Yin Kee Fishball Noodles @ Jalan Pudu Ulu

This was another recent gem of a find after the excellent kai see hor fun in Jalan San Peng.  Would you believe that I found this Yin Kee Fishball Noodles @ Jalan Pudu Ulu through foodpanda?  Sometimes when I'm scrolling through foodpanda's website looking for food to order, I look up eateries with good ratings.  It was then that I chanced upon this eatery specialising in fishball noodles.

So, I googled the place further and liked what I saw.  From a photo on Google, it looks like they've been opened for slightly more than a year (since 1-9-2019).  Similar to the excellent kai see hor fun place, this is a no-frills, roadside hawker stall with a zinc roof but, judging from the number of people (8 - 10) needed to run this small place, business must be good.

Seeing that they're a specialist in fishball noodles (it was quite obvious from their name), let's start with that...a bowl of Fishball Noodles @ RM7.  I opted for a combination of yellow mee and hor fun (or kway teow) as my noodle of choice on my first visit.  A safer choice (I thought) just in case the kway teow does not turn out as expected (regular readers of my blog will know I have this love-hate relationship with hor fun since so many miss the mark for me).

My fears were unfounded as the quality of this hor fun turned out to be very good, even on par with those served at kai see hor fun shops.  I opted for just hor fun on my second visit and subsequent visits after that.

The soup base is nice and clear with a light saltiness from the tung choy (preserved vegetable).  Some will deem it too ching (subtle tasting) but not me...I absolutely loved it.

The fishball noodles come with liew (ingredients) of fishballs, fishcake slices and fish wantan (default bowl comes with only one).  The fishballs were very nice, utterly fresh, with a fine balance of slightly springy and slightly dense.  I believe these are handmade fishballs (as no one piece was shaped the same) which I prefer over machine-made fishballs that contain a large(r) portion of starch/flour (usually tapioca starch or cornstarch) that makes them too elastic and bouncy for my liking.

You can add on the Fish Wantans @ RM0.70 a piece directly to your noodles or in a separate bowl by themselves (which I absolutely recommend as the tong is even more ching this way).  I utterly loved these fish wantans (where the skin of the wantans is made from fish paste) which, incidentally, are referred to as fei tip (or UFOs) here (well, I guess their shape does look a bit like a flying saucer of some kind)...lol.

The fish wantans (filled with pork mince) had a nice fragrance and savoury flavour which makes me wonder if perhaps some seasoning in the form of flounder fish powder or dried cuttlefish is involved.  So good.  If there's anything I like more than soup or fried wantans, it's this fish skin wantans! ^.^

Coming back to the fishballs, there are two schools of thought like...one are those who like them super springy and the other group (which I'm in) prefers them denser with a good bite.  I came to that conclusion recently when I bought fishball noodles for a neighbour of mine.  She ended up loving the very one that I disliked (the overly springy one) and not liking the one that I thought was very good.

If the fishballs and fish wantans were stellar, the Fried Fishcake @ RM7 was even more outstanding although, at first glance when it arrived, I was quite taken aback to see such a small piece for the price (and I thought RM5.50 for a piece at Ah Koong was already quite pricey).

The outer layer of the fried fishcake had a nice crisp texture to it while the fish paste inside had that near perfect texture between slightly bouncy and chewy.  Simply awesome! ;)

The fishcake was well seasoned with a nice, savoury flavour which I thought came from either salted fish, dried cuttlefish or even flounder fish but when I asked one of the owners (it's a family-run business), she told me that they use sai to yue (wolf herring or ikan parang) only to make the fishcake.  Perhaps she doesn't want to reveal their trade secret.

Based on the taste and texture of the fishcake, it's well worth the RM7 paid as far as I'm concerned (even if it's a bit pricey for such a small piece).  It's an excellent fishcake (my favourite thus far) and it's a must-order each time we're here for the fishball noodles. ^o^

Sorry for going on and on about their exceptional fishballs, fish wantans and fishcake but their Curry Laksa @ RM7.50 deserves mention too.  The default ingredients in this bowl of curry are poached chicken, rehydrated pig skin, tofu puffs, long beans, beansprouts and fresh cockles.

Tasting the first sip of the curry broth, I was slightly disappointed as the taste of the spices, especially the curry powder, was evidently in the forefront.

That's why you need this :)

After mixing in all the sambal and squeezing in the kalamansi lime, the broth takes on a different dimension with a spicier note and a more well-rounded flavour.  If I were given more sambal, I would have dunked in more.  The curry is adequately thick and creamy too.

You can choose to have it with char siew (like my spouse) but I prefer mine with poached chicken.  Although this may not have been among some of the best curry laksa I've had, it was still something they can be proud of seeing that this isn't their speciality.  It was more than decent and certainly one I won't mind having again.

Wantan Mee @ RM7 rounds up the choice of noodles you can have here.  Filled with lean char siew slices, minced pork and choy sum, the sauce had decent flavours with pork lard in the mix.  I enjoyed the texture of the noodles but would consider this as the last option only if you don't want to eat the other two noodles.

The soup wantans were plain and didn't taste as good as the fish skin wantans.  Not sure if they share the same minced meat filling as the ones in the fish wantans tasted different (and by that I mean better). Perhaps, this isn't the fairest of comparisons since one had skins made from fish paste. :P

You can also order Fried Wantans @ RM0.70 a piece if you prefer them fried (I definitely do).  Again, the fried version tasted better than the soup version (not sure if it's just because fried ones are crispy...lol) since I'm sure they share the same minced meat filling.

Rounding up the side orders is their Fried Fu Chuk @ RM3 (good value for 3 large pcs).  With a little fish paste wrapped between crunchy, rolled up bean curd sheets, it's difficult not to love a crispy snack like this.

My Personal Opinion

This is, by far, the most impressive fishball noodles I've had in recent memory.  Usually I wouldn't have been able to frequent dedicated fishball noodle shops since my family isn't into it but, luckily, this one is also home to a very decent curry laksa and an acceptable wantan mee.

But one thing we all agreed on was how good the fish cake was...with that ideal texture between lightly chewy and springy.  Equally great (and my favourite) were the fish wantans.

I'm so glad to have found a good fishball noodle place near me since it ranks pretty high on my list of best-loved noodles....and I've been eating here frequently ever since.

Yin Kee Fishball Noodles

1Gerai Hadapan Perumahan Awam

Taman Kobena

Jalan Pudu Ulu Cheras

56100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 016-258 0860