PETALING JAYA, Sept 9 — When I first heard of Seremban’s lou shu fen, I expected silver needle noodles with their distinct short, tapered ends that some say resemble rat’s tails.
I often choose that particular noodle because I find it the easiest to eat with soup, as I struggle with pulling longer strands that seem to mysteriously tangle in my bowl.
Perhaps it’s also a childhood habit carried into adulthood: the simpler way to slurp down the shorter bits with a spoon rather than using chopsticks.
But it seems Seremban has its own take on lou shu fen; theirs are longer strands, known as Fu Yong lai fun, where Fu Yong in Cantonese dialect refers to Seremban.
You might think these are the translucent strands found in a bowl of tangy asam laksa but they are not.
Nor is it the Gopeng lai fun which has a slightly softer bite and is made from ground rice.
The Seremban lou shu fen is probably closer to the Hong Kong version: a bouncier noodle often served in broth and eaten together with roast goose.
Around the town, various stalls offer their versions, usually topped with cooked minced pork and lard fritters.
These resemble Hakka mee closely, but they swap out the flat egg noodles.
Some add other ingredients like char siu or even omelette strips.
The long, slippery noodles also appear at beef noodle stalls, doused liberally in a thick dark brown beefy sauce.
This stall inside Taman Megah’s Restoran Hakka Legend offers its version of these noodles paired with minced pork, crispy fried fuchuk, house-made fried meatballs and fried fishballs.
It’s part of a network of stalls scattered around in places like Subang Jaya and Kota Kemuning.
Things are kept simple here: one size of noodles costs RM10 and includes two meatballs, two fishballs and fuchuk. Three extra meatballs can be added for RM5.
A bowl of clear broth and bright chunky pounded chili sauce with oil completes your order.
Mix the noodles up and they turn brown from the dark soy sauce, while the mince struggles to cling to the strands.
It’s slightly sweet from the caramel in the dark soy sauce and you get a nice chew from the slightly bouncy noodles.
I like to be unconventional and dump the chili sauce into the noodles, twirling it with the bright red bits as it infuses heat throughout.
One bite gives you burning heat. Another soothes with its sweetness. Some strands give a spicy-sweet taste.
It’s at this point you search for the fried meatballs that yield juicy marinated pork inside with each bite.
Mix that with the golden coloured fried fishballs dotted with green vegetables and red chilli for a slightly sweeter flavour.
And of course, that much needed contrast of texture from the crispy fuchuk.
That bowl may look simple but strangely enough, I found myself craving it so much that I was back after one week of first tasting it.
Perhaps its simplicity is what draws me. Or just something different from the usual fishball or pork noodles offered in every coffee shop.
Seremban Lou Shu Fen stall @ Restoran Hakka Legend
39, Jalan SS24/8,
Taman Megah, Petaling Jaya.
Open daily: 7am to 4pm
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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