PETALING JAYA, Nov 19 — In the Klang Valley, lum mee or lam mee is usually associated with thick yellow noodles swimming in a dark brown starchy sauce garnished with chicken and prawns.
In Penang, the Nyonyas have a different version... served with a clear broth. Also known as birthday noodles, it's more of a home styled dish.
Tradition calls for a big pot of the soup to be shared with the whole family for the annual celebration. The clear broth is brewed many hours by slowly boiling pork ribs or chicken carcasses. Prawns are also added just at the end to eke out their natural sweetness.
Here in the Klang Valley, this version of lum mee is extremely rare, so I was excited to discover this stall selling it at PJ's SS2 area.
This stall's version may not look exactly like the ones found in Penang but it retains some key elements. Firstly, you have a clear broth served with the blanched thin yellow noodles. This has a delicate sweet flavour with an orange hue, thanks to the use of prawns. It's that type of broth that tastes of home so be a good child and drink up every delicious drop.
The noodles are garnished with omelette strips. Unlike Penang, these aren't tinged pink since the noodles are celebration food but maybe that is better since most patrons avoid colouring. You also have poached chicken shreds, poached prawns and fried shallots to enhance the taste of this dish.
An important element of this dish is the pungent sambal belacan it is served with. If you find the clear broth too mild for your taste, just add the sambal and it is transformed into a umami packed dish with an irresistible heat that you can slurp down.
The small portion of noodles is priced at RM7 while the big portion is RM8.
When I mentioned I was visiting this shop, a friend also recommended the Siamese laksa here. You can get a bowl from this stall that sells curry laksa too.
A big plus point of this laksa is the generosity of their garnishes. I got an abundance of fresh mint leaves that went well with the creamy laksa gravy.
Even the amount of poached fish was quite substantial for the small portion. Slurp it all down with the slightly bouncier rice noodles for a delicious meal.
The laksa broth is not too thick and milder in flavour. They also garnish the bowl with chopped torch ginger flowers and red chillies.
Some places tend to give you prawn paste for the laksa but this stall gives you fresh lime wedges. This adds a nice tangy taste to cut through the creamy laksa.
The Siamese laksa is RM7.50 for the small portion and RM8.50 for the large portion.
Penang Nyonya Lum Mee Stall,
SS2 Chow Yang Kopitiam
No. 44, 46 and 48, Jalan SS2/10, SS2, Petaling Jaya
Open: 7am to 12.30pm. Closed on Tuesday. Tel: +6012-8843118
Siamese Laksa/Curry Laksa Stall
SS2 Chow Yang Kopitiam
No. 44, 46 and 48, Jalan SS2/10, SS2, Petaling Jaya
Open: 8.30am to 12.00pm. Closed on Wednesday. Tel: +6012-7055687
