San Lou bee hoon 三楼干炒米粉 is an iconic dish created in Johor Bahru, reputedly by Ah Kaw 亚九 back in 1979.
Ah Kaw created this stir fried rice vermicelli dish while working at a zhi char (煮炒 cook & fry) shop here at the three storey flats at Stulang Laut in Johor Bahru, hence the name 三楼干炒米粉 which literally means 3 Storey Dry Fried Rice Vermicelli (the flats are still there, by the way).
Now, Ah Kaw has his own zhi char shop. Ah Kaw's shop has the usual range of dishes of zhi cha restaurants, and of course, San Low bee hoon is number one on Ah Kaw's list. (This restaurant is actually named Ah Kaw Curry Fish Head Shop in Chinese, but I have yet to try their curry fish head ;-p )
We ordered a plate of San Low bee hoon. Just RM7 for an iconic dish, a work of art (2016 price).
It was flavourful - gently savoury stock with sweetness from egg, lean pork slices, fish cake slices, a shelled prawn and choy sum (greens). Likeable but somehow it didn't have the level of caramelisation that once wowed me. (My last visit was in 2012 <- click)
After settling the bill for this, we lingered a while, decided to dropped plans for the next food stop, and ordered another plate to taste :-D
This time it has much more caramelisation and the same savoury sweetness in the bee hoon.
The caramelised outside gave the bee hoon a slightly savoury sweet taste reminding me of that torched glaze on a creme brulee. We couldn't detect any smokey taste, though. Underneath that caramelised layer were moist and flavoursome bee hoon. The dish is slightly greasy.
This sambal chili deserves a special mention. It has a robust crustacean savouriness and sharp spiciness balanced with sourness and sweetness. Its umami flavours worked really well in elevating the flavours while its sourness cut through the grease.
We had Ah Kaw's signature tofu for sides. This was really delicious. Crispy outside, creamy sweet inside. That house made mayonnaise type sour sweet dip was so good, I was eating it on its own.
We spotted these blanched bee hoon spread out to air dry - one of the essential steps in preparing San Lou bee hoon.
->> San Low bee hoon is one of the unique, must try dishes of Johor Bahru. Ah Kaw, the dish's creator's restaurant, is a good place to try it.
This time it has much more caramelisation and the same savoury sweetness in the bee hoon.
The caramelised outside gave the bee hoon a slightly savoury sweet taste reminding me of that torched glaze on a creme brulee. We couldn't detect any smokey taste, though. Underneath that caramelised layer were moist and flavoursome bee hoon. The dish is slightly greasy.
This sambal chili deserves a special mention. It has a robust crustacean savouriness and sharp spiciness balanced with sourness and sweetness. Its umami flavours worked really well in elevating the flavours while its sourness cut through the grease.
We had Ah Kaw's signature tofu for sides. This was really delicious. Crispy outside, creamy sweet inside. That house made mayonnaise type sour sweet dip was so good, I was eating it on its own.
We spotted these blanched bee hoon spread out to air dry - one of the essential steps in preparing San Lou bee hoon.
->> San Low bee hoon is one of the unique, must try dishes of Johor Bahru. Ah Kaw, the dish's creator's restaurant, is a good place to try it.
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This is my second article on Restoran Ah Kaw which I wrote in conjunction with my book Find Dining with Johor Kaki in 2016.
Soon afterwards also in 2016, I had the chance to interview Ah Kaw, the man himself and wrote this article.
My first visit to Restoran Ah Kaw was in Feb 2012, and I wrote this article from that first taste of San Lou bee hoon.
Ah Kaw's elder son-in-law runs Restoran Ah Meng 阿明家乡小炒 in Taman Iskandar.
Ah Kaw's younger son-in-law runs Ming Ji 铭记家乡小炒 in Johor Jaya Ros Merah.
At both son-in-law's restaurants, you will find Ah Kaw's DNA.
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It's Monday morning & I'm googling up food...sigh...
ReplyDeleteIt looks really delicious, good excuse to drive up to JB ...lol...