her place is always eerily quiet (whenever I passed by) coz this system (of rotating her daily specials) may not find favour or prove acceptable to everyone (me included) who visits craving to eat a particular noodle only to find out it's not available.  She says you can call her to find out what's her special for the day...but who does that!  The lady owner is a good cook with great recipes but she's not what I would call business-minded (or know how to run a business proper), otherwise she would have a lot more customers and be making more money based on the excellent tasting food she churns out.  That's probably why she converted back to being a stall as she can't manage running her own shop (opened for 9 months only) which requires more manpower and effort.  I will certainly visit her at her new location if I want to continue to partake in my newfound gold standard prawn mee.

Hot Mom Kitchen

7G Jalan Pandan Perdana 4/1

Pandan Perdana

55300 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 012-709 1181