KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 — It begins, as many good meals do, with a recommendation.
My gym buddy and his girlfriend have been faithfully dabao-ing chasiu wantan mee from Wing On Noodles House in Taman Desa, and insisted that we try.
The corner lot is not unfamiliar. We have sat here before, back when the place was better known for its yong tau foo, a dependable if modest offering. It still does brisk business in that department, but the spotlight these days belongs to another: the wantan mee stall that now anchors the shop.
Two versions are on offer — Normal Chasiu Wantan Mee and Premium Chasiu Wantan Mee. Proud gluttons that we are, we gravitate, without hesitation, towards the latter.
Before we arrive at the star, however, we busy ourselves with other comforts. Cups of hot cham — that milky, bracing blend of kopi and tea — wake the palate.
Roti bakar follows — though not the traditional Hainanese bread, but rather commercial white slices with kaya and butter on the side. Something you could easily replicate at home, which might be precisely the point.
From another stall, a plate of Penang-style char kway teow makes its way to the table. It checks the right boxes — wok hei, Chinese sausage, seehum (blood cockles) — a serviceable rendition. Adequate, even satisfying, though ultimately not what we came for.
That, undoubtedly, is the premium or so-called crystal chasiu.
Patience, it turns out, is the only recipe. Pork jowl is chosen with care, marinated overnight, then roasted low and slow for hours.
What arrives are thick-cut slices, caramelised and glossy, edged with just enough char. Sweet but not saccharine, rich yet never overwhelming, each slice reveals a quiet mastery.
These gleaming morsels rest on a bed of bamboo noodles, made in-house. Springy and firm to the bite, they carry the sauce without collapsing into limp strands, a fate all too common elsewhere.
Blanched greens and crunchy shards of pork lard add contrast. Alongside, a small bowl of soup with plump wantans — hand-wrapped, substantial, each one a satisfying mouthful.
Indulgent without tipping into excess, there is balance in every bite: fat against lean, tenderness against char. The kind of balance that compels silence mid-conversation, when flavour itself becomes the only topic worth noting.
“Crystal” may refer to the meat’s near-translucence, but to me it suggests something else — its jewel-like sheen, the way it catches the light, the way it captivates.
This is treasure on a plate.
And perhaps that’s the real charm here: not just a plate of wantan mee, but the small reminder that patience — in cooking, in eating, in living — can turn the ordinary into something quietly extraordinary.
Wing On Noodle House
Open Tue-Sun 7am-2:30pm, closed Mon
Phone: 019-734 8751
• This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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