Updated 4 Oct 2019. Today, we went back to Xin Thianman kopitiam for their unique black "char siew" wanton mee at 锦旺雲吞面 stall.
Boss Mr. Loong and wife Susan were extremely busy this Friday morning. Boss said they are even busier on Saturdays and Sundays. The couple have been running 锦旺雲吞面 stall at Xin Thianman coffee shop for 26 years now.
The black "char siew" is the most obvious thing that sets Mr. Loong's wanton mee apart from other WTM in Johor Bahru. The lean pork meat is marinated and stewed in a savoury dark sauce. Strictly speaking, this stewed pork is not char siew which is roasted.
Another critical ingredient that sets Mr. Loong's wanton mee apart is less obvious - it is his master stock. Every morning Mr. Loong starts stewing his master stock at 3am in the morning 😲
Mr. Loong stews his soup for many hours till the many kilos of chicken bones, pork and anchovies surrendered all their flavours to the master stock.
This master stock is served as soup for customers, and critically, it is used in the sauce for Mr. Loong's dry version of wanton mee.
OK let's eat!
Mr. Loong serves only a black version of wanton mee with his black stewed pork slices.
Wanton mee in JB is usually not strong in the char siew department, compared to their counterparts in Kuala Lumpur. JB wanton mee char siew are often stewed lean meat with red food colouring. They are served sliced thin, so the char siew tended to be a little dry and fibrous.
At 锦旺雲吞面 the "char siew" is also made with lean pork and stewed but with a dark savoury sauce. 锦旺雲吞面's black char siew are well infused with the sauce's robust savoury flavours, making it more interesting for many people than "normal" JB char siew.
The black char siew twist won me over too (hence I recommended 锦旺雲吞面 in 2015).
But, gradually it is Mr. Loong's dark sauce that grew on me and to me it is the brightest star in the dark plate of noodles. The dark sauce is a blend of master stock with dark soy sauce, chili sauce, lard, aromatic oil (fried shallot) that gave it layered and robust savoury flavours with underlying heat.
Mr. Loong is generous with the sauce, so every strand of the crunchy egg noodles is fully enveloped with the tasty sauce.
The wantons were the traditional kind - a small noob of minced pork seasoned with sesame seed oil and a bit of white pepper.
锦旺雲吞面 has a sui kow (no char siew) version. The soup is oh... so... nicely savoury sweet.
The sui kow are huge and filled with minced pork, chopped carrot, black fungus, jimaca (mang kuang) etc.
The same crunchy noodles and savoury sweet sauce (with optional spiciness) sans the black char siew.
The braised fried chicken feet have nice savoury sweet flavour. The chicken feet were done a little too soft for me (but might be just right for others).
Recommended for you 👍 Unique black "char siew" but the real deal here for me now is their savoury sweet spicy sauce. If black "char siew" isn't for you, the sui kow noodles is a good alternative.
My thanks to Joell Choo from 吃的平台 foodie Facebook Group who first shared about 锦旺 wanton mee stall at 新天满 kopitiam in Permas Jaya. This is not the usual wanton noodles but it is one that I would make a special trip just to eat it.
Restaurant name: 锦旺雲吞面 wanton mee stall
Address: Stall in 新天满 Xin Thianman kopitiam, Jalan Permas 4/4, Taman Permas Jaya, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
GPS: 1.505801, 103.823028 🌐 1°30'20.9"N 103°49'22.9"E
Hours: 6:30 am to 1:30 pm (closed on alternate Thurs)
Non Halal
新天满 is a busy neighbourhood kopitiam in Permas Jaya with many hawker stalls which I would like to come back to try.
锦旺 is one of the stalls at 新天满 and it serves wanton noodles, shrimp dumpling noodles and chicken feet noodles.
Mr Loong who looks younger than his 70 years had been tending to this wanton mee stall with his wife for over 20 years at 新天满 kopitiam.
This black coloured char siew in thick gooey sauce is 锦旺's signature. Mr Loong makes it everyday by stewing thick bands of lean pork in a special blend of soy sauce and other ingredients.
The black char siew is cut into thin slices.
Mr Loong is very proud of his stock which is made by boiling chicken/ feet/ bones and anchovies for many hours.
锦旺's popular wanton noodles with their special stock and char siew sauce blend, and slices of char siew.
I enjoyed the egg noodles cooked soft al dente and tossed in the savoury sweet blend of chicken/ anchovy stock and syrupy char siew sauce.
The thin slices of tender char siew were savoury sweet.
The wantons and soup were the traditional type with tender pork mince with sesame oil and anchovy flavours.
Traditional fried chicken feet braised in a blend of soy sauce and mushrooms.
Shrimp dumpling 水饺 soup.
锦旺's shrimp dumplings are make a-la-minute only when there is an order. The dumplings were sweet and soft with bits of crunchiness from water chestnuts and wood ear fungus.
The crunchy pickled green chili with light soy sauce.
I appreciate it that many things including the chili pickle are made fresh at the stall.
锦旺 is a wanton mee stall which I will make a special trip for.
->> This is a unique wanton mee stall with it's special signature "black" char siew. Everything else on this plate of wantan mee from the tossing sauce, springy egg noodles to the savoury broth and meaty wantans are also good.
Johor Bahru is blessed with many wanton mee shops and stalls including many that make their own noodles 👈 click
Date visited: 6 Jul 2015
Tried the wantan mee today. Worth a special trip
ReplyDeleteMy next have bike will travel Food Discovery in JB trip. Thanks for all the good makan info.
ReplyDeleteWorth the trip as not only the wanton noodle is good but lots of choices at this coffee shop. Be warned tho, its hard to get a table.
ReplyDeleteyes yes very crowded. what else would you recommend here? Thank you.
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