KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — Familiarity breeds comfort. In my case, I tend to stick to one place once I’m happy with its food. That’s how I feel about the Teochew-style seafood noodles at B & Best Restaurant in SS4, Petaling Jaya.

The light and tasty soup filled with noodles, fresh fish slices and oysters is what I crave whenever my body needs a dose of warmth and goodness. Recently I decided it was time to step out of my comfort zone — not a 360-degree change but just a minor tweak that saw me exploring other places.

The reward was two great stalls in KL where I can now enjoy my favourite comfort food.

You can find Pong Kee and the other stalls inside Restoran 88 at Taman Kok Lian.

For 20 years, Pong Kee Seafood Noodles & Porridge Stall has been trading at Taman Kok Lian which is located just off the fifth mile, Jalan Ipoh. This stretch that is near Plaza Sungai Mas is a popular haunt for good food like prawn mee, claypot chicken rice and the list goes on. Originally located at Restaurant Wong Kwok (Argyll), they shifted across to Restoran 88 in 2000 after the coffee shop changed hands.

The patriach of the stall is camera-shy Goh Kim Pong, 60, who runs the place with his wife Khor Mooi Nai, 56. The Kuala Kurau native came to KL to look for better prospects.

Pong Kee is a family business (left to right) with Khor Mooi Nai, Goh Li Min and patriach Goh Kim Pong.

Most of their family members have also moved here except an aunt who is still back in the fishing village. The second generation is also slowly taking over as the couple’s youngest daughter Goh Li Min, 26, is now learning how to manage the stall.

The hotel management graduate is the only one of the family of four daughters who is keen to continue the family business.

Only the freshest seafood make the cut here at Pong Kee.

According to Li Min, her father picked up his cooking skills from her older uncle who also runs a Teochew-style seafood noodles stall in Cheras. When he first came to KL, he sold fish and fruits at the market. Those skills honed from his fish stall days are now used to carefully select the freshest catch of the day for Pong Kee.

The business is family oriented, as one of their relatives also runs a similar stall in Johor. It seems the Southerners prefer a slightly different style as dark soy sauce is used more liberally. Another difference is they prefer to mix pork with the seafood.

What makes each bowl of their seafood noodles or porridge (cooked rice mixed with the soup) incredibly tasty to the last drop is their light and clear soup. You can taste the quality and effort that goes into the preparation of the soup.

The task of making the soup by boiling pork bones for at least eight hours is handled by Kim Pong himself. As Li Min explains, they omit fish bones from the broth since it’ll make it taste too fishy. They also prefer a lighter taste to their broth so you can appreciate the delicate flavour of the fish.

Place your orders at Pong Kee by selecting what seafood you want at the counter.

Due to their proximity to Pasar Borong Selayang, the seafood served at the stall is super fresh. On a daily basis Li Min will be at the market at 3am to help select the items for the stall... where only the freshest will make the cut.

Expect a choice of at least three types of fish available at the stall. Popular choices include the loong fu pan or dragon tiger grouper and another type of grouper known as hong chou. There are also many varieties of fish like siakap or barramundi, kaw yee or Spanish mackerel, ma yau or four finger thread fin fish.

Depending on the season, there will also be loong dan or the giant grouper. It’s not limited to just local fish, as you can also get Norwegian salmon. For the adventurous eater, on occasion, they also serve fish liver, stomach and eggs harvested from the fish they get.

Unlike other places, the fish is not pre-cut and kept in the fridge. Instead, they prefer to cut the fish in stages to keep it as fresh as possible. It’s also a task that Kim Pong prefers to handle, carving each piece carefully. You also have fresh prawns, clams and oysters. They also offer Saito fish balls and her giao or fish dumplings that are sourced from a home-based business.

Khor Mooi Kiang uses a custom made mould to prepare her Teochew prawn crackers.

Located within the same coffee shop, you will find the unusual Teochew prawn cracker. The stall selling this is run by Khor Mooi Kiang, 54, who is a younger sister of Mooi Nai. She relocated to KL after her divorce together with her teenage daughter. Previously at Kuala Kurau, she was a tailor by profession.

As tailoring jobs are hard to come by in the city, she decided to open a stall to sell these fritters that she grew up eating.

The recipe was handed down from her mother; a special batter concocted from a secret mix of five different types of flours. Unlike other places, she does not use a metal scoop to place the batter to be fried in the hot oil since it yields a thicker fritter.

The batter for the Teochew prawn crackers is made from a mixture of five types of flours (left). Enjoy this Teochew prawn cracker filled with Chinese celery, spring onions and small prawns (right).

Instead it’s a flatter custom made saucer that makes for a thinner fritter. There’s also a skill in controlling the fire to fry these fritters — too low a fire, they will dry out and if the heat is too high, there are too many bubbles in the fritters.

You want the fritters to be slightly crispy with golden brown edges while the inside still has a soft texture. Each fritter is topped with small white prawns sourced by the family when they do their daily shopping at the Pasar Borong Selayang.

The batter is mixed with Chinese celery or kan choy and spring onions or chung. She prefers to use spring onions as most people are turned off by the strong aroma of the Chinese chives. Some Chinese also avoid consuming Chinese chives as it is considered "poisonous” when you have certain illnesses. The fritters are served with her homemade garlic and chilli sauce on the side.

According to Mooi Kiang, back in Kuala Kurau, there’s a Hokkien version that is filled with yam bean or sar kot and Chinese chives or kau choy. In the village, that particular version is eaten twirled with blanched yellow noodles.

The nasi lemak here tends to have a sweeter sambal taste (left). Each packet of nasi lemak is wrapped with banana leaf and brown paper (right).

The corner coffee shop is a also a treasure trove for all kinds of eats, like nasi lemak. In the morning, it’s just nasi lemak bungkus packed in brown parcels. From 2pm onwards, another nasi lemak stall owned by the coffee shop owner takes over that same spot. It’s open till 10pm as it offers all kinds of goodies like fried chicken, rendang, sotong and etc.

In my exploration, I had discovered the two stalls separately. It was only when I started talking to both of them that I found out Soon Kee Seafood Noodles and Porridge at Selayang Jaya traces its origins back to Pong Kee through family ties.

Look for Soon Kee at the annexe next to Restoran Canton City.

This stall that is located at an annexe next to Restaurant Canton City is run by Chai Soon Teck, 58. The link is his wife, Khor Mooi Goh, 56, who is a sister of Mooi Nai and Mooi Kiang. The couple had first connected in Singapore when Soon Teck worked in sales. When he gave up his job, he returned first to Johor Bahru to run a stall that sold chee chap tong for two to three years.

Soon Kee’s seafood porridge with fresh Ming prawns, fish maw, seven star grouper slices and "abalone” slices (left). You can mix and match the seafood at Soon Kee for your bowl of noodles, like this version with prawns, dragon tiger grouper, fishballs and cuttlefish (right).

Eventually he left for Kuala Lumpur where his wife’s family had relocated. Under the tutelage of his brother-in-law, Kim Pong, he picked up the skills to make the Teochew-style noodles and porridge.

In the early days, when Pong Kee was located at Restaurant Wong Kwok, he would operate the night session. As business wasn’t too good since most patrons prefer eating this dish early in the morning, he decided to move to Selayang Jaya about 11 years ago to start Soon Kee.

Everything at the stall is prepared only by the owners to maintain the quality.

There are slight differences between the two stalls when it comes to their broth. According to Soon Teck, he slowly boils pork and fish bones for about seven to eight hours over a low fire.

He starts from 4pm the day before to prepare the broth. It can’t be on a rolling boil but a simmer to keep the broth clear. Unlike the one served at Pong Kee, the broth at Soon Kee has a slightly richer taste that makes it appetising even on its own.

Chai Soon Teck with the seven star grouper which is served at his Selayang Jaya stall.

You get about four to five varieties of fish including some quite prized ones like the seven star grouper or chat sing pan and dragon tiger grouper or loong foo pan. Depending on availability, they have loong tan or the giant grouper as well.

Soon Teck shops for the items at the Pasar Borong Selayang in the early hours of the day to get the freshest supplies for the stall. You can also select ming prawns, clams, oysters and cuttlefish. As he does not have the time, he prefers to source for the fish balls and fish dumplings from a trusted factory.

Fresh lala clams by the bowl at Soon Kee.

They also offer some unusual items like "abalone” slices or pau yee peen that are actually made from cuttlefish to mimic the slightly chewy texture of abalone. Soon Kee also offers custom cooking where regulars can bring their own fish to be prepared with the noodles.

Once you select your seafood, it’s a choice of noodles or porridge which mixes cooked rice with the broth. The dry version of the noodles is tossed in a mixture of lard, dark soy sauce and a touch of their secret ingredient, a sauce made from fish oil to give it a nice flavour.

Soon Kee’s proprietors (from left to right): Chai Soon Teck, Chai Zong Ken, Khor Mooi Goh.

At the moment, the only person helping the couple with their business is their middle child Chai Zong Ken, 19. He’s only taking orders from customers now but in the future, he hopes to learn how to cook the food and help out with the business.

Pong Kee Seafood Noodles & Porridge Stall Restoran 88 No. 4, Jalan Batu Ambar, Taman Kok Lian, Kuala Lumpur Open: 8.30am to 3pm. Closed on Tuesday. Tel: 016-3790181 / 016-6392313

Soon Kee Teochew Seafood Noodles & Porridge Stall (Annexe next to Restoran Canton City) No. 56, Jalan SJ 17, Taman Selayang Jaya, Batu Caves Open: 7.30am to 3pm. Closed on Tuesday. Tel: 012-6161283 / 016-6823796