Whenever I am in the Sri Tebrau area of Johor Bahru in the morning, the crunchy eggy noodles of Xu Ji wanton mee always comes into my mind.
As we were in the Sri Tebrau area, buddies and I popped into Koon Chong coffee shop for the two stalls I like here - Xu Ji wanton mee and 喜记 Penang prawn mee.
Always so happy to see the cheerful Koh family at their busy wanton mee stall.
There's white (lard & aromatic oil), black (lard, aromatic oil & dark soya sauce) and red (lard, aromatic oil & chili sauce). You can smell the lard even before you toss the noodles in it.
Black is the most popular especially with younger out of state customers, white is liked by older folks, and red is preferred by Singaporeans.
Can you guess which is my favourite, before you read further 😜
My favourite is red - lard, aromatic oil plus chili sauce. I have my wanton mee this way since I was a child.
Whatever your preference for sauce, the main thing about Xu Ji is their house made egg noodles. Mr. Koh has always been making his own noodles according to his own formula. He now also distributes his noodles (and is used by famous stalls).
The egg noodles are cooked to tender al dente doneness with a distinct crunchy spring to the bite which is the best thing about Xu Ji's wanton mee. There is no alkaline lye water taste at all.
The char siew was just okay.
I like this clear soup for its natural sweetness.
It's chicken soup for the soul.
Simple old school smooth tender wantons - natural fresh pork sweetness with sesame seed oil flavour just like the old days.
Recommended for you 👍 Red, white, black, whatever you prefer, it's Xu Ji's signature crunchy house made egg noodles that star at this humble wanton mee stall.
Restaurant name: Xu Ji 許记云吞面 stall in Koon Chong kopitiam
Address: Jalan Kelewang in Taman Sri Tebrau (opposite Wisma Tionghua), Johor Bahru
GPS: 1.487101,103.769235
Hours: 8:00am to 2:00pm (closed on Sunday)
Non Halal
Date visited: 30 Mar 2019
In between errands today, I dropped by at 許记云吞面 in Taman Sri Tebrau for one of my favourite wantan mee stalls. 許记 is a humble coffee shop stall serving simple wanton mee, done very well.
I was glad to see Mr 許 busy at the stall. (許记云吞面 stall used to be at Xuan Hua kopitiam. 許记 has moved around the corner to Koon Chong kopitiam directly opposite Wisma Tionghua.)
We were glad to see each other again.
Both Mr 許 and wife grew up with wantan noodles. Mr 許 from Pontian, Johor and Mrs from Ipoh, Perak.
Actually, me too.
The thing about 許记's wantan mee is, it's the type of wantan mee I grew up with in 1960s Singapore. We lived in the eighth floor unit 378-G, Blk 65, Lor 5 Toa Payoh (now demolished) and our neighbour was a popular wantan mee seller. We kids used to have a lot of fun, taking turns to jump on the bouncy bamboo pole to knead the flour and egg dough to make the wantan mee. Yes, they used to make the noodles right there in their 1-room HDB rental flat.
許记's wantan mee reminds me of my neighbour's wantan noodles in flavour and mouth feel.
許记's tossing sauce is just right for me. I asked for chili in the sauce, and I got a well balanced blend of savoury, sweet and spicy aromatic sauce enveloping the noodles. A bit of lard gave 許记's noodles that porcine flavour.
And, the noodles were nicely soft al dente with a lovely mouth feel. Mr 許 still makes his own noodles, so it has that extra feel in the mouth not found in generic factory made noodles.
I think I got extra wantans ;-p
The clear pork broth was gentle on the palate and there is the anchovy flavour (of traditional wantan mee soup).
The wantons are just thumb sized but packed with flavour and texture. The skin is soft and smooth with the same mouth feel as the noodles. The minced pork is soft and there are little bits of cartilage in the mince which give the fillings a nice bite. I enjoyed these little details that makes 許记云吞面 different :-D
Crunchy green chili freshly pickled in clear vinegar.
Click on photo ^
Read about my first post on 許记云吞面 ^
Isn't it a blessing to be able to taste food that is the same as what we had as children?
->> Simple and nice traditional wantan noodles at humble coffee shop stall.
Restaurant name: 許记云吞面 stall in Koon Chong kopitiam
Address: Jalan Kelewang in Taman Sri Tebrau (opposite Wisma Tionghua)
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/ylvMM
GPS: 1.487101,103.769235
Hours: 7:00am to 2:00pm (closed on Weds)
Non Halal
Date visited: 6 Sep 2012, 27 Nov 2015
Which are your favourite wantan noodles, anywhere in the world?
noodles looked v decent n bouncy ! had wanton mee cravings aft seeing ur recent posts n had pontian wanton mee at imm ytd.. e broth is v nice also
ReplyDelete👍👍👍👍👍
ReplyDeleteThe homemade noodles are just perfect especially the texture and thickness - not too thick and not too thin. Wonton soup also tasted just right. Only problem I had was the BBQ. I think the BBQ Pork needs to have the burnt smell to make it perfect.
ReplyDeleteWent for breakfast this morning. Boss was not around. Indonesian helper doing the cooking. Still fantastic. Noodle very qq/bouncy. Soup full of flavour.
ReplyDeleteWill try boss cooking the next time
Went for breakfast again today. Boss was cooking. No difference between worker and boss cooking. The worker are well trained.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like this simple stall too :-D
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ReplyDeleteThe stall appears to have closed down. Sad as they were good.
ReplyDeleteHa... where have you been all these years? You can try another of the same owner’s store at century food court next to crystal crown hotel.
ReplyDeleteOr if you’re in Skudai area, try the family other stores in tmn tun aminah or tmn universiti. These stores are just as good. Google search - Restoran uncle koh