Comfort food: Cze Char by Kok Sen ...best of the traditional Cantonese eateries?

More comfort food, as I am still withdrawing from the overload of very good European food...today, the quintessential Singaporean table, with Cze Char, also variously spelled Zi Char, Tzu Chao...etc.

Kok Sen, the subject of today's review is an old stalward of the craft of the ferocious fire, and the wok. Food is typically Cantonese styled, and indeed very good...one of the best in the trade.

We begin with the less good...so to speak...yee mee with fish slices

Slightly less successful than the other dishes which I will introduce in a moment...but throughly enjoyable still. The yee mee is a bit bland. The fish was nice and fresh, and the gravy also a bit on the mild side. But this slight disappointment was completely overwhelmed by the black bean beef hor fun, which was next:

Redemption indeed. Bursting with flavours, deep dark...very tasty. The wok hei was powerful, charring parts of the hor fun and the vegetables, but yet the beef remained tender...juicy and very very nice.

The yong taufu was also superb

The gravy was rich, and very tasty, the yong taufu itself was home made, fresh, and very flavourful...superb with just plain steamed rice.

The standard cze char dishes are also done nicely, the hae cho

Nice and non greasy, great flavours. Crispy outside due to the deep frying and crispy bits of water chestnuts within which are fresh and almost raw. The prawn paste stuffing was perfectly cooked, and the flavour of the prawn was evident and very nice. Proof that the cook has great control over his fire.

As was the har cheong kai

Beautifully fried, the seasoning was nice too. Though in the case of the HCK, not the best I have eaten.

We also tried the sambal fish, which was also superb

The fresh fish slices deep fried till crispy outside but still very nice and juicy within, coated with a wonderful aromatic, piquant sambal sauce.

And the obligatory vegetables, spinach in a soup of 3 kinds of egg

Quite standard as was the sambal kangkong we ordered.

Overall, an excellent place for great tasting meal. The place is rather crowded during lunch time, but this kind of restaurant is not for lounging around to enjoy the ambience. But purely for the great tasting food. Service was swift, efficient, and polite, but not pampering. Highly recommended.

Kok Sen Restaurant
30B Keong Saik Road
62232005
Daily: 11:30 - 22:30

KL Black Hokkien Mee

with Kennard, Shashi and Ray

Kuala Lumpur - foodie paradise. And some foods are unique to KL...the essential eats in the Malaysian capital include two magnificent hawker dishes - the Fukkien Chow, and the Kongfu Chow...the Hokkien Fried (Black hokkien mee) and the Cantonese Fried (the ying yang wide hor fun/kway teow and beehoon in wat tan sauce). Quintessential.

Fried on a high power, compressed air and gas fire stove, hot enough to render a wok red hot in seconds, the cooking is an art in itself...tossing, agitating, turning, flicking, stirring.



The firepower of the very hot stove provides the essential wok hei...breath of the wok...essential controlled micro-charring of the ingredients, creating a smokey flavour, a hint of burnt meat and wheat, and the beginings of a Maillard reaction on the meats.

The black hokkien mee is served:



Fat yellow noodles are used. The noodles are so fat, they look like elongated udon, but yellow from the kee and possibly eggs used to make the noodles. The black sauce is magical...it is the right balance of sweet (very slight), and salty, and crustacean flavours from the stock. Fried in pork lard, the fat supports the mouth feel very well...but the taste is not one which is greasy, but rather one of extreme smoothness, allowing the noodles to slither into the mouth. Powerful wok hei is abundant.



Crispy pork lard is sprinkled generously, ably providing crunch and texture. This particular version comes with fresh prawns, and cuts of sliced fish cake, and sliced pork. A special belachan chilli sauce provides the oomph to get an extra kick.


All in a bed of raw cabbage...which by the time one finishes the noodles, has become cooked by the heat of the noodles, and has absorbed the flavours from the sauce...Scrumptious.

This concoction, provides an impact beyond the taste. It speaks to all the senses, and engages the diner...coyly encouraging you to explore the complex, beguilling, seductive taste...the superb fragrance. As one puts a chopstick full of gravy embalmed noodles into one's mouth, the mouthfeel, the taste sensation is extraordinary. Emotionally it satisfies some hidden taste sensors...blowing the mind. Physically it satisfies...but not till one have had one's fill...this was not a dish to eat tasting portions, but a full sized portion is mandatory.

We also had the wat tan hor...or Kongfu chow.



Wat tan, meaning broken egg...an egg is stirred into the hot gravy mixture of pork, seafood and corn starch, allowing it to cook as it is being stirred...making egg strips...a beautiful thing to behold, but also packs eggy flavour to the sauce. The sauce is poured over a mixture of pre-fried hor fun...a thickly sliced fresh kway teow, and a deep fried, crispy bee hoon. As one cuts into the wat tan hor...the chop sticks meet with the crunchy, crispy bee hoon on one side, and the smooth, soft, flabby hor fun on the other. Tasty. Special for this store was the addition of huge chunks of cuttle fish. This provided a very nice touch...crunchy, springy, beautiful texture contrast to the soft kway teow, and crisp bee hoon.

There are many stores serving this combination of Fried Hokkiens and Cantonese...but not all are up to the mark. This one is quite up there amongst the stars. I do remember a store in Petaling Steet which serves up an even more delectable Hokkien Mee, and one in PJ somewhere. But most pale....and this one is easier to find for the casual visitor to KL, especially if you stay in the Golden Triangle area.




Kedai Kopi dan Makanan Weng Hing
183 Jalan Imbi
Corner of Jalan Imbi and Jalan Barat
Kuala Lumpur
GPS: lat 3.14541
long 101.714869

Photo notes: taken without flash in the evening, inside the coffee shop...lighting was dark. Shot with Kennard's Canon Ixus 40 at autoISO...for some reason, the ISO is not recorded in the camera's exif. Apologies for less than usual standard of pictures.

Beef Hor Fun...my gold standard: Prince Coffee House

with family

This is an old favourite. Really old, we have been eating here since before my son was born (he is 14 years old now), and at one time almost weekly. I first started to eat at Prince when they were in Shaw Towers...literally downstairs from Prince Cinema, hence the name. Mr Lim, who used to own the restaurant, originally set out as s steak house. They served decent steaks, but as the cooks were Hainanese, as was Mr Lim...they also were able to serve cze char style dishes.


click on image for a larger panorama view

They moved to Coronation Plaza, probably some 15 years ago (reference needed as to when). From steak house, they turned more into a family restaurant. They serve fragrant, jasmine Thai rice, and a decent range of cze char dishes. Our favourites include their Hainanese Pork Chops, Corned Beef with French Beans, Lemon Chicken, Oxtail Stew, (this realy must try...will blog about it in another post), Inchikabin (a Penang style fried chicken, which sadly, they don't do anymore...even becoming rare in Penang) and the subject of today's post - Beef Hor Fun.

Mr Lim retired with his wife, and sold the restaurant to the employees...the cook, the head waiter - Jimmy, and the two waitresses. Curiously, the waitresses always wore a blouse/skirt version of the SIA stewardess dress. Under their stweardship, the food continued to taste excellent, but the theme, if I can describe the decor and mood as a theme, changed from family restaurant, to one catering to school kids. Brilliant move, as there were a couple of schools around - Chinese High, Nanyang Girls, NJC, were a few within walking distance. They started to introduce $6 meals, comprising unlimited soft drinks, a small soup, a main course (western...chicken chop or pork chop). Good value.

Now, Jimmy spends his time mostly in the kitchen these days, though he sometimes pops out to greet old customers. When I was there last Sat, Mrs Lim was visiting, and we chatted a bit, reminiscing old times.



The wide hor fun, a staple made from rice is pre-fried under great heat to impart the wok hei till some bits are slightly charred. This makes the hor fun special. Most other stalls do not fry the hor fun sufficiently. Of course, the hawkers over the causeway in KL take theirs one level further...not only does the hor fun is solidly fried with great wok hei, they serve the hor fun with crispy fried bee hoon...for a concoction they call Kong Fu Chow (Cantonese Fried). This contrasts with the Black Fried Hokkien Mee (another favourite of mine!!) which can only be found in KL...known locally there as Fu Kien Chow (Hokkien Fried).

On receipt of each order, the ingredients are cooked for the gravy - beef, vegetables, rich stock, shortening. And then poured over the noodles and served.



Large slices of air flown beef is used...very tender and full of natural flavour. I think very cleverly seasoned to enhance the flavour, but not so much as to overpower the delicate taste. The meat remains tender, juicy. Delicious! The bits of vegetable provided some bite, as does the deep fried, almost crunchy shallots.

As I gave away in the title, this is my gold standard to judge all other beef hor fun by. And to date it stands as the king.

Read ieatishootipost's verdict on Prince.


587 Bukit Timah Road
#02-15 Coronation Plaza

Photo note: Shot with the Canon EOS 300D with kit lens - EFS18-55. The restaurant was rather dark, but no flash was used. Shot hand hold, in large jpeg. This proved to be a mistake, as white balance was rather difficult to achieve during post processing. The slow-ish shutter speeds with no flash also caused a less than perfect sharpness than the usual 1Dmk3/EF17-40L shots. I am not very happy with the results from the 300D, and may shoot another set later with the 1Dmk3.

Golden Mile Food Centre - revisit with pictures

with colleagues...past and present

I blogged about this Golden Mile Food Centre in a no-picture post earlier, and remarked that this was an interesting mix of old traditional hawkers, and new yuppie (hmm...do we still use this word?) hawkers. Mixed in the Hokkien Mee, Soup Tulang and Bak Chor Mee, are the Belgian Waffles, Pizza, Pasta and Ice Cream stores.

So I returned to eat and take pictures.

The Fried Hokkien Mee I blogged about last time was still excellent. Strong flavours absorbed into each strand of noodle provided this fried noodle some extra punch. Gravy-less, this was to be the Hainanese version. Note the bits which are slightly charred on the noodles.



The last time I was here, I saw the long queue at the Beef Hor Fun stall, but was too full to sample a plate. This time I did.



The look of the hor fun was promising...seeing the uncle cook it over the hot stove and they way he tossed the gravy increased the anticipation a few notches. However, a hint of disappointment was suggested when I saw that he used pre-fried hor fun, and only the gravy was fried on order. I am afraid to report, the result was nothing to write home about and was quite ordinary. I did not find the wok hei which is prevalent in the version served by Prince at Coronation Plaza (albeit more expensive). The beef was quite tender, but lacking in flavour. The gravy did not have the essential wat tan (the way an egg is whisked into the starchy gravy and allowed just enough time to barely cook, and form strands so typical in those found in KL).

I also stood in line of the a stall which has an article...forget what is the source proclaiming that this was the "Best Bak Chor Mee" stall in Singapore. They also have Lor Mee, but since they were unashamed with their advertised moniker, I ordered the Bak Chor Mee, dry with mee kia.



It looked fantastic. $3 buys one a large bowl full of ingredients...2 deep fried wanton, 2 slices of pork liver, minced meat, a whole baby chye sim, two fish balls in soup. But the taste was fairly ordinary. The black vinegar was lacking in punch as well as bite. The chilli was mild. Disappointing.

But finally, we had dessert. We had Belgian Waffles with ice cream and chocholate dip. This was a stall which operates over 3 different units in the Food Centre. One for selling, and two others acting as a kind of factory.



An old uncle attended to us. We had coffee and caramel ice cream, and the waffle was cooked in an iron griddle, and cut into bite sized portions. It came with a superb chocholate dip - the choc was rather bitter, the way I liked it, and warm enough to be viscous enough to nicely coat the waffle. Cut a small piece of ice cream and together into the mouth...excellent. The dessert saved the day.

Hainan Hokkien Mee
No 34 Golden Mile Food Centre
62946798
11am to 2pm 3pm to 9pm
Closed on Wed

Beef Hor Fun
Golden Mile Food Centre
01-71
Opened 9am till about 8.30pm.
Closed Fridays.

Tong Ji Mian Shi
505 Beach Road
Golden Mile Food Centre
01-100
Monday & Friday 0930 - 1500, Tuesday - Sunday 0930 - 1930,
Off Day: Twice a Month on Saturday

The Sweet Stone Parad Ice
Golden Mile Food Centre
505 Beach Road #01-76
11.30am to 9.30pm

Photonotes: I am deciding if I should keep the magnification constant, so the reader would have an idea of the size of the food...I realise some of my shots are macro or near macro, and some are full plate shots...for e.g. in this post, the Belgian Waffles looked so small compared to the rest, when in real life they are more or less similar size.