Phase One takeaway: Support KL's Madam Choo Homemade Recipe for her Hainan and Nyonya food

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 – If you visit the iconic Yut Kee Restaurant here, you will notice a makeshift stall at the entrance run by an elderly lady who is known as Madam Choo.

Although her shop is actually located just nearby, she is at this stall since it has more foot traffic from visitors who pop over to the kopitiam.

You will find a mix of items all prepared by her. There's an assortment of bak chang which has quite a following; she was featured one time on television for these.

You will also find a small selection of cooked Nyonya food. There are also various sambal, sauces and pickled calamansi limes.

Even though Madam Choo is a Hainanese from Langkawi, she picked up her Nyonya cooking skills when she worked as a cook at a Peranakan restaurant in Bangsar.

For the food I tried, there were some hits and misses. Most of her food items tend to have a milder taste so if you're looking for bold flavours, her food won't suit your palate.

You can pick up a packet of nasi kunyit or turmeric glutinous rice served with chicken curry (RM10 per packet) for breakfast or lunch. It's a pretty generous portion that could easily feed me for two meals.

You get a nice soft glutinous rice accompanied with a rather mediocre tasting chicken curry with potatoes. Portions are generous as you get three pieces of chicken with two pieces of potatoes.

‘Acar fish’ is available made from ‘ikan kembung’

What grabbed my attention was the acar fish (RM13 for 400 grams). It's one of my favourite dishes. Her version uses ikan kembung.

Traditionally you use ikan belanak. Sometimes the switch could be due to the fish being unavailable. Her version tends to be less tangy than what I am used to. It got a little better after a day but it is still pretty mild tasting.

Hainanese meat roll uses the rarely seen pork caul fat


All the dishes are packed in boxes ready for takeaway like the deep fried Hainanese meat rolls with a piquant chilli sauce

I really enjoyed her Hainanese meat rolls (RM14 for two pieces for 275 grams). It's really rare to get these minced pork rolls wrapped in pork caul fat.

A lot of places have stopped using pork caul fat as it's too high in cholesterol. This one is coated with beaten egg, flour and deep fried.

Each bite is full of the tender meat mixed with peas, sliced carrots and spring onions. Dip it into this piquant chilli sauce for extra flavour. I easily polished off the two rolls in one sitting.

A mild pork ‘rendang’ can be purchased from the stall

You can also find pork rendang (RM12 for 300 grams) sold in a plastic tub. The flavours tend to be mild but It makes a better companion for the soft nasi kunyit compared to the chicken curry. You also get a lot of meat in that portion, mostly lean pieces though.

If you love tangy flavours, the ‘perut ikan’ is a good choice

The other dish I was most excited about was the perut ikan (RM9 for 350grams). Again, this is a rarely seen dish. This version may not have many pieces of pickled fish stomach or small prawns but it was incredibly satisfying with its tangy flavours and the mix of vegetables inside it.

I spotted brinjal, long beans, pineapples and a variety of herbs in the mix. I would definitely order more of it as it goes so well with rice to perk up your appetite.

The pork ‘rendang’ and ‘perut ikan’ come in smaller tubs while you can also pick up condiments like this ‘cincalok’ mixed with chopped onions and chillies for an appetising dip

In addition, you get a variety of bottled items to pair with your food such as dried shrimp sambal, acar kiam hu (salted fish pickle), sambal belacan and cincalok. I bought a jar of cincalok (RM11 for 500 grams jar) to try and this was more like a not overly pungent dip with lots of sliced onions and chopped chillies to brighten up your meal.

You get an assortment of rice dumplings here but their specialty is this dark Hainan rice dumpling which is huge

If you scroll through their Facebook page, you will notice they're famous for their rice dumplings. You get a variety available here such as Nyonya, sambal udang and the Hainan version. The Nyonya and sambal udang ones are quite small (around 200 grams) and are available for RM6.50 per piece.

There is also a huge Hainan rice dumpling for RM18 which weighs around 800 grams. This can easily feed a family of four or even six. As they use dark soy sauce to fry the grains, it may not look appealing but I felt this rice dumpling was the tastiest one. Inside the huge rice dumpling, you get salted egg yolk, tender pork belly with fat, chestnuts, dried prawns and shiitake mushroom.

Madam Choo Homemade Recipe, Stall in front of Yut Kee Restaurant, Jalan Kamunting, Kuala Lumpur. Open: 9.30am to 2pm. Closed on Monday. Her shop is located at 25, Jalan Dang Wangi, Kuala Lumpur and is open daily. Tel: +6012-627 9168/ +6016-682 4314. Facebook:@mdmchoohomemaderecipe