PETALING JAYA, Jan 20 — There is a certain purity, an undeniable pleasure, that comes with a good bowl of noodles in the morning.
At SK Pork Noodles in Kota Damansara, that pure pleasure arrives in the form of sang nyuk mee – Sabah pork noodles done the way they should be, with fresh meat and a flavourful broth.
Unlike the pork noodle bowls many of us grew up with in the Klang Valley, where sliced pork is often taken from the freezer and dropped into boiling soup as an afterthought, this Sabahan classic hinges on absolute freshness.
Sang nyuk quite literally means “fresh meat”, and it shows. The pork is sliced only when an order comes in, pale pink and supple, cooking gently in a lighter pork bone broth that tastes clean and quietly sweet.
There is no farmyard funk here, no greasy aftertaste – just a careful balance that allows the natural taste of the meat to come through.
Add to this the usual supporting cast: pork kidney with its faint mineral tang, smooth and silken liver, gently chewy intestines and bouncy meatballs, and you have a truly magnificent bowl.
Our server tells us that their boss, the owner-chef, hails from Kota Kinabalu, where sang nyuk mee has long been a breakfast staple at neighbourhood kopitiams.
His version is based on a family recipe in which pork bones must be simmered for hours to coax out sweetness without clouding the soup. Ingredients are chosen with care, their freshness non-negotiable.
The dedication to proper preparation and ingredients draw regulars to the shop. During breakfast hours, the tables are mostly occupied by office workers from the surrounding area.
We can see the appeal, particularly during our visit. On a chilly, overcast morning, a bowl of hot pork noodle soup feels both comforting and restorative, a little bit of sunshine peeking through the curtain of constant rain.
While waiting for our noodles – cooked to order, as they should be – we start with cups of hot cham. It arrives rich and velvety, unapologetically kaw, the bitterness of the coffee tempered by the roundness of tea and milk.
Instead of the usual roti bakar, we opt for a polo bun to share. The crackly topping shatters lightly under the teeth, giving way to a hot, fluffy crumb and a cold slab of butter at the centre. A simple bite and a surprisingly satisfying one too.
Our noodles arrive soon enough. Besides the Sabah pork noodles, we have also ordered the shop’s recommended dried shrimp chilli sambal noodles with egg.
This is nearly always our approach: one of us orders the soup; the other a “dry” noodle dish.
Perhaps you can call this playing it safe; one bowl is almost guaranteed to be good, even if the second bowl turns out to be lacklustre.
Fortunately, this is one of the rare times when both choices pass muster.
The noodles are slicked with dark soy sauce and liquid lard, glossy and inviting. The dried shrimp chilli sambal is aromatic rather than aggressive: briny, spicy and sweet in equal measure.
Crunchy cubes of fried pork lard add texture, while a half-boiled egg sits on top, waiting to be broken and stirred through, turning everything richer and more luxurious.
On the side is a bowl of pork bone soup. It’s deceptively plain: clear broth with poached sliced pork, meatballs and a scattering of greens. Comforting on a soul-deep level, particularly on rainy mornings.
There are other treats worth lingering over: pork kidney soup for those who appreciate its assertive character; pork tendon soup, gelatinous and soothing; crispy fried sui kow stuffed with century egg, their interiors molten and mellow with umami; fried fuzhuk with a satisfying crunch; even fruit rojak, a reminder that breakfast can be anything you like it to be.
What a full and satisfying breakfast, the sort that leaves you nourished without feeling weighed down.
And perhaps that is the unexpected reward of such meals: they remind us that sometimes all we need is a good bowl of noodles, savoured slowly, before the rest of our day unfolds.
SK Pork Noodles
26G, Jalan PJU 5/21,
The Strand,
Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya.
Open daily 8am-8pm
Phone: 03-76133139
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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