PETALING JAYA, Aug 7 — Back in March, a stall popped up in PJ Section 11’s Chuan Lee Restaurant offering Singapore laksa.

Named CJ after Malaysian Christopher Khaw and his Singaporean wife, Jess, their first offering was a bowl of laksa inspired by their favourite Sungei Road laksa stall.

Khaw decided to set up the stall here after the whole family relocated from Singapore because his wife loves to cook and often fed their neighbours with her home-cooked goodies.

They often visit Singapore to stock up on noodles and ingredients to keep their dishes as close as they can to the versions found in Singapore.

Later they added bak chor mee, an all-time favourite noodle dish in Singapore.

In July, they relocated to SS2 Selera Malam, expanding their repertoire to include Khaw’s hometown favourite, Penang Prawn Noodle and more Singaporean eats like Fried Prawn Noodle and Dry Prawn Noodle, since these are also built around a rich prawn broth.

As they adjusted to the workings of this food court, which attracts diners at night, they also changed their operating hours to dinner time.

Even their day off follows the food court’s rotation, ensuring food is available every day the food court is open; they close on Thursdays.

Some diners welcome having the Singapore Bak Chor Mee here, as one friend who is a regular here quipped, “It’s the closest to Tai Wah Pork Noodles in Kuala Lumpur and most importantly it’s less expensive than going to Singapore.”

She is right; one would have to pay S$7 (RM22) for a small portion at Hong Lim Market & Food Centre’s Tai Wah Pork Noodles — which includes pieces of dried sole fish, pig’s liver and wantans — versus RM11 here for a regular bowl with minced pork, pork balls, sliced pork and fish cake or RM12.50 for an upsized version.

Order it with soup for a cloudy broth naturally sweetened by large pork bones, paired with egg noodles for a gentler experience.

I prefer it dry – curly egg noodles or mee pok – tossed in a super spicy chili sauce with a whisper of black vinegar.

Compared to the Singaporean bowls, less vinegar is used, perhaps because many local diners aren’t accustomed to that spicy-tangy flavour. However, the noodles’ intense chili heat makes it impossible to stop eating.

In the Klang Valley, a few places in KL have mushroomed to offer this version of fried noodles, which Singapore calls Hokkien Mee.

This stall calls it Singapore Fried Prawn Noodle (RM12.50), distinguishing it from the KL Hokkien Mee, which ranges in colour from light to dark brown due to braising the noodles in a pork broth laced with dark soy sauce.

When eaten straight away, the flavour is more subtle with less wok hei.

Leave the stir fried noodles (a mix of thin yellow and white noodles) for a few minutes and they’ll absorb the sweet prawn broth for that magical savoury-sweet combination when eaten with the prawns, sotong and crunchy lard fritters.

Don’t forget to add their spicy, fragrant sambal with a squeeze of calamansi lime too for a burning heat to your fried noodles.

You can taste the full force of their prawn broth made by frying prawn shells sourced all the way from Klang, in their Penang Prawn Noodle (RM11 for regular, RM12.50 for large).

Compared to other bowls, this stall’s version is more prawn forward, with a deeper flavour of the crustaceans rather than the pork used to boil the rich broth.

This bowl includes prawns, sliced pork, half a hard-boiled egg, kangkung and homemade fried shallots.

Don’t forget their Singapore Laksa (RM12.50) too, which appears only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, as it’s a bowl worth savouring for its rich, prawn-forward broth lightly laced with coconut milk.

CJ Yummy Noodles

Lot 80, SS2 Selera Malam,

14, Jalan SS2/62,

SS2, Petaling Jaya.

Open: 5pm to 9pm (Monday to Wednesday, Friday), 12pm to 9pm (Saturday and Sunday). Closed on Thursdays.

Tel: 019-3663300

• This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.

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