Foodie buddy Jeff has been sharing about his favourite char kway teow stall in Restoran Dwi Lapan kopitiam 88 美食阁 in Taman Tun Aminah. Anak Johor Jeff knows the best eats in town.
Lisa, the char kway teow stall boss has been frying kway teow for 5 years. She was the kopi soh here at Dwi Lapan kopitiam for 10 years before striking out with her own CKT stall at the corner.
As char kway teow uses very humble ingredients, the dish relies heavily on the hawker's skills to deliver the "ugliest tastiest mess" - as so eloquently put by Anthony Bourdain.
Watching Lisa fry char kway teow, her technique is close to that described by Michelin Star Chef Andy Yang to fry Pad Thai, the Thai version of CKT. When I asked Lisa about it, she just matter of factly replied that it's just to make sure that every plate of CKT from her wok is of the same standard. Unconscious excellence is the mark of true mastery.
If you are interested in Chef Andy Yang's technique of frying of Pad Thai 👈 click
Lisa and her helper peel blood cockles and shell prawns everyday - tedious, painful finger skinning work but this is the only way to ensure they are all fresh.
Char kway teow purists will be happy to know that Lisa fries her CKT with LARD and makes her own lard crackling every day.
Singaporeans will be happy to know that besides the usual chicken egg, Lisa also fries char kway teow with duck egg (for a bit more).
I like Lisa's char kway teow. It's nice.
When I finished the plate of char kway teow, Lisa told me that she has a duck egg version.
Alamak! early don't say..... 😂
That left me with no choice but to sin twice.... 😱 First with chicken... then with duck.... eggs 😂
Lisa's char kway teow noodles has layers of savouriness from flavours infused from prawns, garlic and Cantonese lup cheong into the lard. It also has a subtle sweetness from the lup cheong. The well seared noodles have a slight smokey taste from frying in sizzling lard - the signature taste referred to as "wok hei".
This CKT would be perfect for me if the rice noodles were made with less tapioca and more rice so that it is softer and absorbs the flavour infused lard better.
The taste and crunch of the fresh lard cracklings will be approved by every char kway teow purist.
The blood cockles, bean sprouts, chives and eggs are all done just right, so they retained their texture and natural flavours. As for the eggs, I found chicken egg sweet while the duck egg savoury. But, both flavours are very slight.
Restaurant name: 88 Char Kway Teow (stall in Restoran Dwi Lapan kopitiam)
Address: 88, Jalan Pahlawan 2, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah (TUTA), Skudai, 81300 Johor Baru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/fKKW
GPS: 1.522671,103.664653
Hours: Daily 7:00am to 3:00pm (closed alternate Friday)
Non Halal
Date visited: 13 Jul 2017
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