#ewew cooks Chinese Spinach Soup 2.0

Just like choiyen.com who blogs many recipes of soups, I'm also a soup lover myself.  I'm good to go with just a nutritious bowl of soup as my one-dish meal with a bit of rice.....must have a little rice...hee..hee! ;)  For boiled soups (and I prefer the taste of double-boiled soups), we need a bit of time to extract all the flavours from the meat and vegetables.

But when we're pressed for time, we can make a super quick guan tong which takes little to no time at all to serve up...and I was reminded of one such soup with Yen's Quick Spinach Soup.  Though she made it with spinach (you know that vegetable made famous by Popeye the Sailor Man, we know it as poh choy), I'm making mine with Chinese spinach (otherwise known as amaranth greens or bayam hijau).  

I've cooked this Chinese Spinach Soup before but I feel this one tastes better, so I thought I'll share my upgraded Chinese Spinach Soup 2.0.....lol.  I've been referring to spinach as yin choy in Cantonese (as it's commonly translated/spelt/pronounced as such online) but have regularly gotten akward glances from restaurants/market vendors when they ask me if it's hin choy I wanted.  Have I been mispronouncing it all along? >.<

Compared to boiled soups which can take up to 4 hours or double-boiled soups which take even longer, this is a super fast style of making soup simply referred to in Cantonese as guan tong, literally also translated as boiled soup, but the guan (or boiling) here is a super quick boil which literally takes just 10 - 15 minutes to be ready.

Chinese spinach soup is nutritious and delicious but we don't make it often enough coz many of us are put off by the tedious preparation and washing of the vegetable.  You have to pluck the stalks backwards to discard the fibrous strands followed by countless washing and rinsing of the vegetable to get rid of the abundant sand trapped between the leaves.  Well, if you don't want to deal with all that, you can get the baby Chinese spinach (hin/yin choy mew) instead which is much easier to clean and prep.

But I made the soup this time with regular (not baby) Chinese spinach this time.  Well, if you want to drink a good soup, you need to put in the effort lah.  I also feel the regular Chinese spinach holds better than baby Chinese spinach in soups.  I'll tell you why later.

This is a soup that does not need a recipe as it'll still turn out great even if you don't adhere to measured ingredients.  To make this soup (I'm making for one person), you start by frying up an egg (lightly seasoned with salt) in some oil.  Break them into pieces with your spatula and set it aside.  This was my first change in making this 2.0 version.  Previously, I cracked an egg into the soup (when the soup was almost done) which made the soup cloudy (and more like an egg drop soup).

Next, you get a simple broth going by frying a handful of ikan bilis (dried anchovies) with two chunks of lightly flattened ginger (which is easier to remove than pieces of sliced ginger) in some oil.  I decided to omit chopped garlic this time as it can easily burn if we're not careful (+ I don't wish to taste burnt nor bite into almost raw garlic in my soup).

Once the ikan bilis has nicely browned, add in a (big) bowl of water.  I just use the bowl size where I'd be happy with the portion I'm going to eat and that will be the amount of water I need...hah..hah.  Simmer the ikan bilis stock for 10 minutes to extract the flavours.  Season to taste.  You can then strain the soup and discard the ikan bilis (and ginger) but I leave them in as it's still edible (I just remove the chunks of ginger).

Then add in the Chinese spinach and cook till soft (around 3 minutes) or longer if you like your greens softer.

When the vegetables are at its desired softness, add the already fried egg pieces back into the mix......

....followed immediately by the chopped salted egg (ham dan that needs to be cooked first like hard-boiled eggs) and preserved century egg (pei dan that doesn't need any cooking).  I used half an egg each for soup meant for one person.  You don't need to cook this at all but to just mix it into the soup....and my Chinese Spinach Soup 2.0 with 3 types of egg is ready.

A salted duck egg cured in a thick crust of salted clay mix or charcoal paste might seem off-putting (to non-Asians) but it's perplexing how something so vile looking hides something so good inside.  I used to dislike cleaning the mess of ash/clay off the salted egg but just had to do it coz something delicious comes out of it.

Cleaning the century egg wrapped in a clay/ash mix and rice hulls is even worse as, after removing the outer layer of rice hulls, the ash paste feels like damp mud...yucks!  Westerners might think why we'd want to eat something that vile smelling (stinks to high heavens to haters!) but wonderfully pungent smelling and tasting to those who love them...lol.

That aside, it's a super quick soup to make....and a light soup to drink with lots of good for you greens. Sprinkle over some crispy fried tiny anchovies for that added crunch.  These tiny anchovies go by many names...blue-eyed anchovies, ikan bilis mata biru, ngan yu chai, whitebait or silver fish (not the pesky pest kind!).  I like to eat them (I even add my own into nasi lemak) as they are super crunchy and extra fragrant (and more expensive than the regular kind too).

One of the first changes I made to this Chinese Spinach Soup 2.0 is the use of regular Chinese spinach instead of baby ones (yin/hin choy mew).  I thought the larger leaves and thicker stems held better when boiled to retain a good bite instead of being too soft if baby spinach was used.  I think the baby spinach works better in a quick stir-fry with garlic as it tends to soften much faster.  I know it's a lot more work to clean regular spinach but you just got to do it....no pain, no gain, right?

The second difference was to fry the egg separately instead of cracking it into the soup.  That way the soup will not be so cloudy + fried eggs also tastes better, won't you agree?  I also omitted wolfberries (doesn't do anything to quick-boiled soup to impart any additional flavour) and garlic (as biting into softened chopped garlic isn't all that pleasant unless the garlic spooned over the soup is fried, crispy and browned).

The third change was the addition of century eggs which I feel is really necessary as it brings a more unique flavour to the soup overall when eaten with the Chinese spinach.  The century eggs we buy outside are not quite in the same league as those we get at restaurants that serve them (the yolks of those are more custardy, gooey and soft...and absolutely decadent eaten with vinegared ginger).  So, the lower quality century eggs with firmer yolks work great in a soup like this.

I felt that the few changes I made to my Chinese Spinach Soup 2.0 made it better.  That's what cooking is all about.....we improve as we go along and begin to understand each ingredient better and how to use them in the best possible way.  The more we cook, the more we practise, the better our food becomes.....and that's a fact! 

Guan tong is a super quick way of getting a soup on the dinner table when we don't have the time.  You can make it with just about any type of vegetables in a simple ikan bilis stock like Chinese green spinach (as I've done here), Chinese red spinach (if you don't mind your soup having a red hue), spinach (poh choy), Chinese flowering cabbage (choy sum), lettuce (sang choy), cabbage, bok choy, Chinese cabbage (pak choy) or any leafy vegetable you fancy (green or otherwise).  I'd be totally happy with a simple, quick to make soup like this.....and a bit of rice for dinner. ^_~

Lim Fried Chicken @ Sunway Velocity

I've heard about Lim Fried Chicken from way back when but have not tried until I was tempted by their discount vouchers on ShopeeFood recently.  For food that I've not tried before, I usually prefer to use such bargains to minimise my losses (so to speak) in case the food turns out to be a waste of my hard-earned money...lol.

From its humble beginnings in Wong Soon Kee coffee shop in Subang Jaya's SS14 since 1983 (with long queues reported then) to a chain of restaurants throughout Klang Valley now is testament that Lim Fried Chicken has a following.  Of course there are their old customers who say that their original shop in SS14 tastes better but I wouldn't know anything about that since I've not had it there before.

So, I ordered delivery from Lim Fried Chicken @ Sunway Velocity with a RM4 off discount voucher.  For my very first taste, I got their most raved about Fried Chicken Set @ RM16.80 with rice + whole chicken leg + vegetables + egg (RM14.90 for this combo without egg).  I asked for the sambal to be packed separately not knowing how spicy it would be.  I ended up receiving the curry packed separately too.....nice.

On opening the box, I saw that the fried chicken leg (chopped in half) was freaking huge and accompaniend by vegetables (cabbage) and an egg (but I got a hard-boiled egg instead of a fried egg shown in their menu).

With the chicken leg covering almost the entire length of the box, I thought I'd have an easier time eating it out of a plate....and since the curry and sambal was also packed separately, I was able to present it nicely on a plate. ^_~

The curry had the distinct flavours of curry powder and spices which I'm not a big fan of.  It tasted almost like an Indian (fish) curry which is unlike our Chinese-style curries which have a more dominantly rich santan (coconut milk) flavour.  The (onion) sambal was moderately spicy, sweet and salty...in fact, a bit too salty if you ask me.  I'd say slightly better than most Chinese-style sambal but not quite near the standards of a good Malay sambal.

The enormous piece of battered fried chicken leg was crispy (no complaints on that) while the meat was still adequately tender and juicy.  I'm always apprehensive about a whole chicken leg (because of just how big and thick the chicken is to fry) as I've gotten slightly undercooked chicken quite a few times before...and this one I'm afraid was a bit undercooked too around the leg joint (so I made sure I ate around it leaving the pinkish meat aside).  Now I understand (and perhaps even appreciate) why some places choose to make a slit around the thigh joint to ensure their chicken leg is cooked all the way through.  Overall, it's still a decent piece of fried chicken (when fried well) but the taste is just moderate, not outstanding.  I thought the meat itself could do with a bit more seasoning.

This was a complete meal of rice with meat, veggie and egg doused in curry and sambal.  Looking at the plate, I couldn't help but thought that it looked rather like nasi kandar...hah..hah.  Even the taste of the curry reminded me of an Indian-style curry although a proper nasi kandar would have a more complex flavour with a few more types of curry spooned over it.

The second time I had this was with ShopeeFood's 95% discount with a minimum spend of RM0 capped at RM6, so that means I can get the Sambal Sotong Set @ RM16.90 with RM6 off that comes with rice + sambal sotong + vegetables.  It also came with a packet each of sambal and curry separately as requested.

The sotong (squid) was tender enough (by most standards) but I like mine even softer.  I can't say I liked the sambal sotong all that much as I've eaten too many sambal sotong (by Malay nasi lemak vendors) that will beat the crap out of this one! >_<

The sambal sotong was spicy and savoury, the spiciest of the three compared to the (onion) sambal and curry but nothing I can't handle.  With both the sotong and onion sambal, I didn't need to douse my rice with more curry, not that I liked the curry anyway.

Again, the menu pic showed long beans as the vegetable component but I got stir-fried cabbage yet again, not that I'm complaining since I did enjoy the rather tasty soft cabbage (stir-fried with lots of garlic) on the previous occasion but some will not take kindly to getting another type of vegetable when the pic showed a different vegetable. :P

Besides the combo rice set with fried chicken and sambal sotong, they also offer an option with curry mutton (RM17.90) and chee cheong fun with fried chicken (RM14.90) with either curry or sweet sauce.  Seeing that I didn't enjoy the curry, I don't think I'd want to try their chee cheong fun.  As for the curry mutton, we don't always see Chinese vendors cooking/selling mutton...and that brings me to the point that there seems to be an underlying Indian influence in their food here (I could be wrong).

My Personal Opinion

It goes without saying that they're a fried chicken expert.....and the fried chicken is the star of their dish! It's the only thing that's worthy here (that I've tried) although I can't say it's something I'll crave as there are definitely other fried chicken contenders that will trump this one.  There's even fried chicken from a stall in my neighbourhood's coffee shop I'd rather have over this one.

At the end of the day, their fried chicken is still considered decent...and the price more than reasonable for a complete set of meal with a freaking huge piece of fried chicken leg that will fill you up adequately with its portions.  As for the egg (fried or hard-boiled) and vegetables (cabbage or long beans), it depends on luck what you'll get.

Their style and taste of curry caters to specific tastebuds (not necessarily mine).  People who like Indian food and enjoy Indian curries will probably find this suits them much better.  I suppose you can call this fusion (lol) of a Chinese-style fried chicken with an Indian-influenced curry that's halal for all to enjoy. ^_~

Lim Fried Chicken

Lot 4-01 Sunway Velocity Mall

90 Jalan Peel

Taman Maluri

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Candy Sistar Dessert @ Taman Putra

Ever since I jumped on ShopeeFood's delivery platform, I've discovered many good new eateries I would not have otherwised known or dared to venture into even if it stared me right in the face.  And that's because, when we look at a (new) restaurant signboard, most of the time we don't know what they'd be selling or how the food will taste like, so we hesitate to go in.

So, herein lies the beauty of ShopeeFood as you can check what exactly the restaurants offer by scrolling their menu on the app.  This is ideal especially when you have family members who are not open to eating some things...and you can do a taste test first (via delivery) before deciding if they're good enough to be explored further or for a dine-in.

One such discovery was this little gem, Candy Sistar Dessert @ Taman Putra (this place is probably owned by sistars, not sisters...lol), that was opened some time in October 2021 last year.  This place basically sells small bites (that's ideal for breakfast, light lunches or tea time snacking) like pre-packed nasi lemak, many varieties of kuih muih, sweet soups (tong sui), fried meehoon, yam cake, fried pastries and such.

I did my taste test by ordering delivery first (twice actually) before finally paying a visit to the shop for dine-in.  So the food showcased here is a combination of what I had via delivery and dine-in.

The surprise find was the Nasi Lemak @ RM3.90 (not sure of the on-site price since I didn't get to eat it at the shop) which I first ordered through delivery and it turned out pretty darn good.  The sambal was so good for a Chinese-style nasi lemak that I thought it was a bit suspicious as the Chinese is not (usually) known for putting out a great sambal.  I would soon find out that they didn't make the nasi lemak themselves but got them from a Malay vendor as the the lady working there (when asked) said it won't be available until after Ramadan. There you go...my suspicion allayed....hah..hah.

I liked that they use the tiny-type of ikan bilis as they were more fragrant and crispy.  The only protest most have would probably be the smallish portion of the nasi lemak compared to its price (that's why I was eager to find out the in-shop price but didn't get to).  Some will definitely think it's not worth it seeing the size is like those small pre-packed nasi lemak where one can easily whack 3 packets at one time (even I can do it!). For eaters like me, who values taste over portion size, I won't be complaining as much.

One of the things I wanted to try was the Fried Meehoon with Chicken Curry @ RM5 (RM6.90 via delivery). Quite a big portion for the price point I have to say.  It came with one piece of chicken (breast unfortunately) and two big chunks of soft potato together with some fried cabbage.

I thought the chicken curry had good flavours and was decent tasting but found the texture of the meehoon a little bit rough/dry (which my husband mentioned as well).  Thankfully, the curry was there to help soften the meehoon and together, it made it more pleasant to eat....on its own it probably wouldn't be as satisfying.

I also got us an order of Yam Cake @ RM2.90 (RM3.90, delivery price).  The texture was adequately soft but you won't find bits of yam cubes inside for added texture.  The sesame seeds and fried shallots gave it the fragrance it needed.  I didn't think much of it though but my husband particularly liked the saltiness of it.

I ordered their Kuih Teo Chew @ RM1.90 a piece, delivery price (RM1.20 at the shop).  This teo chew kuih (crystal dumplings or chai kuih, not to be confused with the peach-shaped teochew png kueh) comes in 4 flavours....sengkuang (turnip), chives, yam and pumpkin.  I wanted to try each flavour so that I can nail down the flavour I like best.  It's probably called crystal dumplings because of the translucent, crystal-like skin of the dumplings.

Kuih Teo Chew (Pumpkin) - liked the smoothness and light sweetness of pumpkin filling against the savoury flavours of the smooth and glossy, thin and translucent skin.  It was a great skin, some can be too thick and chewy but not this one.  Expect the skin to be oily as it has to be otherwise they'll stick to one another during the steaming process.

Kuih Teo Chew (Yam) - the yam filling had both smoothness from the mashed yam with a bit of textural contrast from some tiny cubes of yam together with the savouriness from dried prawns.  I also found tiny amounts of some sort of green vegetable (I think it was chopped chives) that made the kuih even more aromatic.

Kuih Teo Chew (Sengkuang) - loved the savouriness of the soft sengkuang (sar kot) together with the fragrance of tiny bits of good quality tasting dried prawns.  This one also contained bits of fragrant chives as the teo chew kuih with yam.  Simply awesome.

Kuih Teo Chew (Chives) - I finally got to taste the chives (gow choy) flavoured one at the shop (as they ran out the last time I ordered delivery and they replaced it with another flavour).  Terrific tasting as the chives were fragrant and well flavoured.  I've eaten some where the chives have a slight bitterness to it. 

All the teochew kuih were excellent....simply the best teochew kuih I've ever eaten! ^o^  Other than the pumpkin flavour, I was expecting the other 3 flavours to taste more savoury but I could also taste light hints of sweetness in them.  After tasting all 4 flavours, I liked the sengkuang flavour the most followed by chives.

When I first saw the delivered teochew kuih, I thought they looked rather familiar...and when I ate them I thought they were as good as those famous teochew kuih (that I remember eating).  Then I noticed the chilli packet and the wording looked exactly like the famous one from Taman Muda (that has since shifted after their old shop was razed by fire).  So, when I dined in, I confirmed they were indeed the same ones (the shop gets their stock from them).  By the way, the chilli sauce packs a punch (and some love to eat it together with the kuih) but I prefer it without as I wouldn't want something so spicy to tarnish the original taste of the chai kuih.

They also sell an array of other kuih...all the common and popular ones like angku (with different flavours), kuih talam, kuih seri muka, kuih ubi, kuih lapis, kuih koci, ondeh-ondeh, heepan, malaiko, kuih ubi sago, pulut panggang (mostly priced at RM1.20 dine-in or RM1.90 delivery), pastries like fried sesame balls (or bom bijan with different fillings), siew bao, curry & kaya puff (RM1.50 - RM2.50 dine-in or RM2 - RM3.50 delivery).  I hope to try some of my favourites on my next visit.

Although I may not have much of a sweet tooth when it comes to desserts, cakes and ice cream but where tong sui is concerned, I go weak in my knees...and my no. 1 favourite is Bubur Cha Cha @ RM6.60. Not only is the dine-in price cheaper @ RM4.50, you also get a bigger bowl than what the (usual round) plastic container can hold! >.<

The sweet dessert was made with a combination of orange, yellow and (dark) purple sweet potatoes, yam and tapioca jellies in sweetened coconut milk (or santan).  The tapioca pearls (in dark purple) I initially thought were purple sweet potatoes until I bit into them and found them chewy and stretchy in texture.  I love the inclusion of these tapioca jellies and they aren't that easy to make (I once tried making them and failed...it turned into a gummy mess).  The only thing missing (for me) were the sago pearls.

I found this to be really good as it was not too sweet (and not too thick) with the ratio of goodies to the santan nicely balanced.  I hate it when there's too much liew and not enough of the santan broth.  I also prefer a more watery broth as I'd feel jelak if the santan is too thick and rich.  Now, if only there were some sago pearls, it would have been perfect....hee...hee.

I tried the Mak Chuk @ RM4.60 (RM3.50 at the shop) which is usually served warm for the next delivery.  It's usually referred to as wheat porridge or bubur gandum because of its direct translation from mak chuk but this is no savoury porridge but a sweet dessert.

Again, I liked that it wasn't too sweet with a good enough dose of santan flavour.  I enjoyed the chewy texture of the wheat pearls against the sweetness of the coconut milk.  I also appreciated that the santan broth wasn't too thick but more diluted which made the dessert that much lighter to drink.

If you like your tong sui cold, you can always stick it into your fridge (if you wish to enjoy it that way especially in our hot weather) but I actually don't mind having my tong sui warm (but not room temperature), so I'd put it into the fridge if I'm not eating it immediately.

Other tong sui available include hak lo mai (black glutinous rice), hong tau sui (red bean), sweet potato ginger, green bean, ginkgo yuba barley, longan taufu and peach gum with white fungus & longan (all reasonably priced between RM3.50 - RM4.50 dine-in or RM4.60 - RM6.60 delivery).

My Personal Opinion

Hmmm, I don't know what to conclude.....they don't make their own nasi lemak (it's from a Malay vendor), they source their teochew kuih from a famous supplier (who incidentally also sells other kuih that perhaps their other kuih are also from them?) and who knows what else is not from them (even the yam cake, my husband noticed, came already pre-packed at the counter shelf arousing our suspicion even further coz those that make their own, we usually find them served in a metal round tray after steaming).

But I have to give it to them for being enterprising and having the resourcefulness to start a business where most of their food is outsourced (though some might look at it as the easy road to doing business).  I believe they do make their own fried meehoon, curry chicken and tong sui as these were served from large portions stored in metal containers.  (Disclaimer: This is just my hunch and not a confirmed fact).  

Having said that, I would return in a heartbeat for the nasi lemak, teochew kuih (even if they didn't make it) and bubur cha cha coz they're good.  Just so you know, they're selling the teochew kuih at the same price (RM1.20 in-shop) as their famous supplier (without any mark-up), so that's good (for us) but not so sure if they can get a good enough profit margin (from outsourced food) as it would notably be lower.  I can see this being a regular breakfast spot when I need a fix of tong sui and kuih (specifically teo chew kuih). ^_~

Candy Sistar Dessert

No 33 Jalan Bunga Tanjung 8

Taman Putra

68000 Ampang

Selangor

Tel: 010-280 1350

Restoran Kok Kee Hawker @ Pandan Cahaya

When it comes to siu chow places that specialise in one-dish meals, there aren't that many in our neighbourhood or not many we'd be happy with until we came across Restoran Kok Kee Hawker @ Pandan Cahaya.  These one-dish meals, be it a noodle or a rice dish, are not only popular go-to quick and simple meals but, more importantly, they're super affordable.

My very first order from this place was the Dry Fried Beef Kuey Teow @ RM11.  When it comes to kuey teow, I've always loved it fried (just like how I adore char kway teow).  I reckon it's because of the shape of the flat rice noodles that makes it have great contact with the wok thereby allowing it to get that nice charred flavour or wok hei.

This dry fried kuey teow is fried with thinly sliced beef (on some days the beef is more tender), crunchy sliced onions and spring onions.  This dish can be slightly inconsistent when it comes to the wok hei.  On good days, you can smell the wok hei the moment you open the box.  Nevertheless, this is still a dish I frequently order from here.

With the dry fried beef kuey teow making an impression, I didn't need any persuasion to try the Cantonese Ginger Onion Beef Kuey Teow also @ RM11.

Since the sauce was packed separately (as it should be), it would be easier if I ate it from a bowl (coz I don't like to pour hot gravy into a plastic box anyway).  The kuey teow was well charred with smoky hints of wok hei but (again) can be a bit inconsistent, sometimes more wok hei, sometimes less.

The beef slices too, some can be more tender (if you happen to get the thinner cut pieces), cooked with ginger and spring onions in a well balanced, delicious eggy sauce that's neither too starchy or too watery. Just wished that they didn't use so much dark soy when frying the kuey teow to bring colour to it as the soy eventually turned the sauce darker when mixed with the noodles.

I ordered this Salted Fish Fried Meehoon @ RM9.50 coz I saw that it had quite many likes compared to the other dishes.  The meehoon was fried with salted fish, small chicken cubes, fish cake slices, egg bits, sliced onions and crunchy beansprouts.   Just look at the charring on the fish cake slices and you'd know that this was fried well.  The key to good fried noodles (or fried rice) is to get the wok searing hot before any ingredients go in.  I'm happy that the reviews didn't steer me wrong coz this turned out to be my favourite dish from here.

Having had great success with the fried meehoon, I just had to order the Singaporean Fried Meehoon @ RM9.50 too.  What they do so well is that they're able to fry the meehoon without breaking up the meehoon too much or making them mushy and stuck together.  Between the two, I prefer the more savoury salted fish fried meehoon than the sweeter-based Singapore fried meehoon because of the use of tomato ketchup.  If you're extra hungry, you should order this coz, for some reason, the meehoon portion is usually bigger than the other noodles.

Their Fried Loh Shi Fun @ RM9.50 with sliced pork, fish cake slices, egg bits, shredded onions and taugeh was well flavoured and not oily.  But you'll be missing a bit of that crunchy texture in the beansprouts in this dish as they tend to be limp after being braised in the dark sauce.

The Braised Yee Mee @ RM9.50 was satisfying in terms of flavour with slivers of lean pork, fish cake slices and choy sum.  I felt most of the noodle dishes were successful though the liew (ingredients) may be a bit lacking but based on their prices, I can't really complain.

Besides noodle dishes, they also offer a wide array of rice dishes and, of course, one of the most ordered dishes at any siu chow place is fried rice.  I often use it  as a yardstick to judge if the eatery's food is any good.  I had the Luncheon Meat Fried Rice @ RM9.50 that was cooked with luncheon meat cubes (not much of it though), chopped long beans and egg bits.   I thought it was just decent enough as the rice grains were a bit broken.

But my son thought otherwise.  He felt that his Whitebait Aberdeen Fish Fried Rice @ RM9.50 with whitebait (a rather generous amount) and bits of chicken was lacking in flavour.  I thought the fried rice was alright as I could smell and taste the wok hei in the rice even if it was rather light.  But then again, I'm someone who prefers my food to be lightly savoury whereas my husband and son need it well seasoned.  If you prefer a more salty option, there's also the Salted Fish Fried Rice that you can order.

Yet another frequently ordered dish at any siu chow place (as it's liked by many) is the Sweet & Sour Pork Rice @ RM10.  There were more than 10 pcs of sweet & sour pork nuggets with slices of onion, tomato and cucumber in a satisfying sweet and sour gravy except the pork didn't quite nail that crispy exterior.

I couldn't finish the rice as the portion given was more than the liew (the rice portion was more befitting for a man) but there's no cause for complaint because of the lower price tag compared to other siu chow places.  I won't go so far to say that this is a good sweet & sour pork as I've eaten better ones but satisfactory enough.

The Salted Fish Minced Pork with Rice @ RM10 I ordered was for a member of the family who must have rice....lol.  It was served with some sauteed greens of bok choy.  There's also a version of the minced pork with salted vegetables.

I could see that a piece of salted fish filled the centre of the minced pork patty.  Not sure if the salted fish taste was adequate throughout the patty as I didn't taste it.  His only comment was that the patty was a bit thin.  I thought it was quite alright seeing that the piece of patty was almost as big as the box.

After trying two beef noodle dishes with success, I thought I'd finally have one with rice....the Curry Sliced Beef with Rice @ RM11 (with add-on egg @ RM1.50).  The curry beef was cooked together with long beans, shredded cabbage, sliced onions and curry leaves.  Unfortunately, the curry wasn't good at all as it tasted predominantly of curry powder and other dry spices.

Foo yong tan is one of the very popular dish at tai chow (Chinese stir-fry dishes eaten with rice) places.  It's difficult to foul up what's basically a fried omelette with either lap cheong, char siew or prawns and shredded vegetables of (but not limited to) cabbage, carrot, onions and fresh chillies.  This Fu Rong Egg Rice @ RM9.50 was no exception.

My Personal Opinion

Prices (already reflected here) have gone up since the start of 2022...but isn't that just the norm everywhere with food prices these days?  I've not seen one place (at least not the regular places I patronise) not increase prices by 50 sen - RM1! >_<  Even the cheapest RM1 pre-packed small nasi lemak went up to RM1.20 since the turn of the year (of course 20 sen is negligible but it still represents a 20% rise!).  My kopi-o-ping now costs 30 sen more and, just this week, my go-to yong tau foo raised prices by 20 sen a piece....haiz.

After trying numerous rice and noodle dishes here (and they have more), I have to say the noodles fare better than their rice dishes in terms of taste (at least that's what I prefer).  The wok hei was more apparent in the fried noodle dishes as well.

Although we still rely on (and prefer) K W Restaurant's tastier one-dish meals, we now at least have another option for affordable meals for week day dinners when the home kitchen is closed (or when the wait at K W is just too much to bear).  It still remains one of our most ordered delivery for simple fare even if the taste isn't particularly outstanding. ^_~

Restoran Kok Kee Hawker

27 Jalan Pandan Cahaya 2/2

Pandan Cahaya

68000 Ampang

Selangor

Tel: 03-4270 4083