[ Update ✍️ 2 Nov 2023 ] Hitting the sizzling pavement on a hot sunny JB day outside KSL Mall, I could smell aromas of caramelized soy sauce drifting from the corner coffee shop.
My nose led me to this fried kway teow stall directly facing KSL Mall across the road.
Sing Li coffee shop has 6 to 8 stalls, and most people were having this fried kway teow. It's quite a gritty place, cramped , hot like an oven at mid-day, crowded with locals and day trippers from Singapore. Sharing table is the norm. Service staff are friendly and quite efficient.
I was impressed by the boss' well stocked arsenal - chye poh, garlic, chili, chives, prawn, cockles and eggs.
More firepower - dark soy sauce, vegetable oil, and a pot of stock. I asked the boss about it, and he told me it is anchovy stock without a moment's hesitation.
At this point, I recalled that I had blogged about this fried kway teow stall before - way back in 2014, nine years ago 😁 Time flies 🚀
Ah... The time is ripe for an update and I am so glad that uncle is still going strong, doing well. He now has three helpers during the lunch peak 💪 I mean this humble uncle has created three jobs for the economy. Respect 🫡
Left RM7 and right RM8. The red plate one was customised - sans taugeh or beansprout (not mine 🙄 ). Uncle was very obliging as there was a long line of people wanting. We waited about 30 minutes for our food.
I tried some of buddy's no taugeh fried kway teow. I still don't get why he prefers it this way 🤭
My photo doesn't do justice to this fried kway teow. It looks like a heap of autumn leaves, somewhat dry but it was actually very flavourful.
The two crunchy juicy prawns were good sized and fresh. It added crustacean umami to the oil, adding to savoury flavours from the chopped garlic and chye poh which in turn were infused into the noodles.
To this, add in the flavours from cockles and its blood, dark soy sauce, chili and anchovy stock, there's depth and a richness of flavours in this seemingly humble dish. The flavour intensity was relatively mild though compared to the average in the char kway teow market. Wok hei was also a bit shy (but how many char kway teow really got wok hei nowadays? 🤭).
If there's lup cheong and lard in this fried kway teow, I think it will take me to the seventh foodies' heaven.
I just had heavily lard loaded fried kway teow in Singapore - the two styles have a different feel and taste. I have to admit that I feel less guilt with this non lard char kway teow, and this at Sing Li tastes really good.
Worth a try, especially if you prefer no lard fried kway teow.
Written by Tony Boey on 2 Nov 2023
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[ Archive ✍ 23 Feb 2014 ] I passed by this char kway teow stall during today's food hunt in Taman Century and stopped to watch. I noticed it had an extra large wok and the friendly hawker was using both a ladle and spatula together to fry kway teow. (The wok was too large and heavy to toss the noodles during frying, in the usual way.)
The hawker was very friendly and invited me to try his char kway teow. But, I was not ready to make a decision yet. I wanted to survey the whole area around KSL Mall before committing my precious calories and cholesterol. So, I excused myself and continued my food hunt.
I finally settled on Restoran Weng Kee (I will post about this very interesting roast meat shop later).
After a delicious lunch at Weng Kee, I went back to Sing Li kopitiam. Again, the friendly hawker boss warmly invited me to try his char kway teow.
We started to chat and I found out that his name is Michael Lim, and he is from Ipoh.
When he scooped a ladle full of that cloudy liquid at the bottom left and splashed it into the wok, I asked him what it was. Michael told me that it's anchovy stock. That clinched it for me. I wanted to know how CKT fried with anchovy stock tastes like.
So, I ordered a small RM5.00 plate of CKT to try.
Here's all the ingredients in a plate of Michael's CKT at a glance - kway teow noodles, yellow mee, bean sprouts, egg, chives, cockles, a couple of shelled shrimps, and a dollop of chili paste. That's it. (No larb cheong, or Cantonese waxed sausage.)
I like my CKT fried one plate at a time - no short cuts. The wok's sweet spot (hottest part) is very small - it is just big enough for one plate of CKT, if we want all the ingredients to be nicely seared.
My plate of very well executed CKT for RM5.00. The kway teow was moist but not drippy or wet - it was almost gummy and dry. The savouriness was mild (coming from the soy sauce and anchovy stock). Slightly spicy as I had asked for added chili (I always do). The bean sprouts were very crunchy and juicy. There were some half a dozen small, clean and well cooked cockles in the plate.
Though not of exquisite quality, Michael gives two quite large prawns per plate and these were fresh enough.
Michael's flavoursome CKT was likeable though it could help with a bit more wok hei. I didn't see or taste any charred bits or edges. There was also not much aroma.
Michael's CKT is pork free which explains why his CKT has less wok hei as vegetable oil has a lower smoking point than lard. Michael had been frying CKT for nearly 30 years and went pork free about 20 years ago.
Many readers and friends have asked me where to get lard free CKT in Johor Bahru. If you prefer your CKT lard free, Michael's Ipoh CKT may be just right for you.
Restaurant name: Ipoh char kway teow stall in Restoran Sing Li Kopitiam
Address: Jalan Serigala, Taman Century Gardens, Johor Bahru
GPS: 1.485683,103.761186
Hours: 1:00pm to 9:00pm (closed on Thursday)
No pork, no lard, no Halal cert
Date visited: 23 Feb 2014
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