It took me years to uncover this gem, and it was by chance.
The thing about Chinatown Complex is, there are too many good food stalls crowded together in the hawker centre. In the rather obscure Green Zone alone, there are five zhi char or Cantonese dai chow stalls - all are good and have their own loyal following. (Chinatown Complex is divided into four zones - Green, Yellow, Red and Blue.)
One of my current favourites is Lin Da Qiang 林大强.
I must have walked past Lin Da Qiang 林大强 stall more than a hundred times before but never thought to spend any calories here. Then last week, we wanted to have our gathering at Cooked Food & Claypot Kitchen stall but it was booked out even though we arrived before 11am 😓
So, we resorted to ordering a few items from different stalls in the Green Zone. From Lin Da Qiang 林大强 stall, we had fried fish with bitter gourd, fried chicken with ginger, and stir fried kai lan. I was blown away by the flavourful dishes and promised myself to be back soon.
So, here I am (within a week).
I asked the lady boss, what's the name of the boss.
Lady boss: "Lin Da Qiang".
Duh. (Tony, you are..... I don't know what to say about you..... .)
They were at nearby Terengganu Street for twenty years and here in Chinatown Complex for nearly another twenty. No need any more credentials as Lin Da Qiang's food speaks for itself.
Four of us (two ladies), stretched our stomachs to try as many dishes as we can.
Beef hor fun. We can smell the wok hei when the steamy dish was delivered. Yes, lady boss will deliver your food to your table, just like in a restaurant.
The sauce has fermented black beans and tasted savoury in layers with a bit of sweetness. The hor fun noodles didn't bear marks of burning sear but were piping hot and we can taste the toasty wok hei. The beef slices were tender and just mildly savoury but not that beefy.
Fried fish with bitter gourd. Chunks of Toman fish (with bone) were fried to a golden crisp outside while the inside was tender and moist. It was stir fried in a thick savoury sauce flavoured with fermented black bean. The bitter gourd were crunchy and moist inside. It tasted sweet and just slightly bitter which went perfectly with the savoury sauce.
Fried chicken with ginger sauce. The chunks of chicken were fried to a golden crisp outside. Stir fried with lots of chopped ginger and enveloped in a savoury spicy sauce with a bit of sweetness. The spiciness was from ginger so it was mild and addictive. This was my second time having this dish at Lin Da Qiang 林大强 - the last time, the chicken was more tender and juicier. This time, the chicken was fried a fraction drier. But, otherwise the sauce was just as delicious.
These four dishes came to $58 - I didn't ask the lady boss for a breakdown.
We enjoyed ourselves so much that we decided to stretch ourselves and ordered a KL style Hokkien mee. This small serving costs $5.
The mound of dark coloured tai lok meen came studded with large pieces of freshly fried lard croutons. But, the Hokkien mee wasn't the style I like - my preference is for noodles heat sealed with a sticky coat of lard and caramelised blend of black sauce. Lin Da Qiang 林大强's KL Hokkien mee is tongue scathing hot but the sauce is the wet drippy type that is savoury with an underlying sweetness. It wasn't that lardy despite the generous lard crouton toppings.
Actually, there are two schools of Hokkien mee now in Kuala Lumpur and Lin Da Qiang 林大强 is serving the less lardy style which is becoming dominant in KL 😢
Done with the KL Hokkien mee, we noticed that the two tables across from us were also fans of Lin Da Qiang 林大强. So, we started to chat 😂 They were having fish hor fun which we didn't order. How can....? So, we added another dish 😂
This small serving of fish hor fun costs $5, which is a steal in today's market.
Okay... by now we know that Lin Da Qiang 林大强's sauce mostly have fermented black bean which we like. The hor fun noodles had nice wok hei and actually there was also toasty goodness in the sauce itself.
They were generous with the thick slices of fresh Toman fish. It was served with skin which I enjoyed and appreciate. I noticed that the auntie across from me actually removed the skin, so taste and preference is a subjective thing 🤷
Overall, we enjoyed our lunch today. Pricing was reasonable, ingredients were fresh, execution was masterly. Food was served to our table. Lady boss was sincere and we had some cheerful banter despite the pressure of lunch time crowd. We also added dishes twice which lady boss accepted cheerfully in her stride.
My first time at Lin Da Qiang 林大强 👈 click
Written by Tony Boey on 19 Dec 2021
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