KUALA LUMPUR, 17 June — Ever heard of a house char kway teow party? It’s where you recruit the services of Wok with Leng, a service where you get your own private chef to cook up platefuls of awesome fried noodles, so you can eat in the comfort of your own home.
Each plate, fried individually in her special wok, is cooked to your preference. You can have it with medium-sized prawns, shucked fresh cockles and of course, the must-have crispy umami-laden pork or chicken crackling.
For the past 10 years, Elaine Lim Oy Ling, or Leng as she is better known, has been cooking for her family and friends at their char kway teow parties. The last few years, she decided to make it into a business, relying on referrals. “I converted it to a business, to earn extra money as I’ve been a single mother for the past 17 years.”
You can opt for various chef-for-hire service packages, for a party in your own home. Since she works full time, she only has time to do these parties on weekends.
She does impose two pre-conditions prior to agreeing. This is to ensure that her fried noodles are served up to par. The first one is very good ventilation when she fries the noodles. If it gets too smoky, it’s impossible for her to fry continuously.
Secondly, the stove must have a big fire. This gives the noodles that desired charred taste.
If you meet her conditions, you can hire her for a minimum of four hours at RM100 per hour and she’ll fry up as many plates of char kway teow you can eat. All you need to do is buy the ingredients, like the noodles, prawns and vegetables for the dish. It all depends on your preference.
What Leng will bring over is her special soy sauce seasoning, chilli paste and pork or chicken crackling for the char kway teow — the important elements to get that unmistakable Penang taste.
The soy sauce and chilli paste are actually from Penang. Another incredibly important element is her 40-year-old cast iron wok. Inherited from her grandmother, the wok is completely seasoned, making it an excellent utensil for her to produce the best kind of char kway teow. “When I fry, it cannot be a non stick wok as that does not work with char kway teow. My goodness!”
She also offers an option where she cooks up 30 plates of char kway teow for RM500, for three hours, where she provides all the ingredients, prepped by her. If you’re catering for a larger group, another package limits it to 50 plates of char kway teow, for RM750, with a minimum of four hours. This package also includes her services to prepare the ingredients.
Your booking must be confirmed with a 50 per cent deposit payment, at least 10 days before the party, If there’s a cancellation, the deposit is forfeited if it’s less than six days notice.
Previously when she started, she was clueless about what to charge. Sometimes, she’d end up being out of pocket for transportation costs. These packages are devised by her cousins who encourage her to make some money rather than lose from this venture.
“I have such a good family support, they help me out a lot. I’m bad with numbers.” Her cousin even introduced an order form for each person’s plate of char kway teow, making it much easier for Leng to fry them according to everyone’s tastebuds.
Tracing her origins to Penang, Leng picked up how to cook her heritage Eurasian dishes like devil curry, fish curry and sambal prawns from her talented aunt when she stayed with her.
“She’s a wonderful cook and I’m so lucky I learned from her,” she said. Her char kway teow skills are thanks to her father who used to run a stall near Chee Seng Garden, Penang that catered to the supper crowd.
He taught her some useful tips, like how to hold the spatula at an angle. “That was one important tip he taught me. So when you fry the noodles, they will remain intact during frying.” She also shared that it’s always good to crack the egg in a bowl, before pouring it in the wok, to test if it’s not gone bad. “If you get a bad egg, you’ve got to clean the whole wok!”
As Leng juggles a full-time job and it’s totally a one woman show, she plans her preparation of the ingredients carefully. Most times, she’ll split up the tasks, making it more manageable for her weekend parties.
What takes a lot of work is the crackling, a multiple step preparation. Even though it’s all cut ahead by her butcher, she needs to boil the fat before frying it to render the oil.
She also needs to watch the fire carefully to ensure it does not burn. “The oil is very important,” she explained. She uses it to fry her noodles, adding an extra oomph to each plate, especially when you bite into the crispy crackling — literally, golden nuggets of umami.
“For my clientele, the most important part is the chee yau char.” If you prefer a pork free version of her char kway teow, Leng also can make chicken crackling with chicken fat. This requires even more work, like seasoning the fat with pandan leaves to ensure it doesn’t smell.
Leng hopes to build up the business in the future. “I basically want to brand myself and do a different variety of foods.” She’s got plans for her own logo, featuring a chef’s hat and her signature red lipstick.
Her ultimate dream is to bring her char kway teow to the UK. “I have a vision board, that one day, I’ll go to UK and open Wok with Leng. A food truck. Or a little window. I’ll probably make a lot of money. It’s always been my dream.”
Wok With Leng
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WOKWITHLENG/
Tel:012-374 4302
